Tag: sri lanka (last 300)
Rajapaksa reelected in Sri Lanka
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.LK censored ahead of vote
(Rsf) Sri Lankan ISP blocks major newspaper sites before election results announced, making the most cliched move possible for rigging a vote. [via]
Peaceful election in Sri Lanka
(BBC) Rajapaksa put out propaganda falsely claiming Fonseka can’t run because he was’t registered to vote.
Strange bedfellows in Sri Lanka vote
(NYT) Both Sinhalese nationalist and Tamil parties have united behind Fonseka to drive corrupt, nepotistic Rajapaksa from power. Fonseka promised to devolve power to Parliament.
Oh, snap poll
(BBC) Ex-president Kumaratunga, a member of Rajapaksa’s party, backs his rival Gen. Fonseka in impending election.
Guess she was serious about the politics
Tea with snob appeal
(NYT) Driven by cheap Chinese competition, a Sri Lankan tea co moved upmarket, selling white tea costing a dollar a bag and opening tea bars like wine bars.
Sri Lanka’s January elections
(Time) Ex-Sri Lankan army chief Fonseka is running against Rajapaksa, whom he accuses of war crimes.
Looking at the barrel of an Armalite
Liberation Tamil Mobsters of Eelam
(Slate) Sri Lankan Tamil: LTTE shook him down for protection $, like mafia. ‘It was a big business. If there’s peace, there’s no money to be made.’ (via @priyamaine)
No green card for you
(Guardian) U.S. wants to question Sri Lanka Gen. Sarath Fonseka, visiting daughters in Oklahoma, about war crimes during final LTTE push. Could question Def Sec Gotabaya Rajapaksa, also a US citizen.
Tamil Sri Lankan refugees turn up off BC coast
(Province) Former Tamil Sri Lankan refugee: ‘My dad was shot dead by government forces... I was thrown in jail [in Canada] for three months simply for being a Tamil.’
Rajaratnam charges depress Sri Lankan exchange
(Google) Sri Lankan market declined 3% over Galleon case. Rajaratnam’s father was chair of a sewing machine co., important in this garment exporting country. Rajaratnam’s trading was scrutinized in the Sri Lankan exchange.
Rajaratnam invested heavily in Sri Lanka
(FT) Sri Lankan gov’t says Rajaratnam funded LTTE, investors panic becaues he holds minority stakes in many Sri Lankan cmopanies.
Galleon hits Sri Lankan shares
(Bloomberg) The Sri Lankan index dropped 2.2% after Rajaratnam’s arrest. He’s one of Sri Lanka’s biggest foreign equity investors, both personally and through Galleon.
Rajaratnam biggest U.S. donor to LTTE front
(ABC) Raj Rajaratnam gave $3.5M to a Tamil Tiger front org. Largest hedge fund insider case ever. Also donated to Hillary Clinton, Schumar, Obama.
Rolled by China
(Forbes) Sri Lanka played off India against China, Pakistan. Indian foreign policy drifts with whoever’s in power, has no long-term focus. Despite Indian aid, China’s the one building a key Sri Lankan port. (via @tunkuv)
Generation S.A.
(FT) Adiga: Coupland’s Sri Lankan call-centre worker written in earnest, stilted English, a crudely drawn South Asian stereotype. ‘Generation A’ is not one of his better books.
Sri Lankan execution video
(Vid NSFW + not for squeamish) Allegedly a cell phone video of Sri Lankan soldiers executing bound, unarmed Tamil civilians.
We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
(FP) Claim: Sri Lanka provided weapons to the Tamil Tigers against an Indian peacekeeping force [?!]... Neither America nor India understand how threatening they look to their neighbors.
Sri Lankan executions filmed
(AFP) UK broadcast footage of a Sri Lankan soldier shooting two naked, bound and blindfolded men in the back of the head, supposedly LTTE executions filmed on a soldier’s mobile.
Sri Lanka after the war
(Economist) An unhappy summary of the current state of Sri Lanka.
‘Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said he understood why Western governments were critical: ‘they are jealous of us because they have not defeated terrorism as we have.’�’
New LTTE head arrested
(Dbsjeyaraj) KP was arrested in Malaysia (maybe).
Jeyaraj has the best account of what went down. Thailand seems intent on disavowing involvement. India/Interpol/Internal LTTE opposition might have all played roles. Details are obviously sparse.
