Sri Lanka says new Tamil Tiger leader arrested overseas

October 1st, 2009 13 hurt as bomb-rigged car explodes in Sri LankaCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A car bomb exploded in northwest Sri Lanka on Friday and wounded 13 people, most of them schoolchildren about to travel in the van, the military said. It was the first major bomb blast reported in the country since government troops crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels in May, after a 25-year insurgency for an independent homeland.

September 6th, 2009 Sri Lanka expels UN official over reported commentCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A United Nations official has been banished from Sri Lanka reportedly after discussing how the government's decades-long battle with Tamil Tiger rebels took its toll on children in the war zone. The residency visa of U.N.

August 7th, 2009 Rebels admit leader's arrest, return to Sri LankaCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan officials on Friday questioned the captured leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who was arrested in Southeast Asia earlier this week and flown to this island nation. Sri Lanka's military spokesman Brig.

August 7th, 2009 Arrested Tamil Tiger leader in Sri LankaCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's military says it is interrogating the new leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels after his capture in a foreign country. Military spokesman Brig.

August 2nd, 2009 COLOMBO - A senior civil administration official in the Sri Lankan government has been arrested for alleged links with the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, police said Sunday. Nagalingam Vethanayagam, the government agent of Kilinochchi, was arrested Friday following information from an arrested Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre, police said.

June 26th, 2009 Police arrest Sri Lanka astrologer for predictionCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan police say they have arrested a popular astrologer for publicly predicting President Mahinda Rajapaksa's imminent ouster from office. Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera confirmed Friday that Chandrasiri Bandara has been arrested so police could investigate the source of his prediction.

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 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 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka on Monday formally announced the end of war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam after chief V Prabhakaran was shot dead while trying to flee in an ambulance from the war zone in northern Sri Lanka. The three-decade long fight by the LTTE for a separate homeland for Tamils came to end after the death of Tamil Tigers chief.

April 22nd, 2009 Sri Lanka says 2 rebel officials surrenderCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's military says that two Tamil Tiger rebels officials have surrendered to its advancing troops in the northern war zone. Military spokesman Brig.

April 22nd, 2009 Sri Lanka refuses to pardon rebel leaderCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's president has ruled out a pardon for the Tamil Tiger rebels' leader if he's captured alive by government soldiers now advancing into the last remaining rebel territory. A statement quotes President Mahinda Rajapaksa as saying he was ready to pardon the reclusive guerrilla leader Velupillai Prabhakaran if he had surrendered to the armed forces.

April 20th, 2009 COLOMBO - Closing in on the last Tamil Tiger base, Sri Lanka Monday ordered rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and his fighters to surrender by Tuesday noon or face death. 'We have issued the last and final 24-hour ultimatum to Prabhakaran and his group to surrender,' defence ministry spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters Monday.

April 12th, 2009 COLOMBO - Six civilians were killed and two wounded in a suspected Tamil Tiger attack in a village in south Sri Lanka Sunday, defence ministry said The defence ministry said the civilians 'were hacked to death' by a group of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas at Mahagodayaya village in the southern Moneragala district around 7 p.m. The wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital.

February 8th, 2009 COLOMBO - The United Nations and the US condemned Monday's suicide attack in Sri Lanka by a suspected Tamil Tiger that left 23 people dead and over 60 wounded. The bomber exploded herself amid Tamil civilians fleeing the war zone in the country's north where the military is battling a cornered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

January 8th, 2009 COLOMBO - Three air force personnel and four civilians were killed Friday morning in a Claymore mine explosion carried out by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, an official said. Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said that they were killed when the bus they were travelling in came under attack at about 9.30 a.m.