Human Rights Commissioner meets Jaffna journalists

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2004, 22:34 GMT]
Mr.N.Selvakumaran, Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), addressing a press briefing in Jaffna said HRCSL would not hesitate to take action against errand policemen and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers for violation of human rights if it receives complaints supported with evidence. He met with the Jaffna based journalists at the regional office of HRCSL Sunday.
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Mosque demolished as mobs attack sect in Kattankudy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2004, 11:05 GMT]
Police Sunday declared unofficial curfew in Kattankudy, a large Muslim town 5 kilometres south of Batticaloa, after mobs demolished a mosque and several houses and buildings belonging to an Islamic sect. Special Task Force (STF) commandos were called in after Police failed to control crowds of orthodox Muslims armed with clubs and machetes stormed the main mosque and a computer centre of the influential Islamic sect led by the charismatic cleric known as 'Payilvaan'. Police said crowds were called up by muezzins from orthodox mosques in the thickly populated town.
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Computer training centre opened in Alankerni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2004, 01:10 GMT]
With support from London-based expatriate organization TR TEC, Trincomalee branch of TECH,The Economic Consultancy House, a Non-Governmental Non-Profit Sharing Organization registered with the Government of Sri Lanka, Friday opened the seventh free computer-training centre in a remote Tamil village Alankerni, in Kinniya division in Trincomalee district. The centre is housed in Alankerni Vinayagar Maha Vidiyalayam.
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Dissident SLMC MPs sworn in as ministers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2004, 18:02 GMT]
Mr.Najeeb Majeed, Mr.Rishard Badiudin and Mr.Ameer Ali, dissident parliamentarians of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Saturday afternoon were sworn in as Ministers without cabinet rank by Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge. With these appointments, total number of ministers, ministers without cabinet rank and deputy ministers has risen to 76, parliamentary sources said.
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Easing residency rules will affect Mannar born students, UGC told

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2004, 17:34 GMT]
The Organization of Parents/Guardians of School Children (OPGSC) of Mannar District Friday requested the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) to implement the original residential requirement of five years to obtain university admission to safeguard the educational interests of students born and grew up in the district, which is declared backward for the purpose of higher education, education sources said.
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LTTE delegation meets John Hume

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2004, 14:46 GMT]
“Learning to live with diversity and respect for each other is the cornerstone of a meaningful democracy," said Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) Leader, former Member of EU Parliament and Nobel Laureate, Mr. John Hume, in a meeting with the LTTE delegation led by its Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, Friday, said LTTE sources in Ireland.
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HRCSL Commissioner visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2004, 13:21 GMT]
Mr.S.Selvakumaran, a member of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Saturday paid a visit to Jaffna and held talks with the political leadership of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Jaffna district. Mr.C.Ilamparithi, Jaffna district LTTE political head expressed dissatisfaction over the actions taken by the HRCSL in regard to the disappeared youths after the arrest by the Sri Lanka Army during 1996-1997 period during the discussion which was held at the HRCSL Jaffna regional office, human rights sources said.
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Akashi visits Trincomalee, meets community leaders

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2004, 11:53 GMT]
Mr.Yasushi Akashi, Japanese special peace envoy Saturday visited Trincomalee and held discussions with the delegations representing Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims in the Trincomalee district separately at the residence of Parish Priest of Trincomalee St Mary's Cathedral. "Trincomalee district has showed to the world that there is a possibility for co-existence and co-operation between the three communities in Sri Lanka," said Mr.Akashi after the discussion.
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'Will reconsider meetings if civilians are harassed' - Kausalyan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2004, 08:18 GMT]
''We explained to the Sri Lankan armed forces about the fear among civilians caused by the drastic increase in searching and checkpoints. We are very carefully considering the progress of these meetings in relation to these developments. If the harassment of civilians continue thus we would be compelled to reconsider our participation in these meetings'', said Mr. E. Kousalyan, head, political division of the Liberation Tigers for Batticaloa-Amparai, speaking to the press at the conclusion of a meeting in Batticaloa between LTTE and Sri Lankan armed forces Saturday.
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Plantation workers face bleak future- UPF

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2004, 00:30 GMT]
"The Collective Agreement (CA) entered into between the Employers' Federation and the Joint Trade Union Committee does not provide plantation workers a wage increase that takes into account the increase in the Cost of Living (COL) index. Grim prospect of starvation is a realilty in Estate households," said S.Arulsamy, Central Provincial Council Member and Upcountry People's Front (UPF) Administrative Secretary, in a media release issued Friday.
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Oxfam launches Campaign to End violence against women

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2004, 00:04 GMT]
Oxfam sponsored District Campaign to End All Violence Against Women was launched in Trincomalee with an inaugural event held at Trincomalee St.Joseph's College auditorium Tuesday evening with Mr.Farid Hasan Ahmed, acting Country Programme Manager of the Oxfam (Great Britain), Sri Lanka as the chief guest, sources said.
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Ranil warns against altering Sri Lanka's constitution

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2004, 16:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s opposition leader Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe said Friday that any attempt by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to alter the country’s constitution might encourage the Liberation Tigers to exercise the mandate obtained by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) at the last general elections to summon their own constituent assembly in the northeast. Addressing a seminar by the International Democratic Union-Asia Pacific Democratic Union at the Taj Samudra Hotel in downtown Colombo, he said: “it can really throw a spanner in the peace process."
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Batticaloa undergrad dies in Jaffna road accident

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2004, 15:52 GMT]
Mr.Jeevaretnam Vivekanandan of Batticaloa, second year in the Art Faculty of Jaffna University died in a road accident Friday evening when his motorbike skidded while turning towards the entrance of the varsity under heavy shower, Jaffna Police said.
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UGC urged to safeguard Mannar students rights