Rajapaksa’s victory lap
(NYT) Rajapaksa styles himself like Sinhalese king Dutugemunu who killed Elara, an invading Tamil king. Sri Lanka feels overshadowed by 50M Tamils in nearby India.
Momma said Knock You Out!
(BBC) So Nilmini Jayasinghe is gonna knock you out. She won a gold medal in women’s boxing championship in St Petersburg.
Ms Jayasinghe was a garment worker who started practising at the gym of the factory she worked at.
Tamils languish in Sri Lanka camps
(NYT) Hundreds of thousands of Tamils are being held in internment camps by a govt which considers LTTE and Tamils one and the same.
The cinnamon peeler’s scanner
A history of pearls
(VF) In Ceylon, pearl harvesting began with incantations to ward off sharks. The Chinese inserted lead images of Buddha into mussels, creating Buddha-like mother-of-pearl shapes.
S Lanka medics recant on deaths
(BBC) Five doctors who worked in Sri Lanka’s combat zone said that in media interviews during the fighting they had exaggerated figures for civilian casualties because of pressure from the LTTE, who controlled the area where they were working.
Pakistan, Sri Lanka face off in Galle
(NYT) Pakistan plays the host nation in Galle, Sri Lanka, in their first test meet since the Lahore terrorist attack.
Sri Lanka makes World Cup final
First arrest in Lahore cricket attack
(WSJ) A man was arrested in the Lahore attack on Sri Lankan cricketers. Cops allege the assailants planned to take the athletes hostage and demand jailed militants be released.
Ghost Tigers
(WaPo) Tamil Tiger vowed to form a gov’t in exile. An Indian analyst thinks it’s about getting the money back from LTTE accounts all over the world.
The Economist being censored in Sri lanka?
(Gawker) “There’s a report out there of shipments of the latest issue of The Economist being held back in customs. In the issue is an article about the Sri Lankan government’s “unpleasant triumphalism" over the Liberation Tigers."
Putting the past behind in Sri Lanka
(WSJ) A former Tamil Tiger who conducted a bombing and gun attack now wants to be a plumber. His parents told him not to come home for fear of revenge attacks. (ht: Shaheen)
Sri Lanka denies Canadian MP’s
(TO Globe) Bob Rae, Liberal Party MP, detained at Colombo airport and deported. Deepak Obhrai, Conservative Party MP, denied visa. What is Sri Lanka hiding? Canada is a major donor to Sri Lanka, having donated $85M after the tsunamis alone.
LTTE hijacked European satellite
(WSJ) LTTE backers in the diaspora hacked a European satellite to send broadcasts and tried to bribe State Dep’t officials into removing the Tigers from a list of terrorist orgs.
Photos show Tamil civilians bombed
(WaPo) High-res imagery puts the lie to the Sri Lankan gov’t’s claim that it adhered to a no fire zone and didn’t shell civilians. The U.S. may file criminal charges vs. the def sec and army chief, who both have U.S. citizenship or a green card.
Hit by both sides
DNA confirms Prabhakaran’s death
UN: 20K Tamil civvies killed
(ToL) UN doc: 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final throes of the Sri Lankan war, mostly by gov’t shelling.
Prabhakaran’s parents found
(BBC) Prabhakaran’s parents, both in their 70s, have been located an internal refugee camp Sri Lanka. They returned from India in ’03 after the country promised safe passage.
Guards short of bullets in Sri Lankan cricket attack
(WSJ) The cops guarding the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore were given only enough rounds for a single rifle magazine.
Maya Twitterspasm
Pioneers of the belly bomb
(WaPo) LTTE rebuffed AQ on bomb tech sharing: ‘We don’t go after kids in Pizza Hut.’ A bomber faked a pregnancy in an elaborate mil hospital plot. Other women trained on how to walk, act as if pregnant while carrying a bomb.
LTTE overplayed its hand
(Slate) Hitchens: China and Pakistan would never allow Sri Lanka to be partitioned in favor of a minority with strong links to India.
Prabhakaran death confirmed
(NYT) LTTE confirmed Prabhakaran’s death. The body was cremated and ashes scattered at sea to prevent a grave from becoming a pilgrimage site.
Escaping the LTTE
(Guardian) Nearing the shore of the lagoon, they started to crawl on their bellies across the sand. She could not swim; she had never learned, and the water was up to her neck.
UN chief visits Lankan camps
(AP) UN chief Ban Ki-Moon visited the Tamil camps in Sri Lanka. 200K people are being held in camps thrown up virtually overnight.
