Chinese billions helping Lanka ward off Western peace efforts, fight LTTE

September 23rd, 2009 NEW YORK - India has pressed for quicker rehabilitation and resettlement of some 300,000 Tamils displaced in Sri Lanka. External Affairs Minister S.M.

July 31st, 2009 COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government has closed down a peace secretariat that was set up to facilitate reconciliation talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels, an official said Friday. The government had taken the decision to close down the secretariat by July end, Rajiva Wijesinghe, head of the office, told reporters.

June 23rd, 2009 COLOMBO - An opposition Tamil minority legislator has been arrested for allegedly helping the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a newspaper said Tuesday. Sathasivam Kanagaratnam, a member of parliament representing the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), was living in the rebel-controlled area in northern Sri Lanka and escaped two days before the defeat of the rebels in a major military action last month.

June 13th, 2009 LONDON - A British-based Tamil, who co-ordinated the supply of electric materials and documents for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) between 2003 and 2006 in Sri Lanka, has been jailed for two years. Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar (51) was given a shopping list of goods to be sent to Sri Lanka by the Tamil Tigers, The Telegraph reports.

May 31st, 2009 LONDON - Tamil children in Sri Lanka as young as 11 years were forced at gunpoint to fight for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in civil war. Darchiga Kuken, a former Tamil Tiger child soldier interned at the Ambepusse rehabilitation centre after escaping from the rebels.

May 28th, 2009 COLOMBO - The parents of the now dead Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran are in the "protective custody" of the Sri Lankan government, a media report said Thursday. Thiruvenkatam Velupillai (76) and his wife Parvathi (71) surrendered to the army several days ago, The Island newspaper quoted a government official as saying.

May 24th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Government of Sri Lanka on Sunday said that it would allow UN aid workers access to Tamil refugees housed in camps after weeding out elements suspected of links with the LTTE. Responding to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's demand for unhindered access after visiting the Menik Farm camp housing 200,000 Tamils, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa warned of "the likely presence of Tamil Tiger infiltrators among the large numbers who had come to the government areas." The government describes the camps as "welfare villages" and says it wants to resettle all displaced civilians as soon as possible.

May 19th, 2009 LONDON - Sri Lanka has an 'historic opportunity' to build a lasting peace after defeating the rebel Tamil Tigers but first it must tackle a grave humanitarian crisis, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Tuesday. He called for aid agencies to be allowed full access to camps for civilians displaced by the conflict and said Sri Lanka's government had to be 'magnanimous in victory'.

May 18th, 2009 LONDON - A new democratically-minded and nonviolent group is needed to win the aspirations of Tamils in Sri Lanka following the defeat of the LTTE, a leading member of the Tamil diaspora in Britain said Monday. 'At the moment, there is mourning everywhere among the Diaspora, but once we have had time to mourn and hold our memorials, we should sit down and chalk out the way forward,' said Thaya Idaikkadar, Chairman of the British Tamil Councillors and Associates (BTCA).

May 18th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Sri Lanka army has claimed to have killed three senior Tamil Tiger leaders, as its fight against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam continued in the northern part of Sri Lanka on Monday. Sri Lanka's government said troops were engaged in "final brushing up" hours after a website linked to the rebels said the Tigers were laying down arms.

May 18th, 2009 LONDON - A new democratically-minded and non-violent group is needed to win the aspirations of Tamils in Sri Lanka following the defeat of the LTTE, a leading member of the Tamil diaspora in Britain said Monday. 'At the moment, there is mourning everywhere among the (Tamil) diaspora, but once we have had time to mourn and hold our memorials, we should sit down and chalk out the way forward,' said Thaya Idaikkadar, chairman of the British Tamil Councillors and Associates (BTCA).

May 13th, 2009 COLOMBO - At least 44 LTTE rebels and one International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker are reported to have been killed during fresh clashes between the Sri Lanka Army and the Tamil Tigers. Two divisions of the Sri Lankan Army continue to advance into rebel territory, even as predictions are being made that the LTTE leadership and cadres could be nabbed in the next 36 hours.

May 7th, 2009 LONDON - British police made three arrests after Sri Lankan Tamil protesters attacked the Chinese embassy in central London, smashing windows. Reports said the protest action took place Wednesday when some 150 supporters of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam arrived at the embassy carrying LTTE flags.

April 28th, 2009 COLOMBO - A day after declaring an end to the use of heavy artillery and aerial weaponry against the rebel Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), the Government of Sri Lanka has refused entry to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Bildt was to have arrived in Colombo on Wednesday with British counterpart David Miliband and France's Bernard Kouchner to assess the situation in northern Sri Lanka.

April 22nd, 2009 COLOMBO - Two top leaders of the rebel Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Ealam (LTTE) have surrendered before the Sri Lanka Army in Puthumathalam.ccording to a Times Now report, Daya Master and George surrendered before officers of the 58th Division of the Sri Lankan Army. Daya Master and George were part of the LTTE supreme V.