Posts Tagged ‘telegraph’
Sri Lanka accused of ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Tamil areas
[ Telegraph ] Aid officials, human rights campaigners and politicians claim Tamils have been driven out of areas in the north-east of the country by killings and kidnappings carried out by pro-government militias. They say the government has simultaneously encouraged members of the Sinhalese majority in the south to relocate to the vacated villages. One…
Read MoreTourists shun war-hit Sri Lanka
[Telegraph] Unfortunately, the violence has intensified over the last few months as the government has squeezed the LTTE forces back into the northern tip of the country. And this escalation has started to negatively impact the economy, with tourism , one of Sri Lanka’s key industries, severely affected. Although the reporting restrictions put in place…
Read MoreSri Lanka: a voice cries freedom from beyond the grave
[Telegraph] Back from Beijing (where I spent last week, apologies for lack of posts) to report, with the heaviest heart, the murder of one of Sri Lanka’s bravest and most controversial journalists. Lasantha Wickrematunge, 50, was stabbed and shot to death in broad daylight last Friday as he drove to work at The Sunday Leader,…
Read MoreLasting peace is unlikely, even if the Tamil Tigers are beaten
[ Telegraph ] Since his narrow election victory in 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa has dedicated himself to the cause of defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by military means. He opposed moves towards peace made by Sri Lanka’s previous government on the grounds that too much was being given away to the rebels. Talks…
Read MoreConditions in Sri Lanka’s north ‘like Somalia’
[Telegraph] SO little independent, verifiable information is coming out of northern Sri Lanka at the moment that I thought I should share this BBC report based on an interview with a World Food Programme employee, John Campbell, broadcast on the network’s Sinhala service. Speaking from a waterlogged village in a rebel-controlled area, he made this…
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