Day: 3 August 2014

Sri Lanka needs to go ‘faster’ on rights: Cameron

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Cameron said Rajapakse wanted more time to address the claims Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron urged Sri Lanka Saturday to move “further and faster” to address allegations of war crimes, saying the issue would remain high on the international agenda. “The Sri Lankan government needs to go further and faster on human rights and reconciliation,” Cameron told a press conference at an ongoing Commonwealth summit in Colombo. “I accept it takes time but I think the important thing is to get on the right track,” added Cameron who paid an…

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U.N. says Sri Lanka closely working with Pakistan

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GENEVA/COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka must stop deporting Pakistani asylum seekers, a practice banned under international law, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Saturday. Related Stories Asylum-seekers held on high seas to be taken to Australia AFP Sri Lankan asylum seekers to be taken to Australia Associated Press Australia to ship Tamil asylum seekers to its mainland Reuters Australia sends asylum-seekers to Nauru, as India offer refused AFP Australia sends 157 asylum seekers to Nauru detention center Reuters Sri Lanka began arresting asylum seekers and refugees on June 9 and has since detained 214…

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Pakistan HC official in Colombo moved out

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New Delhi: Amid mounting pressure from India, Pakistan is understood to have quietly withdrawn its official from its High Commission in Colombo following an allegation against him that he was involved in conspiracy to target the US and Israel consulates in south India at ISI’s behest. Counselor (Visa) Amir Zubair Siddiqui had been withdrawn even before NIA’s request under Mutual Assistance Legal Treaty (MLAT) reached Colombo as his presence had become untenable to his diplomatic duties, officials here said. Pakistan, which has been on the back foot, maintained that Siddiqui’s tenure…

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When Jayewardene wanted to hang Prabhakaran

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“Dixit told me Rajiv wanted Prabhakaran killed” When Jayewardene wanted to hang Prabhakaran New Delhi: Sri Lankan president J.R. Jayewardene asked Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986 to hand over Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran to him so that he could hang him in Jaffna. Jayewardene made the request to Gandhi during the SAARC summit in Bangalore, reveals former Congress leader K. Natwar Singh in his autobiography, ‘One Life is Not Enough’ (Rupa).   Natwar Singh was then a member of the Gandhi government. New Delhi had asked Prabhakaran…

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C4′s Macrae willing to share war info

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The producer of the controversial documentary videos on Sri Lanka aired by Britain’s Channel 4 television, Callum Macrae, says he is prepared to fully co-operate with the UN led investigation on the war in Sri Lanka. Macrae had produced a series of videos related to the war, including the ‘No-Fire Zone’ series which alleges war crimes were committed during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka. Macrae says that while the proceedings of the investigation by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Sri…

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Big power silence on Gaza, warning for Lanka

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The situation in the Gaza region in the Palestine territories has multiple issues. Foremost among them are the mounting civilian casualties in the clash between Israel and the Palestinian group, Hamas, an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. But there are also those issues that have a bearing on countries like Sri Lanka. The ‘Palestinian problem’ if one was to broadly describe what is the single biggest outstanding issue in West Asia had its beginnings, like so many other conflicts of the modern world, in what colonial Britain left behind. The…

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As UN probe begins, controversy over local inquiry

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The first phase of the international investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka has begun in Geneva. The exercise, the Sunday Times learnt, is the study of voluminous material including complaints which the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has received. The idea is to categorise them before the formal process begins towards the end of this month. Originally they were expected to begin this task in mid-July. That will include testimony from witnesses. A source familiar with the process said on the telephone from Geneva that…

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India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka Diplomatic row over espionage

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BY SULOCHANA RAMIAH MOHAN India has urged Sri Lanka to probe the background and events pertaining to Sri Lankans, involved in terrorist activities, suspected of having links with Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), plotting terror attacks in India.The Home Ministry of India has sent a letter, which has listed nearly 25 points that needed to be probed by the Sri Lankan officials to arrive at a conclusion regarding the terror plot by the ISI. Reliable sources from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) New Delhi, India, told Ceylon Today that India’s Home…

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Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka – Denies involvement in espionage on India

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The Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka denied claims by India that one of its diplomats was involved in managing Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence Service (ISI) activities in India. The Indian media recently reported that a Pakistani Diplomat in Sri Lanka was on the radar of Indian intelligence agencies since 2012. According to Times of India, Amir Zubair Siddiqui is, “The person managing ISI activities in India from Sri Lanka.” However, the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka called the campaign as “a crude attempt to tarnish the image of Pakistan,…

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Anti Tamil Subramanium Swamy firm on taking part in Sri Lankan meet

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BJP leader Subramanian Swamy a well known anti Tamil and a close associate of the President Mahinda accused of War crimes said that he was firm on participating in the defence conference organized by Sri Lanka despite opposition from Tamil Nadu parties in India.  DMK chief M Karunanidhi and MDMK leader Vaiko have demanded the Centre not to send an Indian delegation to the meet to be held from August 18 to 20. A petition has also been filed in the high court seeking Centre not to send the delegation. Tamil…

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