Eleven remanded in Madhu killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 July 2002, 20:53 GMT]
The Vavuniya Magistrate M.Illancheliyan Wednesday ordered remand for eleven suspects, eight Sinhalese and three Tamils, in connection with the murder of three persons whose bodies were recovered on 25 July by the Tamileelam police in Thatchanamaruthamadhu near the Madhu shrine.
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SLA restricts devotees to high security zone temple

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 July 2002, 20:52 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Wednesday informed the Hindu Affairs Minister that only eight devotees and a priest would be allowed daily to visit and conduct rituals at the Rajarajeswary Amman temple, which is in the high security zone in Valikamam North.
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Meeting lends ‘fresh cause for optimism’ - paper

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 July 2002, 15:06 GMT]
In the wake of the landmark meeting Saturday between Sri Lankan cabinet Minister Milinda Moragoda and the Liberation Tigers’ chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, prospects of a meeting later this year between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan have been raised, a Tamil expatriate newspaper reported this week.
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Teachers union deplores correspondence in Sinhala

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 July 2002, 18:08 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) Tuesday criticised education officials for sending letters and circulars to persons working in the Northeast in the Sinhala language despite a pledge by Colombo not to do so. "The Minister of Human Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affairs directed the relevant officials in his ministry to correspond with Tamil medium schools in Tamil or English. But education officials still correspond only in the Sinhala language," said Mr.S.Thandauthapani, President of the CTTU.
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TNA to meet Ranil before Vanni visit

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 July 2002, 16:44 GMT]
The Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe has invited Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians for an important discussion about the current state of the peace process. The meeting comes a day ahead of the last deadline mentioned in the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) between the Liberation Tigers and Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe's government.
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Govt, LTTE ‘steadfastly preparing for peace’ - SLMM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 July 2002, 15:26 GMT]
(News Feature) International monitors this week hailed the ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers and praised both sides for adhering to it. The agreement, which came into effect on February 23 (referred to as D-day in the document), has several deadlines by which specified actions to restore normalcy should be completed. The upbeat statement by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) comes as the last of the listed deadlines (D+160) looms on Friday, August 2.
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IDPs find skeletons near SLA camp

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 July 2002, 15:39 GMT]
Displaced persons clearing land for resettling near a Sri Lanka Army camp in Nunavil in Jaffna found a bag Monday morning with several human skeletons without skulls. There were some pairs of slippers too in the bag, residents said. The remains are beleived to be of local residents who were killed during Sri Lanka Army operations in the area two years ago, according to them.
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SLA vacates Hartley College, Morakkoddanchenai School

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 July 2002, 13:34 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Monday vacated the Morakkoddanchenai Ramakrishna Mission School in the Batticaloa district after twelve years of occupation and handed two buildings of the Point Pedro Hartley College in Jaffna. Students and parents who object that the SLA's continues to occupy several private homes and public buildings, including the local library and village council surrounding the school in the heart of Morakkoddanchenai, boycotted the event.
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Tamil refugees rescued from mid-sea

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 July 2002, 16:20 GMT]
Nine Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who left Ramehswaram Wednesday night in a boat to Mannar were rescued by Talaimannar fishermen from a sandbank in mid-sea Saturday morning. The Mannar District Judge Mr.M.P.Mohideen Sunday ordered the Police to send these refugees to Jaffna district to be resettled in their own villages, Chavakachcheri and Ilavalai.
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T. E, S. L Police investigate Madhu murder

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 July 2002, 12:21 GMT]
The Tamileelam Police service Sunday afternoon handed over to the Sri Lanka Police the bodies of three persons from Kandy, suspected to have been murdered in the Madhu region last week. The Government Agent for Vavuniya arranged the transfer, officials said. Mr. Manikavasakar Ilancheliyan, the Vavuniya district judge who inspected the bodies Sunday at the Vavuniya hospital, directed the Police to seek, through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, evidence, productions, witnesses and suspects arrested in connection with the murder in the LTTE controlled Vanni region.
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Kanniya resettlement begins after 12 years

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 July 2002, 10:11 GMT]
Displaced Tamil families from the predominantly Tamil village Kanniya, 7 km north of Trincomalee town are returning to their own land. More than one thousand families had been displaced since 1990 from Kanniya due to violence by the State armed forces. "Under the first stage, about one hundred displaced families are to be resettled ,"said Mr.Iynkaran, the Head of the LTTE’s Political Division for the Trincomalee district Sunday.
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Protests over Jaffna hospital security zone

