Sri Lanka said yesterday it would not allow aid workers complete access to civilians who remain held in camps after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers until rebels hiding among the refugees had been weeded out.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on a visit to one camp housing 200,000 Tamils, had called for his staff to be given “unhindered access” to those displaced in the decades-long war that ended a week ago.
Ban, who toured the Menik Farm facility on Saturday, described the conditions as overcrowded and the detained civilians as “badly in need of food, water and sanitation.”
The government responded to his appeal for aid agencies to be permitted to help by saying that “as conditions improved, especially with regard to security, there would be no objections to such assistance.”
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s statement warned of “the likely presence of Tamil Tiger infiltrators among the large numbers who had come to the government areas.”
Tamil Tigers founder and leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, who was killed in the last days of fighting, was cremated near where he died, army chief Sarath Fonseka said yesterday.
“We cremated the body in the same area and threw the ashes into the ocean,” Fonseka told the Sunday Rivira newspaper. “Even before Prabhakaran was killed, I knew we had won the war, but I was overjoyed when I had confirmation of his death.”
The government broadcast footage of Prabhakaran’s body after a pro-rebel Web site said he was still alive.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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