Rajapaksa visits Kilinochchi

April 20th, 2009 Even the pictures could not have fully captured the immense joy President Mahinda Rajapaksa may have felt when he victoriously toured Kilinochchi, the once quaint Sri Lankan town the Tamil Tigers had made the hub of a de facto state they thought no one could vanquish. But dreams do sometimes turn into disasters.

April 18th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa Saturday urged the international community to exert pressure on the Tamil Tigers to free civilians, instead of asking him to pause the military operation, to defeat terrorism in the island nation. 'The LTTE has been holding thousands of civilians hostage in the Wanni.

April 18th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Saturday urged the international community to exert pressure on the Tamil Tigers to free civilians, rather than asking him to pause the military operation to defeat terrorism in the island nation. 'The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) has been holding thousands of civilians hostage in the Wanni.

April 16th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday paid a surprise visit to Kilinochchi, the former political hub of the Tamil Tigers, officials here said. Government troops captured Kilinochchi, 350 km north of Colombo, at the start of January, ending a decade of control of the northern region by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

April 16th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday paid a surprise visit to Kilinochchi and addressed troops who captured the region from the Tamil Tigers in January, ending a decade of rebel rule. Determined to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the president interacted with the soldiers as well as Tamil civilians who fled the last chunk of territory still held by the rebels, officials said.

April 16th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday became the first national leader to visit the former Tamil Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi in almost half a century, as he addressed troops that had captured the region from the Tamil Tigers in January. Determined to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the president paid a surprise visit there, interacted with the soldiers and greeted them for their successive victories against the rebels in the battlefield.

January 13th, 2009 COLOMBO - While stepping up its 'fight to finish' campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels in their last major bastions in Mullaitivu district, Sri Lanka has said that the rebels' former politico-administrative hub Kilinochchi would be developed fast with the assistance of the Indian government. Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene has said that the development of the recently recaptured Kilinochchi 'would begin soon with the assistance of India' while more assistance would be sought from other countries to develop the war-devastated district in the north.

January 8th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa Friday announced that the troops fighting their way into the remaining Tamil Tigers' strongholds in the north have captured Elephant Pass garrison, taking full control of entire stretch of the A-9 Jaffna-Kandy main highway after almost a decade. 'Our troops by noon today (Friday) fully captured the Elephant Pass.

January 1st, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lankan troops have 'completely' captured the Tamil Tiger rebels' de facto political capital of Kilinochchi, dealing a major blow to the rebels after over a decade, President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced Friday as celebrations broke out across the country at the news of the victory. 'A short while ago, our brave and heroic troops have fully captured Kilinochchi that was considered the main bastion of the LTTE.

January 1st, 2009 Ten years after they captured the northern Sri Lankan town of Kilinochchi in a blitzkrieg that stunned the world, the Tamil Tigers have finally lost it to a military determined to crush the rebels. The fall of Kilinochchi after months of fighting is a huge blow to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

January 1st, 2009 COLOMBO - The fall of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) political hub Kilinochchi is imminent with ground troops entering the perimeter of the town, the Sri Lankan military said Friday. 'The fall of Kilinochchi is imminent as security forces have already entered into the Kilinochchi town perimeter from the northern, southern and western edges of Kilinochchi town,' the defence ministry said.

January 1st, 2009 COLOMBO - Fighting their way into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) political capital Kilinochchi, the Sri Lankan military Friday captured the railway station in the well-fortified township, defence sources here said. By Friday noon, Kilinochchi, 350 km north of here, was 'completely surrounded by troops' advancing from the northern, southern and western edges.

December 31st, 2008 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday took over the media ministry and appointed the former media minister to handle the investment promotion portfolio, a top government official said. 'The president has taken over the ministry of mass media and information and appointed former media minister Anurapriyadarshana Yapa as minister of investment promotion,' director of the government information department Anusha Palpita told IANS.

December 31st, 2008 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday took over the media ministry and appointed the former media minister to handle the investment promotion portfolio, a top government official said. 'The president has taken over the ministry of mass media and information and appointed former media minister Anurapriyadarshana Yapa as minister of investment promotion,' director of the government information department Anusha Palpita told IANS.

December 29th, 2008 COLOMBO - Vowing that his government would restore 'all that was lost due to terrorism', Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has asked the people of the northern Jaffna peninsula that it was time to forget 'the unfortunate developments of the past'. President Rajapaksa made these remarks Monday night while addressing the people of Jaffna via satellite transmission on the occasion of an 'educational and industrial exhibition' organised by the Sri Lanka Army.