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U.S. urges Tamil Tiger rebels to give up violence
Yahoo India,
March 7.
The United States on Wednesday warned Tamil
Tiger rebels fighting for a separate state in Sri Lanka that they had to realise it was an
impossible goal.U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka Ashley Wills also said in a speech at the Jaffna Public
Library that the rights of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka should be protected. He asked the audience to pass on two messages to the leadership of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel force."If the LTTE is still fighting for Tamil Eelam (homeland), please accept that that goal cannot be
achieved, and if the LTTE really cares about the Tamil people and about assuring their rights, giving up
violence and negotiating are the way to go," he said.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 10:25:24 EST 2001
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Cricket-Ranatunga bailed over alleged assault
Yahoo India,
March 7.
Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga was
released on bail on Wednesday after surrendering to police investigating an alleged
assault on a group of schoolboys who hit a cricket ball into the yard of Ranatunga's
family home. Ranatunga came here with his lawyers and was taken straight to the magistrate," said an officer at
Colombo's Maradana police station.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 10:26:51 EST 2001
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S. Lanka urged to go thirsty to honour war dead
MSNBC,
Wednesday, 7 March.
Sri Lanka's deputy speaker on Wednesday urged the nation to observe ''a few hours of thirst'' next month to honour the memory of soldiers who died of dehydration during the government's worst military debacle. Sarath Munasinghe, a retired major general, urged Sri Lankans not to drink water for three hours from 1 p.m. on April 22, the first anniversary of the fall of the key northern Elephant Pass military base to separatist Tamil rebels. ''It's the least we can do to honour the brave men, many of whom died of thirst,'' said Munasinghe, a former commander of the Elephant Pass which guards the isthmus gateway to the northern Jaffna peninsula. Almost 300 soldiers were killed when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) overran the Elephant Pass base in a massive onslaught that took them to the gates of Jaffna city.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 07:37:52 EST 2001
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UN condemns statue destruction
BBC South Asia,
Wednesday, 7 March, 2001, 15:50 GMT .
The UN Security Council has added its voice to worldwide condemnation of the decision by the ruling Taleban in Afghanistan to destroy
two giant statues of the Buddha as well as other pre-Islamic relics. In a statement, the council urged the Taleban to stop the "incomprehensible and wanton acts of violence on the cultural heritage of
Afghanistan".
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 12:43:35 EST 2001
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Colombo seeks gourmet status amid civil war
123India.com,
Mar 08 2001 07:00 IST.
COLOMBO, March 8 (AFP) - Swiss fondue or Sushi? Despite a relentless civil war Sri Lankans are shrugging off their woes, expanding their tastes, and creating a restaurant boom. From fast foods to upmarket culinary delights, local palates have defied belt tightening measures by the government designed to help fund the war against separatists Tamil Tigers in the north.In the Australian-run Cricket Club Cafe, Murali's mulligatanny soup stars on the menu among the cricket memorabilia in honour of Sri
Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.
A Big Mac can be acquired down the road. And at the Casablanca-Chinese waiters serve a local interpretation of the two cultures.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 21:41:34 EST 2001
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"We will return to Sri Lanka when there is peace"- Top Hollywood producer
Bandula Jayasekara in LA,
LA Time 3.12 p.m. Wednesday March 7.
Paul Mason, Senior Vice President,
Production of Viacom Productions , owners of Paramount Pictures told "The
Lanka Academic" today that Hollywood producers will use Sri Lanka as a
location for their films again once peace returns to the country. Mason,
who is responsible for $300,000 million dollars in annual productions at
Viacom, has been to Sri Lanka several times. He produced two movies using
Sri Lanka as a location ?The further adventures of Tennessee Buck? starring
David Keith and Kathy Shower and ?Ghosts can?t do it ? with Bo Derek and
Anthony Quinn.
Paul Mason said, ? Sri Lanka is a beautiful country. It is a lovely
location. Very diverse, nice people, good food and boasts of hard working
crews. But, people are very scared and nervous to go there, especially the
actors. But, if the problem in Sri Lanka is solved and the country becomes
peaceful we will go to Sri Lanka again? When questioned which countries
Hollywood producers consider as safe for shooting movies ,Mason said
?Thailand, Malaysia and even Philippines?
Hollywood mega movies such as ?Bridge on the river Kwai? directed by
legendary David Lean, ?Indiana Jones and the temple of the doom? directed by
Stephen Spielberg , ?Tarzan the ape man? directed by John Derek, have been
shot on location in Sri Lanka.
