SLA searches for deserters in Valaichenai

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 July 2000, 16:21 GMT]
Units of the SLA's 23-2 Brigade in Valaichenai searched the villages of Kalmadhu, Kannankiramam, Karuwakerni, Sungaankerni and Kinnaiyadi, 30 kilometers north of Batticaloa Monday for two soldiers who had deserted their positions Sunday evening. Sources in Valaichenai said that the army had come by information that the two deserters had run away from the kalkudah SLA camp through the villages that were searched today. The SLA has grounds to believe that the two soldiers may have escaped across the lagoon to the hinterland controlled by the Liberation Tigers, a source said.
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SLA announces another amnesty for deserters

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 July 2000, 15:07 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA), hard-pressed for manpower, announced yet another general unconditional amnesty for thousand of soldiers who have deserted its ranks. The amnesty will be in effect for 24 hours from 2 August 6 a.m. to 3 August 6 a.m SLA headquarters sources in Colombo said. Critical manpower shortages continue to plague the SLA despite amnesties announced at regular intervals every year. SLA sources estimate that 18000 to 25000 soldiers are still at large.
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PA to contest in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 July 2000, 14:08 GMT]
The ruling People's Alliance will contest the elections to the Sri Lankan Parliament in Jaffna, the secretary of the Jaffna branch of the Sri Lanka Freedom's Party, Mr.S.Thevakulanayakam told TamilNet Monday. The Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) is the main constituent and convener of the People's Alliance. "The SLFP's Jaffna district branch has resolved that the PA shall not align with any other party or group for the elections" he said. Mr.Velmurugu Thangaraja will be the SLFP's chief candidate for Jaffna according to Thevakulanayakam.
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Cabinet resolves to take package to Parliament

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 July 2000, 12:53 GMT]
The Sri Lankan cabinet resolved unanimously Monday to table the government's constitutional reform proposals in Parliament this week. The speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament has been informed to summon a emergency Parliamentary meeting on 3 August for the purpose government, sources said. The debate on the draft bill containing the constitutional reforms will begin on August 8, according a cabinet spokesman.
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Sinhala Buddhists protest against autonomy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 July 2000, 17:19 GMT]
The protest was organised against the constitutional reforms aimed at giving autonomy to the Tamils and changing the system of government.
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SLA prevents devotees from Shiva temple

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 July 2000, 17:17 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army refused permission to Saivite devotees to pray at the ancient Shiva temple in Thirukketheeswaram in the Mannar district on Sunday for the Aadi Amavaasai festival. A section of the 21 Division of the SLA is camped in the precincts of the temple. More than five hundred devotees had applied through the temple trustee board for permission to pray at the temple tomorrow.
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Claymore hits SLA bus in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 July 2000, 12:38 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army soldier was killed and eight soldiers were injured when a bus in a military convoy was hit by a claymore mine blast Saturday around 4.50 p.m. at Sungaankerni, 30 kilometers north of Batticaloa.
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Key witness in Batticaloa massacre threatened

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 July 2000, 12:28 GMT]
Father Joseph Ignatius Chandra, the key witness in the massacre of civilians in Batticaloa town by a section of the Sri Lanka army on May 17 has been threatened by armed persons suspected to be members of the Sri Lankan security forces and cadres of Tamil para-military groups operating with the Sri Lanka army in the east.
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SLA needs undermine Jaffna public transport

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 July 2000, 21:10 GMT]
Public transport in the Sri Lanka army held parts of Jaffna is in dire straits due to a shortage of buses, a government official said Friday.
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Sri Lanka requests UK to ban LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 July 2000, 21:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka has a made a formal request to Britain to have the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam proscribed under the new Terrorism Law passed recently in United Kingdom, states a press release issued Friday by the Foreign Ministry Office in Colombo.
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Ten civilians wounded in Vavuniya blast