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2002, 22:09 GMT]
The ban imposed by the Sri Lankan military on civlian use of the roads around Jaffna teaching hospital, which presently come under the high security zone, should be removed immediately as it causes severe hardship to patients and medical staff, the visiting Health Ministry Secretary Dr. Reggie Perera was told Saturday at a conference.
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WB official meets Jaffna Vice Chancellor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2002, 21:17 GMT]
Mr. Bradford Herbert, World Bank operational advisor in Sri Lanka Saturday met the Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna University, Professor P.Balasuntharampillai, and discussed several issues affecting the education in the peninsula. "Until a permanent political solution is found no massive assistance will be given by the WB," said Mr.Bradford Herbert at the discussion.
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Moragoda meets Balasingham in London

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2002, 16:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Minister Milinda Moragoda met Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers at the Norwegian ambassadorial residence in London, Saturday. In a statement Saturday, the Norwegian Government hailed the meeting as a "new phase" in its peace initiative in Sri Lanka.
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New Colombo Archbishop exhorts national unity

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2002, 16:14 GMT]
"All Sri Lankans should join hands to find a lasting solution to national issues irrespective of communal, religious and other differences," said the newly installed Archbishop of Colombo Most.Rev.Dr. Oswald Gomis. The Canonical installation of the eighth Archbishop took place Saturday at the Cathedral of St.Lucia, Kotehena in Colombo.
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N-E athletic meet commences

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2002, 15:30 GMT]
Athletes from all the eight districts in the North-east Province are participating in the two-day provincial Track and Field Championships-2002, which began Saturday morning at Urban Council grounds, Vavuniya. The Head of the LTTE's Sports Division, Mr.A.Inban, officially participated at the inaugural event.
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Tamileelam Police escorts Jaffna prisoners

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2002, 15:19 GMT]
Prisoners from the Jaffna were taken on the A9 highway to the Anuradhapura jail Saturday for the first time in twenty years, Sri Lankan prison officials said. The Jaffna prisoners were escorted by the Tamileelam Police service from Muhamalai in Jaffna to the Sri Lanka army's Omanthai entry point, according to them.
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Students demand demilitarisation of school environs

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 July 2002, 18:25 GMT]
More than a thousand protesting students blocked the A9 highway near the Chavakachcheri town in Jaffna Friday, demanding that their school environments be made free of Sri Lankan military presence and that Colombo should fully implement the cease-fire agreement. The protesting students stalled military and civilians traffic on the A9 for more than an hour.
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Confession based convicted to be released

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 July 2002, 22:08 GMT]
Tamil political prisoners who have been indicted solely on their confessions should be released it was agreed at a top level conference held Thursday evening at Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence. It was also decided that immediate steps should be taken to dispose of all other cases within a month.
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SLA trooper dies attacking Tigers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 July 2002, 22:07 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army soldier was killed when he crossed into the zone of separation in Jaffna and opened fire on a group of Liberation Tigers who fired back, international ceasefire monitors said Thursday. LTTE and SLA commanders “showed tremendous responsibility and constraint in a very difficult situation,” Major General Trond Furuhovde, head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said.
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US urges Sri Lanka peace

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 July 2002, 21:14 GMT]
United States' President George Bush offered Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe American support in efforts to resolve the island's ethnic conflict, a White House spokesman said Wednesday. The two leaders' meeting lasted approximately 15 minutes, the spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
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SLA re-opens Varani road

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 July 2002, 18:05 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army re-opened the main road through Varani in Jaffna this week. The SLA was encamped in the heart of the village, astride the Kodikamam - Pt. Pedro Road, occupying private property in the area, including many homes. Varani residents who were evicted from their homes and properties by the SLA wrote to Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe after he signed the Cease-fire Agreement with the Liberation Tigers, urging him to open the road and return the village centre to them.
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Legislators trade blows in parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 July 2002, 16:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliamentary sitting was suspended Wednesday morning for about fifteen minutes when a group of ruling and opposition members exchanged blows in the well of the House. Pandemonium erupted when the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, made a statement calling for an apology from, and the resignation of, Commerce Minister Mr. Ravi Karunanayake on the grounds that he had accused the President of carrying a bomb in her handbag.
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Trial-at-Bar inquiry for Mirusuvil massacre