Published: Wed Mar 7 18:11:38 EST 2001
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Sri Lanka set for another major war budget
123India.com,
Mar 07 2001 12:06 IST.
COLOMBO, March 7 (AFP) - Sri Lanka is to announce new tax measures Thursday in another war budget that has set aside an unprecedented 63.39 billion rupees (745 million dollars) for defence, officials here said. The government is to announce in parliament Thursday the new revenue proposals aimed at keeping down the budget deficit buffeted by escalating defence spending to battle Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 03:39:13 EST 2001
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Lankan Tamil shot, South Asian stabbed in Toronto
Times of India,
8 March 2001 .
A Sri Lankan Tamil received
multiple gunshots and another man of South
Asian descent was stabbed in a spate of
criminal incidents in this city over the
weekend.According to published reports, Nagalingam's
attacker is also believed to be of Tamil or Sri
Lankan background. Nagalingam, who was
serving time on weekends for a criminal
conviction, was shot several times by a lone
gunman when leaving the suburban Etobicoke
prison by the side door.Neighbours
Neighbours
Lankan Tamil shot, South Asian
stabbed in Toronto
TORONTO: A Sri Lankan Tamil received
multiple gunshots and another man of South
Asian descent was stabbed in a spate of
criminal incidents in this city over the
weekend.
Panchaling Nagalingam, 28, was ambushed
outside the Mimico Correction Center on
March 4 while Zahir Lalji, a 23-year-old
South Asian, was stabbed on March 3. Lalji
died the following day.
According to published reports, Nagalingam's
attacker is also believed to be of Tamil or Sri
Lankan background. Nagalingam, who was
serving time on weekends for a criminal
conviction, was shot several times by a lone
gunman when leaving the suburban Etobicoke
prison by the side door.
He was hit five times -- in the chest, arm, leg
and twice in the abdomen --before collapsing
in the snow, reports said. Police believe the
ambush could have been gang related.
The gunman had blended in among people in
the early morning darkness waiting for the
release of a dozen inmates from the prison.
"Right now we have a big problem with Tamil
gangs shooting each other," said sergeant John
Walker. Detective Mike Dvernechuk said
Nagalingam is "amazingly fortunate" to have
survived the attack.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 17:09:26 EST 2001
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Colombo beats Kolkata to earn top slum city status
India Abroad,
March 07,.
SRI LANKA'S commercial capital of Colombo has emerged on top to share the dubious honor
of being the worst slum city in the world with San Salvador, the island's housing minister said.With nearly half of Colombo's population living in slums, the city has overtaken Kolkata in India,
Housing Minister Mangala Samaraweera said here. He told reporters that some 420,000 people out of a population of about 850,000 lived in slums of
Colombo. "Calcutta (Kolkata) may have more slums, but when you take the numbers per capita,
Colombo is worse than Calcutta and at par with San Salvador," Samaraweera said.
Wednesday.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 12:44:57 EST 2001
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Egypt's Mubarak to ask Taliban to
preserve statues
abc news,
march 7.
Egypt's President Hosni
Mubarak has agreed to a UNESCO request that he ask
Afghanistan's Taliban movement to halt its destruction of
ancient Buddhist statues. Egypt's official MENA news agency said on Wednesday that
Koichiro Matsurra, director-general of the United Nations
cultural organisation UNESCO, had telephoned Mubarak to
make the request and the president had agreed to contact the
Taliban.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 10:37:07 EST 2001
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Protesting Taliban
Leo de Lile in Colombo,
Tuesday, 6 March 2001 20:41:17.
A policeman
stands guard as Buddhist monks walk towards the Sri Lanka's holiest
Buddhist shrine in the central town of Kandy, 110 kilometers north east
of Colombo, Sri Lanka on Tuesday, March.6, 2001. Hundreds of
Buddhists monks staged a protest denouncing the decision by the
Taliban in Afghanistan to destroy all statues, including two giant
Buddha
statues dating back to the 2nd century AD.
Published: Tue Mar 6 15:09:04 EST 2001
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Indian teams to participate in Lanka Air Force celebrations
123India.com,
Mar 07 2001 15:34 IST.
India's 'Sooriya Kiran' acrobatic and 'Akash Ganga' sky diving teams are scheduled to perform at the Sri Lankan Air Force's 50th anniversary celebrations Thursday. The Indian Air Force?s IL-76 Gajraj transport aircraft and
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 10:29:50 EST 2001
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Sri Lanka says 10 die in latest Tamil skirmishes
MSNBC,
March 7.