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 July 2000, 15:39 GMT]
Three persons were killed and ten were wounded in an explosion inside a 'video-theatre' in Thonikkal, a suburb of Vavuniya town around 5.30 p.m Friday. Two children were among those killed in the explosion. Police said that the explosion was caused by a grenade. Two persons who were seen running away from the scene of the explosion were killed by a Police patrol who had gone to the video theatre minutes before the blast.
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Armed persons inside Jaffna hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 July 2000, 15:37 GMT]
The director of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) expressed grave concern Friday that armed persons are coming inside the hospital premises. Addressing the Jaffna District Development Council (DDC) meeting today, the director of the JTH, Dr. Navamani Kanagaratman said that the authorities should do the needful to prevent armed persons from entering the hospital premises and moving about with their weapons.
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Opposition fears election fraud

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 July 2000, 11:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition party charged Friday that the government is preparing to rig the Parliamentary elections expected to be held in October and November this year. Addressing a press conference this morning, United National Party's general secretary Gamini Athukorala said that polling cards printed at the government press have been taken out for rigging and forgery.
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Mannar workers demand war deduction back

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 July 2000, 19:05 GMT]
The workers at the Mannar depot of the Northern Region Transport Board (NRTB) have demanded that the one day's pay that had been deducted from their June salaries for the national war fund be returned to them. They said that the one day's pay had been deducted for the national war fund of the government without their knowledge and permission.
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Vadamaradchi fishermen to protest against SLA restrictions

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 July 2000, 17:35 GMT]
The Federation of Fishermen's societies in the Vadamaradchi division of Jaffna wrote to the Sri Lanka army's 52-4 brigade in Pt.Pedro Thursday that more than two thousand fishermen who have been adversely affected by restrictions imposed on fishing in the region after April this year are contemplating a peaceful protest to demand the lifting of the harsh regulations.
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PTA seen promoting arbitrary charges

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 July 2000, 17:33 GMT]
A Tamil youth against whom Sri Lanka's Attorney General had filed six cases for killing scores of Sri Lanka army soldiers in 1992 in the Batticaloa district and for massacring Sinhala civlians in a village in the Polannaruwa district was released by the Batticaloa high court Wednesday.
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Show package to Buddhist clergy, LTTE -UNP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 July 2000, 16:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition party said Thursday that the Sri Lankan government should present the final draft proposals on constitutional reforms to the Buddhist clergy, all political parties and the Liberation Tigers before taking the package to Parliament. The United National Party said in a press release this afternoon that the dicussions it had had with the government on constitutional reforms proceeded on the basis that "when consensus was reached, such consensus will be placed before the Maha Sangha, heads of the other religious denominations, all political parties and the LTTE".
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'Autonomy package' - Much ado about nothing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2000, 20:48 GMT]
"If Prabhaharan had not pulled out of talks with the UNP government in 1990 and with the PA in 1995, he too would have been doing this futile political jig in Colombo, going from pillar to post like us in search of the political solution" said the leader of an ex-Tamil militant group reacting to Sri Lanka's main opposition party's decision announced Tuesday that it will not support the constitutional reform package in Parliament.
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Tigers ambush Police in Mannar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2000, 15:50 GMT]
A military trained Sri Lanka Policeman was killed and another wounded when the Liberation Tigers ambushed a Police party at Thottavely, five kilometres from Mannar town on the road to Talaimannar Wednesday around 12.45 p.m. The Police party was travelling in a tractor when the Tigers opened fire sources said.
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I.C.R.C. to escort "CITY OF TRINCO"

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2000, 15:48 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government and the International Committee of Red Cross signed an agreement in Colombo Wednesday afternoon according to which the Jaffna passenger vessel " City of Trinco" will sail under the I.C.R.C. flag.
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Constitutional meeting postponed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2000, 15:45 GMT]
The talks on the proposed constitutional reforms scheduled to be held Thursday between the delegations of the ruling Peoples Alliance and the United National Party has been put off until the return of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge who is in London at present, government sources said.
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35,000 attend Tamil Internet conference

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2000, 10:47 GMT]
Tamil Internet 2000 (TI2000), the largest conference and exhibition on the use of Tamil on the Internet held in Singapore from July 22-24 attracted almost 35,000 attendees, far exceeding the target of 20,000, the organizers said this week.
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SLA takes action on Tamilnet report