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2004, 14:03 GMT]
The Organization of Parents and Guardians of School Children (OPGSC) of Mannar District Friday urged the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) to implement the original residential requirement of five years to obtain university admission to safeguard the educational interests of students born and bred in the district, which is declared backward for the purpose of higher education.
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Trinco hospital gets eye surgeon after 20 years

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2004, 13:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka Health Ministry, after nearly twenty years, has appointed a permanent eye surgeon to the Trincomalee general hospital, hospital sources said. Eye patients in the Trincomalee district have had to travel to Kandy, Kurunagala and Colombo for eye treatment, until this appointment, residents said.
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"Revive Jaffna palmyra, coconut industry"- TNA MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2004, 12:34 GMT]
Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr.Suresh Premachchandran Friday wrote to the Chairman of the Coconut and Palmyra Development Societies Federation, Provincial Commissioner of Co-operative Development and the Government Agent the urgency of reviving the palmyra and coconut industry in the peninsula, which is currently being neglected by the government and other related agencies, sources said.
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Refugee camp in Trinco collapses, injuring three

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2004, 17:31 GMT]
One of the two old buildings constructed during colonial days in Jamaliya area in the suburbs of Trincomalee town and currently being used as refugee camps collapsed Thursday afternoon wounding three internally displaced persons including two women. One of the injured was admitted to the intensive care unit in Trincomalee general hospital. Other two are also warded in the hospital, sources said.
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"Presidential term will continue till December 2006"- Samaraweera

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2004, 15:27 GMT]
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government Thursday announced that the incumbent Presidency will expire only in December 2006. ''The UPFA government is not keen in holding Sri Lanka's Presidential election in December 2005 or a referendum to extend the current term,'' said Mr.Mangala Samaraweera, Information Minister and Media Spokesman addressing a press briefing Thursday.
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TECH opens district office in Mannar, donates Solar panels

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2004, 10:52 GMT]
The Economic Consultancy House (TECH), a Non-Governmental Non-Profit Sharing Organization registered with the Government of Sri Lanka, opened its Mannar district office in Aandankulam in Adampan district Wednesday, sources in Mannar said. During the event, four selected Mannar schools received photo-voltaic lighting systems obtained from funds donated by TECH branch in the US, organizers of the event said.
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LTTE delegation exchanges views on Peace in Dublin

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2004, 10:16 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation lead by Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, met with Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Ireland, led by Mr Connor Lenihan, Minister of State, in Dublin Thursday morning, LTTE sources from Ireland said. Later the delegation met officials at the Glencree Center for Reconciliation in Dublin.
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Two PLOTE cadres reported missing

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2004, 09:51 GMT]
Two members of the PLOTE, an ex-Tamil militant group in Vavuniya, were abducted by unidentified gunmen in a suburb of the northern border town, Sri Lanka Police said Thursday. Their whereabouts are not yet known, according to Police. The PLOTE cadres have been missing since Tuesday night, relatives said.
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TNA delegation meets Akashi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2004, 09:25 GMT]
The release of 4.5 billion dollars aid pledged at the Tokyo conference to Sri Lanka should not take place until the stalled peace talk with the Liberation Tigers resumes on the basis of Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals, delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians told Japanese special peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi during a discussion in Colombo Thursday, TNA sources said.
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Mirusuvil massacre case inquiry to resume

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2004, 02:09 GMT]
The stalled inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case is to resume before the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar (TAB) on the instruction of the Supreme Court that TAB could continue its proceedings although the confession made by one of the accused soldier Mr.R.M.S.Ratnayake was declared inadmissible, legal sources said.
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Jaffna education official dies in road accident

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 14:13 GMT]
Mr.Ponniah Venugopalavanithasan (53), Theevagam Zonal Director of Education in Jaffna district died on the spot Wednesday morning around 11.10 a.m. at Manthikai Therumoodi Madam along Jaffna Point Pedro road when a vehicle crashed into a house, Nelliyady Police said.
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LTTE delegation to meet Irish Foreign Ministry Officials

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 13:41 GMT]
Three members of LTTE Political Section, led by Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan arrived in Dublin, Ireland Thursday for talks with Officials from the Foreign Ministry of Irish Government, LTTE sources from Dublin told TamilNet.
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PAFFREL, Sarvodaya hold dialogue on electoral reform

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 11:10 GMT]
"Electoral laws in Sri Lanka need to be critically reviewed and reformed if future elections are to be free and fair," said Mr Bandula Kulatunge in a discussion meeting in held in Vavuniya organized by PAFFREL and Sarvodaya attended by several civil organizations, sources said.
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Legal wrangle over appointment of UPFA nationalist MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 10:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court (SC) granted special leave to Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, incumbent Deputy defence Minister and Buddha Sasana Minister, to proceed with his appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal (CA) that it has jurisdiction to hear the Writ Application challenging his appointment as a MP of the UPFA National List. The SC further issued interim order staying the further proceedings in the Court of Appeal until its concludes the inquiry into the appeal by the aggrieved party, legal sources said.
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Akashi to meet JVP leaders

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 10:37 GMT]
Mr.Yasushi Akashi, Japanese special peace envoy who is scheduled to arrive in Colombo evening has agreed to meet the political leadership of the Sinhala nationalist-Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), major constituent of the United Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, during his seven day stay in Sri Lanka, State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) reported in its news bulletin Wednesday.
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New Deputy Head for SLMM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 10:33 GMT]
Mr.Wagn Wikel, a Danish citizen with a diplomatic and military background, has been appointed Deputy Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and will assume duties on November 8. He will be replacing Mr.Hagrup Haukland who has been serving in this capacity for about two years, SLMM sources said.
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Seminar for Karate instructors begins in Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 02:20 GMT]
Ministry of Sports in collaboration with the North East Ministry of Sports Tuesday inaugurated a three-day seminar for Karate instructors in the eight districts of the province at the Mc Heyzer Stadium in Trincomalee. Mr.K.Ramachandran, Referee Counsellor of the Sri Lanka Karate Federation, is responsible for conducting the seminar, sport sources said.
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Estate salary to increase by 12%

