UK, US call for end to fighting in Sri Lanka

September 7th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government is unlikely to revoke its decision to expel a UN official from Colombo after he made remarks about the conditions of war refugees, a senior government official said Monday. Unicef spokesman James Elder was ordered to leave and his visa was cancelled.

July 25th, 2009 IMF approves $2.6 billion loan to Sri LankaCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The International Monetary Fund has given final approval for a $2.6 billion loan for Sri Lanka despite calls from human rights groups that the island nation should first address concerns over its human rights record. Some $322.2 million of the loan will be immediately available to Sri Lanka.

July 5th, 2009 COLOMBO - A lone Tamil rebel killed a soldier in eastern Sri Lanka and injured two in a shootout marking the first military casualties after the guerrilla leadership was crushed six weeks ago, a military spokesman said Sunday. The incident took place in Kirankulam, Batticaloa, 300 km east of the capital when soldiers attempted to ambush a rebel riding a canoe in a lagoon Saturday.

July 3rd, 2009 COLOMBO - The British government has relaxed travel restrictions on its citizens visiting Sri Lanka nearly five weeks after Tamil separatist rebels were defeated to end a more then 30-year war in the South Asian country, the British high commission in Colombo said Friday. Britain, which had imposed restrictions for its citizens to some of the popular tourist destinations on the southern and eastern coasts of the country, said in a statement that it would no longer discourage British people from visiting those areas.

June 2nd, 2009 NEW YORK - The UN Security Council plans to meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon this week to discuss the situation in Sri Lanka for the first time since fighting ceased in the island nation, the council's president said Tuesday. Ban will brief the 15-nation council behind closed doors on Friday and it will be an "unofficial, interactive dialogue," said Turkish Ambassador Baki Ilkin, whose country presides over the body in June.

May 27th, 2009 GENEVA - The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted Wednesday a resolution which praised the government of Sri Lanka for its commitment to human rights, while condemning the Tamil Tiger rebels. The resolution, tabled by Sri Lanka itself and other nations, including China, Cuba and Egypt, also allows the government to let aid agencies' have access to camps for the internally displaced "as may be appropriate".

May 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Welcoming the cessation of fighting in Sri Lanka, the US has asked Colombo 'to heal the wounds of the conflict' by working out new power sharing arrangements with the Tamils, Sinhalese, and all other Sri Lankans. 'To truly defeat terrorism, the government of Sri Lanka needs to begin and work toward building a democratic, prosperous, tolerant and united Sri Lanka and work toward justice and reconciliation for both sides,' State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Tuesday.

May 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - As Colombo declared victory against the Tamil Tiger rebels, the US asked Sri Lanka to turn the page on its past and engage Tamils to create a political arrangement that protects the rights of all its citizens 'This is an opportunity for Sri Lanka to turn the page on its past and build a Sri Lanka rooted in democracy, tolerance and respect for human rights,' State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Monday. 'Now is the time for the government to engage the Tamils, Sinhalese and other Sri Lankans to create a political arrangement that promotes and protects the rights of all Sri Lankans,' he added.

April 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The United Nations on Thursday termed the conditions in camps for displaced Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka as "far from satisfactory" while stating that its top priority was to get an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped in the war zone to safety. "Although the conditions are very far from satisfactory in that camp and in those transit centres, I think with huge efforts we're beginning to get a grip on that and the basics will be there to allow people to at least survive," Holmes said.

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 26th, 2009 COLOMBO - Tamil Tiger rebels fighting government forces in north-east Sri Lanka on Sunday evening declared a unilateral ceasefire, following an "unprecedented humanitarian crisis", a BBC report stated on Sunday. A Tamil Tiger spokesman termed reason behind the move as "unprecedented humanitarian crisis", said the report.

April 25th, 2009 UN humanitarian chief: Sri Lanka situation 'dire'BANGKOK — The U.N.'s top humanitarian official said Saturday that the situation for some 50,000 civilians trapped in Sri Lanka's war zone is now "very dire," and a pause in the fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels is desperately needed to get them out of danger. Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, who was en route to the troubled island nation for a three-day emergency mission, said in Bangkok that he hopes to persuade the government to allow a humanitarian team into the conflict zone to assess the situation and the needs of trapped civilians.

April 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US has expressed support for India's efforts to end the fighting in Sri Lanka between the government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels. 'We support Indian efforts to stop the fighting,' State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Friday, noting that New Delhi had sent two special emissaries 'to convey their government's concerns about the conflict to the government of Sri Lanka'.

April 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Expressing concern about the plight of civilians trapped in the 'no fire zone' in northern Sri Lanka, the US has asked the Tamil Tigers to release them and also urged Colombo to engage Tamils for a political solution. The call was made by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher and US ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake during a discussion with several US-based organisations representing members of the Tamil diaspora.

February 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Insisting that the time had come for a political resolution of Sri Lanka's conflict, the US and Britain have called for a 'temporary no-fire' period as well as fresh talks between Colombo and the Tamil Tigers. A joint statement issued after a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called on Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 'to agree to a temporary no-fire period', to ensure the safety of the civilians caught up in the war.' Expressing 'serious concern' about the 'deteriorating humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka', the two leaders 'affirmed their insistence on a political resolution to this long-standing conflict' and added that the 'time to resume political discussions is now'.