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 July 2000, 17:16 GMT]
The Military Police of the Sri Lankan Army arrested a corporal attached to the camp at Kalkudah, 34 kilometers north of Batticaloa, following a report by Tamilnet that he (the corporal) was forcing civilians in that village to work on the construction of a bulwark. Tamilnet reported that several civilians in Kalkudah had been beaten up by the SLA for not going to work on the bulwark round the Kalkudah army camp last week.
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No confidence motion against speaker by UNP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 July 2000, 17:14 GMT]
The no-confidence motion brought against the Speaker, Mr.K.B.Ratnayakae, by the United National Party has been included in the order book. The date for the debate on the motion will be decided at the party leaders' meeting to be held on the 10th of next month.
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UNP to oppose constitution

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 July 2000, 17:11 GMT]
Two Parliamentarians of the United National Party (UNP), Messrs Karunasena Kodithuwaku and John Amaratunge, have announced that they cannot support the government's effort to pass the new constitution under the prevailing circumstances.
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Several cases of anemia reported

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2000, 22:38 GMT]
A large number of patients brought from hospitals in the Vanni region to the general hospital in Vavuniya hospital for further treatment were suffering from anemia said medical sources in the northern town.
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TULF firm on constitutional change

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2000, 17:11 GMT]
The Executive Committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front on Sunday unanimously decided to take a firm stand on the constitutional formulation in respect of the Structure of the State, the Unit of Devolution and the title to and powers of disposition over State Land in the Northeast province in keeping with the policies of the party and acceptable to the Tamil people.
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More UNP politicians join SLFP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2000, 17:09 GMT]
More activists of the United National Party, including a parliamentarian are due to receive membership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), a major constituent of the ruling Peoples' Alliance, at a ceremony to be chaired by the President Ms Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge, SLFP sources said.
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SLAF jet crashes in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 July 2000, 09:59 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Air Force jet crashed during a training mission at Katunayaka air base, south of Colombo around 2 p.m. Sunday.
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Buddhism's status maintained - Government reassures monks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 July 2000, 21:04 GMT]
Professor G.L.Peiris, Minister of Constitutional Affairs, met the Mahanayaka Theras of Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters in Kandy on Saturday morning.The Minister told the Mahanayaka Theras that the clause on Buddhism in the constitution would not be revoked under any circumstances. The government does not intend to implement the new constitution with only the approval of Parliament. The government would obtain the approval of the public including the Maha Sangha for the new constitution, he said.
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Four civilians killed in air raid - radio

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 July 2000, 21:02 GMT]
Four civilians were killed and two others, including a nine year old school boy were wounded in an air raid by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) jets at Chundikulam in the north-east of the island around 10.40 a.m. Saturday, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said in its news broadcast this evening.
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Vavuniya HRC records 55 complaints

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 July 2000, 21:00 GMT]
Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Vavuniya received 55 complaints regarding arrests by the Sri Lanka Army and Police during July. The HRC has not been able to find the whereabouts of three of them. Thirty-three are detained by the security forces, and 19 have been released after being questioned, Mr.Sreetharan, the Chairman of the HRC in Vavuniya said today.
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UNP leader walks out of talks with govt.

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 July 2000, 10:37 GMT]
The leader of the Sri Lanka's main opposition party Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe walked out of talks between his party and the government on constitutional changes aimed at resolving the island's ethnic conflict Friday evening in protest against allegations in the state media that he has links with the Liberation Tigers. Mr.Wickremesinghe told the government delegation led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga Bandaranaike that he will not take part in talks on the proposed constitutional changes until his name is cleared by the authorities, according to a spokesman of the United National Party.
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Package in Parliament next month - minister

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 July 2000, 08:25 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government said Saturday that it will place proposals for constitutional change in Parliament in the first week of August. Mr.Batty Weerakoon, Sri Lanka's Minister for Science and Technology, said today that the decision to submit the constitutional reform proposals to Parliament was taken at the discussion between the government and the United National Party. The Minister, however, said that the elections to the Parliament due by November this year will be held under the present constitution.
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Students protest SLA killing