At least nine Tamil
rebels and one government soldier have died in
fresh skirmishes in Sri Lanka's north and east,
the military said on Wednesday.Spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratne
said government troops killed eight Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in an
ambush on Tuesday at Peraru in the eastern
Trincomalee district.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 10:31:36 EST 2001
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England stun Sri Lanka
BBC South Asia,
Wednesday, 7 March, 2001, 11:48 GMT .
England dismissed Sri Lanka for 297 as they dramatically took the home side's tail apart in the second Test. Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick both took four wickets as the tourists fought back on an entertaining first day
which leaves the match finely balanced.Captain Nasser Hussain's decision to take the new ball proved a turning point and produced five late wickets for just
20 runs at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 10:23:57 EST 2001
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SRI LANKA PRESS: Tea, Rubber Unions To Meet Employers Wed
Yahoo India,
March 7.
Leaders of Sri Lanka's tea and rubber plantation unions will meet the Employers' Federation
Wednesday to find a solution to the dispute over wages that has resulted in a go-slow campaign on the estates since last
month, the Daily Mirror reports.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 11:57:35 EST 2001
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Sri Lanka Pvt Sector Wants More Tax Reliefs In '01 Budget
Yahoo India,
March 7.
Sri Lanka's private sector urged the government to include measures to promote
greater export competitiveness in its fiscal 2001 budget.Sri Lanka needs to boost exports quickly to help bridge its growing trade deficit, which has been torn wider by
imports. Imports have been rising faster than exports, partly due to a rise in fuel prices and defense spending.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 10:34:43 EST 2001
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Police seize explosives intended to bomb Colombo
Times of India,
7 March 2001 .
Police in the government-held
northern town of Vavuniya seized 10
kilograms (22 pounds) of high explosives from
a Tamil Tiger rebel hide-out, police said on
Tuesday.The explosives were intended for use in
Colombo where rebels from the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam have mounted attacks
in the past to either dramatize their separatist
campaign, kill opponents or cause economic
hardship to the government.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 17:32:48 EST 2001
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Canada won't outlaw terror groups - Liberals stop short of ban for fear of alienating ethnic communities
ottawacitizen,
March 6.
Despite the fact millions of dollars are being funnelled to overseas
terrorists, Canada is reluctant to outlaw specific groups engaged in
fundraising out of concern for "legitimate expressions of diversity and
culture," internal federal memos show.The newly obtained records strongly indicate the government will not follow
the lead of the United States and Britain and effectively ban organizations
involved in terrorism.While some fundraising by Canadian Tamils supports legitimate social agencies
in Sri Lanka, "a sizable amount is thought to be illegitimate, including the
channelling of millions to the LTTE," says the memo, one of several federal
documents on terrorist financing obtained by the Citizen under the Access to
Information Act.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 09:38:37 EST 2001
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Court Rejects Support Ban Challenge
Las Vegas SUN,
march 6.
The Supreme Court turned aside a free-speech challenge to a
ban on giving money, weapons or other tangible support to foreign groups
designated by the government as terrorist organizations.The court, without comment Monday, rejected arguments that the law creates
"guilt by association" and bans aid even for lawful activities by such
organizations.The justices also rejected the government's bid to reinstate two provisions of
the law that a lower court barred from being enforced.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 10:15:11 EST 2001
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US gifts medical supplies to Jaffna hospital
India Abroad,
Wednesday, 7 March.
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ashley Wills Tuesday visited the embattled northern town of Jaffna and gifted $500,000 worth of medical equipment to the region's main hospital. Wills presented the equipment in Jaffna, 400 km north of the Sri Lankan capital, as part of a humanitarian assistance program that allows the US Department of Defense to help civilian institutions, the US embassy here said in a statement. The equipment gifted consisted of anesthesia apparatus, portable heart defibrillators, dental equipment and therapeutic ultrasound equipment. "I am pleased to be able to make this donation on behalf of the US government and am confident that it will assist the highly capable staff of the teaching hospital in helping Jaffna residents live better, healthier lives," Wills was quoted as saying.
Wills' visit came a week after Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopalkrishna Gandhi visited Jaffna.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 03:44:14 EST 2001
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Sri Lanka peace talks closer
BBC South Asia,
Tuesday, 6 March, 2001, 13:34 GMT .
The Sri Lankan Government and Tamil Tiger rebels are "seriously thinking" about meeting for talks, the Norwegian peace
envoy said. Envoy Erik Solheim's comments came after a meeting in Colombo with President Chandrika Kumuratunga.The government and the separatist Tiger rebels have not met for five years, but Mr Solheim has been trying to broker an
end to almost two decades of war for more than 18 months.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 09:27:25 EST 2001
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Swiss couple chargesheeted in Pornography case
Yahoo India,
March 6.