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 18:57 GMT]
The basic daily salary for estate workers is to increase by Rs.14 to Rs.135, according to a joint agreement reached between Plantation Owners Association (POA) and Upcountry Trade Unions in Colombo Tuesday, sources said.
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UNP against extension of Presidential term- Prof.Peiris

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 14:41 GMT]
UNP would take every possible step to stop Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumarathunge's move to extend her Presidency through a referendum by extra-constitutional means for another term, said UNP's media spokesman and former Constitutional Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris addressing a press briefing in Colombo Tuesday.
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Protest against opening of liquor shop in Inuvil

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 12:52 GMT]
Several civil groups Monday held a demonstration and a sit-in-protest in front of the Uduvil Divisional Secretariat demanding the closure of a liquor shop that opened from businees Monday morning in Inuvil area in Valigamam division in Jaffna district, civil sources said.
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SLA asked to consider allowing cultivation in Jaffna HSZ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 12:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Tuesday directed the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to submit a report by 3rd December on the possibility of allowing cultivation in the agricultural lands in the high security zones (HSZ) occupied by the SLA soldiers in the Jaffna district, legal sources said.
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Vallai Bridge collapses, causing traffic problems in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 12:36 GMT]
The Vallai Bridge, the main link between the Vadamaradchi and Valigamam divisions of Jaffna, collapsed Monday afternoon, causing severe traffic problems on the major artery between Pt. Pedro and Jaffna towns. The bridge, built during British times, was damaged in heavy shelling by Sri Lanka army in 1994 and remained dilapidated since then with makeshift repairs.
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LTTE condemns the killing of Swiss national in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 10:10 GMT]
Warning that the perpetrators of the crime have in mind a ''criminal objective to disrupt the peace process'' and dismissing the allegation of involvement in the killing, LTTE in a Press Release issued on Tuesday accused a news report as being ''based on speculation and concoction of a story to discredit the LTTE''. The Press Release quoted further that the preliminary investigations conducted by the SLMM indicate that it is ''an individual criminal act which has no connection whatsoever with the LTTE''.
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Swiss man killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 01:48 GMT]
A Swiss national was killed in a grenade blast Monday night in Batticaloa, Police said. Mr. Ken Ulrich, 61, was at his home in Mamangam, a suburb of Batticaloa town, when an unidentified person lobbed a grenade at him, sources said. Mr. Ulrich married a woman in Batticaloa and settled down in the eastern town two years ago.
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One killed, two injured in Colombo attack

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 17:28 GMT]
A youth was shot dead and two were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of Tamils suspected to be members of the paramilitary led by renegade Liberation Tigers commander 'Karuna' (Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan) in a predominantly Tamil suburb in Colombo Monday night around 8.30.
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Over 3000 graduates take part in job training

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 15:47 GMT]
Three thousand two hundred and fifty seven graduates recruited under the job recruitment scheme launched by the United Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government are currently undergoing six months' training in eight administrative districts in the Northeast Province. The training programme commenced on October 21 as scheduled.
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IOM assists returnees from India

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 15:37 GMT]
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) officials recently held a discussion with forty Tamil refugee families who returned from India about their rehabilitation in their villages in Trincomalee district. IOM has been implementing a scheme with the financial assistance of the Government of Australia to rehabilitate the returnees from India.
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Controversial NACPR to meet in November

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 13:36 GMT]
National Advisory Committee for Peace and Reconciliation (NACPR), a group formed by Sri Lanka's President and touted as a mechanism to introduce inclusivity in the peace process, is to meet on 1st November, a press release from the Sri Lanka President's office said. Opposition United National Front (UNF) opposed it calling NACPR a tactic to delay the peace process, and TNA earlier rejected an invitation to join the NACPR.
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Akashi to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 11:29 GMT]
Yasushi Akashi, Government of Japan's special peace envoy to Sri Lanka is to visit Sri Lanka Wednesday to meet with the leaders of Sri Lanka's main political parties and with the leaders of Liberation Tigers, said a press release from Embassy of Japan issued in Colombo Monday.
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Millennium scholarships awards to be held

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 11:00 GMT]
One thousand and fourteen students who have qualified 2002 GCE Ordinary Level examination and currently following GCE A/L classes in 24 education zones of the northeast province are to be awarded with Millennium Scholarships under a scheme formulated by Sri Lanka's Presidential Secretariat. But only one hundred and fifty have been invited to attend the awarding ceremony scheduled to be held in Trincomalee Sri Lanka Navy playgrounds on October 29th morning, educcation sources said.
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Ministry seeks to retake Estate Housing funds

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 10:43 GMT]
Vice President of the Ceylon Workers United Front, Kanapathy Kanakaraj, condemned the decision of the Estate Infrastructure Ministry of Sri Lanka's United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to retake a sum of Rs. 150 millions that had been placed in deposit by the Sri Lanka Government to put up houses for the benefit of people living in huts in the plantation sector, in a media released issued Sunday, sources in Kandy said.
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Posters, gunmen threaten journalists in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 09:55 GMT]
Posters appeared in several parts of Batticaloa town Monday attacking the Liberation Tigers and warning local journalists against reporting on the LTTE. The posters are in the name of the paramilitary led by renegade LTTE commander Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna). Meanwhile, the correspondent of a Tamil paper said that he was threatened by two gunmen Sunday evening around 6.30 in Batticaloa town. The paramilitary, 'Karuna Group' has been accused of murdering senior Tamil journalist Mr. Aiyathurai Nadesan in Batticaloa in May this year.
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Protect stone scriptures related to Tamil history- Don

