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US calls for probe on rights abuses in Sri Lanka

A top U.S. diplomat urged Sri Lanka on Wednesday to investigate allegations of war crimes during its civil war and to resettle tens of thousands of displaced ethnic Tamils as a means of reconciliation.

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Rare Sri Lankan primate gets 1st wide-eyed closeup

A nocturnal, forest-dwelling primate with orb-like eyes and short limbs was photographed in central Sri Lanka late last year after being feared extinct, researchers said Monday.

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UN chief shuts Sri Lanka office, recalls official

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon closed the main U.N. office in Sri Lanka and recalled a top official Thursday in a deepening standoff over the U.N.’s refusal to stop investigating alleged abuses in the country’s civil war.

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Sri Lanka Cabinet minister ends 3-day protest fast

A Sri Lankan Cabinet minister on Saturday ended a three-day fast aimed at forcing the United Nations to abandon an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed during the final months of the country’s civil war.

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Sri Lankan minister continues fast over UN probe

A Sri Lankan Cabinet minister continued a hunger strike for a second day Friday to demand the U.N. halt its investigation into alleged wartime abuses, despite the world body’s decision to recall its top Colombo-based official and shut its regional office.

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Sri Lankan minister fasts against UN rights probe

Sri Lanka’s housing minister started a hunger strike Thursday in front of the U.N. office after the world body refused to halt its investigation into alleged human rights abuses during the country’s civil war.

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Sri Lankan protesters vow hunger strike against UN

Sri Lankan protesters threatened hunger strikes and nationwide demonstrations Wednesday if the United Nations doesn’t halt its investigation into possible abuses committed during the final bloody months of the civil war here.

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Sri Lankan protesters continue sit-in against UN

A small group of protesters continued to demonstrate in front of the U.N. compound in Sri Lanka’s capital Wednesday, demanding the world body scrap its probe into alleged rights violations during the country’s bloody civil war.

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Sri Lanka protesters lay siege to UN compound

Hundreds of protesters, led by a government minister, laid siege to the U.N. compound in Colombo on Tuesday, trapping workers inside for hours in an effort to force the world body to cancel its investigation of alleged abuses committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war.

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Mass wedding for former Tamil fighters

Fifty-three couples of former Tamil Tiger rebels were married Sunday in a colorful mass ceremony at a government camp in northern Sri Lanka with a Bollywood star as witness.

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Sri Lanka president meets Tamil political leaders

Sri Lanka’s president met ethnic Tamil leaders on Monday and promised a political solution to a protracted ethnic conflict for the first time since his forces ended the country’s 25-year civil war last year.

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Amnesty: G20 frustrating human rights progress

Amnesty International accused the United States, Russia and China on Thursday of ignoring human rights violations by allies and failing to open their own records to scrutiny in an annual survey meant to pressure governments to act more compassionately.

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Death toll from Sri Lanka’s flooding hits 20

The Sri Lankan government says 20 people have died in floods and mudslides after a week of powerful storms brought heavy rain across the country.

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Afghan militants holds talks in Maldives

Representatives of an Afghan militant group are holding talks in the Maldives, officials said Thursday.

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Group presents new evidence on abuses in Sri Lanka

An international rights group said Friday it has new evidence that wartime abuses were perpetrated against civilians during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s long and bloody civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

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Maldives: Accepting Guantanamo detainees honorable

Accepting two Muslim detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention center will bring goodwill and honor to the Maldives, the country’s president said.

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Sri Lankan leader frees convicted journalist

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered the release Monday of a journalist sentenced to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges.

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Sri Lanka’s new prime minister sworn in

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has sworn in veteran politician Dissanayake Mudiyansalage Jayaratne as Sri Lanka’s new prime minister after his party’s landslide election victory.

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Australia: No more Afghan, Sri Lankan refugees

Australia announced Friday that it would no longer accept refugee claims from Sri Lankans and Afghans, saying the situations in those countries has improved enough that their people may no longer need to seek protection elsewhere.