Sri Lankan war propaganda on TV
(WaPo) Young Sri Lankan singer calls for Rajapaksa to be king. ‘We are happy with a king who can protect our country. Elections don’t matter.’ Her royalist vid: [via]
Inside prison Sri Lanka
(NYT) Tamil Sri Lankans are visited at home by police every 2 weeks and told who’s allowed to live there, in a disturbing effort to root out LTTE.
Up to 250K to be held for 2 yrs in Sri Lankan camps
Identifying a Tiger
Funding the Tigers from France
Tamil refugees’ stories emerge
(Guardian) Tamils in Lanka: White phosphorus shells used. Patients drowned in flood. Some waded 3.5 hrs through chest-deep water to escape.
Prabhakaran brought about own death
(WaPo) Prabhakaran triggered the final offensive by cutting off water to eastern Sri Lanka. He refused to accept compromises that would have granted the Tamils autonomy.
High noon in Prabhakaran’s brain
(NYT) Prabhakaran was fascinated by Western shootouts. ‘He would take slow steps, whip out the revolver and fire at an imaginary enemy.’
Karuna: Prabhakaran betrayed Tamils
(WaPo) Karuna: Gandhi assassination got LTTE banned worldwide as terrorist group. And he ‘killed a lot of Tamil intellectuals... it turned a war for Prabhakaran’s survival. It had nothing to do with the Tamil people.’
Terrorist Elvis has left the building
On the sea tiger hunt
Sri Lankan-Ams avoid arguing politics
(NYT) NY Sri Lankans have long held joint Tamil-Sinhalese New Year’s parties and cricket games, carefully rotating an ethnic association presidency among Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims. (ht: GC)
Prabhakaran’s last stand
(NYT) In a 2-hour firefight, Prabhakaran and his lieutenants drove in an armor-plated van accompanied by a bus filled with armed rebels toward approaching Sri Lankan forces. The battle ended when troops fired a rocket at the van.
Slow gun Prabhakaran
(NDTV) Prabhakaran shot dead by Sri Lankan troops. He and aides tried to drive out of the war zone in a small convoy, but were gunned down.
Prabhakaran made grave mistakes
Maya trusts only TamilNet
(Twitter) M.I.A.: ‘I wonder if BBC are contractually ordered to keep repeating the same casualty figure from 1987 to make the war seem bullshit.’
LTTE concedes defeat in conventional war
(TO Globe) ‘We remain with one last choice’ to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns,’ Selvarajah Pathmanathan’s statement said. Guerrilla offensive promised.
Has Prabhakaran embraced death?
(Dbsjeyaraj) “It is widely believed that the 54 year old tiger supremo ... has committed suicide along with more than 300 of his deputies and senior cadres in the Mullivaaikkaal area"
Lanka, the final battle
Repulsing Hearts and Minds
(Tamilcircle) Extremely nsfw. A video by/of Sri Lankan Army soldiers in which they strip dead female LTTE cadres and make faces next to dead children.
Prabhakaran’s end
(Reuters) A mini-submarine, underwater escape tunnel and aircraft parts suggest Prabhakaran was planning a Houdini-like escape. His bodyguards have orders to burn his body if he’s near capture.
Sri Lankan hospital shelled again
Sri Lankan war is campaign issue
(WSJ) Rahul Gandhi distinguishes between Tamils and LTTE, mindful of his father’s assassination. Congress’ opposition calls for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka.
Tamils take Toronto
(Torontoist) Photos of Tamils in Toronto protesting overnight shelling deaths of 400 civilians in Sri Lanka (ht: hmm).
Hundreds killed in Sri Lanka shelling
(NYT) A government doctor in Sri Lanka’s war zone said Sunday that 378 civilians had been killed and more than 1,100 wounded during intensive shelling.
Sri Lanka kicks out journalists
(CNN) That UK Channel 4 report on abuse of Tamils in internment camps got the journies deported by the Sri Lankan gov’t.
Grim scenes at Tamil camps
(Channel4) Heartbreaking video footage of internment camps for Tamils fleeing the front lines in Sri Lanka. (ht: MA)
M.I.A. highlights Tamil camps in Sri Lanka
(MySpace) M.I.A.: There was mad Secret Service at the Time most influentials party. I didn’t get to throw a paper plane at Michelle Obama saying, ‘Stop the bombing of Tamils in Sri Lanka.’