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 July 2002, 16:28 GMT]
The Attorney General has decided to indict a group of Sri Lanka Army officials for the killing of eight Tamil civilians at Mirusuvil in Jaffna district before a three-member bench of the High Court. The Attorney General is to make a request to the Chief Justice shortly to name the judges for the Trail-at-Bar inquiry, legal sources said.
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Jaffna cricket team in Britain

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 July 2002, 04:03 GMT]
A cricket team from Jaffna is touring Britain ahead of a guest appearance at a Tamil expatriate sports festival, according to a London press report. The Tamil team, comprising students from Jaffna university, beat a Welsh team last week, the Tamil Guardian reported.
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LTTE political officials harassed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 July 2002, 03:46 GMT]
A senior political cadre of the Liberation Tigers was assaulted by Sri Lankan troops last week whilst another was arrested and interrogated, Tamil press reports said. Protests were lodged with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the reports said.
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Tigers welcomed on Jaffna island

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 July 2002, 03:08 GMT]
Political cadres of the Liberation Tigers Monday landed in Analaitheevu, one of the islands off the Jaffna peninsula, and received an enthusiastic welcome from the residents, Tamil press reports said Tuesday.
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Tigers’ armed struggle for justice - MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 July 2002, 00:17 GMT]
The armed struggle of the Liberation Tigers has just objectives, Mr. R. Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader said Tuesday addressing a gathering at the conclusion of one day token fast held in Trincomalee Monday evening in protest at the continued detention of Tamil Nadu politician Mr. V. Gopalasamy.
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Military blocking Valikamam resettlement - MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 July 2002, 05:51 GMT]
By refusing to allow displaced civilians to resettle in Valikamam north in the Jaffna district, the Sri Lankan military is violating the ceasefire agreement the government signed with the Liberation Tigers, said Jaffna district parliamentarian Mr. G. G. Gajendrakumar, addressing a press conference Monday at the office of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC).
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CJ names three judges to hear Ratwatte case

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 July 2002, 18:22 GMT]
The Chief Justice Mr.Sarath N.Silva Monday named a three-member bench of the High Court to hear the Udathalawinne massacre case. In this case the former deputy defence minister General Anuruddha Ratwatte, his two sons Lohan and Chanukah and twelve other persons have been charged on 72 counts, including conspiracy to murder and murder.
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Defence Ministry Secretary concludes Jaffna visit

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 July 2002, 10:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry Secretary Mr. Austin Fernando accompanied by the Sri Lanka Army commander, Lt.Gen. Lionel Balagalle and Sri Lanka Navy commander, Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri concluded his two-day visit to Jaffna district Sunday.
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Velanai committee concludes Jaffna hearing

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 July 2002, 16:39 GMT]
The three-member committee of inquiry probing the assault of LTTE political activists at Velanai on June 20 concluded its sittings in Jaffna Friday. The Colombo sitting of the committee of inquiry is to commence at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall on July 21 and will continue till July 24.
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Sri Lanka stands by ceasefire agreement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 19:07 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government Thursday dismissed calls for its ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers to be revised. “Although several political groups have requested for the revision of the ceasefire agreement the Government considers it a complete document," Minister G.L. Peiris said at a press conference held Thursday to announce the cabinet decisions taken Wednesday.
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Language barrier to teaching in Kantalai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 17:48 GMT]
Sinhalese teachers who are not proficient in Tamil have been appointed on part time basis to teach English to Tamil students in the Kantalai education zone in the Trincomalee district, parents protested this week.
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‘Bag-gate’ as minister spots spy camera

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 17:37 GMT]
Acrimony between Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Parliamentary government took a bizarre twist Thursday when a cabinet minister accused her of using a spy camera concealed in her handbag to tape a cabinet meeting.
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LTTE, SLN give evidence on Kayts assault

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 16:42 GMT]
The independent commission inquiring into the alleged assault of a political worker of the Liberation Tigers by Sri Lanka Navy personnel in the island Kayts in Jaffna visited the scene of the incident Thursday. The chairman of the commission, Air Vice Marshall (retd) Harry Gunatillake, urged civilians from the area to come forward without fear to give evidence about the incident.
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EU delegation meets LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 10:22 GMT]
Ambassadors and Deputy Heads of Mission of six European Union countries visited the Vanni Wednesday, and held discussions with the head of the Liberation Tigers’ political section, Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan. The delegation was headed by Mr. Salvatore Zotta, Ambassador of Italy and Chairman of the EU Heads of Mission in Colombo.
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Family in court under PTA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 10:10 GMT]
The Chavakachcheri acting Magistrate, Mr. A. Premshankar, Wednesday discharged three members of a family - father, mother and son- in a case filed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), following instructions from the Attorney General.
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HC discharges accused in PTA cases