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 July 2000, 19:33 GMT]
Schoolchildren in Jaffna have been boycotting their classes since Monday, following the killing of Sathasivam Sanjeevan, a student of the Jaffna Hindu College by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers last week. The students are demanding that the Sri Lankan troops should give them assurance that they would not be put at risk from the soldiers' actions.
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Strike over suspected police abduction

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 July 2000, 16:25 GMT]
More than sixty junior employees of the Vavuniya Town Council have began a strike Friday, protesting against the arrest of their college by unidentified men who had arrived in a three-wheeler. They said Shanmukam Krishnamoorthy,21, was abducted by officials of the Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) of the police at Vairavapuliyankulam, around 11.30 a.m. on 19 July.
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Ponnambalam case officer "partial"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 July 2000, 16:29 GMT]
Lawyers representing the family of slain All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) leader, Mr.Kumar Ponnambalam has requested the Attorney General to replace the police officer conducting the investigations into the killing with one who would be "impartial", legal sources in Colombo said.
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Court releases tortured Batticaloa youth

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 July 2000, 08:53 GMT]
The Batticaloa High Court Wednesday released two Tamil youth who had been tortured by the Sri Lankan security forces while in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The state counsel said that the Attorney General is withdrawing the cases against them and another youth as Senior Superintendent of Police, Bandula Kumara, the chief witness had died. The two youths had been hung by their toes and beaten with pipes, choked in bags filled with petrol and chilli fumes pulled over the head and by immersion in water according to medical reports submitted to the courts by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of Batticaloa and the Assistant Judicial Medical Officer of Colombo. The ear drums of one of the youth had burst and bled heavily due to the torture according to the medical reports.
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Foremost place to Buddhism guaranteed -SL govt

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 July 2000, 20:48 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Government Wednesday said that there is no truth in newspaper reports that Buddhism has no place in its proposed new constitution. Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka MP, Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs said that the government's proposals for constitutional change do not alter the "foremost place" given to Buddhism in Sri Lanka's constitution. Tamil political parties say that Article 9 of Sri Lanka's constitution that guarantees Buddhism the foremost place is a major obstacle in drawing up even a "minimally acceptable" scheme for regional autonomy.
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Torture, 'disappearances' and deaths in custody increase - Amnesty

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 July 2000, 18:29 GMT]
An increase in torture, "disappearances" and deaths in custody have been reported in Sri Lanka since new emergency regulations were introduced by the President in May 2000 the Amnesty International said in a report on Sri Lanka released Wednesday.
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Police arrests lecturer, Zonal Director

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 July 2000, 15:01 GMT]
Sri Lankan police arrested S.Thiyakarasa, a lecturer at Batticaloa Technical College and Sivagnanam Ahileswaran, the Paddiruppu Zonal Director of the Educational Department, on Tuesday. The students of the Technical College in the eastern town boycotted their classes and picketed in front of the college today, protesting against the arrest of the lecturer inside the college premises.
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"US should support all options"

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 July 2000, 06:40 GMT]
"US should make clear that we would support all options including secession to be discussed in the negotiating process," said Benjamin Gilman, Chairman of the Committee on International Relations, Congress of the United States, in a letter addressed to Hon Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State.
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Streets blocked by UNP protesters

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 July 2000, 17:49 GMT]
An estimated twenty-five-thousand people attended the mass protest campaign organised by the main opposition, United National Party (UNP) on Tuesday evening opposite Maradana railway station in Colombo.
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Unidentified men abduct youth

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 July 2000, 17:39 GMT]
Unidentified men in a white van abducted a Tamil youth at Old Moor Street in Colombo's business suburb of Pettah, Monday night around 8.30 said sources. The youth is a native of Nainatheevu, an island off Jaffna town.
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Claymore blast wounds SLA officer

