Posts Tagged ‘Britain’
Exclusive: Experts urge Commonwealth action on human rights
[Reuters] A confidential experts’ report to Commonwealth heads of government, obtained by Reuters, called for wide-ranging reforms that it said are essential if the organization is to make a real difference to improving the lives of its people. [Full Story]
Read MoreBritain sold weapons to help Sri Lankan army defeat Tamil Tigers
[The Times] Britain and other EU countries sold military equipment worth millions of pounds to the Sri Lankan Government in the last three years of its bloody civil war with the Tamil Tigers, The Times has learnt. Britain approved commercial sales of more than £13.6 million of equipment including armoured vehicles, machinegun components and semiautomatic…
Read MoreHelp the Tamils now
[ The Guardian ] In Britain, interfering in Sri Lanka’s future is looking like a poisoned chalice. As the burning effigies of “white Tiger” David Miliband on the streets of Colombo last week demonstrated, our help is not always welcome. As an old Whitehall colleague put it to me this week, “we’re damned if we…
Read MoreBarbed wire villages raise fears of refugee concentration camps
[Times Online] Sri Lanka was accused yesterday of planning concentration camps to hold 200,000 ethnic Tamil refugees from its northeastern conflict zone for up to three years — and seeking funding for the project from Britain. The Sri Lankan Government says that it will open five “welfare villages” to house Tamils fleeing the 67 sq…
Read MoreCeasefire urged as 52 killed in Sri Lanka war zone
[Reuters] The United States and Britain urged a temporary cease-fire in Sri Lanka to evacuate casualties and allow relief into the war zone as the Island nation celebrates independence from colonial ruler Britain on Wednesday. President Mahinda Rajapaksa was due to preside at a parade of military might in the capital on Wednesday morning that…
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