________________________________________________________________________
S. Lanka takes war against rebels to cyberspace
____________________________________________________________________________
Copyright ) 1997 Nando.net
Copyright ) 1997 Reuters
COLOMBO (December 7, 1997 00:23 a.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - Sri
Lanka on Sunday took its war against Tamil Tiger rebels to cyberspace,
launching an integrated national Internet website aimed at countering
Tiger propoganda and presenting what officials said was a correct
picture of the country.
The website, www.lk, was launched by the Foreign Ministry in
collaboration with the Institute of Computer Technology of the
University of Colombo, a ministry statement said.
It said the "Sri Lankan Web Window" will serve as a comprehensive
depository of news and information related to Sri Lanka, including news
bulletins from several government departments like the defence ministry.
It provides links to various websites offered by internet service
providers and other agencies in Sri Lanka, the statement said.
"It will also help in countering anti-Sri Lanka propaganda by enabling
Internet surfers world wide to have access through a single window to
authentic news and information on Sri Lanka."
Officials said the newly-launched window was part of a concerted effort
by the government to counter the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
own Internet sites.
LTTE, who are fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in
Sri Lanka's north and east, have long had a presence on the Internet
through various websites which portray their view of the 14-year war
that the government says has claimed more than 50,000 lives.
The government's information department recently launched its own
website, www.lk.news, as part of the overall exercise to tap new media
to disseminate information.
The ministry statement said there were plans to mirror the window in
several locations and develop parallel translations in Sinhala, Tamil,
French and German languages.
The statement said Sri Lanka also was preparing to produce a CD-ROM with
all relevant information on the country that will be available in time
for the 50th independence anniversary in Febraury 1998.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Apr 13 2001 - 12:56:12 PDT