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 July 2000, 11:08 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Major and seven soldiers were critically wounded in a claymore mine attack by the Liberation Tigers at Serunuwara in the Mutur area, south-west of Trincomalee, around 12.45 p.m. Tuesday, security sources said.
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Thalaimannar SLN officer under investigation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 July 2000, 11:07 GMT]
An officer of the Sri Lanka Navy base in Thalaimannar, 337 kilometers from Colombo, on the northwestern coast of the island, accused of helping persons in Mannar to take commodities such as cement and spare parts for vehicles to the Vanni region controlled by the Liberation Tigers. The officer was taken in for questioning on information provided by a person arrested by the Navy for transporting these banned commodities by sea, Police investigators in Mannar said.
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Police fail to inquire into STF shooting

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 July 2000, 22:02 GMT]
The Vellaveli Police, who conducted an inquiry in to the killing of two Tamil civilians by the Special Task Force (STF) elite troops on 9 March, failed to produce their investigation report to the Anti-Harassment Committee which had its sittings in Batticaloa Monday. The Anti Harassment Committee ordered the Senior Superintendent of Police S.Sankar to produce the inquiry report by July 24.
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Student boycott classes over shooting

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 July 2000, 21:56 GMT]
Students in Jaffna boycotted classes on Monday to protest against the killing of Sanjeevan Somasunderam, a student of the Jaffna Hindu College by the Sri Lanka Army soldiers on Thursday, 13 July.
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Two youths killed in SLA ambush

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 July 2000, 07:01 GMT]
Two youths who were returning from a temple festival were shot dead by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers near Valaichenai, north of Batticaloa, around 10.30 p.m. Sunday, villagers said.
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SLA coerces Kalkudah civilians to build bulwark

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 July 2000, 11:51 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army in Kalkudah, 32 kilometers north of Batticaloa, is engaging civilians of this coastal village in forced labour residents said Sunday. Males in the village have been forced to work by soldiers at the construction of a sand bulwark ahead of the northern and western defences of the Kalkudah SLA base. A mason in the village who had refused to work for the army on Friday was severely beaten up by soldiers from the camp.
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Jaffna school boy shot dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 July 2000, 21:53 GMT]
Somasundaram Sanjeevan, a student studying in General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level) at Jaffna Hindu College was shot dead by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers on Thursday, 13 July, He was returning home after playing soccer at the school ground when he was shot, the sources said.
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TELO, EPRLF reject PA-UNP proposals totally

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 July 2000, 14:03 GMT]
Mr.Suresh Premachandran, the leader of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), and Mr.Sri Kantha, leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) told Peter Westmacott, Deputy Secretary, British Foreign Office that they totally reject the constitutional reform proposals to solve the ethnic conflict agreed upon by the Sri Lankan government and the United National Party when they met the British official Friday afternoon along with representatives of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC).
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Two civilians killed in SLA ambush

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 July 2000, 16:50 GMT]
Two civilians who were returning from a temple festival south west of Batticaloa Wednesday were shot dead by the Sri Lanka army. Velmurugu Charles Satkunam of Kaluwanchikudi and Ilyathamby Arumugam the 40th Colony were returning from the annual festival of the Thaanthamalai Murugan temple in the interior in the early hours of the morning today around 3.30 a.m. when they were shot dead by an SLA ambush party at Vaalakkaalai near the 39th Colony on the Ampara-Batticaloa district border sources said.
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PLOTE, EPDP dissatisfied with PA-UNP plan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 July 2000, 15:23 GMT]
The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) that met representatives of the Sri Lankan government Wednesday said that they could not accept the referendum to determine the continuation of the northeastern province as one unit and the powers relating to state land in the constitutional reform proposals agreed upon by the People's Alliance and the United National Party. The President was not present at the meeting Sri Lankan government sources said.
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Seven charged in Kamilitta case

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 July 2000, 11:55 GMT]
The police filed charge-sheets against seven Sri Lanka Army soldiers at the Mannar courts Tuesday, who allegedly raped and murdered a young woman, Ida Kamalitta, at Pallimunai in Mannar in July 1999. The police investigators submitted a list of witness and seven productions in support of the charges, legal sources in the north-western town said.
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Police fire guns in hospital

