Tamil Separatists

The Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted a separatist Tamil group leader, arrested under the TADA Act for conspiring to bomb government buildings in 1990, agreeing to the defence argument that the confession of his two co-accused cannot be admitted as evidence against him as their trial was not held together.

The Rajapaksas, best known for the brutal defeat of separatist Tamil rebels and then drawing Sri Lanka into China's orbit when the West and India shunned the Indian Ocean island, are back at the centre of the nation's deeply divisive politics and it is stoking fear.

The Tamil Nadu police have detained a suspected former member of Sri Lanka's separatist militant group LTTE in Ramanathapuram.

Shunned, destitute and pushed into prostitution in some cases, Sri Lanka's Tamil widows have returned to northern Jaffna since the end of the separatist war only to discover they are not welcome even in their homeland.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today called a presidential election, seeking an unprecedented third six-year tenure, but demands for his power to be curbed and a possible split in his vote base means re-election won't be a walkover.

Human Rights Watch has said Nigeria's military should not use the example of Sri Lanka's defeat of Tamil separatists in its war against Boko Haram.

President Mahinda Rajapakse led celebrations at a major victory parade on Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist war after commemorations for its victims were blocked.

Sri Lanka's military on Friday shot dead three men during an operation against suspected Tamil separatist rebels, in the first major confrontation since the end of the island's war nearly five years ago, a spokesman said.

Allegations of abuses against ethnic minority Tamils in Sri Lanka four years after the army won a civil war against separatist rebels have put pressure on the government as it prepares to host a Commonwealth summit.

In addition, Muttiah Muralitharan will conduct a small spin clinic for the Tamil kids who are recovering from the 30-year-old armed separatist campaign waged by the LTTE.

Sri Lanka today blamed India for the Tamil separatist war which dragged for 30 years on the island.

The DMK has pulled out of the Congress-led UPA coalition in protest against the government's position on a United Nations resolution on the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war with the separatist Tamil Tigers. Senior DMK leader TR Baalu met President Pranab Mukherjee tonight and handed over the letter withdrawing his party's support to the UPA.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday cautioned that separatist elements in the country have not given up yet, in a veiled reference to the Tamil Eelam supporters' conference held in Chennai recently.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday welcomed a UN resolution urging Sri Lanka to "credibly investigate" allegations of war crimes during its battle against Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009.

Government forces and separatist Tamil Tigers fought a series of gun battles in Sri Lanka's volatile north, leaving 14 rebels dead, the military said on Sunday. Separate clashes on Saturday in Vavuniya district killed eight rebels and wounded five soldiers, the defense ministry said in a statement. Other battles on Saturday in Jaffna and Welioya ...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted a separatist Tamil group leader, arrested under the TADA Act for conspiring to bomb government buildings in 1990, agreeing to the defence argument that the confession of his two co-accused cannot be admitted as evidence against him as their trial was not held together.

The Rajapaksas, best known for the brutal defeat of separatist Tamil rebels and then drawing Sri Lanka into China's orbit when the West and India shunned the Indian Ocean island, are back at the centre of the nation's deeply divisive politics and it is stoking fear.

The Tamil Nadu police have detained a suspected former member of Sri Lanka's separatist militant group LTTE in Ramanathapuram.

Shunned, destitute and pushed into prostitution in some cases, Sri Lanka's Tamil widows have returned to northern Jaffna since the end of the separatist war only to discover they are not welcome even in their homeland.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today called a presidential election, seeking an unprecedented third six-year tenure, but demands for his power to be curbed and a possible split in his vote base means re-election won't be a walkover.

Human Rights Watch has said Nigeria's military should not use the example of Sri Lanka's defeat of Tamil separatists in its war against Boko Haram.

President Mahinda Rajapakse led celebrations at a major victory parade on Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist war after commemorations for its victims were blocked.

Sri Lanka's military on Friday shot dead three men during an operation against suspected Tamil separatist rebels, in the first major confrontation since the end of the island's war nearly five years ago, a spokesman said.

Allegations of abuses against ethnic minority Tamils in Sri Lanka four years after the army won a civil war against separatist rebels have put pressure on the government as it prepares to host a Commonwealth summit.

In addition, Muttiah Muralitharan will conduct a small spin clinic for the Tamil kids who are recovering from the 30-year-old armed separatist campaign waged by the LTTE.

Sri Lanka today blamed India for the Tamil separatist war which dragged for 30 years on the island.

The DMK has pulled out of the Congress-led UPA coalition in protest against the government's position on a United Nations resolution on the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war with the separatist Tamil Tigers. Senior DMK leader TR Baalu met President Pranab Mukherjee tonight and handed over the letter withdrawing his party's support to the UPA.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday cautioned that separatist elements in the country have not given up yet, in a veiled reference to the Tamil Eelam supporters' conference held in Chennai recently.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday welcomed a UN resolution urging Sri Lanka to "credibly investigate" allegations of war crimes during its battle against Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009.

Government forces and separatist Tamil Tigers fought a series of gun battles in Sri Lanka's volatile north, leaving 14 rebels dead, the military said on Sunday. Separate clashes on Saturday in Vavuniya district killed eight rebels and wounded five soldiers, the defense ministry said in a statement. Other battles on Saturday in Jaffna and Welioya ...