SLA tenders qualified apology as officer retires

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 January 2001, 21:30 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army in Batticaloa town Wednesday tendered a qualified public apology for massacring hundreds innocent civilians of this eastern district in the past in a handbill and over loud hailers. The SLA handbill, among other things, states "on some occasions people had to be murdered on the orders of certain commanders".
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Chavakachcheri not suitable for resettling -Mayor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 January 2001, 17:15 GMT]
The conditions in Chavakachcheri are not suitable for resettling people although the government and some parties are attempting to do so, said Jaffna Mayor N.Raviraj, returning from a tour arranged by the Sri Lanka army Wednesday. The SLA's 51-2 brigade commander accompanied the mayor, Mr.V.Anandasangaree, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP for Jaffna and Mr. S.Aravinthan, member of the Jaffna Municipal Council (TULF).
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Grenade attack on Oxfam office

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 January 2001, 06:52 GMT]
Two grenades were thrown at a British aid agency office, Oxfam, at Narahenpita in Colombo in the early hours of Wednesday. Though there were no casualties, two vehicles parked at the office were damaged in the blast, police said.
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Heads shaved to tighten Vanni embargo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2001, 18:40 GMT]
Four fishermen complained to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Mannar Tuesday that the Sri Lanka Navy shaved their heads and assaulted them severely on trumped up charges that they were defying the Vanni embargo. Fishermen in Mannar complain that the SLN arrests and beats them up regularly, accusing them of smuggling essential commodities banned under Colombo's decade long economic embargo on the Vanni region. Meanwhile the SLN’s intelligence wing began deployment in the northern coastal parts of the Mannar island Tuesday. The deployment is aimed at monitoring and curbing sea borne infiltration by the Liberation Tigers from the mainland SLN, sources said.
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PM invokes Ruhuna ethos for SLA recruiting

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2001, 16:49 GMT]
A program to recruit ten thousand youth to the Sri Lanka army was begun Tuesday the Buddhist temple in the island's main pilgrimage centre. Sri Lanka's prime minister, Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, who chaired the function said that it was a great achievement by the people of Ruhuna to have inaugurated the program to win the war from Kataragama. The southern interior of the island was called Ruhuna in medieval Sinhala. It is celebrated by Sinhala Buddhist nationalists as the ancient seat of resistance to Tamil dominance where Sinhala rulers mustered recruits to wage war on the armies of the Chola empire. Senior SLA officers and Buddhist monks took part in the program.
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Tigers "already implementing" Norway's MOU

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 January 2001, 20:30 GMT]
The Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim met the Liberation Tigers' chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham in London Monday prior to his visit to Sri Lanka, sources close to the LTTE said. Amongst other matters, Mr. Solheim had also discussed Norway's proposed memorandum of understanding to de-escalate the conflict, they said. The LTTE views the MOU positively, but would sign it only if Sri Lanka also accepted its part in it, Balasingham had told Solheim according to the sources.
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Court to hear Mailanthanai massacre case

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2001, 23:34 GMT]
(Newsfeature) The Mailanthanai massacre case in which 21 Sri Lanka army soldiers are accused of hacking to death 35 Tamils, including women, in a remote Batticaloa village on 9 August 1992 will be taken up for hearing in Colombo Monday lawyers appearing for the families of the victims said. "Justice delayed is justice denied. As with most cases in which SLA soldiers have been accused of massacring innocent Tamil civilians, a patently deliberate procrastinating strategy drawing on untenable pretexts is causing inordinate delays. This benefits the perpetrators of the murders," Mr.N. Kandasamy, a senior human rights activist in Colombo who has been monitoring the case for nine years told TamilNet Sunday.
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SLA ambush kills one

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 January 2001, 14:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers lying in ambush in the jungles of Kirimichchaikulam in the Vaakarai region, about 62 km. north of Batticaloa opened fire, killing one civilian and injuring three others. According to villagers the incident occurred around 2 p.m. on Friday.
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Colombo rejects cease-fire, Tamil coalition disappointed