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 05:01 GMT]
"Majority of the centuries old stone scriptures that unearthed in the northeast province in Sri Lanka that defines Tamil History have been located in Trincomalee district. Most of the scriptures are connected with the history of Koneswaram Temple," said Professor C.Pathmanathan, Head of the Department of History in the University of Peradeniya. He conducted a research study tour in the east port district recently.
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UN Day celebrated in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2004, 21:30 GMT]
"Sri Lanka has a strong human development record compared to other developing nations. However, since 1990, poverty level has decreased only marginally, and in several areas of Sri Lanka the situation has worsened," said Ms Gabriela Elroy, UNICEF district head in the east port town at the reception held Sunday evening at the Trincomalee Welcombe Hotel to mark the United Nations (UN) Day which fell on October 24.
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HIV-AIDS awareness campaign held in Trinco prison

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2004, 17:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC) Sunday held HIV/AIDS awareness campaign for the inmates of Trincomalee prison as statistical data pointing to prison as potential environment for spreading of AIDs. A play prepared by the SLRC to educate prisoners was staged in the Trincomalee jail, sources said.
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CTTU wants kerosene at subsidized price to rural teachers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2004, 15:32 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) Sunday wrote to the Minister of Education and Minister of Power and Energy to make immediate arrangement to sell kerosene at subsidized price to teachers who are serving in schools in villages without electricity, CTTU sources said.
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SL Minister visits US to discuss bilateral trade

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2004, 14:34 GMT]
Mr Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Minister of Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs in the Government of Sri Lanka is leading a delegation to attend a trade meeting in Washington D.C to be held on the 26 October, said a press release issued by Trade ministry of Colombo Saturday.
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Dengue awareness campaign launched

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2004, 13:37 GMT]
The Trincomalee District Educational Development Organization (EDO) Sunday launched the Dengue Awareness Campaign with the support of the local offices of UN agencies UNICEF, UNHCR, and UNDP, Sri Lanka Red Cross, Department of Health and about fifteen schools to control the spread of the disease in Trincomalee town and its suburbs. The inaugural event of the campaign was held in Trincomalee Mc Heyzer Stadium coinciding with the UN day, sources said.
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Sinhala pre-school teachers join TRO's scheme

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2004, 03:23 GMT]
Twenty two pre-school teachers from eleven schools in the Gomarankadawela division of the Trincomalee district Sunday arrived at the office of Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) to join the scheme of the Pre School Educational Development Council (PSEDC), which has its headquarters in Killinochchi, TRO sources said. Gomarankadawela is a traditional Sinhalese village in the east port district.
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Trincomalee celebrates Kumbam festival

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 17:05 GMT]
Hindus held the Kumbam festival in Trincomalee Saturday evening on the completion of "Navarathiri" (Nine Nights) celebrations. Kumbam festival, unique to Trincomalee, was first introduced in Trincomalee by Indian (Punjabi) troops brought by the British to construct the naval dockyard after they captured Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), sources said.
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Civil leaders want polling stations in LTTE held areas

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 15:52 GMT]
Parliamentarians and representatives of civil groups Saturday at a discussion held at the YMCA Hall in Jaffna, on the proposed electoral reforms, requested that polling stations be located in the Liberation Tigers held areas in the northeast province in any future parliamentary and other elections, civil sources said. The discussion was organized by PAFFREL, an election-monitoring organizationwhich has its headquarters in Colombo.
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TRO takes over Trinco Children's Shelter

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 15:30 GMT]
The Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) headquartered in Killinochchi in Vanni region Saturday took over the administration of "Anbu Illam," a leading children home located along Central Road in the east port town on the orders of Trincomalee Magistrate Mr.M.Ganesharajah, Trinco sources said. Provincial Commissioner of Probation and Child Care earlier recommended to the Judge that Members of the Board of Directors appointed by the TRO to run the institution.
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Army occupation of houses must cease, MP tells SLA commander

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 15:12 GMT]
Mr.Suresh Premachchandran, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Saturday met with Major General Sunil Tennekoon, Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and discussed issues confronting the people of the district since the ceasefire came into operation. This was the first time Major general Sunil Tennekoon met a TNA parliamentarian at his military headquarters in Palaly military airbase, sources said.
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School to reopen after health scare forced closure

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 14:15 GMT]
Poonthottam Educational Institute in Vavuniya district which was closed for more than a week after several teachers and students fell sick due to several health code violations at the school, is to open this Monday, Head of the School, Mr. Bernard announced. Students are asked to report to their school dormitaries by Sunday, according to school officials.
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Vavuniya hosts all island netball tournament

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 13:13 GMT]
Inauguration of the all ceylon women's netball championship in Vavuniya was delayed by more than an hour Saturday morning after some local groups objected to hoisting Sri Lanka's national flag and singing its national anthem at the two day sports event, Police said. Ms. Shiranthi Rajapaksha, wife of Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, was the chief guest at the inauguration of the tournament. The function, scheduled to start at 9.30 a.m. began late sans the Sri Lankan national flag and anthem.
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Parliament debates JHU motion against Norwegian facilitation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 09:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament is to debate the motion tabled by the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) demanding the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government to ouster the Norwegian facilitators from the country's peace process. The motion, moved by the Sinhala nationalist party, is to be taken up for debate on November 19th. The motion accuses the presence of the Norwegian facilitators as detrimental to the country.
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LTTE delegation meets German Foreign Ministry Officials

