Sri Lanka army 'in fresh advance'...

Sri Lanka army 'in fresh advance'


SRI LANKA-Sri Lanka's military says it has recaptured a key northern town near the Tamil Tigers' Kilinochchi stronghold.

They say that troops took Kokavil, 20km (12 miles) south of Kilinochchi, on Sunday, 18 years after it was seized by the insurgents-more-BBC

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I have offered to resign: Vilasrao Deshmukh........

I have offered to resign: Vilasrao Deshmukh


INDIA-Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday said he had offered to resign following the Mumbai terror attacks but the Congress Working Committee (CWC) was yet to accept his resignation. "I accept moral responsibility for the terror attacks and have offered to resign. It is up to the CWC to decide whether to accept my resignation," Deshmukh told reporters at a press conference in Mumbai.- Hindustantimes

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Maharashtra Deputy CM RR Patil resigns.......

Maharashtra Deputy CM RR Patil resigns..

INDIA-Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, who was in the cross hairs in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, resigned today. "I have submitted my resignation letter to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. I have gone by my conscience and decided to take this step," Patil told "I pondered over the issue the whole night yesterday.

Finally, I have decided to quit as per my conscience," Patil said. Patil's resignation follows the exit of the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who put in his papers to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, after the Congress Working Committee spoke disapprovingly of the Home Minister, in light of the Mumbai carnage and other terror strikes in the country.

The Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, who was also in charge of the state Home Ministry, was under severe criticism following the terror attacks with opposition Shiv Sena and BJP demanding his resignation alleging that he failed to handle the situation. Patil belongs to the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and hails from Sangli district in western Maharashtra.Time of India

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India security chief resigns after Mumbai attacks..........

India security chief resigns after Mumbai attacks

INDIA-With corpses still being pulled from a once-besieged hotel, India's top security official resigned Sunday as the government struggled under growing accusations of security failures following terror attacks that killed 174 people.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who has become highly unpopular during a long series of terror attacks across India, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who accepted it, according to the president's office. The Cabinet reshuffle comes as a chorus of criticism about the government's handling of the Mumbai attacks grows louder. 'Our Politicians Fiddle as Innocents Die,' read a headline Sunday in the Times of India newspaper.-The Associated Press

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President to meet Pope Benedict XVI today...

President to meet Pope Benedict XVI today

Italy: President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to meet Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican today during a brief visit to Italy. President Rajapaksa arrived in the Italian capital, Rome, yesterday accompanied by First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama. This is the President’s second visit to Italy this year since he attended the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s food summit in Rome in June. - dailynews

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Italy recognises danger posed by terrorists - Envoy..........

Italy recognises danger posed by terrorists - Envoy

ROME: Italy recognised the dangerous potential of terrorists by arresting those with alleged links to the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Italy, Hemantha Warnakulasuriya told Adnkronos International (AKI). dailynews

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Kokavil liberated; another LTTE bastion on A-9 falls.......

Kokavil liberated; another LTTE bastion on A-9 falls

SRI LANKA-Troops of Sri Lanka Army 57 division today (Dec 1) reached long awaited milestone on their march into terrorist dens in Wanni with the liberation of the Kokavil town.

According to the battlefield sources, troops launched an offensive early last morning extending their forward boundaries towards east of the A-9 (Jaffna-Kandy) road. Infantrymen of the 57 division first reached the A-9 at a location few kilometers north of the Kokavil town and then turned the thrust southwards destroying all remaining LTTE strongholds down to Mankulam.

This is the first time after 28 years Army gained full control over this area, the sources added. defence.lk

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More killings in Batticaloa..........

More killings in Batticaloa

SRI LANKA-A civilian was shot dead in the eastern Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa hours after a massive search operation by the police. Illayathambi Kurukulasingham, 39, was shot dead on Saturday night at his home in Kaluwanchikudy, police said-bbc sandesaya

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Sri Lanka says 4 killed in floods......

Sri Lanka says 4 killed in floods

SRI LANKA-At least four people were killed and more than 71,000 displaced by floods caused by heavy rains in northern Sri Lanka, officials said Saturday. Keerthi Ekanayake of the Disaster Management Center said the northern Jaffna peninsula and Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts were inundated and nearly 6,000 houses destroyed by persistent showers over the past few days. Hundreds of thousands of people had already been displaced by fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels and were living in temporary huts in the region.

The government plans to send emergency aid and shelter materials, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said. Aid agencies were evicted from the rebel-held territory in September by the government, which said it could not guarantee their security amid the fighting.- Sri Lanka (AP)

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