Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday started a 3-day tour to the
The Sri Lankan President is expected to hold talks with his Maldivian counterpart, Abdul Gayoom, the
Rajapakse on Friday sacked Anura Bandaranaike, Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriyarachchi from ministerial positions, in a controversial move.
Addressing his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the dominant party of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition, here Saturday, the Sri Lankan President said that the three sacked ministers had plotted to destabilize his government.
The SLFP's executive committee had approved the removal of three ministers.
Associated Press, Sun February 11, 2007 01:34 EST .
The Tigers attacked army troops on a foot patrol Saturday in Welioya, about 255 kilometers (160 miles) northeast of the capital,
The soldiers retaliated and two insurgents were killed in the fight, Rajapakse said.
There was no immediate comment from the rebels.
The tigers have fought government troops since 1983 in an attempt to create an independent homeland for minority ethic Tamils after decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.
The fighting has killed more than 68,000 people, including about 3,600 fighters and civilians who died after violence began escalating in late 2005 despite a cease-fire brokered by
Both sides claim they are still adhering to the truce.
The Tigers have recently suffered a series of defeats, with government troops capturing several of their strategic eastern enclaves since September.
On Jan. 19, Sri Lankan troops in the east seized an eastern coastal strip that the military says was a main base for the Tigers' naval activities.
