Tamil Tigers

Sri Lanka's president signed a decree Monday calling for early elections, hoping to take advantage of his popularity after ending the country's 25-year civil war to win a new six-year term. However, President Mahinda Rajapaksa could face a strong challenge from another war hero, former army chief Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Fonseka, who accused the government of sidelining him after the war, is expected to lead a coalition of opposition parties in the election. Rajapaksa met with leaders of his United Peoples Freedom Alliance Monday and told his political allies that he would hold the elections two years before the end of his term, according ... Read Full Story

The Sri Lankan government has failed to make adequate welfare provision for the 136,000 Tamil civilians it plans to release from internment camps, rights activists and opposition parties said Sunday. Heeding international calls for the camps to be closed, the authorities said the remaining detainees -- held since the military finally crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels in May -- would be allowed out. Many observers welcomed Saturday's announcement, but warned the government that it must organise a structured resettlement programme. "We are insisting that the International Committee of the Red Cross or the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) should be present when ... Read Full Story

Sri Lanka will release 136,000 ethnic-minority Tamil war refugees Dec. 1, allowing the civilians to leave squalid and overcrowded government camps after a half-year detainment, a top official said Saturday. Some 300,000 war-displaced were forced into camps after fleeing the final months of the government's decades-long war with the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, which ended in May. The ethnic minority Tamils are held against their will. More than half were released in recent months amid pressure from rights groups and foreign governments. Authorities say nearly 136,000 people remain detained in the camps, which are guarded by soldiers and strung with barbed wire. Basil Rajapaksa, ... Read Full Story

Sri Lanka's former top military officer who resigned last week promised on Friday to "fight for democracy" amid reports he will challenge the president at upcoming elections. General Sarath Fonseka, who quit as chief of defence staff following a spat with President Mahinda Rajapakse, said he was committing himself to restoring the democratic rights of the people. "I want to assure you that I will commit myself to protect democratic freedoms which we are rapidly losing," he said in a farewell letter to troops. "I pledge to work to restore human rights, media freedom, social justice, ethnic unity and peaceful coexistence. I will be ... Read Full Story

Sri Lanka has released more than half of the thousands of displaced civilians held in government camps after the end of the country's ethnic conflict earlier this year, a minister said Friday. "We feel the security situation has eased considerably now to allow people to return to their homes," Human Rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters here. He said 136,328 men, women and children still remained inside camps across the island's north, down from some 280,000 at the end of the fighting in May with the defeat of Tamil Tiger guerrillas. A batch of 41,000 people were allowed to leave the camps in October, ... Read Full Story