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 July 2002, 21:23 GMT]
The Eastern High Court Wednesday discharged the accused in two cases filed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the Emergency Regulations (ER) when the prosecution brought to the notice that the key police witness who had recorded the confession of the accused was not present in the court for the seventh time.
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President to take on Premier - report

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 July 2002, 10:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga has decided to take the battle to the administration of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe before it moves to present an impeachment motion against her in Parliament next month, the Daily Mirror reported Wednesday, quoting sources close to the President. The government, meanwhile, is this week expected to publish a report into alleged financial malpractices by the President, weekend press reports said.
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TNA protests military expansion in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 July 2002, 02:16 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Tuesday requested the Sri Lankan government to halt the establishment of new army camps and the expansion of existing camps in the Thenmaradchi area of the Jaffna peninsula, citing the impossibility of resettling displaced people to their homes under such circumstances.
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Charles Anthony remembered

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 July 2002, 18:11 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are sincerely implementing the ceasefire agreement with the Sri Lanka government, Mr. A. Ruban, the head of the LTTE's political wing in Trincomalee said Tuesday. "We will not allow the Tamils to be blamed for the derailment of peace process,î" he said. Mr. Ruban was speaking at the nineteenth annual commemoration of the death of Lieutenant Seelan (Charles Anthony) held Monday evening in the Trincomalee Sri Koneswara Hindu College's grounds.
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LTTE express regret over sea incident

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 July 2002, 16:03 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an official statement issued from its Political Head Quarters in Kilinochchi, northern Sri Lanka, denied categorically that they held two members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) as hostages during a confrontation with the government, last Saturday, in the Mannar seas.
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SLFP power struggle goes to court

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 July 2002, 15:55 GMT]
The Colombo District Court Tuesday issued a restraining order on the senior leaders of the main opposition, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) preventing them from suspending the party membership of Colombo district parliamentarian Mr.A.H.M.Fowzie. The District Judge said that his restraining order will be valid till 31 July this year. The SLFP is the major constituent of the main opposition Peoples Alliance (PA).
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Students of school inside navy camp protest

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 July 2002, 14:42 GMT]
Hundreds of students and parents Tuesday morning blocked roads in the island of Kayts in Jaffna to protest against Sri Lanka Navy defence positions around Velanai Duraisamy Central College. The protestors sat across roads at Saravanai Junction, Vankalavadi Junction and Velanai Bus Company Junction from early morning. The Duraisamy Central College is inside the SLN base in Velanai.
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Velanai committee begins inquiry

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 July 2002, 13:26 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government Committee of Inquiry tasked to investigate the assault on June 20 of two unarmed members of the Liberation Tigers’ political section, allegedly by naval personnel and Tamil paramilitaries, commenced its public sittings Tuesday morning at the Jaffna Secretariat. The committee has been appointed by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence at the behest of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
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Norway, LTTE discuss talks agenda

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 July 2002, 17:35 GMT]
The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, met with the Liberation Tigers’ chief negotiator and political advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham, in London Monday. Mr. Helgesen was accompanied by Mr. Erik Solheim, special advisor to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and Ms. Lisa Gold, an executive officer with the Foreign Ministry.
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A5 reopens after seven years

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 July 2002, 06:55 GMT]
The forty-kilometre stretch of road on the A5 highway from Chenkaladi to Maha Oya which goes through territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers has been opened to the public after seven years. The opening ceremony was held near Karuththapalam Monday morning around 10.30, attended by senior LTTE officials and Sri Lanka Army officers.
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Controversy after Navy attacks LTTE trawler

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 July 2002, 01:39 GMT]
(News Feature) Following the Sri Lanka Navy’s (SLN) attack on an LTTE fishing trawler Saturday, the movement registered a strong protest with international monitors Sunday , describing the incident as a ‘serious violation’ of the ceasefire agreement. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) meanwhile protested that two of its monitors who boarded the trawler had not been allowed to embark before the crew took the damaged vessel to shore and said this was a violation of the ceasefire. The LTTE however said the monitors - who had checked and cleared the trawler - had been assured of their safety and that the vessel was being rammed by SLN gunboats during its travel to shore.
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LTTE assures Muslim farmers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 July 2002, 11:47 GMT]
Muslim community welfare organisations have widely welcomed the Liberation Tigers' assurances that their safety in predominantly Tamil areas would be guaranteed and that there would be no restriction placed on their free movement or trade, Tamil press reports said.
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STF arrests LTTE cadre