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 03:45 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation led by Head of Political Wing, S. P. Thamilchelvan met with State Secretary, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Mr. Erich Stather, and Minister of State, Federal Foreign Office Ms. Kerstin Muller in meetings Thursday and Friday in Berlin, LTTE sources in Germany said. The delegation flew from Stockholm, Sweden, in a special airacraft that took them to German capital Berlin, Thursday morning.
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Maruthankerni villagers lack medical facilities

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 00:05 GMT]
About five thousand families undergo hardships without medical facilities in their village Maruthankerni in Vadaramadarachchi east division in Jaffna district as the opening of the rural dispensary constructed with the funds allocated by the North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) Project is being delayed due to the lethargy of provincial health ministry officials, civil sources complained.
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SLA gets new spokesman

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 17:55 GMT]
Brigadier R.M Daya Ratnayake Friday assumed duties as the new spokesman and Director, Directorate of Media of the Sri Lanka army at a brief ceremony held at the SLA Headquarters in Colombo. Former Army spokesman Colonel A.K Sumedha Perera was removed from the post after his name was implicated in a land fraud case. The case is pending in Colombo High Court.
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Thamilchelvan meets Swedish Foreign Ministry officials

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 16:31 GMT]
Head of Liberation Tigers Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, met with State Secretary of Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Annika Bjurner Soder, at the Ministry building Thursday, LTTE sources in Sweden said. Thamilchelvan told the Swedish official of LTTE’s firm commitment to the peace process and the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA).
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Civil, Military officials review law and order situation in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 15:25 GMT]
Civil and Military officials in Jaffna, Friday, reviewed the deteriorating law and order situation in the peninsula at a discussion held in the Jaffna courthouse with Jaffna Magistrate Mr.R.T.Viknarajah in the chair, sources said.
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Trinco Children Home director remanded on fresh charges

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 15:09 GMT]
Trincomalee Magistrate Mr.M.Ganesharajah Friday ordered further remand for Mr.S.Sutheralingam, former director of a children home ''Anbu Illam'' in Trincomalee in connection with alleged child sexual abuse for October 29, rejecting the bail application made on his behalf, legal sources said.
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Sri Lanka military responsible for actions of paramilitaries – judge

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 11:27 GMT]
Vavuniya magistrate Friday observed that the Sri Lanka army should bear responsibility for the disappearance of Mr. Ariyathas Vijayakumar who was abducted by the paramilitary EPRLF (Varathar Faction) on 15 August 2000 in his findings forwarded to the Vavuniya High Court after preliminary inquiry into the Habeas Corpus application. The magistrate, Mr. Manickavasagar Ilancheliyan, said that the SLA’s position that it had no knowledge of the arrest and detention is untenable because paramilitary groups like EPRLF (V) worked with the military.
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Court orders TRO to take over Children's Shelter

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 10:51 GMT]
Mr. M Ganesharajah, Trincomalee Magistrate Friday ordered that the administration of a leading Children's Home "Anbu Illam" which is located along the Central Road in the east port town to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) taking into consideration the application made on behalf by the North East Provincial Commissioner of Probation and Child Care following criminal action filed against the former director of the institution for alleged sexual abuse of children, legal sources said.
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Ex Policeman charged for raping fourteen year old girl

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 08:39 GMT]
An ex-Policeman was charged in Vavuniya courts for raping a fourteen year old girl, legal sources in the northern border town said Thursday. The girl has given birth to a child, Police said. The Children’s and Women’s Welfare Division of the Vavuniya Police filed the case Thursday on a complaint by the girl’s parents .
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Sinhala Buddhists want Norway out

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 01:45 GMT]
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the powerful Sinhala Buddhist nationalist party in Sri Lanka's Parliament, Thursday launched an islandwide campaign to get ten million signatures to persuade President Chandrika Kumaratunga to reject peace talks with the Liberation Tigers. The Sinhala nationalist campaign also exhorts Colombo to unequivocally reject the LTTE's proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) for the northeast.
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Sri Lanka Govt. troops threaten VVT fishermen

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 01:32 GMT]
Sri Lankan security forces Thursday prevented fishermen of Valvettithurai in Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district from deepening the jetty. A soldier threatened Mr.P.Wijendran, Treasurer of Valvettithurai Fisheries Co-operative Society when he protested, fisheries sources said.
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IPKF Jaffna Hospital massacre remembered

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 00:07 GMT]
Seventeenth death anniversary of twenty-one persons including medical specialists, nurses, attendants, patients and members of public who were massacred inside Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) by Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) troops stationed in Jaffna Fort on 21st October, 1987 was observed Thursday in the hospital premises, civil sources said.
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Ex-LTTE cadres complain harassment by SLA soldiers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 23:33 GMT]
The Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has received several complaints of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army harassing Tamil youths who have left the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and have joined their parents and families. Ex-LTTE youths are becoming increasingly wary of living with their families because of intimidation and threat by SLA soldiers, human rights sources said.
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Trincomalee Music, Dance School holds annual festival

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 17:49 GMT]
The fine arts institution, ‘Isai Nadana Kalalayam’ of Sri Muthucumaraswami Thevasthanam in Trincomalee held its annual Cultural Festival at the Muthukumaraswami Temple, Wednesday.
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150 farmers honoured in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 17:07 GMT]
Northeast Provincial Department of Agriculture Thursday honoured 150 best farmers in the Trincomalee district at an event especially held at Divisional Agriculture Extension Office, which is located in Chelvanayakapuram settlement about three km off east port town. The event was organized by the Trincomalee District Department of Agriculture and sponsored by the Innovative Pesticide Marketing (PVT) Ltd. (IPMP).
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Jaffna undergrads in murder case released on bail

