Sri Lanka President leaves on a foreign tour in domestic political rift

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday started a 3-day tour to the Maldivian Islands amidst an internal political rift.

The Sri Lankan President is expected to hold talks with his Maldivian counterpart, Abdul Gayoom, the Colombo foreign ministry said.

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.

Sri Lanka military: 2 Tamil Tiger rebels killed in clashes with army

Associated Press, Sun February 11, 2007 01:34 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lankan troops clashed with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, leaving two of the guerrillas dead in the country's volatile north, the military said Sunday.

The Tigers attacked army troops on a foot patrol Saturday in Welioya, about 255 kilometers (160 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo, said senior Defense Ministry official Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse.

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 Norway in 2002.

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.