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 July 2002, 03:07 GMT]
Sri Lankan police commandos last Thursday arrested an unarmed member of the Liberation Tigers, Tamil press reports said. The arrest occurred as Sri Lankan government officials assured international monitors and the LTTE that arrests of Tamil Tigers by the security forces - which are violations of the ceasefire agreement between the two sides - would not be permitted.
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President fears cabinet ambush

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 July 2002, 00:57 GMT]
The war of words between Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the Parliamentary government of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe escalated this week with the President telling a meeting of her Sri Lanka Freedom Party that attending cabinet meetings posed a threat to her life, the Sunday Leader reported.
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Mosque leaders, Tigers to defuse tensions

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 July 2002, 21:09 GMT]
Tamils and Muslims "should not allow the miscreants amongst us" to undermine communal harmony and derail peace efforts, said Mr. Tilak, a senior official of the Liberation Tigers in Trincomalee, when addressing a group of religious leaders and leading citizens of Muslims in the east port town Saturday morning.
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Legal aid plan for internally displaced

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 July 2002, 20:53 GMT]
Over seven hundred thousand people are internally displaced in Sri Lanka as a result of the ethnic conflict and have been deprived of the rights and privileges enjoyed by other citizens, Mr. S. S. Wijeratne, Chairman of the Legal Aid Foundation of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) said in his key note address at the inaugural event of the Free Legal Aid clinic held Saturday morning in Trincomalee.
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Three-member committee to probe Velanai incident

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 July 2002, 17:34 GMT]
A three-member committee has been appointed to probe the incidents that took place at Velanai in the Jaffna district on 27th October 2002, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release issued Friday. In that incident, LTTE political activists Semmanan and Thayalan were beaten up by navy personnel and masked men beleived to be members of a para military group Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP).
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TNA requests India to release 'VAIKO'

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 July 2002, 17:22 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance has appealed to the Indian government and the Tamil Nadu state government to release Vaiko Y.Gopalasamy, leader of the Makkal DMK and others who have been arrested. "The arrest of 'VAIKO' on the ground that he was supportive of the LTTE and his being remanded causes deep anguish to the Tamil people in Sri Lanka," said in a statement issued by the TNA Friday.
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Ferial Ashraff demands revision of cease-fire agreement

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 July 2002, 15:36 GMT]
The National Unity Alliance (NUA) Friday demanded a complete revision of the cease-fire agreement that has been signed by the Prime Minister and the LTTE leader. The NUA is one of the constituents of the main opposition People's Alliance (PA). The Executive President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge is the leader of the PA.
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General Ratwatte to be indicted in HC

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 July 2002, 12:57 GMT]
The Attorney General has decided to indict all the eleven suspects including the former Deputy Defense Minister General Anurudha Ratwatte and his two sons Lohan and Chanuka in the Kandy High Court on seventy two counts in the Udathalawinne massacre case. The charges include conspiracy to commit murder, aiding and abetting murder and murder. In this incident ten Muslim youths were killed on the parliamentary elections day-December, 2001 at Udathalawinne in the Kandy district.
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State paper protests President’s pressure

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 July 2002, 11:59 GMT]
Embroiled in a financial scandal regarding imports of foreign cars, President Chandrika Kumaratunga ordered a government-owned newspaper to publish her official statement as its lead story on Thursday, the publication’s editor protested Friday. The state-owned Daily News followed Kumaratunga’s instructions but insisted it had been subjected to unwarranted pressure though the President’s spokesman said ‘a request’ had merely been made.
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Pathuman expresses serious concern to SLMM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 July 2002, 21:11 GMT]
The commander of the Liberation Tigers in Trincomalee, Mr.Pathuman, Thursday expressed his serious concern over the arrests of unarmed members of the organisation by the Sri Lankan security forces, to the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. The LTTE commander held discussions, lasting two and half hours, at his office in Sampoor in the Mutur-east with the head of the SLMM head, (retd) Major General Trond Furuhovde Thursday morning.
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Bank workers protest privatisation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 July 2002, 18:20 GMT]
Employees of Sri Lanka's largest banks Thursday launched a major campain against measures stipulated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to privatise the island's financial giants.
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Mine weeding in Pallai yields 25000

