Mahinda Rajapaksa

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Series of Actions by Leaders Exacerbated Sri Lanka's Crisis

Protests drove president, prime minister out

(Newser) - As Sri Lanka's crisis reached its climax this weekend, two men in the center of the turmoil brought about by the country's economic collapse promised they would heed the call of tens of thousands of angry protesters and resign. One is President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the last of six...

Sri Lankans Mock Ruling Brothers as Thieving 'Crows'

Popular chant goes after Rajapaksa clan amid nation's economic spiral

(Newser) - Sri Lanka's government touted Basil Rajapaksa as the one to save the country from economic crisis. The former finance minister instead led the island nation into its worst economic crisis in decades —at least that's the take of thousands of protesters, who are fed up with his...

Sri Lankan Prez Re-Elected, Challenger Cries Foul

Mahinda Rajapaksa takes election, Gen. Fonseka vows to contest

(Newser) - President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been declared the winner of Sri Lanka's first presidential election since the Tamil Tigers' 26-year insurgency was defeated, but his opponent immediately vowed to contest the outcome. The BBC reports that the incumbent won 57.8% of votes cast; rival Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who took 40%,...

Sri Lanka Arrests Astrologer Who 'Sees' Ouster of Prez

(Newser) - He really should have seen this coming. A popular astrologer in Sri Lanka has been arrested after predicting the ouster of the president, the BBC reports. Police took Chandrasiri Bandara into custody this week after he foresaw a bad moon rising for Mahinda Rajapaksa and told opposition leaders they'd be...

Sri Lanka Prez: We're 'Liberated'

Body of rebel leader said to be found

(Newser) - Sri Lanka’s leader celebrated the country’s “liberation” from the Tamil Tigers after 26 years of war in a speech to parliament today, the BBC reports. “Today we have been able to liberate the entire country from the clutches of terrorism," said Mahinda Rajapaska. "We...

Tamil Tigers: 'Battle Has Reached Its End'

Sri Lanka president earlier declared victory

(Newser) - Sri Lanka's rebel Tamil Tigers have declared a ceasefire after a 26-year war in a statement lamenting thousands of deaths in the past 24 hours, the BBC reports. “This battle has reached its bitter end,” said a Tamil Tigers spokesman on the group’s website. The statement later...

Sri Lanka Declares Victory Over Tigers
 Sri Lanka Declares 
 Victory Over Tigers 
updated
May 16, 2009 11:36 AM CDT

Sri Lanka Declares Victory Over Tigers

(Newser) - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said today that his country had defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels on the battlefield and emerged victorious from its quarter-century civil war. "My government, with the total commitment of our armed forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation finally defeated the LTTE militarily,"...

Sri Lanka Military Cuts Off Rebel Sea Escape

Tigers lose access to sea as military vows to end 25-year war by nightfall

(Newser) - Sri Lankan forces took control of the island's entire coastline today for the first time in decades, sealing the Tamil Tigers in a tiny pocket of territory and cutting off the possibility of a sea escape by the rebels' top leaders, the AP reports. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed to...

Army: Sri Lanka War in 'Final Stage'

Tens of thousands of civilians trapped; UN envoy arrives

(Newser) - The Sri Lankan government claims to be within 48 hours of capturing the last holdout of Tamil Tigers, as the Red Cross warned of "an unimaginable human catastrophe" for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone. Only a few hundred rebels remain in a two-mile-square...

6,500 Civilians Dead as Sri Lanka War Nears End

Army, rebels both accused of exacerbating death toll

(Newser) - Nearly 6,500 ethnic Tamil civilians have been killed in the last 3 months of fighting in Sri Lanka, the UN estimates. The level of civilian deaths has increased dramatically as the bloody 26-year civil war draws to a close, with the army pressing Tamil separatists into a tiny coastal...

Blasts Mar Sri Lankan Holiday
Blasts Mar Sri Lankan Holiday
Feb 4, 2008 6:26 PM CST

Blasts Mar Sri Lankan Holiday

Four separate attacks, claiming 13, are attributed to the Tamil Tigers

(Newser) - Four separate bombings today rang in Sri Lanka's 60th anniversary of its independence, capping off a string of four consecutive days that have seen horrific violence, CNN reports. A roadside bomb claimed the lives of 12 and wounded 17 passengers on a bus, and a soldier died in a separate...

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