Sri Lankan refugee deathtrap
(NYT) After the shelling had stopped, the Sri Lankan Tamils dug out the boat from under sand and took it to sea. Their 4 yr old died and they threw the child into the sea. Two jumped overboard, lured by twinkling lights.
LTTE finds religion
(ToI) The chief of the LTTE’s political wing wants religious leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to broker a cease-fire.
Sri Lanka needs growth, not just peace
Remaining Tigers mostly women?
(CSM) On Apr. 20, commandos crossed the shallow lagoon and captured the LTTE’s embankment. The next morning, 115K civilians escaped... Many of the LTTE combatants are children, and 3/4ths are young women.
Sri Lanka shells hospital
(AP) Sri Lankan forces allegedly shelled a makeshift hospital in the war zone, killing 64 civilians despite a pledge to stop using heavy weapons. Though the hospital is inside rebel-held territory, it is run by gov’t doctors.
Chinese billions fund fight vs. LTTE
(ToL) Ever since China gave Sri Lanka $1B for a naval port in Hambantota, the country’s had all the money it needed to fight the LTTE. China’s encircling India with ports at Gwadar in Pakistan, Chittagong in Bangladesh and Sittwe in Burma.
Sri Lanka allegedly bombs Tamil civilians
(ToL) Confidential UN satellite images leaked yesterday appear to show that the Sri Lankan Air Force used shelling and airstrikes against a safe haven for up to 150,000 civilians.
If looks could kill
(Sullivan·C Photo) Sri Lankan Tamil girl displaced by the fighting stares murder at UK foreign sec David Miliband. [via]
Swagga like us
(WSJ) Sri Lanka said it would cut back on using heavy weaponry that causes civilian casualties. Foreign sec: ‘They are down on their backs and getting their heads kicked in. To ask for a cease-fire is a bit humorous.’
Pussies whipped
(TO Star) As always, Tamil Tigers send out the young ones as cannon fodder. This time, a protest in front of the US consulate in Toronto calling for intervention on humanitarian grounds.
Dredging Rama’s bridge
(Wiki) The Sethusamudran Canal between India and Sri Lanka has been proposed at least a dozen times but opposed due to the Ramayana legend. It would only save significant time for ships originating in India. (ht: SB)
India upset with China over Sri Lanka crisis
(ToI) While India has a much more nuanced position over the issue owing to its domestic compulsions, an unfettered China is supporting Colombo and, in the process, authenticating India’s fear about Beijing extending its influence in the Indian Ocean.
Suffering in LTTE’s last stand
(NYT) The military is moving forward only yards a day as troops clear mines and booby traps. The LTTE has a tank, artillery and armor-plated vehicles. Many weakened civilians are dying after usually non-fatal medical operations.
India presses Sri Lanka on Tamils
(CNN) India’s foreign sec and natl sec advisor met with Sri Lanka’s PM over the Tamil humanitarian crisis. ‘The Indian message was just short of reading the riot act.’
LTTE not feeding hostages
(AP) UN: 6,500 Tamil civilians killed in the last 3 months in Sri Lanka. Tamil Tiger rebels using them as human shields. Conditions ‘were terrible as we did not have anything to eat.’ People abandoning dying relatives.
Sri Lanka’s War: Dark Victory
(Economist) A comprehensive piece by the Economist on Sri Lanka’s position now and the prospects for the future.
Tamil Canadians protest
(WaPo) Tens of thousands of Tamil protesters rallied in front of Canada’s parliament in Ottawa yesterday to stop the Sri Lankan war. This time they didn’t wave the LTTE flag.
Sri Lanka’s war may finally be over
(Telegraph) President Rajapaksa knows that, in order to persuade Western leaders to bail him out, he must offer his Tamil civilians a decent political settlement. Could the IMF achieve more for Sri Lanka’s Tamils than a quarter of a century of war?
Tough search for Sri Lanka truths
(BBC) Dissent has never been accepted — and many Tamil critics of the LTTE have been murdered over the years. The Sri Lankan authorities have also become intolerant of criticism.
From sys admin to Tiger hunter
(NYT Dec.) Sri Lanka defense sec Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s mission is personal: the Tigers tried to kill him two years ago. He used to work as a Unix sys admin at Loyola Law School in LA before his bro became PM.
LTTE claims 1,000 civilians died
(AP) Suddenly showing concern for civilian killings, the LTTE claimed 1,000 died in the Sri Lankan offensive. Perhaps not using them as human shields would reduce casualties.
