Sri Lanka claims billionaire trader funded terrorists

Raj Rajaratnam, the New York-based billionaire and hedge fund manager charged in an alleged insider trading scheme on Friday, was funding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which is considered a terrorist group by the US, the Sri Lankan government claimed on Sunday. Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, spokesman for the Sri Lankan defence ministry, told the Financial Times that the government had been monitoring Mr Rajaratnam for several years.

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Sri Lanka expels UNICEF official, agency says

The Sri Lankan government has ordered a UNICEF official to leave the country, accusing him of spreading propaganda supporting Tamil rebels, the agency — the United Nations Children’s Fund — told CNN Sunday. UNICEF denies the allegations against its spokesman in Sri Lanka, James Elder, an Australian citizen, and officials with the agency are scheduled to meet with government officials on Monday in hopes of keeping Elder inside the country, said Sarah Crowe, UNICEF spokeswoman for South Asia

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What Next for Sri Lanka’s 2.5 Million Tamils?

The Sri Lankan national flag is everywhere in Colombo these days. In the last months of the Sri Lankan government’s 26-year war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , the national flag — a sword-bearing lion on a deep red field — was flown at rallies each time the Sri Lankan army gained ground against the LTTE.

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Tamil rebels acknowledge leader is dead

Tamil Tiger rebels acknowledged the death of their leader Sunday, nearly a week after the Sri Lankan government said it had recovered the body of Velupillai Prabhakaran and declared victory in the country’s 25-year civil war with the rebels. Prabhakaran “attained martyrdom fighting the military oppression of the Sri Lankan state” on May 17, according to Tamilnet.com, a rebel Web site, citing the group’s international affairs spokesman. On Tuesday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared victory against the Tamil Tigers.

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U.N. seeks full access to Sri Lankan refugee camps

Shell-shocked and scarred both inside and out, they huddle in tents, water and medicine in short supply — hundreds of thousands of people, civilian victims of Sri Lanka’s recently-ended civil war. “We suffered a lot because shelling was coming from everywhere,” said a 38-year-old man identifying himself as Vishwamala. “Firing, shelling — many, many people have died …

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U.N. secretary-general in Sri Lanka visit

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon toured a displacement camp in Sri Lanka on Saturday, days after the country declared victory in a 25-year civil war against rebels. He visited portions of Manik Farm, a sprawling camp for internally displaced people in the country’s north

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U.N. demands full access to Sri Lanka refugees

The United Nations is demanding full access to refugee camps that are home to an estimated quarter of a million people fleeing war in Sri Lanka, the United Nations Children’s Fund said Tuesday. “People are arriving into camps sick, malnourished and some with untended wounds of war,” UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said in a written statement.

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