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 July 2002, 16:43 GMT]
The de-mining unit of the Liberation Tigers removed more than 25 thousand mines and unexploded ordnance from the general area of Pallai in Jaffna since March this year. The head of the LTTE's de-mining unit in Pallai, Mr. Kunaratnaraj Jeyananthan, about half the area of the Pachchilaipillai Division, in which the war ravaged town is situated, has been cleared of mines.
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SLMM head holds talks in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 July 2002, 18:30 GMT]
The Norwegian head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (retd) Major General Trond Furuhovde Wednesday evening arrived Trincomalee town by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter with LTTE's political division official Mr. Pulithevan from Batticaloa. A conference was held later in the evening at the auditorium of the provincial ministry of education at Orrs' Hill, Trincomalee.
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Karuna reiterates commitment to peace

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 July 2002, 12:35 GMT]
"There were insidious forces behind the recent troubles in the east. These forces should not be allowed to disrupt the peace process," said Col. V.Karuna, the commander of the Liberation Tigers for the districts of Batticaloa and Ampara, during a discussion with the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and representatives of the Sri Lankan government in Kokkaddicholai, southwest of the eastern town Wednesday.
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Students' protest in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 19:17 GMT]
More than twenty thousand Tamil and Muslim students Tuesday marched in protest against the continuing occupation of schools by the Sri Lankan army and the general discrimination they are subjected to by Colombo. The students handed over memorandums to the Vavuniya government agent, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, the UNHCR and the UNICEF in the northern border town.
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"Third force" behind eastern troubles - Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 19:16 GMT]
"The Liberation Tigers have no hand in the recent troubles in the East. They very keenly interested in taking forward the peace process," said Mr. M. H. Mohammed, a veteran Muslim political leader of the ruling United National Party and cabinet minister, at a press conference Tuesday afternoon at his ministry following a tour in the districts of Batticaloa and Ampara during the weekend.
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Sri Lanka opposition exhorts rejection of cease-fire deal

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 18:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition parties and several Sinhala nationalist groups held a large public rally of more than five thousand in Colombo Tuesday, condemning peace negotiations between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe's government and the Liberation Tigers as a conspiracy to divide the island. The main speakers at the rally exhorted the Sinhala people to reject the cease-fire agreement between Colombo and the LTTE.
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New Army fortifications in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 13:44 GMT]
The Sri Lanka armed forces are hurriedly building fortifications and expanding their bases in the Jaffna peninsula while public buildings vacated by the military remain beyond the public use as the surrounding areas are declared high security zones, Tamil press reports said last week.
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Pandemonium in parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 13:29 GMT]
The Speaker suspend the sittings of the Sri Lanka's parliament Tuesday morning when parliamentarians of the main opposition People's Alliance (PA) and the Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) created an uproar by shouting slogans and carrying placards blaming the government for not issuing a statement regarding to the security situation in the Eastern province. At one state opposition MPs rushed forward and tried to seize the mace, but were thwarted by others.
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Village rejects SLA school offer

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 04:55 GMT]
The people of Morakkoddanchenai, 26 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Monday rejected an offer by the Sri Lanka army to construct a new building for the village children's education instead of vacating the local school under the terms of Colombo's cease-fire agreement with the Liberation Tigers in February this year. The SLA has been occupying the Morakkoddanchenai Government Tamil Mixed School, public market, post office, library, village council, the local temple and scores of private homes in the heart of the village for more than 12 years.
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SLA permits visit to temple in Palaly

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 02:49 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army Monday permitted devotees to visit and clean the premises of the Sri Rajarajeswari Amman temple near the Palaly military airport. The temple is among more than hundred places of worship occupied by the SLA in Jaffna's Waligamam North division. More than 2000 residents who lived in the temple's neighbourhood were evacuated by the SLA in 1987 and 1990 for expanding the defence perimeter of the Palaly military base and airport.
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HRC inquiry into Mutur troubles

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 02:08 GMT]
Officials from the Human Rights Commission (HRC) held discussions Monday in Trincomalee with police officials, members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and civil authorities regarding the destruction of the Liberation Tigers’ political office in Mutur area and the communal violence that followed. The meeting was held at the regional office of the HRC, sources said.
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SLMM head to visit Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 02:04 GMT]
The Norwegian head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General (Retd.) Trond Furuhovde will visit Trincomalee for two days. He is scheduled to meet representatives of several organisations at the Trincomalee office of the SLMM Wednesday, and the LTTE leaders at Sampoor in Mutur east Thursday, sources said.
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Children trigger grenade blast