Three months after a Swiss couple was arrested on the charge of using minor children
to pose for pornographic pictures, police filed a chargesheet against them in a local court Monday.The couple have put up a defence that in Switzerland they stripped off when they went to take bath on the
beach. They also claimed to have visited India as tourists and said that they were falsely implicated in the
crime. Police have alleged that the couple visited India and neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
to indulge in such offences since last ten years.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 10:17:25 EST 2001
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Sri Lanka army deserters win second chance
Yahoo,
March 5.
Sri Lanka's
government has offered a nine-day
general amnesty to woo back an estimated
25,000 army deserters.Sri Lanka's
government has offered a nine-day
general amnesty to woo back an estimated
25,000 army deserters.
The latest move, beginning Tuesday, is the
first official confirmation that the government will not slow down its
military campaign against Tamil Tiger rebels, despite efforts by Norway
to facilitate direct talks.Sri Lanka's president, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, told
CNN that talks would begin in two months. But she dismissed a self
imposed rebel ceasefire, extended for its third month, as a ploy to
re-arm and re-group.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 09:23:43 EST 2001
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Sri Lanka Budget To Lift Revenue, But May Not Be Enough
Yahoo India,
March 6.
As Sri Lanka enters the home stretch ahead of its budget announcement for this
year, the signals are pointing to tough revenue-enhancing measures to help bridge the war-torn island's
widening budget deficit. The budget for the year beginning Jan. 1, 2001 will be announced Thursday. President Chandrika
Kumaratunga is expected to present the budget which was delayed due to parliamentary elections in October
last year.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 09:24:23 EST 2001
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Buddhists protest increasing Christian conversions in Lanka
Times of India,
7 March 2001 .
Buddhists in Sri Lanka are up in arms over foreign and local Christian evangelical organisations
converting villagers in remote areas using "unethical, coercive and sometimes barbaric methods." The Centre for Buddhism International (CBI) in Kandy, the central province hill town where the Temple of the Buddha's Tooth is the focal point, has accused Christian
missionaries of invading rural villages and tea and rubber
plantations to proselytize their faith.
More...
Published: Wed Mar 7 07:22:21 EST 2001
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England has more to worry as Muralitharan set dazzle home crowd
Yahoo India,
Tuesday, 6 march.
Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan will be hoping to pile on the misery for England in front of his home fans in the second cricket Test which begins here Wednesday. Muralitharan helped bowl Sri Lanka to an innings victory over the tourists at Galle in the first Test last month, even though he was not fully fit.While Sri Lanka will be looking to extend their success from Galle to Kandy, historically the venue is not their favourite hunting ground.They have won only twice in 10 Tests played at the Asgiriya Stadium, near the town of Kandy, since 1983, lost five and drawn three. The wins have been against Zimbabwe in 1998 (by eight wickets) and against Australia in 1999 (by six wickets).Both victories were fashioned out by Kandy's famous cricketing son Muralitharan. He had a match bag of 12 wickets against Zimbabwe and eight against Australia.Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya has warned against a re-run last year's Test against South Africa in Kandy where the tourists won by seven runs."We have reminded the players at team meetings of tha
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 07:22:34 EST 2001
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2 Tamils held with brown sugar
Yahoo India,
March 6.
In one of the biggest drug hauls in this coastal state, the Narcotics Control
Bureau here seized 4.07 kg of brown sugar today.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 09:26:05 EST 2001
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Coast Guard arrests 11 Lankan fishermen
Times of India (Breaking News),
Tuesday .
6 March 2001
Coast Guard personnel arrested
11 Sri Lankan fishermen for crossing into
Indian waters in the sea off Tuticorin coast on
Tuesday, police said.The fishermen, whose boat was fitted with
very advanced communication equipment,
were taken into custody near Tuticorin coast
immediately after the Coast Guard radar
indicated that a foreign boat had crossed into
Indian waters, they said.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 09:22:47 EST 2001
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Viagra for wounded Sri Lankans
BBC South Asia,
Monday, 5 March, 2001, 15:16 GMT .
The authorities in Sri Lanka are to prescribe the impotence drug Viagra to some injured soldiers, in an attempt to raise their morale. The drug is being tested in the army's rehabilitation unit, initially on the victims of landmines.
More...
Published: Tue Mar 6 07:38:44 EST 2001
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