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 15:50 GMT]
Jaffna High Court Mr.K.P.S.Varatharajah Thursday ordered bail for Mr. Jeyabalasingham Thushikanth and Mr.Ratnasingham Thavaseelan, both undergrads of Jaffna University. They were among the eight suspects remanded in connection with the murder of Arunasalam Muththiah of Punnailaikadduwan on 9 September this year, legal sources said.
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Pressing UPFA to start talks, our priority- UNP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 10:51 GMT]
"We are not pressuring the Sri Lanka Government or its President that the ISGA must be granted to the North-East, nor do we impose our stand. Our party's stance is that the ISGA proposals should be used as the basis to start talks and that it is vital that talks start soon", stated Ranil Wickramasinghe at meeting of the UNP Parliamentary group last Tuesday held at the Parliamentary complex, political sources in Colombo said.
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SLA issues Karuna Group leaflets in Batticaloa town

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 10:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka army troops distributed leaflets condemning the Liberation Tigers and their leadership Wednesday night in Batticaloa town. The leaflets bear the name of the paramilitary led by renegade LTTE commander, Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna).
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Red Cross' humanitarian services spotlighted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 00:54 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) Tuesday launched its "Meet the Media" campaign in Trincomalee in collaboration with its district branch to brief media persons on the humanitarian services of Red Cross to victims of war and displacement and other natural disasters in the Trincomalee district Tuesday. Mr.Harsha Gunawardene, SLRCS Director of Information said the second Meet the Media event will be held in Anuradhapura.
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SLTTA donates sports equipment to Muttur villages

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 00:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka Table Tennis Association (SLTTA) donated more than sixty thousand rupees worth of Tabel Tennis tables and other accessories to Trincomalee district sports unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to introduce and develop Table Tennis sport in the LTTE controlled Muttur east villages.
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US undergrad organizes charity event to help NorthEast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 00:10 GMT]
Greg Buie, a Junior at University of California, San Diego, is organizing "Hoops for Hope," a charity basket ball tournament, for the benefit of NorthEast children with whom he spent four weeks volunteering in Jaffna 2004 summer. "Join me in sending a strong message to the youth of Northeast Sri Lanka that there is hope for a better future, and that there are those who are committed to helping them realize their dreams," Mr Buie says in his message soliciting support for the event.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 16:47 GMT]
Unidentified persons shot dead a Tamil youth Wednesday evening around 7 p.m. in Anpuvallipuram, a Tamil settlement, which is located about three km off the east port town, Police said.
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Opposition to peace gaining momentum in South, Peterson told

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 13:48 GMT]
Head of LTTE Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan told Norwegian Foreign Minister, Mr. Jan Peterson, that Tamil people are losing hope in the peace process and that LTTE views with increasing concern that anti-peace elements are gaining momentum in the South, sources from Oslo said.
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US Presidential candidate in Colombo, slams Iraq war

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 12:52 GMT]
''The US is the most disruptive force on the planet. The US invasion and occupation of Iraq is a war crime carried out in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions. American media did not bother to independently investigate claims made by the Bush administration for invading Iraq. Instead, they behaved like ministry of propaganda. This is because US media is controlled by big corporations like General Electric, one of the biggest arms producers in America'', said Mr. Bill Van Auken, a US presidential candidate, addressing a press conference in Colombo Wednesday.
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Ex-military intelligence officer shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 05:06 GMT]
An ex-military intellgence officer of the Sri Lanka army was shot dead in Colombo by unidentified gunmen Tuesday night, Police said. The ex-intelligence officer, Mr.Mohammed Suresh Casim, was found dead in his car in Dehiwela, a southern suburb of Colombo.
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LTTE delegation arrives in Oslo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 02:20 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation led by its Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, arrived in Oslo, Norway, Tuesday from Brussels for a series of meetings with Norwegian Government officials, LTTE sources in Oslo said.
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Veteran Supreme Court Judge retires

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 01:26 GMT]
Justice C.V.Vickneswaran, Judge of the Sri Lanka's Supreme Court, who spent nearly 25 years as a Judge said Tuesday sitting on the bench on the last day of his retirement, that personal prejudices and external interference have marred the present day judicial activity and the Judicial community has to take corrective steps to change this climate," legal sources said. The ceremonial farewell is to be accorded to him later by the full bench of the Supreme Court.
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India, Sri Lanka defense officials meet

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 17:36 GMT]
A delegation from the Government of India met with Sri Lank's Ministry of Defense officials and discussed matters related to bilateral defense cooperation, said a press release issued by Sri Lanka Defense Ministry in Colombo Tuesday.
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Journalist Nimalarajan remembered in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 13:46 GMT]
Journalists of Jaffna regional newspapers and Colombo based print and electronic media Tuesday around noon gathered in the Jaffna bus stand and held demonstration demanding the government not to hush up the inquiry into the murder of journalist Mr.Mylwaganam Nimalarajan who was shot dead allegedly by members of a Tamil para-military group four years ago on October 19, 2000. The Jaffna Nimalarajan Foundation (NMJ) organized this event in connection with the fourth death anniversary of late Nimalarajan, which fell on Tuesday, media sources said.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Eravur

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 13:43 GMT]
Mr.Kathirgamathamby Ganeshamoorthy aged 43 was shot dead by unidentified men Tuesday early morning around 3.30 a.m in his house located in the village Iyankerny in Eravur division in Batticaloa district. He was a supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the assassins are suspected to be members of Karuna group, Tamil sources said.
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Ex TNA MP shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 12:53 GMT]
Mr.Kingsley Rasanayagam, ex Tamil National Alliance MP for Batticaloa was shot dead Tuesday evening around 6.20 in the eastern town by unidentified gunmen. He resigned his seat soon after he was elected at the April 2004 election to Sri Lanka's Parliament. Mr. Rasanayagam was a close associate of renegade Liberation Tigers commander Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna). A Policeman who was providing security to him was injured when the gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire, Police said.
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Signature campaign demands higher plantation wages