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Sri Lankan leader promises peace after poll win

Sri Lanka’s leader has promised peace and prosperity to a nation battered by decades of civil war after his party’s convincing win in parliamentary elections.

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Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition wins elections

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition has won Sri Lanka’s first postwar parliamentary elections further consolidating his political dominance after the battlefield defeat of the Tamil Tigers last year.

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Sri Lanka’s ruling party wins election

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition has won Sri Lanka’s first post-war parliamentary election, the election department said Friday.

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Ruling coalition leads in Sri Lankan elections

Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition led in early results Friday from parliamentary elections in which President Mahinda Rajapaksa is seeking to strengthen his grip on power by gaining the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.

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Ruling coalition leads Sri Lankan elections

Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition led early results Friday of parliamentary elections in which President Mahinda Rajapaksa is seeking to strengthen his grip on power by gaining a two-thirds majority.

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Sri Lankans vote in parliamentary elections

Sri Lankans are voting for a new Parliament, with President Mahinda Rajapaksa looking to consolidate his political dominance after winning re-election in January.

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Sri Lanka leader says Tamils should work with govt

Sri Lanka’s president called Thursday for minority ethnic Tamils to work with the government to settle their differences but indicated there will be no self-rule, as the country celebrated its first Independence Day since the end of a 25-year civil war.

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Rights group: Rights of Tamil suspects violated

Sri Lanka’s government is violating the rights of some of the 11,000 Tamil Tiger suspects currently in its custody, a leading rights group said Tuesday.

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Sri Lankan opposition protests election results

Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital Wednesday to protest the results of the recent presidential election, which they say was marred by fraud.

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Sri Lanka opposition complains of gov’t pressure

Sri Lanka’s opposition accused the government Monday of hounding and detaining its activists following the country’s acrimonious presidential election.

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Sri Lanka’s Tamils left to wonder what comes next

Riding high on his battlefield victory against the Tamil Tiger rebels and his landslide re-election, Sri Lanka’s president appears under little pressure to tackle the deep ethnic tensions that fueled a generation of conflict here.

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Sri Lanka presidential candidate profiles

Profiles of the two main candidates in Sri Lanka’s presidential election Tuesday:

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Key facts about Sri Lanka

Key facts about Sri Lanka, which is holding its presidential election Tuesday.

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Sri Lankan police raid defeated candidate’s office

Police raided the office of Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka and arrested 15 of its workers Friday, his lawyer said, after he disputed this week’s election result and the government alleged he was planning a coup.

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Sri Lankan police raid candidate’s office: aide

An opposition official says police have raided the office of Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka.

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Down but not out, Sri Lanka’s Fonseka to run again

Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate will contest a parliamentary seat during general elections later this year, an opposition activist said Friday.

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Re-elected Sri Lanka leader pledges reconciliation

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa pledged Thursday to seek reconciliation with minority Tamils after his sweeping re-election, but did not indicate how he plans to deal with their demands for greater rights.

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Sri Lanka re-elects president; opponent cries foul

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a resounding re-election victory Wednesday, beating back a challenge from his former army chief, who rejected the official results.

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Sri Lankan challenger rejects president’s poll win

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a resounding re-election victory Wednesday, beating back a challenge from his former army chief, who rejected the official results and said he feared arrest as troops surrounded his hotel.

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State TV says Sri Lanka president wins re-election

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa won re-election Wednesday in a hard-fought race against his former army chief for control of a nation trying to rebuild after a devastating civil war.

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Sri Lanka: Initial results show president leads

Early returns Wednesday showed Sri Lanka’s incumbent president ahead of his estranged former army chief in their bitter race to win the country’s first presidential election after its quarter-century war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

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Sri Lanka war victors vie in presidential poll

Sri Lanka’s incumbent president vied with his estranged former army chief Tuesday in the country’s first election since the two men led government troops to victory in the quarter-century war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

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Sri Lanka’s war victors vie in presidential poll

When Sri Lanka’s president decided two months ago to call this week’s snap presidential poll, his re-election appeared assured — until his former army chief joined the race.

