Saturday, February 11, 2012
- Lahore: Shopping centre caught fire in Gulberg
- Australia beat Sri Lanka by 5 runs, remain unbeaten in tri-series
- Blasts, firing near PTIs rally leave 7 injured in Swabi
- Imran says will shoot down drones if comes to power
- 25 killed, 175 injured in Syria blasts
- Aqib Javed resigns as bowling coach
- NATO supplies from Pakistani airspace never stopped: Pentagon
- 11 militants killed, 19 injured in Orakzai operation
- Mansoor Ijaz to record statement via videolink on Feb 22
- LHC adjourns hearing of petition against TCP
Sri Lanka seeks to avoid spat with India
COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lanka said Friday it would send a delegation to India to defuse mounting tensions over the escalating conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lanka's minority Tamils share close cultural and religious links with the 55 million Tamils in the nearby south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Colombo's all-out assault on the northern stronghold of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has prompted New Delhi to voice "grave concern" over the conflict.
"We are hoping to send a team of MPs to India to educate them on the latest situation," Media Minister Yapa Abeywardena said in a statement over national radio. "We know the difference between the Tamil civilians and the Tiger terrorists," he said.
A group of MPs from the state has threatened to resign unless New Delhi puts pressure on Colombo. The Sri Lankan government is trying to capture the rebel political headquarters of Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres north of Colombo.
India, meanwhile, kept up the pressure on Sri Lanka, asking the government to "ensure the rights of its civilians are respected and they are protected from attacks". Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troops captured a rebel-held town in the island's north following heavy fighting that killed a large group of guerrillas, the defence ministry said Friday.
Security forces took the town of Maniyakkulam, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of the military's primary target of Kilinochchi, the political capital of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the ministry said.
While, Sri Lanka said it would destroy a consignment of more than five tonnes of rotting rice and lentils meant for victims of the Dece 2004 Asian tsunami.
District officials in the southern city of Galle said the food aid had not been distributed among the needy in the coastal town of Habaraduwa due to bureaucratic bungling.
Independent auditors have reported that only a fraction of the outpouring of international and local aid for victims of the tsunami here actually reached the intended recipients.
Sri Lanka's minority Tamils share close cultural and religious links with the 55 million Tamils in the nearby south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Colombo's all-out assault on the northern stronghold of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has prompted New Delhi to voice "grave concern" over the conflict.
"We are hoping to send a team of MPs to India to educate them on the latest situation," Media Minister Yapa Abeywardena said in a statement over national radio. "We know the difference between the Tamil civilians and the Tiger terrorists," he said.
A group of MPs from the state has threatened to resign unless New Delhi puts pressure on Colombo. The Sri Lankan government is trying to capture the rebel political headquarters of Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres north of Colombo.
India, meanwhile, kept up the pressure on Sri Lanka, asking the government to "ensure the rights of its civilians are respected and they are protected from attacks". Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troops captured a rebel-held town in the island's north following heavy fighting that killed a large group of guerrillas, the defence ministry said Friday.
Security forces took the town of Maniyakkulam, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of the military's primary target of Kilinochchi, the political capital of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the ministry said.
While, Sri Lanka said it would destroy a consignment of more than five tonnes of rotting rice and lentils meant for victims of the Dece 2004 Asian tsunami.
District officials in the southern city of Galle said the food aid had not been distributed among the needy in the coastal town of Habaraduwa due to bureaucratic bungling.
Independent auditors have reported that only a fraction of the outpouring of international and local aid for victims of the tsunami here actually reached the intended recipients.
This news was published in print paper. Access complete paper of this day.
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