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SRI LANKA: Colombo’s Diplomatic Sparring Games with EU, U.S.
Analysis by Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - One thing that has set apart the current administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa from those of his predecessors is its diplomatic duels with international heavyweights.
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SRI LANKA: 25 Years On, Women Still Struggle for Their Rights
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - When Thamalini, leader of the women’s wing of Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger guerrillas, entertained guests at the women’s political wing office in northern areas once controlled by the rebels, the visitors were served tea and other refreshments by male aides.
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SRI LANKA: Mixed Reactions to EU Threat to Cut Trade Concessions
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - When the European Union announced last year that it was seeking an investigation into alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka as a precondition for extending concessionary tariff rates for exports from the island state, the government promptly cried foul.
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SRI LANKA: U.S. Govt Report Adds to Pressure for War Crimes Probe
By Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department released a report Thursday detailing possible violations of the laws of war in Sri Lanka during the first half of 2009, adding to pressure for an independent, international investigation into alleged atrocities committed by government forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists.
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SRI LANKA: Newly Reopened IMF Office Launches Budget Probe
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - The International Monetary Fund’s new resident representative in Sri Lankan is likely to receive his baptism of fire once he settles into his new post this week.
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SRI LANKA: Gov’t on a Roll Hints at Early National Elections
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - Well before 1.7 million voters trooped to 1,485 polling stations on Oct. 10 to elect the 55 members of the Southern Provincial Council, it was a foregone conclusion that President Mahinda Rajapakasa would easily lead his United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government as the clear winner.
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RIGHTS: From War Zone to Double Deckers, Hope Returns to Orphans
By Adithya Alles
AVISSAWELLA, Sri Lanka - The two double-decker buses were a rarity on the Avissawella-Colombo road. One usually does not see slow-moving old English buses on the highway about 50 kilometres out of the capital Colombo.
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POPULATION: UNFPA Partners With Faith-Based Groups
By Sonali Salgado
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations has realised that if it wants to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, it will have to partner with like-minded faith-based organisations (FBOs).
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SRI LANKA: With End of War, Media Shifts Focus
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - These days, the front pages of mainstream Sri Lankan newspapers are dominated by reports of clashes between two Muslim groups, the drama of two baby elephants separated from their mothers and government efforts to ban porn sites and curb adult-only movies. This shift in news focus is a radical departure from the days when newspapers were choked with war coverage.
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RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Gay Community Takes Heart in Indian Court Ruling
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - This month, Sri Lanka’s gay and lesbian community, long struggling for acceptance and respect in a conservative, majority-Buddhist country, cheered a landmark court ruling in neighbouring India.
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SRI LANKA: Clinching a Crucial IMF Lifeline
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - After months of being at the receiving end of international criticism for human rights violations, Sri Lanka finally clinched a crucial agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday for a standby credit facility of $2.5 billion, which will help bolster the country’s foreign exchange reserves depleted by the sharp impacts of the global economic downturn and an expensive war.
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SRI LANKA: Island Faces Key Test in Upcoming Elections
By IPS Correspondents
COLOMBO - Elections in early August for local administrative bodies in Jaffna and Vavuniya, two Tamil-dominated northern towns, would be the first litmus test for the Sri Lankan government to restore normalcy in a region devastated by nearly three decades of war.
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SRI LANKA: Aid Organisations Struggle to Operate in Post-war Sri Lanka
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government wants the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to scale down its operations in the country, but is sparing other international nongovernmental organisations amid questions over the post-war role for humanitarian workers.
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As the Sri Lankan army pushes deep into rebel territory, the government claims that the island nation's quarter century ethnic war is now heading for a decisive showdown. The government has vowed to obliterate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who have been fighting to create a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island. As Sri Lanka slips deeper into the chasm of war, IPS brings you incisive reports from this tear-shaped island.