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2001, 18:57 GMT]
"If the government is only interested in pursuing the war against all the Tamil people and in imposing a military solution on them, then let it say so openly. That the Liberation Tigers have extended their cease-fire for another month is a political challenge for the Sri Lankan government. In this circumstance we cannot continue to believe that we can get a political solution from the Sri Lankan government" said Mr. N. Sri Kantha, a senior spokes person for the coalition of eleven Tamil parties in Colombo, Friday, reacting to Colombo categorically rejecting the cease-fire by the Liberation Tigers, which they extended for another month this week.
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Opposition march carries 'SL economy' in coffin

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2001, 16:31 GMT]
Hundreds of opposition United National Party members and supporters marched through a busy suburb of Colombo Friday, carrying a coffin and protesting against the steeply rising cost of living and crime in Sri Lanka. UNP leaders and supporters addressed a meeting around 11 a.m. Friday at Sri Kotha, the party's national headquarters, lambasting the People's Alliance regime for the failing, cash strapped economy, the rupee devaluation and rising crime. The crowds then marched to the busy Nugegoda junction, carrying placards and shouting slogans against the Sri Lankan government.
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Black bands in Batticaloa University for ceasefire, self-determination

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2001, 15:03 GMT]
Students and teachers of the Eastern University in Batticaloa wore black bands on their arms and observed five minutes of silence at 12 noon Thursday to urge the Sri Lankan government to recognize the Tamil people's right of self determination and to reciprocate the extended unilateral ceasefire declared by the Liberation Tigers.
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PA not capable of resolving conflict -Tamil coalition

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2001, 07:32 GMT]
"Tamil parties firmly believe that Peoples Alliance (PA) Government is not capable of bringing the ethnic conflict to an end. That is why we have formed a coalition to urge the international community to actively join the peace efforts by pressuring the Sri Lankan Government to stop fighting and start negotiations with the Liberation Tigers," said the representatives of Tamil parties during a meeting with the Swedish Ambassador held in Colombo on Wednesday.
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"Right to life not guaranteed in constitution"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2001, 05:10 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan constitution does not guarantee the right to life. Many human rights violations and murders are possible due to such loopholes in the constitution. The Sri Lankan government refused to sign an international convention that would have obliged it to act responsibly on the question of human rights violations and missing persons. It is the governmentís duty to explain the fate of persons reported missing. But it does not do anything. This is the reason why it is possible not to take any action to bring those responsible for murdering journalists to book" said V.T Thamilmaran, senior law lecturer at the University of Colombo Wednesday, addressing the 90 days remembrance meeting for slain Jaffna journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan in Colombo.
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Union demands Tamil GA for Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 January 2001, 20:12 GMT]
Samastha Lanka Government General Employees Union has requested the President to take steps to appoint a Tamil civil servant as the Government Agent (GA) of the Trincomalee district. A resolution to this effect was unanimously passed at the fourth annual general meeting of the Trincomalee branch of the union held last week.
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Blast kills 11 soldiers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 January 2001, 11:09 GMT]
Eleven Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, including three officers were killed and five others were wounded in a blast near Muhamaalai in the Thenmaradchi sector on Tuesday evening, army sources in Colombo said. The blast was caused by a booby trap device, the sources said.
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Kaluatara political prisoners say conditions dire