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 July 2000, 11:53 GMT]
Sri Lankan police, who brought the bodies of two of their colleges to the Kaluwanchikudy hospital, fired indiscriminately within the hospital premises, damaging an ambulance parked there said Mr.Pon.Selvarajah, a Member of Parliament for the Batticaloa District. The dead policemen had been killed in attack at Paddiruppu bridge on Monday.
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Policeman wounded in Trinco

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 July 2000, 21:30 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and wounded a police officer near the Post Office Junction in the Trincomalee town around 5 p.m. Tuesday, security sources said. Sergeant Bandara of the Special Unit has been warded at the Intensive Care Unit in Trincomalee hospital, hospital sources said.
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Tigers overrun SLA detachment in Trinco

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 July 2000, 07:36 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers overran the Sri Lanka army detachment at Vilgam Vihare, northeast of the Trincomalee town Monday night around 8.30 p.m. military sources in the eastern port town said. SLA troops had retreated from their positions in the first phase of the attack when the Liberation Tigers had fired mortars on the detachment.
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Five SLA soldiers killed in blast

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 July 2000, 07:35 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and four were seriously wounded in a claymore blast at the 8th mile post along Vavuniya-Mannar road around 11.45 a.m. Tuesday, said sources.
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40 Government troops killed -LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 July 2000, 07:23 GMT]
Forty Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and over 200 injured when the Liberation Tigers counter attacked an offensive thrust by the Government troops in the Ariyalai-Columbuthurai sector of the Jaffna Municipality, yesterday, according to LTTE official sources in London. The Tigers recovered 8 bodies of soldiers killed in the battle.
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TULF says PA-UNP formula "unacceptable"

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 July 2000, 11:02 GMT]
The delegation of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) that met the Sri Lankan President Monday afternoon to the discuss devolution formula which the government and the United National Party agreed upon last week, told her that the PA-UNP proposal did not satisfy Tamil aspirations with regard to the structure of the Sri Lankan state, the unit of devolution and powers relating to state land. The TULF delegation "impressed upon the government that the LTTE should be involved in the negotiating process in order to bring an end to the war and an effective resolution to the conflict". The party said that it had strongly objected to the referendum to determine the continuation of the north-eastern province as one unit.
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Tamil aspirations not fulfilled - TULF MP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 July 2000, 17:39 GMT]
Agreements reached between the People's Alliance (PA), and the opposition United National Party (UNP), on constitutional reforms aimed at solving the ethnic conflict of the island do not fulfil aspirations of Tamil people, and therefore, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) will not accept the new constitution, said Joseph Pararajasingham, Member of Parliament for Batticaloa district and Leader of the TULF Parliamentary Committee.
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Youths killed at Batticaloa checkpoint

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 July 2000, 15:02 GMT]
Two youths were shot dead by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers manning a check post in the Batticaloa town area around 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Army sources said the youths who were ridding a motor cycle tried to escape as troops stopped them at the check post.
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Drug shortage at Valaichenai Hospital

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 July 2000, 15:01 GMT]
The Government hospital in Valaichenai which serves nearly 38,000 people from more than 50 neighbouring villages is affected by shortage of drugs as supply for the third quarter of this year has not been sent, hospital sources said.
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SLA arrests Ampara farmers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 July 2000, 13:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested six farmers who were working in a paddy (rice) field at Sinnavathai, a border village between Batticaloa and Ampara districts, on Friday. They were taken to SLA camp at 23rd colony, villagers said.
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SLRC visits Vanni Hospitals

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 July 2000, 13:40 GMT]
A team of Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRC) officials are visiting the LTTE held parts of the Vanni region to assess the situation there said sources. The team visited the Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital where there is acute shortage of vital drugs and other medical equipment.
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UNP gives notice of motion of no confidence in Speaker

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 July 2000, 16:18 GMT]
The main Opposition party of the Sri Lankan parliament, United National Party (UNP) has given notice of a no confidence motion against the speaker of the House, K.B.Ratnayake, Friday. The UNP sent a letter to the parliament secretary with the signature of 41 MPs, claiming that the speaker has "failed to uphold the Traditions, Precedents, Practices, conventions and Standing Orders of the House."
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CTTU members strike