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Sri Lankan ruling party plans violence: opposition

Sri Lanka’s ruling party plans to instigate violence to keep voters from the ballot box in an attempt to secure victory during the upcoming presidential election, the main opposition candidate alleged Saturday.

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Attacks mar Sri Lanka’s first poll since war’s end

Assailants attacked the house of an opposition activist in Sri Lanka’s capital amid fears that election-related violence could mar the country’s first poll since the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels after decades of war.

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War refugees struggle to rebuild in Sri Lanka

The vast rice fields of Kilinochchi are overgrown with shrubs. The herds of cattle and goats have disappeared. The tractors and motorcycles are gone. Buildings and homes have been bombed into heaps of concrete rubble.

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War refugess struggle to rebuild in Sri Lanka

The vast rice fields of Kilinochchi are overgrown with shrubs. The herds of cattle and goats have disappeared. The tractors and motorcycles are gone. Buildings and homes have been bombed into heaps of concrete rubble.

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Sri Lankan journalist jailed 20 years allowed bail

A Sri Lankan journalist sentenced to 20 years in jail for supporting terrorism will be released on bail pending appeal, his attorney said Monday.

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Sri Lankan ex-rebels reunited with family members

More than 700 former Tamil Tiger rebels were reunited with family members Saturday after months in rehabilitation camps since the country’s decades-long civil war ended last year.

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Video stirs call for Sri Lanka war crimes probe

A video purportedly showing troops shooting blindfolded, naked Tamils in the final months of Sri Lanka’s civil war has revived calls for a war crimes investigation and cast a shadow over the upcoming presidential elections.

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Sri Lanka rejects UN conclusion on execution video

Sri Lanka said Friday that a video purportedly showing its troops killing blindfolded, naked Tamils during the civil war was a fabrication and dismissed a U.N. investigation confirming its apparent authenticity as biased.

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UN expert cites video in call for Sri Lankan probe

A U.N. human rights investigator said Thursday that a videotape of an apparent execution of blindfolded and naked Tamils by Sri Lankan soldiers probably is authentic and called for a war crimes investigation.

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Sri Lankan leaders woo Tamils for decisive votes

Just months after winning Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war, the president and the former army chief are locked in a bitter election that has forced them to woo the very Tamils they are accused of recently pounding with airstrikes and artillery fire.

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Sri Lankan Tamil party to back former general

Sri Lanka’s main ethnic Tamil party said Wednesday it is throwing its support in the upcoming presidential election behind a former general who led the battle against the Tamil Tiger rebels and has been labeled by some as an ethnic Sinhalese nationalist.

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North Korea turns to air smuggling

North Korea, banned from selling arms by U.N. sanctions, may have gambled and lost when it dispatched 35 tons of weapons by air rather than by sea as it has done in the past. Authorities seized the plane, which may have been bound for Iran, during a refueling stop in Thailand.

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Sri Lanka still waiting for its peace dividend

Inside, there are no victims, no killers, and no questions. There are only bright white lights and the click-clack of sewing machines in this new garment factory in war-torn eastern Sri Lanka.

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The Newest American Export: Jihad

The five young northern Virginia Muslims arrested in Pakistan for trying to join jihadist groups offer an intriguing example of role reversal.

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When Church Bells sound in Saudi Arabia, then Minarets can rise in Europe

Muslims should learn to build Bridges before they demand any more Minarets

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Sri Lankan war allies, now political enemies

Just a few months ago, Sri Lanka’s president and its army chief were strong allies, working closely together to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels and end the nation’s 25-year civil war.

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US praises resettlement of Sri Lankan refugees

A U.S. envoy praised the Sri Lankan government Wednesday for making progress in resettling hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tamil civilians detained since the end of the country’s civil war.

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How Pakistan became the ‘crucible of terrorism’

To the security services in Britain, it is not a question of “giving Pakistani youth a bad name” as Mr Gilani alleged, because the young men could equally be British, but Pakistan is not an area they can afford to ignore.

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