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Sri Lanka steps up mine clearance

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government has stepped up clearing mines in former rebel-controlled areas aimed at resettling 159,000 war refugees before the end of January, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said Thursday.

No war crimes questions, Sri Lankan general returns from US

COLOMBO - General Sarath Fonseka, who was Sri Lanka’s army commander when it defeated Tamil separatist rebels in May, returned home from US Thursday without being questioned by US authorities about alleged war crimes.

Sri Lanka’s ex-army chief leaves US without facing questioning

COLOMBO - General Sarath Fonseka, who was Sri Lanka’s army commander when it defeated Tamil rebels in May, left the US without being questioned by US authorities about the final phase of military operations against the guerrillas, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Sri Lankan opposition forms alliance to contest polls

COLOMBO - Thirteen opposition parties, including the main opposition faction, led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, formed an alliance Tuesday to contest the presidential and parliamentary elections expected to be held next year.

TULF seeks Karunanidhi’s intervention

COLOMBO - Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has been urged by a Tamil politician here to intervene and help secure the Tamils a

US hails release of Tamils from camps

COLOMBO - The US Wednesday hailed the increasing release of people interned in camps in Sri Lanka since the end of the war against the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lanka to probe US charges of troops ‘atrocities’

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka will appoint a committee to probe into the allegations made by the US State Department of alleged atrocities by its troops during the final battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May this year, an official said.

Sri Lanka denies rift between ex-army commander, government

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka’s military Friday denied widespread reports of a rift between the government and the ex-army commander who led the troops in the war against Tamil rebels.

Island nation of Maldives to hold underwater Cabinet meeting to show climate change threat

Maldives: All set for underwater Cabinet meeting

Confident Sri Lanka to hold elections before April 2010

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka will hold both presidential and parliamentary elections before April 2010, the BBC quoted its state radio, as saying.

Sri Lanka to go for early presidential elections

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka is to hold presidential elections nearly two years before scheduled, an official said Tuesday.

Sri Lanka goes dark in nationwide blackout

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — An official says a power blackout plunged all of Sri Lanka into darkness for a few hours Friday because of a technical fault at an electricity distribution center.

Maldives to hold cabinet meeting underwater to highlight threat of global warming

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Maldives government ministers are taking scuba lessons and learning underwater signs in preparation for an unprecedented Cabinet meeting at the bottom of the ocean intended to highlight the threat global warming poses to the low-lying nation.

British minister in Sri Lanka to assess refugee resettlement

COLOMBO - A British cabinet minister began a two-day visit to Sri Lanka Tuesday to assess the government’s resettlement plans for an estimated 250,000 people displaced by the country’s civil war, officials said.

13 injured by explosion in Central Sri Lanka

COLOMBO - At least 13 civilians, including 12 children, were injured when a van exploded in Sri Lanka’s central district of Kurunegala Friday morning.

Sri Lanka’s military says bomb blast in vehicle kills schoolgirl, 12 others wounded

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A schoolgirl was killed by a car bomb in northwestern Sri Lanka that also wounded 12 others Friday, mostly students who were about to travel in the vehicle, officials said.

13 injured by car bomb in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO - At least 13 people, 12 of them schoolchildren, were injured when a bomb went off inside a van in north-western Sri Lanka, police said Friday.

Sri Lanka’s military says bomb blast in vehicle to transport schoolchildren wounds 13

COLOMBO, 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.

Sri Lanka’s military says bomb blast in a car transporting schoolchildren wounds 13

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s military says a bomb has exploded inside a car transporting schoolchildren in the country’s northwest province, wounding 13.

Sri Lanka military says it foils escape bid by war refugees, wounds 2

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan soldiers fired on a group of war refugees trying to flee a camp in the north of the island, wounding two, the military said Sunday.

Sri Lanka to recruit Tamils in police force

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government will recruit Tamils in the police force, an official said Tuesday.

UNDP and Hayleys join hands to support resettled communities in Ampara

COLOMBO - An agreement was signed between Hayleys and the Akkaraipattu Seed Paddy Producers Society in Ampara on Monday.

Sri Lanka Government recruiting Tamil police in Jaffna

COLOMBO - Almost four months after eliminating the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), the Government of Sri Lanka has commenced recruiting Tamil police officers from the northern city of Jaffna.