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 July 2000, 16:14 GMT]
Schools in the northeast province did not function Friday as Tamil medium principals and teachers in the northeast province went on a one-day strike. Students did not attend schools responding to an appeal made by the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU). The protest was supported by Ceylon Muslim Teachers Union and Muslim Teachers Congress.
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Disappearance in Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 July 2000, 06:20 GMT]
Arumugam Ramanathan (30) from the Thotavelli village in Mannar, who went to Mannar town to repair his water pump on the 1st of July, has not returned home, said his mother Arumugam Valliammai in a complaint filed with the Citizen's Committee in Mannar.
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Mystery ID found in Mannar shores

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 July 2000, 06:16 GMT]
An Identity Card (ID) issued by the Police Department in Kanniyakumari District in Tamil Nadu, belonging to Police officer M. Easwaran, was found by fishermen in Thalai Mannar coast yesterday, said sources in Mannar.
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MP reads out raped woman's letter

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 July 2000, 17:03 GMT]
Speaking on the extension of the emergency in Parliament Thursday, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP for Batticaloa Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham read out a letter written to the Sri Lanka's National Human Rights Commission by a seventy year old woman of Neervely in Jaffna who was raped and robbed by Sri Lankan army personnel on May 31. The MP said that he was bringing the letter to the attention of the house as the matter had been suppressed under the censorship. Mr.Pararajasingham pointed out that about 1500 Tamil youth have been detained for more than four years under the Prevention of Terrorism Act without trial.
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Policemen sentenced for forcing youth to marry

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 July 2000, 17:02 GMT]
The Batticaloa district judge Wednesday sentenced three Sri Lankan Policemen to six months rigorous imprisonment each on three counts and three months R.I on one count for abducting a youth and forcibly marrying him to a girl who had allegedly been made pregnant by one of their officers. The judge, J.Viswanathan, said that the court is not giving the Policemen suspended sentences in view of the increasing incidents of people being threatened by armed persons. The judge issued an arrest warrant on another Policeman involved in the case who is absconding.
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Ronnie de Mel joins PA again

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 July 2000, 12:10 GMT]
A senior Sri Lankan opposition Parliamentarian joined the ranks of the government Thursday afternoon. Mr. Ronnie de Mel who served as minister of finance for eleven years from 1977 when the United National Party was in power in Sri Lanka has joined the government amidst speculation that a group of opposition MPs may cross over so as to enable the ruling People's Alliance to secure a two thirds majority in Parliament necessary for amending the constitution and prolonging the life of the national legislature sans the elections that are due between August and November this year.
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Ban precludes Indian role - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 July 2000, 12:09 GMT]
While asserting that India has an active role to play in Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers' theoretician and chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham told the Deccan Herald newspaper that New Delhi cannot play that role so long as the LTTE remains a banned organization in India. "We recognise India's predominance in the region and we look forward to the time when it will lift the ban on our organization," he told the paper in an interview published Thursday, adding that the LTTE was seeking new relationship with India as a friendly ally.
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Unable to trace disappeared -HRC, AI

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 July 2000, 09:35 GMT]
The Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Vavuniya has not been able to find the whereabouts of 17 people who have been reported 'missing' or arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces during the first six months of this year, said Mr.Sreetharan, the chairman of the Commission. He said HRC received 303 complaints during the period. Meanwhile human rights organisation, the Amnesty International (AI), issued a press release Wednesday expressing its concern over the safety of Thambiah Wijayakumar, 24, who was arrested on 22 June in Vavuniya.
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Nagar Kovil SLA thrust repulsed -LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 July 2000, 20:55 GMT]
The combat units of the Liberation Tigers repulsed an offensive assault by the Sri Lanka Army in the Nagar Kovil area of the Vadamaradchi eastern coast on Tuesday, inflicting heavy casualties, LTTE official sources in London said this evening.
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Army gives armoured vehicles to STF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 July 2000, 20:48 GMT]
The Special Task force (STF), the elite arm of the Sri Lankan security forces, was given ten armoured vehicles by the Ministry of Defence Wednesday to beef up its operational capabilities against the Liberation Tigers in the eastern province and the southwestern sector of the Vanni. The STF is a specially trained and equipped unit of commandos drawn from the Sri Lankan Police. The operational responsibilities of the STF have been increased due to the withdrawal of Sri Lankan army troops from the east and Mannar in recent months to stall the advance of the Tigers in the Jaffna peninsula.
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Vanni medical situation dire say NGOs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 July 2000, 20:47 GMT]
Hospitals, dispensaries and pharmacies in the Vanni region are on verge closing down due to the ban and restrictions on medical supplies imposed by the Sri Lankan Government, NGO sources said Wednesday.
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Black Tiger day commemorated