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 January 2001, 04:44 GMT]
Tamil political prisoners in the Kalutara maximum-security prison face persistent health and sanitary hazards while having to survive corruption and official apathy, human rights officials said this week. Six hundred and twenty nine Tamil political prisoners, mostly from the northern and eastern parts of the island, are incarcerated in the Kalutara prison, south of Colombo. Three were killed and seven injured in an attack on them by a mob of Sinhala convicts on 12 December 1997. The prisoners told National Human Rights officials who visited them this week that their cases were being prolonged inordinately.
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Tigers extend unilateral ceasefire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 January 2001, 12:41 GMT]
(CORRECTION) The Liberation Tigers said Tuesday they would extend their unilateral ceasefire by another month, and called on the international community to persuade Sri Lanka to "reciprocate favourably and resume negotiations in a cordial atmosphere of peace and normalcy." The LTTE's unilateral ceasefire was due to expire Wednesday night. The Tigers said they had made the decision "in conformity with the collective will of the Tamil nation which demands peace and also in compliance with the wish of the international community which pleads for a peaceful means of resolving the conflict."
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Peace protest in Vaakarai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 January 2001, 11:12 GMT]
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Vaakarai on Tuesday demanding the Sri Lankan Government reciprocate positively to the Liberation Tigers unilateral cease-fire and to begin negotiations with the movement. The protest was also intended to highlight that Tamil people's aspiration is their right to self-determination, organisers said.
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SLAF jets bomb Trinco villages

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 January 2001, 15:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force jets bombed four villages about 8 km. south of Trincomalee around 5.30 p.m. Monday. Local residents said two Kfir jets attacked the villages of Chenaiyoor, Kaddaiparichchan, Samboor and Soodaikuda. Initial reports indicated extensive damage. But details of casualties and destruction of property are not available sources in Mutur, the town closest to the targets of Monday's air raid, said.
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Jaffna journalist tortured in solitary confinement

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 January 2001, 13:57 GMT]
A senior Jaffna journalist held incommunicado by the Sri Lankan Police since 2 January was assaulted with pipes and tortured, Human Rights Commission officials who were permitted to see him this weekend said Monday. The journalist, Mr. Nadarajah Thiruchelvam, had been held handcuffed for 12 days in solitary confinement by the Terrorism Investigation Division of the Police, they said. The police have neither filed any charges against Mr. Thiruchelvam nor have produced him in a court.
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ICRC outlines war zone activities

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 January 2001, 19:49 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross transported 3807 patients by ship from Jaffna to Trincomalee and took 1061.89 metric tons of drugs and postal bags to the northern peninsula in 2000, according to the annual report of the humanitarian organisation. Two ships, the Java Gulf and the Java Gold, ply between Jaffna and Trincomalee under the ICRC flag, sustaining a lifeline to the debilitated and chronically ill supplied health service in the war torn peninsula. Briefing journalists in Batticaloa Sunday, the ICRC's press officer, Mr. Harasha Gunawardana, said that his organisation had transferred the bodies of 270 Liberation Tigers and those of 209 Sri Lanka army soldiers killed in the war during 2000.
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Solheim to meet Balasingham

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 January 2001, 18:48 GMT]
The Norwegian government, the official peace facilitator in the Sri Lankan conflict, is renewing efforts to persuade the government and the Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to avoid actions which might escalate the present hostilities into renewed all out war, thereby impairing Oslo’s ongoing peace initiative, diplomatic sources in Colombo said Sunday.
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Dissonant developments jar SLA music

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2001, 17:17 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army went ahead Saturday evening with a music show it had organized in Batticaloa with an audience comprising government officials despite the general shut down in the east coast town and its suburbs. Tamil musicians and singers from Colombo who has been booked for the show did not turn up, sources said.
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Self-determination call shuts down Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2001, 15:10 GMT]
The Batticaloa town was deserted Saturday as shops and businesses were closed and most people stayed indoors despite warnings by the Sri Lanka army against the Hartal (general shut down) called by the Independent Students' Union (ISU) to impress that 'the Tamil people's aspiration is the right of self determination and to demand that genocide in Sri Lanka be stopped and a fear free environment in which the Tamils can live peacefully be created'.
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Uthayan journalist interrogated

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2001, 11:21 GMT]
Sri Lankan police on Saturday interrogated sub-editor of the Jaffna based Tamil daily 'Uthayan' regarding an interview with the LTTE's chief negotiator and political advisor Mr.Anton Balasingham which appeared on Friday. The journalist, Mr.Vithyatharan was interrogated for nearly two hours at his office said sources.
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Embargo said causing malnutrition, deaths

