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Thursday, September 02, 2010 20:32 GMT

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SRI LANKA
War-weary Civilians Dream of New Homes
By Adthiya Alles
COLOMBO - Ramaih Sathdiyapillai has had enough of life on the run. A native of Kilinochchi district – which was until not too long ago the stronghold of the separatist Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka’s north – she bore the brunt of the war along with tens of thousands of others.
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SRI LANKA
Former Battle Zone In Search of A Business Boom
By Amantha Perera
PARANTHAN, Sri Lanka - It is an odd location to open a new restaurant, right in front of a row of buildings whose roofs have been blown off by artillery fire and whose walls are pockmarked by gunfire.
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SRI LANKA
War Over, But Women Wage Battle For Survival
By Amantha Perera
VAHARAI, Sri Lanka - It was a typically hot, humid day in this eastern coastal village. The sun burned down from a cloudless sky, roasting the skin as an angry sea breeze swatted the faces of the few foolish enough to venture out onto the deserted main road that runs through town.
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SRI LANKA
Protest Highlights Hostility to International Criticism
By Adithya Alles
COLOMBO - Traffic now flows around the U.N. compound here in the Sri Lankan capital, and the dozens of policemen visible last week are no longer there. It is business as usual, a far cry from a week back when an angry minister’s death fast just outside the main U.N. office made the area the focus of international attention.
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SRI LANKA
After Decades of Bloodshed, Home Calls
By Amantha Perera
PERIYAPILLUMALLAI, Sri Lanka - For almost two decades, Athanayakemudiyanselage Punchibanda lived without hope of ever returning here to his native village.
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SRI LANKA
U.S. Labour Review Comes on Top of EU Pressure
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - When garment factory workers outside Colombo once organised a noisy protest over a bonus issue, police threatened to file charges – of hostage taking -- against them.
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U.N. Chief Heading for New Brawl over Sri Lanka Panel
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is heading for a second round of political brawling with the powerful 118-member Non- Aligned Movement (NAM) over his decision to appoint a panel of experts to advise him on possible violations of humanitarian law by the Sri Lankan military during the concluding stages of its war against Tamil separatists last May.
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SRI LANKA
A Former Woman Combatant Struggles to Pick Up the Pieces
By IPS Correspondents
BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka - As a young woman, Ranjani (not her real name), a 32-year-old Tamil from Sri Lanka’s eastern Batticaloa district, only had bright hopes for tomorrow.
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U.N. Chief Names Advisory Panel on War Abuses in Sri Lanka
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - Defying a challenge by the government of Sri Lanka, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday named a three-member panel of experts to advise him on how he should proceed with investigating violations of human rights and humanitarian law during the concluding stages of that country's long-drawn-out separatist war last May.
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SRI LANKA
U.N. Wants Economic Recovery for Former Conflict Zone
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - With thousands of war affected civilians still without livelihood and an economy still reeling from the aftermath of a decades-long conflict in Sri Lanka’s northern region, plans should be in place to revive local economies and jobs, says a top United Nations official.
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Back Off Sri Lanka Inquiry, U.N. Chief Told
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - Sri Lanka's newly-appointed Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris arrived in New York last week carrying a tough message for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: keep your hands off Sri Lanka.
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SRI LANKA
Garment Sector, Gov’t Optimistic about Trade Pact with EU
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - Relations between Sri Lanka and European Union (EU), which turned frosty around six months back, appear to be thawing as the government makes a last ditch stand to regain a crucial trade concession that has been suspended over human rights issues hounding the south Asian island state.
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SRI LANKA
War-Affected Women Bewail Their Plight
By IPS Correspondent
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka - Rajini Padamaraj, 32, is burdened with the responsibility of looking after the needs of her entire household, composed of her mother and two younger siblings.
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SRI LANKA
Tourists Return to Paradise Isle a Year After War’s End
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - A year since Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war ended on May 18 last year, tourists are returning in huge numbers to a popular beach destination located over 300 kilometres from where the last battles were fought.
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POLITICS
Sri Lanka’s Turnaround Could Signal New Beginning
Analysis by Adithya Alles
COLOMBO - For a country that has had quite a few run-ins with global giants in the diplomatic arena, the last fortnight has witnessed somewhat of a turnaround for Sri Lanka.
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As the Sri Lankan army pushes deep into rebel territory, the government claims that the island nation's quarter century ethnic war is now heading for a decisive showdown. The government has vowed to obliterate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who have been fighting to create a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east of the island. As Sri Lanka slips deeper into the chasm of war, IPS brings you incisive reports from this tear-shaped island.