Day of Reckoning in Sri Lanka
35K civilians escape LTTE
(Bloomberg) 35,000 civilians held by the Tamil Tiger escaped. Sri Lankan soldiers prepared a final assault while giving the LTTE a 24 hour surrender deadline.
Thousands urge British intervention in Sri Lanka
(AFP) 3,500 Tamils demonstrated outside Parliament in London to stop the Sri Lanka conflict, with one entering the 3rd week of a hunger strike.
Sri Lanka holding fleeing Tamils in jail camps
(Guardian) While Sri Lanka spun its Tamil civilian camps as humanitarian, one of the camp chiefs admitted they’re jails, in case LTTE have infiltrated.
British Tamil leader convicted of terrorism
(Reuters) A British jury convicted 52-yr-old Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar of terrorism, finding him guilty of supplying bomb-making equipment to the LTTE.
Tamil hunger strikers accept water
(BBC) One of two Tamil protesters on hunger strike opposite the UK House of Commons has agreed to suspend his fast.
M.I.A. backs civilian aid to Tamils
(Guardian) M.I.A. backs plans to send civilian aid to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan military said it will fire on any aid ship, claiming it will aid the LTTE. (ht: S)
Quantifying outrage at torture
(Trueslant) U.S. study: higher anger when Marine tortured by Iraqis than when Sri Lankan tortured by LTTE. ‘The mass American public won’t support prosecuting their countrymen for offenses against foreigners, as a matter of human nature.’
Gandhis face Tiger threat (again)
(AFP) Indian threat alert: Sonia, Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi could be attacked by Tamil Tigers in retaliation for not pressuring Sri Lanka to stop LTTE fight.
Marathon Tamil protest dwindles
(AFP) 100 Tamil protesters were still protesting on Parliament Square in London, down from 3,000 on Monday. Dozens of Tamils blocked the entrance to the premier’s office in Oslo, Norway.
London Tamil standoff continues
(Guardian) Tamil families protesting the Sri Lankan push set up tents on Westminster Bridge and refused to be moved. ‘There’s loose containment, people can leave and join.’ One protester jumped into the Thames.
Sri Lanka closes in on Prabhakaran
(Time) Up to 50K Sri Lankan soldiers are going in for the kill, with sea routes blockaded. They’ve found insulin containers suspected to belong to LTTE leader Prabhakaran. His wife’s entire family is in Denmark.
Tamils protest on London bridge
(BBC) Tamil protesters sat down on Westminster Bridge in London Monday with banners reading ‘Stop Sri Lanka’s Genocide of Tamils.’ Lifeboats were kept handy in case they jumped into the Thames.
The final LTTE push
(NYT) Tigers using children, civvies as human shields. In ‘no-fire’ zone, ‘mangled bodies, torn limbs, and blood-soaked soil appears more horrific than what one finds inside a butcher’s shop.’
Will Colombo make peace?
(TO Globe) A brief review of the conflict and the current situation followed by a discussion of the prospects for lasting peace. The writer, a professor at U of T, is not optimistic.
Inappropriate teasers
(Daily Show) Jon Stewart on inappropriate MSM teasers, including the clip of an LTTE bomber blowing up a crowd. ‘But first, how much blood does a baby contain? We’ll find out right after the break.’
WarGames II
Colombo’s Secret War on Terror
(Feer) “Far from the headlines, the government is waging another, less well-publicized battle. The security forces are alleged to have ordered or been complicit in the disappearance, torture and murder of thousands of Sri Lankan citizens."
Sri Lanka plays hardball with IMF
(BBC) Sri Lanka’s PM invoked the rhetoric of Robert Mugabe in rejecting
conditions on a loan from the IMF.
“"Neither will we bow to any conditions or transform our land to a colony," Mr Rajapaksa [told] local, state-controlled Daily News newspaper."
Hunting the Tigers (and maybe the Lions)
(Player) A 25 minute video by SBS Australia on the situation in Sri Lanka. Worth a watch, if only to see the furious meltdown of Gotabaya Rajapakse (Defence Secretary) at the end.
Inclusion is the way to real peace
(Age T)he consequence of pushing the military arm of the LTTE to the wall could well be a dramatic upsurge in urban terrorism ... It is an option for which, after all the years of its existence, the LTTE is no doubt well prepared.
Trading danger for captivity
(Economist) The Red Cross believes up to 150K civilians are under fire and in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care. The normally circumspect organisation is complaining of an unfolding humanitarian catatrophe.