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 July 2000, 20:43 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers observed Black Tiger day in all parts of the Vanni on Wednesday, the Voice of Tigers said in its night news broadcast. The radio said special floats to commemorate the 188 black Tigers who had died so far in "sea and land attacks" took part in the processions and functions that had been organised to mark the day in many parts of the Vanni.
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Fighting erupts in Nagar Kovil

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 July 2000, 14:12 GMT]
Heavy fighting erupted in Nagar Kovil on the southeastern coast of the Jaffna peninsula from the early hours of the morning Tuesday when the Sri Lanka army launched an operation into territory held by the Liberation Tigers. The SLA said that the operation is still in progress. Thirty seven SLA personnel, including three officers, were wounded in counter attacks by the Liberation Tigers according to the SLA.
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Student boycott demanding release of arrested schoolboy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 July 2000, 14:12 GMT]
Several thousand students studying in over 30 schools in the Muttur electorate in the Trincomalee district have launched a boycott compaign demanding the immediate release of a student, Nagarajah Vamaneswaran who was arrested by the Sri Lank Army (SLA) on 11 June.
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Ban on Jaffna paper lifted

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 July 2000, 21:25 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government lifted the ban on the Jaffna Tamil daily Uthayan Monday, a spokesman for the newspaper told TamilNet. The paper was sealed by the Sri Lankan army on 19 May under the emergency regulations. The Uthayan will resume publication tomorrow the spokesman said.
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Tiger flags appear in Mannar town

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 July 2000, 21:24 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police hastily removed flags of the Liberation Tigers that had been hoisted in the high security zone of Mannar town early Monday morning. The Tiger flag was put up at the hospital road junction, Bazzar road and at the Mannar stadium by unidentified persons suspected to be members and supporters of the Liberation Tigers Police sources in Mannar town said.
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Tigers attack SLA-Police camp

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 July 2000, 14:21 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked and destroyed a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) cum Police camp at 64th mile post in the Mutur area in the eastern Trincomalee District Sunday night, security sources said. A Police Sergeant was killed and a soldier was reported missing in the attack. Three soldiers who were injured in the attack have been admitted to the Mutur hospital, the sources said.
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Fisherman killed in air attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 July 2000, 08:31 GMT]
A fisherman was killed and two others wounded in an air attack by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) kfir jets in Pooneryn region, around 2.30 p.m. Saturday the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said in its news broadcast this morning.
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Police Constable killed in explosion

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 July 2000, 21:04 GMT]
Wijesinghe (32), a police constable manning the 3rd Milepost checkpoint located about 4 km. south of Muttur town was killed when the Liberation Tigers fired a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) at 3.45pm today, said Police sources.
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Medicine shortages prompt demonstration

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 July 2000, 21:02 GMT]
Hundreds of people staged a demonstration in front of the office of Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF) at Puddukudiyiruppu in the Mullaithivu District in the north-east of the island demanding that the aid agency should take immediate steps to get down enough drugs to save the lives of patients.
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SLA offensive repulsed -LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 July 2000, 08:48 GMT]
Tamil Tiger combat units have repulsed an offensive thrust by the Sri Lankan troops at Gajabapura in the Weli Oya sector of the Northern Sri Lanka yesterday, killing 15 soldiers, according to LTTE official sources in London.
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