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 July 2002, 02:02 GMT]
Two young students and a 4-year old girl were wounded Sunday when they played with a grenade they found in their school which had once been a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp. The Maha Vilankulam, north of Trincomalee town, was abandoned by the SLA two years ago.
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SLA takes over library, houses

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 July 2002, 06:48 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna Saturday marked the village of Amban and its environs as a high security zone. The SLA took over a public library and six homes in Thumpalai East near Pt.Pedro town Friday to set up defence positions in the area. Amban is on the southeastern coast of the Jaffna peninsula.
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Local body asks SLA to lift fishing ban

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 July 2002, 06:46 GMT]
The Chairman of the Chavakachcheri Pradeshiya Sabha (local government institution) said Saturday that he has written to the Jaffna Security Forces Commander, Maj. Gen. Sarath Fonseka urging him to immediately lift the ban on fishing in the Jaffna lagoon off Koilakandy and Kilali.
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Sri Lanka plans to impeach President - report

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 July 2002, 02:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s government last week decided to impeach President Chandrika Kumaratunga on a wide range of issues from corruption to the abuse of power, The Sunday Leader newspaper reported. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed his ministers to start drafting the impeachment resolution with immediate effect, it said.
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Black Tiger day marked at site of first attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 July 2002, 01:40 GMT]
Over five thousand people gathered in Nelliady in the Jaffna peninsula Friday to mark Black Tigers day - the first time the event had been held here since 1995. July 5 is the anniversary of the death of the first Black Tiger, Captain Miller, who was killed destroying a Sri Lanka Army base located in the Nelliady Madhya Maha Vidiyalyam - the site of the commemoration this Friday. His mother was amongst those who paid their respects to fallen Black Tigers.
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'Military testing our patience' -Trinco LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 July 2002, 12:42 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan security forces test our patience frequently. But we won't violate the cease-fire agreement signed by our leader with the Sri Lankan government. At the same time we will not do anything that will derail the ceasefire agreement," said Ms Krishna, Trincomalee district women wing secretary of the Liberation Tigers presiding over the events to mark Black Tigers Day in Trincomalee town Friday evening.
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Trinco arrests violate ceasefire agreement - TNA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 20:37 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday expressed its strong disapproval of a tendency on the part of some sections of the Armed Forces, to take in custody unarmed members of the Liberation Tigers, who are entitled to freedom of movement in the north and east under the provisions of 1.13 of the cease-fire agreement. "The arrests of five unarmed members of Liberation Tigers Wednesday in Trincomalee by the security forces are a violation of the said provision of the cease-fire agreement," said Mr. Mr.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the TNA and the Trincomalee district parliamentarian in a statement issued Thursday.
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Police charge student demo in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 19:57 GMT]
Four students were wounded when riot Police baton charged a large demonstration in downtown Colombo Thursday against World Bank/IMF recommended privatisation of university education and the slashing of higher education subsidies in Sri Lanka.
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Ex-EPDP cadre makes confession on journalist's murder

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 19:56 GMT]
The confession of an ex-member of the paramilitary group EPDP to the Jaffna Magistrate, Thursday, may throw fresh light on the investigation into the murder of journalist, Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, legal sources in the north said.
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Arrests reveal eastern inciters' connections

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 19:42 GMT]
Police Thursday arrested a person believed to be working for Sri Lanka army intelligence for stoning and throwing bottles at a Tamil owned passenger van in the Muslim quarter of the Eravur town. Two persons were wounded in the attack Wednesday afternoon. On information given by the public the Police arrested Abu Salee Naseer (also known as 'Support' Naseer). Police said that Naseer was a soldier of the Sri Lanka army. However, his relatives in Eravur said that he now works for the military intelligence unit in Batticaloa.
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Military arrests unarmed Tigers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 10:15 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military took five unarmed members of the Liberation Tigers into custody in two separate incidents Wednesday, triggering tensions and anger amongst Tamils in Trincomalee, residents said. The LTTE’s political section in the eastern district strongly condemned the military’s actions as a breach of the ceasefire agreement.
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Civilians protest military blocks