Many dead in Sri Lanka, says UN
(BBC) The UN says that it estimates that thousands of civilians have been killed and wounded in the conflict in the north-east of Sri Lanka.
...
The government says the UN’s figures are “irresponsible and sensationalist".
Wave of immolations protest Sri Lankan war
(AP) Protesting the Sri Lankan campaign against the LTTE, Tamils have torched themselves in India and before the UN in Geneva and attempted to do so in front of 10 Downing St.
Sri Lankan cricketer says LTTE reflexes saved them
(WaPo) ‘We have been brought up in a background of terrorist activities,’ team captain Jayawardene said. ‘We are used to hearing, seeing these things. Firing, bombings. So we ducked under our seats when the firing began.’
Modesty unavailable at Sri Lankan checkpoints
(WaPo) Over 2/3rds the Tamil Tiger suicide bombers have been women, so they get groped at checkpoints... An 18-year-old student was raped and strangled by soldiers at one roadblock. In the cover-up they killed her mother, brother and neighbor.
8 die in Lahore cricket attack
(NYT) A dozen gunmen ambushed a Lahore bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team, using assault rifles, grenades and RPGs in an attack reminiscent of 11/26. 8 cops died, 6 cricketers injured. [Aussie team was right to bail.]
Cricketers attacked in Lahore
(AFP) Lahore: ‘There were 12 masked gunmen. They came on rickshaws. They were armed with rockets, hand grenades, kalashnikovs.’ 5 cops killed, 3 Sri Lankan cricketers wounded. (ht: Topi)
Tamils face open-ended detention
(CSM) A Sri Lankan resettlement camp for Tamils is taking on an air of permanence. Classrooms are being built. A post office, bank, clinic, and vocational training center have already opened.
Sri Lanka claims war over in days
(BBC) Sri Lankan troops are advancing on the last town still held by the Tamil Tigers in the north, Puthukkudiyiruppu.
Tamils levying genocide suit vs. Sri Lankan military
(Atimes) A Tamil group in America has hired a prominent American lawyer to try two top Sri Lankan military officials for genocide. They also hold U.S. green cards. (ht: Jef)
Sri Lanka militarized to defeat Tigers
(WaPo) In 2 yrs Sri Lanka armed its villages and nearly doubled its military. Officials sent text messages to youths and put patriotic pop hits on the radio... The top 3 officials — pres, def sec, adviser — are brothers, so the war is a family affair.
LTTE claims raid a success
(AP) The raid was a suicide mission aimed at the two installations, but anti-aircraft fire sent the planes out of control before they reached their targets. At least one of the planes was packed with 287 pounds (130 kilograms) of high explosives.
Colombo friendly fire kills civvies
Colombo had plenty of warning
(ToL) Sri Lanka’s military activated its air defences an hour before the air attack after reports from its ground troops of the sound of light aircraft. It was a major embarrassment for the gov’t, which claimed it destroyed the Tigers’ hidden runways.
Tigers wanted to use planes before capture
(Reuters) The thundering of anti-aircraft guns erupted over Colombo’s streets and tracer fire and spotlights lit up the skies, darkened after authorities cut the power when one plane was spotted on radar. ‘I saw a fireball entering the tax building.’
Two Tiger planes shot down
(NYT) Two Tiger light planes circling over the Sri Lankan capital were shot down, with one crashing into the government tax office and injuring 42 people.
007 Tigers
(BBC) Human Rights Watch: both Sri Lankan army and LTTE are killing civilians. The army said it had found diving equipment and underwater scooters used by suicide bombers.
Tigers bomb Colombo from air
(Reuters) Two LTTE planes dropped at least one bomb on Colombo, hitting the tax headquarters. One was shot down. More: [via]
Tigers shooting fleeing civilians
(BBC) The UN says civilians trying to escape the Tamil Tigers’ last stand were shot at by the Tigers, some killed.
Sri Lanka denies envoy
(Guardian) Britain appoints special envoy to Sri Lanka, a prelude to demanding UN access. Sri Lanka says he won’t be allowed in. Tamil hand-picked by gov’t says LTTE fired on fleeing civilians.
Fleeing Tamils jailed
(ToL) The Sri Lankan gov’t will open detention camps surrounded by barbed wire to house and screen Tamils fleeing the war with the LTTE, which human rights groups are calling concentration camps.
