Sri Lanka news columns

Sri Lanka is now on her rebuilding phase after the war that took most of her beauty and human qualities that were being praised all around the globe. Now Sri lanka is coming back slowly but steadily. Now most of the Sri Lankans like to go for new horizons that were closed for them to reach. Lanka Challenge - 2009 is one such event that is going to be organized within Sri Lanka this month. This will give Sri Lanka to show her beauty and let some adventure loving foreign tourists to explore her real beauty in a different angle. The Lanka Challenge 2009 will see intrepid travelers from around the world traverse the spicy island of Sri Lanka from the 5th-15th September 2009, in one of the funkiest modes of transport invented by man; the humble Auto Rickshaw. This three - wheeled mean machine will become your best companion as you compete in a ”master of disaster” challenge through mountains, rainforests, coastal villages and bustling cities, not to mention some of the most breathtaking sce...

COLOMBO: Following the victory of the Sri Lankan army over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant outfit once considered by many as an invincible force, Pakistan has asked Sri Lanka to provide training to its military personnel. The government of Pakistan wants the Sri Lankan military to train its personnel in counter-insurgency operations, the Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, Lt-Gen Jagath Jayasuriya, told journalists on Thursday. He said several other countries had also sought information about the strategy and tactics adopted by the Sri Lankan armed forces to decimate the LTTE in just three years of intense fighting. Pakistan helped Sri Lanka fight the LTTE by supplying arms when other countries had put an embargo on arms sales to the country. Adm Wasantha Karannagoda, a former naval chief who is currently the National Security Adviser, had said at an international naval seminar in the UK that the strategies and tactics used by the Sri Lankan navy to tackle the LTT...

The Sri Lankan defence secretary has called on foreign countries to hand over Tamil Tiger rebels and their assets, worth of millions of dollars. The demand by Gotabaya Rajapaksa came weeks after the arrest of the new Tamil Tiger leader, Selvarasa Pathmanathan. Mr Pathmanathan was arrested in a South East Asian nation earlier this month and brought to Colombo in a swift and secretive operation. He is currently being interrogated by Sri Lankan security officials. The Sri Lankan military declared victory over Tamil Tiger rebels in May this year. Overseas assets Mr Pathmanathan is the most senior leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to be caught alive by Sri Lankan security forces. "He's a seasoned man, so he's coming out with information very slowly during interrogation. He was the person who ran a massive network to purchase arms and ammunition for the LTTE for nearly 30 years," Mr Rajapaksa told the BBC. Tamil Tiger rebels Mr Pathmanathan is alleged to...

COLOMBO, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - Sri Lanka has ordered a number of military transport helicopters and other weaponry from Russia, the country's defense secretary said in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti. "I have managed to reach an agreement with Russia on a loan to purchase military equipment, primarily helicopters for the air force , and other weaponry," Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said, adding that the helicopters had been already ordered. Rajapaksa did not specify the amount of the deal or the number of helicopters, but said they were needed in the first place "to transport military personnel." "We will need them in the future. We are already using [Russian-made] Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopters, and we need more," the official said. He added that Sri Lanka was willing to develop stronger military ties with Russia. "We would like to bring our relations to the level where we could share [combat] experience," Rajapaksa said. One of t...

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Thousands of civilians under rebel fire waded across a lagoon yesterday to escape Sri Lanka's war zone, where government forces have surrounded Tamil Tiger separatists for possibly the final battle of a 25-year conflict, the military and a United Nations official said. The military said aerial surveillance footage confirmed an exodus of about 5,000 people from a tiny, sandy coastal strip, where the United States and others say the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are holding thousands by force. Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers brushed off demands from the US Security Council and President Obama to take steps to protect the civilians, who are stuck between two foes who are determined to fight to the end of a war that began in 1983. Piling on more pressure, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to dissuade the International Monetary Fund from considering a $1.9 billion loan for Sri Lanka. "We think it is not an ap...

At least 3,000 civilians, held hostage by the LTTE inside the new safety zone along the Mullaithivu sea coast, escaped on Thursday as the Sri Lanka military opened up an escape route. The Lankan military believe that the exodus from the LTTE-held area is expected to pick up as the army is helping stranded Tamil civilians in the current phase of the operation. The latest rescue operation began amid concern expressed by the UN Security Council and US President Barack Obama over the deteriorating humanitarian crisis inside the new safe zone, and an offer by the Tigers to enter into talks with the Sri Lanka government in the "interest of the civilians." Earlier on Wednesday, waging a desperate battle for survival, the Tamil Tigers launched a wave of suicide attacks on land and sea, but failed to stall the advance of Sri Lankan forces, who broke through their defences as fierce fighting left 44 rebels dead and many soldiers wounded. The renewed heavy fighting raged as ...