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 23:03 GMT]
Four patients suffering from severe malnutrition died last month at the Kilinochchi hospital, medical officials in the Vavuniya said Friday. The hospital is unable to treat scores of people in the district bitten by rabid dogs because it has no anti-rabies vaccine in stock, according to them. Severe malnutrition is prevalent in the Vanni, particularly among children, due to the decade long economic embargo imposed on the region by successive Sri Lankan regimes. Vaccines and drugs considered essential in the acutely underdeveloped Vanni backwater are generally not available or chronically short in supply due to draconian restrictions by the Sri Lanka army.
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Embargo crippling life in Vanni-Bishop

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 20:37 GMT]
"The people in the Vanni expressed disappointment that the Sri Lankan government talks about peace only when it has to face an election and that once in power it seeks to solve the problem only by military means" said the Bishop of the Mannar diocese of the Catholic Church, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph, on returning from a five day visit to the northern region controlled by the Liberation Tigers. The displaced civilians of the Vanni receive only 25 percent of the relief due to them from the government and most people there are unable to make a living or ply their trade because of the continuing economic embargo on the region, according to the Bishop.
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Call for peace hartal in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 19:58 GMT]
The Independent Students' Union (ISF) in Batticaloa Friday called on people to observe a one-day hartal on Saturday in the eastern town in support of the campaign by Jaffna University staff and students and to urge the Sri Lankan government to reciprocate the Liberation Tigers' ongoing unilateral cease-fire. The call for hartal coincides with a musical show organised by the Sri Lanka Army said sources.
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SLA demolishes homes in Jaffna suburbs

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 19:53 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army has demolished more than three hundred homes in the southwestern coastal suburbs of Jaffna town to construct large military facilities, said residents who visited the area this week. An official of a local NGO who went to inspect his home in Colombuthurai told TamilNet that coconut plantations in these suburbs were also destroyed.
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LTTE "will not extend cease-fire amid Army offensive"

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 11:19 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will not extend its unilateral month long cease-fire, due to expire next week, if the Sri Lankan government continues the current offensive operation in the southern sector of the Jaffna peninsula, the organisation's chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, said Friday in a special interview to the popular Jaffna daily, the Uthayan. The LTTE's cease-fire deadline expires on January 24.
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No faith in Colombo say Tamil parties

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 January 2001, 19:47 GMT]
"We doubt that the Sri Lankan government really wants to bring about peace. We have sought the good offices of the international community because we have lost faith in the Sri Lankan government and because we suspect its motives", representatives of Tamil political parties told the ambassadors of Norway and the European Union (EU) in Colombo during discussions Thursday. Senior politicians and MPs of seven Tamil political parties, including the Tamil United Liberation front, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, the National Workers Congress and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, took part in the discussions.
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Heavy casualties in Jaffna fighting

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2001, 19:02 GMT]
Airstrikes and heavy exchanges or artillery rocked the Jaffna peninsula Wednesday as the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued to face determined resistance from the Liberation Tigers, sources close to the LTTE said. Over 100 SLA troops and 70 Tigers have been killed in the past two days, sources close to the LTTE said Thursday evening. Over 400 SLA troops have been wounded, they added.
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'Pongu Thamil' demos in Batticaloa and Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2001, 17:09 GMT]
Demonstrations were held Wednesday in Vavuniya and Batticaloa in support of the Pongu Thamil rally in Jaffna. Hundreds of undergraduates of the Eastern University in Batticaloa and the College of Education in Vavuniya gathered for peaceful rallies urging the Sri Lankan government to start peace talks with the Liberation Tigers and to recognize the Tamil people's right of self determination.
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Massive demonstration in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2001, 12:28 GMT]
(News Feature) More than ten thousand people in Jaffna comprising university students, high-school students, residents and representatives and members of civil organisations demonstrated Wednesday, urging the Sri Lankan government to reciprocate the Liberation Tigers unilateral ceasefire and negotiate with the movement. Thousands more people were turned away by Sri Lankan security forces at check points set up along the major roads leading to the university, residents said. Reporters were not permitted into the university either.
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Australian, Canadian Tamil students in 'solidarity' protest