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 09:33 GMT]
Kandy based Human Development Organisation (HDO) launched a signature campaign targeting to obtain 100,000 signatures to pressure the the Sri Lanka Government and Private plantation companies to grant wage increase to the Plantation sector workers, civil sources said.
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UNP activists demonstrate in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 09:21 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians including hundreds of party cadres and activists joined in what is dubbed as “Kitchen Revolution," Tuesday in Kollupitiya junction, Slave Island junction, Hyde Park Corner, Maradana overhead bridge junction, Technical College junction and Kochchikade St Anthony’s Church junction, sources in Colombo said.
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Col. Soosai travels abroad for medical treatment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 09:17 GMT]
Sea Tigers Special Commander Colonel Soosai traveled abroad for emergency medical treatment. Assistance of the Government of Sri Lanka was sought by the Royal Norwegian Embassy to facilitate his departure from Sri Lanka Tuesday, according to a Press Release issued by the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP).
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Trinco LTTE commander meets TNA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 05:03 GMT]
Col. Sornam, the Commander of the Liberation Tigers in Trincomalee, Tuesday met Tamil National Alliance MPs who are on a fact finding and familiarisation visit in the eastern district. The seventeen TNA MPs and the senior LTTE commander discussed the severe poverty and underdevelopment faced by Tamils in the rural parts of Trincomalee and the need to further cement Tamil-Muslim unity. "Our top priority today is to rebuild our society, all but destroyed by the Sinhala state through systematic racial discrimination and genocide", Col. Sornam told the TNA MPs.
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ISGA critical to peace- Elilan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 03:15 GMT]
"If the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) does not accept our committed stand to find a negotiated political resolution to the Tamil national question on the basis of our Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals then war will be inevitable. We are prepared to face that prospect," said Mr.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) addressing a meeting held in Salli, a Tamil village north of Trincomalee as a part of the three day district level political awareness campaign of the Tamil national Alliance (TNA).
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Thamilchelvan meets MEPs in Brussels

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 00:05 GMT]
LTTE delegation led by Head of Political Wing, S.P. Thamilchelvan met with Mr. Robert Evans, Labour Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London, and other MEP’s Monday at the European Parliament building, LTTE sources from Brussels said. Thamilchelvan briefed the MEPs on the prevailing ground situation and placed the blame on Sri Lanka Government for delaying the resumption of peace talks.
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Talks should start immediately- UNP

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 18:27 GMT]
Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, former Minister and UNP spokesman said during a Media Conference held at the Opposition Leader's Office Sunday, that there is no need for any counter-proposals to the LTTE's Interim Self-Govering Authority (ISGA) proposals to start discussions with the LTTE, sources said.
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Journalist Nimalarajan to be remembered

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 16:27 GMT]
Jaffna Nimalarajan Foundation (JNF) is to hold a one- hour demonstration in Jaffna bus stand Tuesday in connection with the fourth death anniversary of Jaffna journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan who was shot dead on October 19th, 2000 in his house allegedly by members of a Tamil para military group which had close connection with the Sri Lanka government then in power. The demonstration is to commence from noon, media sources said.
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Jaffna Court orders inquiry into habeas corpus application

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 16:12 GMT]
Jaffna High Court Judge Mr.K.P.S.Varatharajah Monday referred the Habeas Corpus application filed by Mr.Kanapathipillai Velupillai seeking the production of his son Mr.Velupillai Uthayakumar who was reported disappeared after the arrest by Sri Lanka Army soldiers during 1996 period to the Chavakachcheri Magistrate for preliminary and report, legal sources said.
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LTTE delegation meets Belgian, EU Officials

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 13:29 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation lead by Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, met with Officials of Foreign Affairs Section of the Belgian Government and of the European Union in two separate meetings Monday, LTTE sources from Brussels said.
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Sea Tigers release audiocassette in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 13:25 GMT]
The audio cassette of Sea Tigers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, "Alai Padum Parani" (Voice of Sea Waves) produced by Tharmendra Studio under the music direction by Isaipriyan was released in Nelliyady Murugan Temple in Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district Sunday with Mr.K.Arunan, Jaffna district head of LTTE Sea Tigers in the chair.
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Sri Lanka's IGP visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 13:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka's 29th Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr.Chandra Fernando paid his first official visit Monday to Jaffna after he assumed his new position. '' More police personnel fluent in Tamil language would be appointed to police stations in Jaffna district,'' he told officers-in-charge local police stations at a conference held at the regional police headquarters located in Kankesanthurai, police sources said.
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Tree planting day events held in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 11:24 GMT]
As a followup to International Environmental Day held earlier this year, Tree planting day events were held in Kilinochchi, Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Mannar Friday, sources said. With Rs 1M funding from UNDP and additional funds from the The Economic Consultancy House (TECH), 10,000 seedlings were distributed in each district to community organizations and schools.
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Tamils, LTTE, MPs lose patience on peace process -Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 05:08 GMT]
"Tamils, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and we (parliamentarians) have started losing patience on the current peace efforts with the Norwegian facilitation because of the inability of the Government of Sri Lanka in coming to terms on the basis of resuming peace talks with the LTTE due to internal rift among its constituents," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance parliamentary group leader addressing a series of awareness meetings held in several villages north of Trincomalee district Sunday from morning till midnight.
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LTTE in Brussels to meet EU, Belgian Govt. Officials

