The New Nation - Internet Edition

115 rebels killed in fresh fighting, claims Lankan army

Reuters, Colombo

Sri Lankan troops killed 115 Tamil Tiger rebels in weekend fighting in the far north of the island, the military said on Monday, as government forces continued their push into the rebels' northern stronghold.

Government jets also bombed rebel positions in rebel-held areas in the north, military officials said.

"Troops had killed 60 LTTE terrorists and 28 were wounded from Sunday's confrontations," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, adding that three soldiers were also killed and 12 wounded in the fighting. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were not immediately available for comment on rebel casualties from the fighting but said air raids had killed two civilians, including a school teacher.

"The death, injuries and loss due to this attack, typical when Sri Lanka Air Force bombs a heavily populated area in Vanni, have been repeated more than one hundred times over the Vanni area over a period of two years," said Selvy Navaruban, rebel spokeswoman on humanitarian issues and human rights, in a statement emailed to Reuters.

The fighting came days after the military claimed they had entered the vast Vanni region in the north where the rebels' de-facto capital, Kilinochchi, is located, amid an almost-daily barrage of land, sea and air attacks.

The military also said 55 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and 47 wounded from the fighting on Friday and Saturday also in the north. Four solders had also been killed.

The Tigers are fighting for an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka for ethnic Tamils, a minority in the predominantly Sinhalese country. Sri Lanka's government is pursuing a strategy to gradually retake the Tiger's northern stronghold and win the 25-year civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people. Analysts say the military has the advantage in the latest phase of the war, given its superior air power, strength of numbers and swathes of terrain captured in the island's east. But they still see no clear winner on the horizon.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troops launched a fresh advance into territory held by Tamil rebels today, killing 15 guerrillas, while another 27 combatants were killed in other clashes, the defence ministry said.

The latest push was in the Jaffna peninsula, which is partly held by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said in a statement.

"Fifteen LTTE terrorists were killed when the army made a daring advance t this morning before first light (and) without sustaining any damage to (our) own troops," the ministry said.

There was no immediate word from the Tigers about the military's latest claims, but the guerrillas said an air strike inside their territory yesterday killed or wounded civilians.

"Two civilians, including a school teacher, were killed, four more civilians were injuredt when (the) Sri Lanka air force bombed Iranaipalai," the Tigers said. The military has not commented on the Tiger claims, but the defence ministry said 26 guerrillas and a government soldier were killed in other fighting in the northern parts of the country in fresh fighting since yesterday. The latest deaths from the conflict raised the number of rebels killed by troops to 5714 since January, while 520 soldiers have died in combat during the same period, according to ministry figures.

Independent verification of casualty figures is not possible since the ministry blocks media access to the front lines.

The government has poured a record $US1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) into this year's war efforts and troops are now concentrating on dismantling the LTTE's de facto state in the north.

Colombo pulled out of a truce with the LTTE in January, saying it had the upper hand in the long-running conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1972.

20 Taliban fighters killed in Pakistan clashes

AFP, Khar

Taliban militants attacked two Pakistani security posts in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan on Monday, sparking fierce clashes in which 20 rebels were killed, officials said.

The hardline fighters attacked a paramilitary fortress and stormed a checkpost in the semi-autonomous Bajaur tribal zone, a known haunt of Al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels, they said.

The fresh attacks come after a week of some of the most intense clashes seen in Bajaur since Pakistani forces entered the tribal belt in 2001 to hunt down Islamic militants.

"The Taliban launched a big attack on Tor Ghundi fort and Iskandro post. Security forces responded and 20 militants were killed," a paramilitary official told AFP.

There was no immediate information about casualties to security forces.

Residents said the fighting erupted at 1:00 am on Monday and bodies were scattered across farm land some 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Khar, the main town in Bajaur.

Dalai Lama arrives in France

AFP, Paris

The Dalai Lama arrived in France on Monday, a member of his entourage said, ahead of a high-profile 12-day visit during which the Tibetan spiritual guide will not meet President Nicolas Sarkozy.

He was welcomed by religious leaders at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport shortly around 6 am (0400 GMT) after arriving from New Delhi.

The visit officially kicks off on Tuesday with the inauguration of a Buddhist temple south of Paris.

The Dalai Lama, 73, will meet with French lawmakers, but instead of Sarkozy his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy will attend the inauguration of a temple in southern France on August 22. The rest of his stay will be devoted to religious visits, in the Paris region and elsewhere, and a six-day teaching cycle in the western city of Nantes.

Zimbabwe talks break up, Mugabe says no deal yet

Reuters, Harare

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said that talks with opposition leaders on a power-sharing deal had ended inconclusively, but that they would resume on Monday.

Asked by reporters late on Sunday after emerging from a marathon session of over 14 hours of negotiations if there had been progress, Mugabe said: "Not yet. We are not through but we will continue tomorrow."

US coalition kills 25 militants, 8 Afghan hostages

AP, Kabul

The US.-led coalition says its troops have killed 25 militants and eight Afghan civilians held hostage by militants in southern Afghanistan.

A coalition statement says its forces were ambushed from a building along a road in Uruzgan province on Sunday. It says the militants then moved into a compound where they held 11 noncombatants hostage, including several children and an infant.

The coalition says the troops called in an airstrike on the compound without knowing the civilians were inside.

Iran VP says Iranians are 'friends’ of Israelis

AP, Tehran

Iranian media are quoting the country's vice president as saying Iranians are "friends of all people in the world - even Israelis."

It is a rare instance of official Iranian media carrying an expression of sympathy toward Israelis from such a high-level official.

Several newspapers and the official Web site of Iran's tourism agency on Monday attributed the comment to Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, who is in charge of Iranian tourism and historical sites.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prompted international criticism when he said in 2005 that he believed Israel would one day be "wiped off the map. Another report adds: A top negotiator said on Sunday Palestinians may demand to become part of a binational state with Israel, if the Jewish state continued to reject the borders they propose for a separate country.

Ahmed Qurie, who heads Palestinian negotiators in U.S.-brokered talks with Israel, told Fatah party loyalists behind closed doors that a two-state solution could be achieved only if Israel met their demands to withdraw from all occupied land.

Thai court issues arrest warrant for ousted PM Thaksin

AFP, Bangkok

Thailand's Supreme Court on Monday issued arrest warrants for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife after they skipped bail and fled to Britain.

Thaksin said Monday he would not return to Thailand to face graft charges but will instead remain in exile in Britain, blaming political interference in the justice system.

Thaksin, a billionaire telecoms tycoon turned politician, and his wife Pojaman both face a raft of corruption charges that were instigated by a military junta which overthrew him in September 2006.

After 18 months in self-imposed exile, Thaksin vowed to fight the charges against him in a high-profile homecoming in February, but said Monday he could not do that from within Thailand.

"My wife and I will stay in England where democracy is more important," the 59-year-old former premier said in a hand-written statement released to the media.