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2001, 06:53 GMT]
(Photo) Tamil Students from Sydney and Melbourne, Australia organized demonstrations Wednesday to coincide with that organized by the Jaffna University students urging the Sri Lankan government to negotiate with the Liberation Tigers. Over 400 Melbourne students and family members gathered together in front of the Victorian State Parliament House to "show their solidarity with their fellow students in Jaffna", organizers said. Similarly, over 250 Tamil university students of Sydney gathered outside the Consulate of Sri-Lanka, they said.
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Military intimidation threatens Jaffna student rally

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 January 2001, 20:43 GMT]
"The attempts of the Sri Lankan government to suppress the peaceful 'Pongu Thamil' (Tamil Upsurge) rally in the University of Jaffna shows that the people of the north are living in the grip of military rule" Jaffna university students' union representatives said Tuesday.
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SLA offensive threatens peace process - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 January 2001, 13:31 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Tuesday that their troops were fiercely resisting a major offensive by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Jaffna peninsula. The LTTE also said in a statement from its London offices that the organisation had earlier informed the Norwegian peace envoy of the impending offensive and requested him to impress upon the Sri Lanka government that such military action will intensify the conflict and seriously impair the current peace initiatives.
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SLA firing injures two

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 January 2001, 07:23 GMT]
A 11-year old girl and another woman were injured in indiscriminate firing by Sri Lanka Army at Pillaiyaradi, 4 km. north of Batticaloa, around 10 a.m. on Monday said sources.
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Teachers support student-protest

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 January 2001, 07:21 GMT]
The North East General Teachers' Union (NEGTU) issued a statement on Monday supporting the students' protest organised by the Jaffna University Community. In a statement issued Monday evening the NEGTU said that the present war should be stopped and permanent peace should be ushered in the northeastern province enabling teachers to perform their duties without any hindrance.
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14 Tamils arrested in hill country

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 January 2001, 17:26 GMT]
Fourteen Tamil youths were arrested on suspicion by Sri Lankan police during a search operation in the hill town of Bandarawela on Monday. Five of the arrested are young women, sources said.
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Arrest of journalist raises doubts - SLTMA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 January 2001, 15:44 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police refused to let relatives visit the Jaffna journalist, Nadarajah Thiruchelvam, who was arrested and detained on 2 January in Colombo. The journalist is being held by the Terrorism Investigation Unit (TID) of the Sri Lankan Police. The Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists’ Association in a statement issued Sunday questioned the real motive behind the indefinite detention of Mr.Thiruchelvam.
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Mannar citizens’ committee lists killed, missing

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 January 2001, 17:43 GMT]
Thirty two civilians were killed due to the actions of the Sri Lankan security forces while twelve were reported missing in Mannar from January to December 2000 according to statistics released Saturday by the Citizens’ Committee for the district. The Committee said that hundred and forty three civilians were arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces in this period and that only 70 of these have been released so far.
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Police issues threat against planned protest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 January 2001, 14:50 GMT]
"If the demonstration by students of Jaffna University takes place on the 17th of January as planned, the protesters will face dire consequences," warned the Chief Inspector of Police, Jaffna district, in a special meeting held this morning for Nallur and Jaffna Pradeshya Sabha officials at Jaffna police station, sources in Jaffna said.
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RSF protests journalist's arrest

