News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 April 1999, 20:58 GMT]
Batticaloa MP appeals to President; President asked to follow United Nations procedure in mass graves Investigation; Refugees stranded on Jaffna lagoon and two reported missing in Jaffna.

Batticaloa MP appeals to President

Mr. Joseph Pararajahsingham appealed to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga today asking her to prevent the Ministry of Defence from acquiring two Tamil medium schools, two Hindu temples and a cemetry for the proposed expansion of the Batticaloa airport.

Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham, Member of Parliament for the Batticaloa district, made the appeal in a letter to the President.

He said in the letter that the expansion could be implemented excluding the school, temples and cemetery without affecting the security of the airport.

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Investigations must follow UN procedure

The Forum for Human Dignity pointed out in a letter to the President today the importance of carrying out the exhumation, identification and determination of the probable cause of death of bodies in the recently identified mass graves in accordance with the procedure laid down by the United Nations.

The letter also stressed the need for procedures to be carried out by experts in the field.

If the exhumation of the mass graves are to produce a meaningful result, said the Forum, the principles laid down by the United Nations must be strictly adhered to.

The President was also asked to take immediate steps to provide security for the mass graves site.

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Displaced stranded in Jaffna lagoon

Several displaced people who were returning to Jaffna from the Vanni in boats have been waiting on sand islands in the Jaffna lagoon, said sources in Jaffna town.

The displaced have been not been allowed to enter Jaffna following a confrontation in the lagoon, off Gurunagar.

Sources said that the displaced have put up white flags on the sand islands.

Gowri Suntheralingham, an official at the Human Rights Commission, has contacted the Sri Lankan securtiy forces to make arrangements for their transport.

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Two missing in Jaffna

Two civilians have been reported missing in Jaffna today said human rights sources there.

Gunarasa Subaskaran, 21, who was travelling in a bus to Jaffna from Aanaikkodai has been reported missing at the bus terminal, said his family to the Human Rights Commission.

The other youth, Rajaratnam Suthaharan,15, of Kopai, who went to a library 200 metres from his house has not returned home, his relatives said.