Grammys fund terrorism
(NYT) ‘Frankly, M.I.A.’s very lucky to get away with supporting, even indirectly, perhaps the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world,’ said Suresh Jayawickrama, a Sinhalese songwriter in Colombo. (ht: Shashwati)
Tigers keep killing civilians
(IHT) A female Tamil Tiger suicide bomber mixed with a group of civilians fleeing Sri Lanka’s war zone blew herself up, killing an unknown number of people and wounding 60.
Looking past the Tigers
(VOA) ‘Once the army occupies the north, the LTTE still has a large number of guerrillas underground that will rely on the support of the Tamil diaspora,’ unless there is a political solution.
Sri Lankan military may have cluster-bombed hospital
(Guardian) More than 50 civilians were killed after cluster bombs were dropped on the last functioning hospital in the north, which implies the Sri Lankan military was responsible.
Sri Lankan hospital shelled again
(CNN) A hospital caught in the middle of fierce fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka has been shelled for a ninth time in four days.
M.I.A. isn’t only Lankan with visa issues
(WSJ) LTTE splinter group leader Col. Karuna spent months in a British jail for traveling on someone else’s passport. His protege Pillayan usurped his role... Photos of Sri Lankan history: [via]
Sri Lankan hospital shelled
(NYT) 3 artillery attacks [unclear who fired] struck a Sri Lanka hospital during the push against the LTTE, killing more than 6. The Sri Lankan gov’t threatened to expel foreign journies covering civilian casualties.
To catch a thief
(BBC) The Sri Lankan army is using guerrilla tactics against the guerrillas, with teams of fighters deep in the jungle and highly manoeuvrable boats to take on the Tigers’ fledgling navy.
Tamils before Big Ben
(AFP) More than 50,000 demonstrators marched through London in a Tamil rally on Saturday demanding an end to the fighting in Sri Lanka.
UN evacs 2,000 civvies
MIA on the war in SL
Swim the friendly seas
(BBC) Photo of seized 35-foot armor-plated Tamil Tiger submarine seized by the Sri Lankan army, with goofy painted grin.
Four plead guilty to buying arms for Tigers
(Reuters) 4 Long Island men pled guilty to trying to buy heat-seeking missiles and AK-47s from undercover FBI agents for the Tamil Tigers.
Tigers holding 100K hostage
(Hindu) Mullaithivu town is on a narrow stretch of land between Nanthikandal lagoon and the Indian Ocean. It was considered the LTTE’s main military base. The gov’t says 100K civilians are being held hostage by the LTTE.
Tigers on last legs
(Reuters) Fonseka is forcing the LTTE forces towards the sea. Since the Tigers wear vials of cyanide, surrender seems unlikely. Many expect the hardest-core Tigers to go underground and conduct hit-and-run attacks.
Last Tiger town falls
(NYT) Sri Lanka says it’s captured the last LTTE town Mullaitivu. Meanwhile, the gov’ts attack on journalists continues.
LTTE’s shrinking territory
Bulls, pens and lightning
(WSJ) Photo 7: candelight vigil for murdered Sri Lankan journie. 11: Madurai bull wrestling for Pongal. 18: Nepali rick driver protests 16-hour power cuts in Kathmandu.
Sri Lanka: Cheney’s wet dream
(WSJ op/ed) For those who argue that there’s no military solution for terrorism, look at Sri Lanka. The Tigers murdered moderate Tamil leaders. Rajiv Gandhi airlifted them food to curry favor with Indian Tamils. Now they’re on the run.
And Then They Came For Me
(Sundayleader) Sunday’s editorial from the Sri Lankan journalist assassinated last week, published the day of his funeral. [via]
Presidential posting in commentariat
(Groundviews) Former Sri Lankan Pres. Chandrika Kumaratunga responds to country’s U.N. ambassador in blog comments re: assassination of editor Lasantha Wickremetunge. [via]
Lanka takes Elephant Pass
(AFP) Sri Lanka took Elephant Pass. The LTTE is almost totally confined to Mullaittivu jungle, where some 300,000 civilians are also living.
Sri Lanka’s Bofors
(BBC) The murdered Sri Lankan editor recently reported on an arms deal with Russia where gov’t ministers were allegedly receiving kickbacks.
Sri Lanka still murdering journies
(Guardian) After gunmen took over a TV station for not backing the gov’t enough, a motorcycle gunman killed the editor of a Sri Lankan newspaper which criticized the gov’t for corruption.