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 January 2001, 16:04 GMT]
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Media, Mangala Samaraweera, on Friday, Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders - RSF) protested against the detention since 2 January 2001 of Subramaniam Thiruchelvan, a journalist from Jaffna, by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). RSF asked the Minister to inform it of the reasons for this detention.
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Army planning 'all-out' offensive - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 January 2001, 07:33 GMT]
Exploiting the Liberation Tigers' unilateral ceasefire, the Sri Lanka Army is inducting fresh troops, armour and artillery into the Jaffna offensive in preparation for an "all-out" offensive in the Kilali-Nagerkoil, the LTTE said Friday. In an interview with the London-based Tamil Guardian, the LTTE's chief negotiator warned that the Army's "strategy will result in a major escalation of the war."
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Will not permit student demo- Jaffna commander

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 January 2001, 20:56 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army's objective is not recapturing Elephant Pass but ensuring the protection of Jaffna and its people said Major. General Anton Wijendra, the Security Forces Commander for the northern peninsula, addressing a press conference for foreign and local journalists flown in Wednesday by the military at his headquarters in Palali. He charged that students of the Jaffna University are engaging in political agitation with the backing of the Liberation Tigers and vowed to stop demonstration the undergraduates are planning to hold on 17 January.
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Peace activists slam SLA warning

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 January 2001, 16:44 GMT]
The Bishop of the Trincomalee -Batticaloa diocese of the Catholic Church, Rt.Rev.Kingsley Swampillai protested against the Sri Lanka Army's proclamation that it will punish people urging the Sri Lankan government to start peace talks with the Liberations Tigers when he met the military Co-ordinating Officer for the Batticaloa district, Brigadier V.R.Anthonis Thursday. "It is a dangerous development that people who say the war ought to be stopped and call for peace in Sri Lanka should be considered offenders by the army", the bishop said.
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No peace campaigns warns SLA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 January 2001, 16:42 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army on Wednesday issued hand-bills and announced over radio in Batticaloa, appealing to people not become offenders by organising rallies or protests demanding a cease-fire. In a similar announcement last week, the army said that severe action would be taken against those who participate or organise peace rallies.
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Pandemonium in SL Parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 22:12 GMT]
Pandemonium reigned in the Sri Lankan Parliament Wednesday morning when ruling party members tried to shout down opposition ranks that were protesting over Police breaking up a demonstration by the radical Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna in downtown Colombo on Monday.
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Urge President too, suggests British HC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 22:11 GMT]
Britain welcomes the unilateral cease-fire by the Liberation Tigers as a positive move in the right direction towards finding a negotiated political solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic problem, the British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Ms Linda Duffield, told a delegation of Tamil political parties that met her Wednesday in Colombo. The Tamil parties urged the British HC to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to positively respond to the cease-fire unilaterally declared by the Liberation Tigers as a goodwill measure last month.
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Solheim meets Indian HC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 18:00 GMT]
Mr. Eric Solheim, Norway's peace envoy, had discussions Wednesday afternoon with the High Commissioner for India in Colombo, Mr.Gopalakrishna Gandhi, and the Co-leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Mr.Rauf Hakeem who is a minister in the People's Alliance Cabinet. The Norwegian envoy arrived Wednesday morning in Colombo in an apparent attempt to restart the peace initiative run aground after the Sri Lankan government rejected a month long unilateral cease-fire declared last month by the Liberation Tigers as a 'goodwill' gesture.
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Trainee SLA soldier raped and murdered

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 14:45 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army trainee was found raped and killed Tuesday near his detachment in Mirusuvil in Jaffna. SLA military Police sources said that a lance corporal identified as Wijeyananda and a private have been arrested in connection with the rape and murder. The trainee soldier, K.R.K Karunaratna, was reported missing after a party at the armoured corps unit in Mirusuvil on 6 January, according to the Military Police.
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Vavuniya students protest against abduction

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 14:10 GMT]
Students of National College of Education at Poonthoddam in Vavuniya demonstrated in the northern town Wednesday, protesting against the abduction of one of their colleagues by gunmen suspected to be from a militia working with the Sri Lankan army around 9 p.m.Tuesday. Somasundaram Mukunthan, a third-year student of the college, was abducted from his home at Pandaariakulam, a suburb of Vavuniya town, by gunmen men who had come in an auto-rikshaw, student sources said.
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Tamil detainees appeal for safety guarantees

