Posts Tagged ‘Mahinda Rajapakse’
My brothers’ keepers: In Sri Lanka the grip of the Rajapaksas only tightens
[The Economist] THE president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, may well feel pleased with himself. On the face of it, more than six years after his first election, his prospects are still remarkably rosy. The economy clips along at about 7% a year. Mr Rajapaksa’s coalition controls over two-thirds of parliament, and opposition parties are…
Read MoreSri Lanka detains suspects despite end to emergency
[AFP] Sri Lanka on Wednesday used draconian anti-terror laws to detain thousands of Tamil rebel suspects who would have had to be freed when a state of emergency ended after 28 years, an official said. [Full Story]
Read MoreTigers say civilians will remain
[BBC] The Tamil Tigers say that 250,000 civilians in the conflict zone in north-eastern Sri Lanka want to stay to be protected by the rebels. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had appealed to the rebels to allow the civilians to leave. But his government also ruled out a ceasefire. Rebel political chief B Nadesan said…
Read MoreSri Lankan govt has public backing for war on Tigers: survey
[AFP] The Sri Lankan government has overwhelming public support for its war against the Tamil Tigers, and most people believe the rebels will soon be defeated, an opinion poll published Wednesday shows. The privately run research group TNS Lanka questioned 500 people living outside the northern conflict zone between October and November. The result will…
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