by: Amal Jayasinghe

COLOMBO (AFP)

Sri Lanka is on the verge of a major victory against Tamil separatists, officials say, in a high-risk military strategy to dismantle a de facto rebel state. President Mahinda Rajapakse announced that security forces will pursue a major offensive in the north of the island and capture Kilinochchi, the political capital of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)."The government would continue with the anti-terror drive until the north too is liberated, just as the east," the Daily News quoted the president as saying Tuesday night.

by: Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Aug 20 - Sri Lanka's central bank held interest rates steady on Wednesday for an 18th successive month, leaving them at their highest levels since 2002, saying monetary policy was reining in money growth and inflation was easing.

The overnight repurchase rate remained at 10.50 percent and the reverse repurchase rate at 12 percent.The central bank last raised rates by 50 basis points in February 2007, which was the fifth rise since June 2006 aimed at curbing inflation.

COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels Tuesday tacitly admitted they were losing ground in the face of a major military offensive by warning that thousands of civilians in the north were at risk.In their first public acknowledgement that government forces were moving deeper into areas previously held by them, the Tigers said civilians have had to move several times because of the military onslaught.

by: Chamikara Weerasinghe  

The Regional Summit of the National Authorities and Parliamentarians in Asia on the National Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention will be held in Sri Lanka this year with the participation of 30 countries in the region.

The authorities are due to meet at the Colombo Hilton for the summit on August 25 and 26, Government sources said.