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 13:00 GMT]
Tamil Political detainees held at Kalutara prison have appealed to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to take measures to guarantee their security in the prison. The detainees have also complained about quality of food, medical facilities and prolonged detention.
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"Stop war, start talks" - TULF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2001, 21:49 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Tuesday demanded the Sri Lankan Government immediately stop the war and commence negotiations with the Liberation Tigers so as to find a political solution to the island's protracted ethnic conflict. Mr. V. Anandasangari, Vice President of the TULF was speaking at the swearing in of Nadarajah Raviraj as the new Mayor of Jaffna Municipal Council.
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Tamil parties seek Dutch pressure

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2001, 21:48 GMT]
A deputation comprising representatives of several Tamil political parties met the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Colombo Tuesday morning and appealed to him to use his good offices to exert pressure on the Sri Lanka government to reciprocate the unilateral cease-fire offered by the LTTE, Tamil party sources said.
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President rejects LTTE ceasefire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2001, 00:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga Monday rejected Liberation Tigers' month-long unilateral cease-fire during a televised speech to people in the northern Jaffna peninsula, in her first public response to the LTTE "goodwill" offer last month.
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Protesters injured as police open fire

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 January 2001, 16:02 GMT]
At least ten people, including a member of the Western Provincial Council, were wounded when police opened fire to disperse crowd protesting against rising cost of living and the Norwegian backed peace process, in Colombo Monday evening. The protest was organised by radical Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, the third largest party in the Sri Lankan parliament.
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Norway "committed" to peace process

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 January 2001, 11:55 GMT]
Norwegian officials Monday denied reports that Oslo would withdraw from efforts to bring about peace talks to end the Sri Lankan conflict. The officials were responding to reports in the Jaffna-based Tamil daily, Uthayan.
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Colombo categorically rejects Tiger cease-fire

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2001, 15:29 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government will not in anyway respond to the cease-fire unilaterally declared by the Liberation Tigers last month said Sri Lanka's Minister for Media, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, addressing a press conference in Colombo Friday to announce this week's cabinet decisions.
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"No cease-fire, Tigers will be eliminated" - Army

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2001, 13:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army announced over loud-hailers in Batticaloa town on Friday that severe action would be taken against those who organise or take part in hunger-strikes, march, picketing or other forms of protest urging the Sri Lankan government to declare a cease-fire or to begin negotiations with the Liberation Tigers.
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Tamil parties urge US pressure

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2001, 12:59 GMT]
The United States should exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to respond positively to the month-long unilateral cease-fire declared by the Liberation Tigers on 24 December, so as to create a climate conducive for negotiations, representatives of several Tamil parties appealed to the US Ambassador in Colombo during a meeting Friday.
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People, NGOs join Jaffna University demo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 21:00 GMT]
The demonstration by students and staff of the Jaffna University asserting that the political aspiration of the Tamil people is self determination and urging the government to start peace talks with the Liberation Tigers continued for the seventh day on the campus Thursday. Students visited towns and villages in the peninsula Thursday to muster support among the people for their campaign.
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152 arrested, 73 missing in Jaffna in 2000

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 19:33 GMT]
Seventy three civilians were reported missing in the Jaffna peninsula from January to September in 2000 according to a report put out by the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna Thursday. The report said that 152 persons were arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces during this period.
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20 thousand homes shattered, relief tardy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 18:55 GMT]
Over 20 thousand houses were damaged or destroyed in Trincomalee by the cyclone that ravaged the eastern district on 26 December, officials said. About forty fishing boats were destroyed or are reported missing, according to officials at the Trincomalee District Secretariat.
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Grenade lobbed at Batticaloa shop

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 16:49 GMT]
Armed men, suspected to be Sri Lanka army soldiers and Policemen, lobbed a grenade at a grocery store in Sinna Uppodai, a suburb of Batticaloa town around 9p.m. Wednesday, injuring a 19-year old employee of the shop. Neighbours alleged that the attack was in retaliation to the shop owner’s refusal to pay up protection money (‘kappam’) to the assailants.
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University students assault 'Uthayan' journalist

