BBC news 2009-05-19 加文本

BBC 2009-05-19


Download Audio


BBC News with Mary Small.

The army in Sri Lanka has announced that the supreme commander of the Tamil Tiger rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran has been killed, ending 26 years of conflict. State television quoted the military as saying the rebel leader died as he tried to flee from the war zone in an ambulance. There’s been no independent confirmation of Mr. Prabhakaran's death. Sarah Raisford reports.

The death of Velupillai Prabhakaran, supreme commander of the Tamil Tiger rebels, was announced on state’s television, sparking celebrations in the Sri Lankan capital. Crowds have been dancing and singing to welcome in ends to almost three decades of conflicts. Listed as a terrorist group by many countries, the Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for Sri Lanka's minority ethnic Tamil community. He was a ruthless guerrilla war marked by suicide bombings and assassinations. Sri Lankan military officials say it all ended in a two-hour battle in which they say the Tiger's leader and his most senior deputies were killed.

The Sri Lankan authorities have detained three doctors who've been working inside the Tamil Tiger-held territory and have provided accounts from the war zone that contradicted the government. They are to be in some of the only recent accounts to emerge from inside the zone.

President Obama has told the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel should stop building settlements in the West Bank. Following talks in Washington, Mr. Netanyahu for his part said he didn't endorse the creation of a Palestinian state. Here is James Coomarasamy.

 President Obama emerged after two hours of talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America's commitment to a two-state solution in the Middle East. He called on his guest to seize what he said was an historic opportunity. Addressing the issue which Israeli is keen to emphasize, Iran's nuclear program, Mr. Obama said he would avoid artificial timetables but would reassess Iran's nuclear ambitions by the end of the year. He didn't shy away though from reminding his guest of his obligations, saying that settlement building in the West Bank should stop.

The United Nations Refugee Agency says nearly 1.5 million people have been displaced by this month's fighting in northwestern Pakistan. The agency called for urgent international help for those uprooted by the battles between the Pakistani military and the Taliban. Imogen Foulkes reports.

 The head of the Refugee Agency has warned that such a huge movement of people, all needing food and shelter could cause instability across the region. The UN is expected to launch a multi-million dollar emergency appeal for Pakistan in the next few days. The world may be in the middle of a financial crisis, but the UN says if the international community can find billions to bailout financial institutions, then it ought to be able to find money for humanitarian operations too.

World News from the BBC.

A senior leader of a radical Islamic movement Al-Shabab in Somalia has told BBC his men will continue to fight until they establish control across the country. Speaking from Jowhar, the town they seized on Sunday, Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein said they'd overthrow the transitional federal government which he said was installed by Somalia's enemies, the United States and the European Union. He said that the ranks of Al-Shabab's insurgents had been boosted by foreign fighters.

The American Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said that his most optimistic comments on the state of the US economy since the beginning of the global financial crisis last year. Mr. Geithner said the US economy had clearly stabilized, but stressed that a bumpy road to recovery still lay ahead. John Donthan in Washington reports.

These are the most positive words on the health of the US economy from the Obama administration for sometime. It's not exactly good news, but rather news that's not quite as bad. Timothy Geithner said the pace of decline for most measures of economic activity in America had slowed. He said it marked an important beginning. Nevertheless Mr. Geithner is clearly wary of building expectations. He said despite some positive signs, millions of Americans were not going to begin to feel better for a long time.

The speaker of the Lower House of the British Parliament Michael Martin says he is profoundly sorry for his part in this scandal surrounding MPs’ claims for expenses. In a statement to a packed House of Commons, he said voters had been badly let down. The speaker said he was calling in an urgent meeting with party leaders to discuss the way forward. But he dismissed calls from several MPs to resign over his handling of this scandal and said it was up to the British government whether parliament should debate a motion of no confidence in him. He urged MPs not to make any further expenses claims for the time being.