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Friday, August 14, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Sri Lanka
SRI LANKA: Humanitarian Crisis Building Up in Jaffna
With supplies cut off by two weeks of fierce fighting between Tamil rebels and the Sri Lankan armed forces, a massive humanitarian crisis is building up on the Jaffna peninsula according to the Red Cross and other voluntary agencies.SRI LANKA: Pro-War Monks Turn Peace Rally Into Fracas
When saffron-clad Buddhists monks and Catholic priests and nuns in white are joined by Muslim and Hindu leaders in an interfaith rally for peace, the last thing anyone would expect is that their pacific efforts would end in fisticuffs.SRI LANKA: Civilians Displaced and Dying in Shadow War
Death hangs over this deserted town in eastern Sri Lanka and the stench of decomposing bodies is overpowering. Most of its 50,000-odd inhabitants have fled and there is no one around to bury the dead.SRI LANKA: Local Water Dispute Turning Into Open War
As heavy fighting continued Thursday between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil rebel militants, to gain control over an irrigation sluice near Trincomalee port, fears are growing over the fate of a ceasefire brokered by Norway in 2002.POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Peace Hinges on Fate of Nordic Monitors
Peace in Sri Lanka now hinges on the success of a mission to the island by Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer, in the first week of August, to discuss with the government and Tamil rebel leaders the future of the all-Nordic ceasefire monitoring team.SRI LANKA: Civilians Caught in Tamil Militant Factional Rivalry
The large sign alongside the Batticaloa lagoon in eastern Sri Lanka reads "Vanakam (Welcome) TMVP" in bold, red Tamil letters, proclaiming that the writ of the formidable Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) does not run in these parts.SRI LANKA: Fear Over the Country
A massive cutout of a soldier at a busy intersection in the Sri Lankan capital captures the nervous mood of a country on edge as a four-year-old ceasefire between the government and the formidable Tamil Tiger rebels rapidly fails.POLITICS-SRI LANKA: Suicide Squads Active Again
The Nelliaddy government school in northern Jaffna peninsula is nondescript except for a statue that honours the first suicide bomber who blew himself up on behalf of the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its campaign to carve out a separate Tamil state.SRI LANKA: EU Monitors Exit as Peace Ebbs
The white flags and banners fluttering all over Sri Lanka this week told the plaintive tale of a country yearning for peace that is rapidly ebbing awaySRI LANKA: Civilians, Children Die as Oslo Talks Fail
The failure of Norwegian peace brokers to get representatives of Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government to sit across a table, after their arrival in Oslo, appears to have served as the cue for renewed violence and brutality in Sri Lanka.SRI LANKA: Peace Talks in Oslo, Explosions at Home
A mine attack close to the capital Colombo has dampened hopes and raised fears of renewed violence just 24 hours before Sri Lankan government delegates were to hold talks with Tamil Tigers.SRI LANKA: Tamil Tigers Warn Against Possible EU Ban
Reports that the European Union plans to proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been met with defiance by rebel leaders and a warning that such a move could negatively impact the already weakened peace process.MEDIA-SRI LANKA: Press Left to Fend for Itself
It speaks for the state of press freedom in this strife-torn country that even as journalists were holding a candlelight vigil for dozens of colleagues killed in two decades of ethnic conflict, two more were shot dead at the offices of the newspaper they worked for, this week.SRI LANKA: Peace Yet Possible
Despite this week's sensational suicide bomber attack on Sri Lanka's army commander and retaliatory air strikes on Tamil Tiger bases in the north and east of the island, the Norway-brokered peace accord, signed in February 2002, still stands.SRI LANKA: Games With Tiger Rivals Bedevil Peace Talks
While Tamil Tiger rebels have cited lack of safe passage for their commanders to meet and confer, as the reason for backing out of peace talks in Geneva this month, the real reason may be sneaky government patronage for a splinter faction.SRI LANKA: Fresh Killings Put Geneva Talks in Jeopardy
A series of attacks on security forces, this week, has vitiated the atmosphere for a second round of parleys in Geneva between the Sri Lankan government and the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), set for Apr.19-20.SRI LANKA: Nationalists' Defeat Gives Geneva Talks a Chance
The humbling of President Mahinda Rajapakse's nationalist allies, in last week's local body elections, has vastly improved chances for the Norway-mediated peace talks in Geneva between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.SRI LANKA: Sinhala Groups Tire of Norwegian Peace Brokers
''Norwegians who conspire to divide Sri Lanka, get out'', read a large banner carried by a group of 150 saffron-clad, shaven-head, Buddhist monks, demonstrating in front of Norway's misson here, this week.HUMAN RIGHTS: No Multi-Ethnic Balance in Sri Lanka, Says Expert
Sri Lankan human rights lawyer Nimalka Fernando says "the world is steeped in racism and religious intolerance," which threaten the very existence of minority communities in countries like her own.SRI LANKA: Tsunami Victims Worry About War, Not Housing
The famed sand mines of Manalkadhu vanished in a swirl of houses and people when gigantic waves crashed into the village on Dec. 26, 2004.SRI LANKA: Awaiting Durable Peace
Mohamed Nazeer has fond memories of fishing in the calm waters off Trincomalee bay before 1995. The catch was bountiful and this slightly built Muslim fisherman made as much as Rs 5000 (50 US dollars) on a good day.« Previous Page
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