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 15:30 GMT]
A journalist working for a Tamil daily in Jaffna, the 'Uthayan', was assaulted by Jaffna University students Thursday morning when he went to the campus to gather information about the ragging of new students at the Science Faculty. The paper published a news report on Thursday about students boycotting lectures protesting against the one-year suspension of four senior students involved in ragging.
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Two more suspects identified in Mirusivil

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 12:27 GMT]
Two more Sri Lanka Army soldiers (SLA) accused of murdering eight Tamil civilians, including a 5-year old boy, at Mirusuvil on 19 December were identified by the prime witness, Ponnuthurai Maheswaran, during an identification parade held Thursday. Three SLA soldiers, including an officer, were identified by the witness on Wednesday.
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Tamil political prisoner murdered

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 12:26 GMT]
A Tamil political prisoner held at Kalutara prison was found stabbed to death on Thursday morning local police said. His body was found in a section of the prison where nearly 600 Tamil political detainees are held.
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ICRC helps Trinco cyclone victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 04:05 GMT]
Over 2,200 families which lost their dwellings in the cyclone that ravaged the Muttur and Eechilampathai divisions of the Trincomalee District on 26 December are being provided with plastic tents and cooking utensils by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC). Government relief for the cyclone affected population in this region was not readily available as the Liberation Tigers control most parts of these two administrative divisions in southern Trincomalee.
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Witness picks out murder accused

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 January 2001, 16:50 GMT]
Three of several Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, including an officer, accused of murdering eight civilians in Mirusuvil in Jaffna on 19 December were identified by the prime witness, Ponnuthurai Maheswaran, during an identification parade held Wednesday. Thirteen government troops including two officers have been arrested in connection with the massacre. Seven of them appeared for the identification parade.
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Drug shortage threatens pregnant women

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2001, 23:43 GMT]
Hundreds of pregnant women in the northern parts of the Batticaloa district are threatened by the unavailability of a drug (Ecometrine) that controls bleeding during childbirth at the Valaichenai hospital. Medical officers told Mr.M. Abdul Cader, deputy minister for Health who visited the hospital Tuesday that many other essential drugs are in short supply and that the maternity ward building is dilapidated and is functioning without basic facilities.
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'Jaya Gold' resumes humanitarian mission

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2001, 23:01 GMT]
The vessel 'Jaya Gold' chartered by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) has recommenced its weekly humanitarian voyages, transporting patients from Jaffna peninsula for specialized medical treatment in Colombo hospitals, sources said.
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Marxist women protest in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2001, 16:12 GMT]
A mass protest against the rising cost of living in Sri Lanka was led Tuesday in downtown Colombo by the women's wing of the radical Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP - People's Liberation Front). Hundreds of women carrying placards and shouting slogans gathered in front of the city's main railway station in Fort, Colombo's bustling business hub from 4 p.m. this afternoon for the protest. The cost of living in the island shot up when the cash strapped Sri Lankan government devalued the rupee and hiked up fuel prices last month in addition to taxes and heavy borrowing to finance a massive war budget.
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"Peace efforts give us hope" - Bishop Raayappu Joseph

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 January 2001, 08:31 GMT]
"Even though the path towards peace is fraught with obstacles, it is everyone's duty to take careful steps towards achieving peace. Statesmanship, courage, patience and unrelenting focus to reach an amicable solution amidst resistance from extremists, are qualities people are expecting to see in both Leaders," said Mannar Bishop Raayappu Joseph in his millenium message to the nation.
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Cyclone caused disruptions ease

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 January 2001, 00:26 GMT]
Eastern Trincomalee district which was hit by cyclonic storm and heavy rains on Tuesday is limping back to normalcy with the restoration of pipe-borne water and electricity supply, local officials said.
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