Sinhalese insecurity
(WSJ) The Sinhalese feel squeezed between Jaffna and Tamil Nadu. The sole painting on the Army Commander’s wall is of a Sinhalese king with a vanquished Tamil chieftain at his feet.
Sri Lankan TV station torched
(AFP) Men in a van without license plates torched Maharaja TV in Sri Lanka after the gov’t called it unpatriotic for devoting too much coverage to an LTTE suicide bombing.
LTTE took Kilinochchi as human shields
(BBC) Sri Lankan choppers flew journies low and fast at treetop height to prevent being shot down. Wild peacocks staggered from prop wash. The LTTE took many Tamils as human shields.
Flip-flop terrorists
(AP) The LTTE build 11-mile-long defenses: a 4’ x 6’ deep moat filled with water and unexploded grenades; an earthern berm 6’ high x 15’ deep. Rubber flip-flops lay scattered about Kilinochchi.
Ravana cornered
(Guardian) LTTE leader Prabhakaran may be co-ordinating resistance to the army offensive from an air-conditioned bunker complex 30 ft below ground around Mullaitivu.
Firecracker celebration
Tigers on the run
(AP) Sri Lankan air force jets and helicopters bombed a series of rebel targets in the north and northeast. They are assaulting Elephant Pass, a gateway to Jaffna. The LTTE captured an army base there 8 years ago.
Kilinochchi falls
(AFP) LTTE capital has fallen in 9 month military offensive. In past, LTTE dislodged the military from their Elephant Pass base at the entrance to Jaffna.
Peace, love and war
(WSJ) Photo 2: Former Indian pres Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam rides with the Dalai Lama. 11: Sri Lankan jet takes off for Kilinochchi.
Tigers’ HQ may fall
(BBC) Sri Lankan troops have been attacking the LTTE HQ, Kilinochchi, from three directions and say its fall is imminent.
Tamil parties antsy over Tiger rout
(CSM) Tamil parties disrupted India’s Parliament with calls to intervene in Sri Lanka, threatening to withdraw from the ruling coalition otherwise.
Tigers try to bomb ships
(Bloomberg) Much like AQ in Yemen, Tamil Tigers carried out a suicide attack on two Sri Lankan merchant ships bringing aid to Jaffna. The Nimalawa is sinking and the Ruhuna was damaged after being rammed.
Permanent state of Lankan war
(Newsweek) Stopped for hours every day at multiple gov’t checkpoints, Tamils in Sri Lanka grouse they’re living in an open prison. Cars and boats to Jaffna have been blocked, leaving only flights. (ht: Sugi)
Singh: hold off on LTTE push
(Australian) In a series of tense telephone calls with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Manmohan Singh warned the Sri Lankan army to hold back from overrunning the final LTTE bases and avoid creating a new wave of refugees.
Tigers kill 27 in opposition
(AFP) A Tiger suicide bomber killed 27 inside an opposition party’s office, including a retired general. The Sri Lankan army is on the verge of capturing LTTE stronghold Kilinochchi.
Baile will eat itself
A fragmentary history
(WaPo) I can’t distill Sri Lankan history to a sound bite. Writing fiction means that I have license to diverge from historical facts. But regardless of my caveats, my words may carry the weight of an imagined community.
Salty baila
(Vid) Portuguese traders and their Western African slaves brought Sri Lanka baila music of Spanish and European style. Here’s ‘Lunu Dehi’ (Salt and Lime). [via]
SVU: Ceylon
(NPR) Sri Lankan domestic violence burn victims’ healing tends to be more emotional than physical, because victims are often ostracized. (ht: chickpea)
Colombo bus bomb kills 26
Sri Lankan minister never saw it coming
(IHT) Sri Lankan highway minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle approached the starting line with a flag to start the marathon when the bomb exploded. He was the second minister assassinated this year.
Arthur C. Clarke laid to rest
(SMH) Clarke had asked for a secular funeral, but monks joined the mourners. Sri Lankans observed a minute of silence. Yellow roses were thrown onto the body, which lay on a white bed beneath curved elephant tusks.
Wild wild East
(NYT) In Eastern Sri Lanka, a party supporting Karuna’s breakaway LTTE faction is fielding candidates. A man was abducted after having refused to run on their ticket. A woman’s husband was threatened with death if she didn’t vote for them.
No eyes on Sri Lankan war
(NYT) Sri Lankan cops got on the bus and demanded identity cards. He began to tremble because he knew he would be suspect: a young newcomer from Tamil-majority Jaffna, unable to speak Sinhalese.