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 03:27 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy Monday imposed a ban on civilian traffic on the Vankalavadi Road where one of its bases is located, the Uthayan newspaper reported. Civilians who use the road have been told to use a temporary road cleared through farmland, away from Navy sentry points to the south of the base.
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MoD says 'no case' amid public protests

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 01:18 GMT]
(News Feature) A Sri Lankan Defence Ministry inquiry into the assault of two senior political cadres of the Liberation Tigers on June 20 ruled that "there was no evidence ... to establish a case against any individual or person," state media reported. The Defence Ministry statement was issued Wednesday, the day after a massive demonstration in Kilinochchi to protest the attack by Sri Lankan naval personnel and members of the paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) on the LTTE cadres.
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Vanni returnee abducted, beaten up in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 July 2002, 18:05 GMT]
A father of two children who returned to Point Pedro in Jaffna after more than six years in LTTE held Vanni region Wednesday complained to the Police that he was abducted, beaten up and kept in a dilapidated building for six days. He said that the abductors had chained his hands and legs. Informed sources in Jaffna said his abductors are suspected to be members of the army intelligence unit.
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LTTE urges Muslim Tamil harmony in east

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 July 2002, 16:01 GMT]
"We, the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers, fought face to face in battlefields for 25 years. But today we are seated side by side as friends. All of us should explore the reasons why, while this is so, we, the Muslims and Tamils who speak the same language, are unable to live in amity," said Mr. N. Karikalan, a senior official of the political division of the Liberation Tigers addressing a peace conference in Batticaloa town Wednesday.
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SLMM “has not requested LTTE to stop hartals”

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 July 2002, 23:56 GMT]
International monitors Tuesday denied press reports which claimed they had requested the Liberation Tigers to desist from organising protest strikes (‘hartals’). In a statement, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said it is “not opposed to Hartals, demonstrations, meetings and other activity that can be considered as political and peaceful means of people to express their opinions” but cautioned that those organising protests “must be responsible for keeping [these events] under control.”
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LTTE political office opened at Velanai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 July 2002, 19:59 GMT]
The first political office of the Liberation Tigers in the Jaffna islands was open Tuesday at Velanai Chaatti road. The Assistant Government Agent of Kayts Mr. S.Theivanayagam declared open the office.
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Karikalan, 23 Div. GOC meet

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 July 2002, 17:34 GMT]
Mr. N. Karikalan, senior official of the LTTE’s political division in the east, had discussions with the General Officer Commanding of the Sri Lanka army’s23 Division, Maj. Gen. Sunil Tennekoon on opening theA5 highway and rebuilding peaceful relations between Tamils and Muslims in the east at the Bishop's House in Batticaloa town Tuesday.
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Jaffna journalist says beaten up, threatened

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 July 2002, 05:26 GMT]
The President of the Jaffna journalists' Association, Mr. Veluppillai Thavachelvam complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the International Committee of the Red Cross Tuesday that he was abducted and beaten up by armed persons who accused him of working for the Liberation Tigers.
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Protests after troops injure 20

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 July 2002, 10:17 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army and Police assaulted and severely wounded more than twenty civilians in the village of Nanattan in Mannar Sunday night. More than six hundred villagers began a protest Monday morning demanding that the SLA camp in the area should be removed immediately. Shops were closed and the streets were deserted in protest against the assault.
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SLA takes over scores of homes in Thenmaradchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 July 2002, 02:46 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army last week took over scores of civilian homes amid its efforts to expand its fortifications in the Thenmaradchi district of the Jaffna peninsula, Tamil press reports said. Sri Lankan forces have occupied 43 houses in one part of the district and have begun turning them into army camps, according to a complaint made to the District Secretary S Srinivasan. A new SLA base is being constructed in the village of Kaputhu also, the reports said.
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LTTE, military discuss recent violence as conspiracy suspected

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 July 2002, 02:43 GMT]
(News Feature) The leaders of the Liberation Tigers' political section in the Amparai-Batticaloa region, Mr. Visu (Head) and Mr. Thurai (Deputy Head) met senior Sri Lankan security officials late Friday night and Saturday to discuss last week's violence in Valaichenai and to seek ways to avoid a repetition of such incidents in the future. Meanwhile LTTE officials in the east, the leader of Sri Lanka’s largest Muslim party, Mr. Rauf Hakeem, and the Interior Minister, John Amaratunga, said this weekend that elements opposed to the peace process had instigated the recent chain of violence in the eastern province.
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