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 October 2004, 17:53 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation led by Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, arrived in Brussels Saturday, sources close to the LTTE said. The LTTE delegation is scheduled to meet with European Union (EU) officials on Monday. Later Monday the LTTE team will be meeting offficials of the Department of Foreign Services of the Government of Belgium, according to LTTE sources.
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TNA urges Tamil people to strengthen LTTE hands

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 October 2004, 16:12 GMT]
Tamil National Parliamentarians (TNA) addressing first public rally held in Trincomalee Town Hall Saturday night as a part of the three day political awareness campaign in the district stressed that Tamils should strengthen the hands of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to establish the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) which is urgently needed to reconstruct the war torn northeast province and to rehabilitate the lives of several thousands internally displaced peoples now sheltered in camps and welfare centres.
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Ex-LTTE cadre killed in grenade attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 October 2004, 07:35 GMT]
An ex-Liberation Tigers cadre, suspected to be a Sri Lanka army informant, was killed in a grenade attack in a high security suburb of Batticaloa town in the early hours of Sunday around 1.30, Police said. Unidentified assailants lobbed a grenade into the house where the ex-LTTE cadre, Mr. Sinnavan Maheswaran, 27, was staying at Boundary Road, Puthur. He was seriously wounded and died one hour later in Batticaloa hospital, Police said.
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TNA meets with Trinco Muslim leaders

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2004, 18:59 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Saturday launched its first district political awareness campaign in Trincomalee district by organizing a discussion with a group of prominent Muslim citizens in the east port town at Trincomalee New Silver Star Hotel, TNA sources said.
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"Home guards' release, goodwill gesture to SLMM"- Elilan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2004, 18:12 GMT]
"We released the two Sinhala home guards, Sarath Bandara and Chandana Piyasiri, as a goodwill gesture to the efforts taken by the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for the release of ten cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)," said Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE. The Thamileelam courts in Sampoor in Muttur east Saturday around five p.m. released the two home guards on cash and surety bail, legal sources said.
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Youths converge for Batticaloa Peace Convention

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2004, 15:03 GMT]
Hundreds of Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim youths, both boys and girls, from more than sixteen regions in Batticaloa district, assembled in Batticaloa town for a three day Youth Peace Convention from Friday to Sunday to stress the urgency for peace and unity between the communities, sources from Batticaloa said.
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Balasingham reviews Norwegian talks in new book

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2004, 13:17 GMT]
Liberation Tigers’ Political Strategist and Chief Negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, in his new book published this month, provides “a critical elucidation of all peace efforts the LTTE participated in, from Thimpu talks to the recent Norwegian facilitated negotiations,” the books publishers said this week. “The significance of this voluminous study, running into more than five hundred pages, lies in its exposition of a new realm of material, hitherto unknown and the new insights it provides into the dynamics of the Tamil liberation struggle,” publishers said in an e-mail to TamilNet.
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Tigers release Trinco home guards

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2004, 12:26 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Saturday evening released two Sinhala home guards in Trincomalee who were in their custody since late August. LTTE Police arrested the two for entering an area held by the Tigers in Trincomalee. The home guards were handed over to Nordic truce monitors around 5 p.m. Saturday.
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TNA to launch awareness campaign Saturday in Trinco

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2004, 00:24 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is to launch its first district level political awareness campaign in Trincomalee Saturday with a political rally in the evening at the Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall located along the Inner harbour Road facing the Trincomalee harbour. Organizers, expecting heavy rain, changed the venue from Sivankoviladi, sources said.
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Finland promises humanitarian assistance

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2004, 00:00 GMT]
Director General of Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Americas and Asia section, Ms Paivi Luostarinen, told the Liberation Tigers delegation that Finland will continue its humanitarian assistance to NorthEast, and extend its support to the peace process including the activities of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, during a meeting Friday held at the Finnish Ministry building, LTTE sources in Finland said.
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Drivers detained as A9 accident kills two

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2004, 21:11 GMT]
Mr.Ponnuthurai Sivalinkam, 50, of Kalviyankadu, Nallur and Ms Soundaram, 68, of Jaffna were killed and five other commuters wounded in a road accident Friday afternoon around 2.30 p.m. near Murikandy in Killinochchi district in a passenger van - lorry head on collision, sources said.
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Computer training centres opened in Muttur east villages

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2004, 13:44 GMT]
Trincomalee IT Tech in collaboration with the London TR Tec opened two more computer training centres in Muttur east villages, Chenaiyoor and Sampoor, under a programme to provide free computer training to five thousand students in fifty schools in the northeast province. Six computer-training centres have now been opened in Trincomalee district under this project, sources said.
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Jaffna co-operatives face rice ration shortage

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2004, 12:55 GMT]
Although Jaffna district secretariat Friday issued instruction to all multi-purpose co-operative societies in the Jaffna district to supply free dry ration due for the month of April for about one hundred nineteen thousand families, co-operative societies said that they cannot carry out the instruction because of short supply of rice and increased prices, co-operative sources said.
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No split in LTTE command - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2004, 11:22 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers’ Political Strategist and Chief Negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, Friday dismissed Colombo-based press reports of a split in the senior leadership of the Liberation Tigers as "malicious speculation." Mr. Balasingham told TamilNet that Indian and Sri Lankan press reports that Sea Tiger Special Commander, Col. Soosai, had split from the LTTE were "baseless rumours intended to alarm and demoralise the Tamil people."
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World Bank concludes NEIAP assessment study

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2004, 10:40 GMT]
A World Bank team comprising foreign experts and Sri Lanka task leader Mr.Nihal Fernando concluded its four-day assessment study regarding the first stage of the North East Irrigated Agriculture Project-I (NEIAP-I) works carried out in three districts Manner, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu in the north province and the border district Anuradhapura district, sources said.
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Two Mankerni civilians wounded in firing

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2004, 10:30 GMT]
Mr.Vethanayagam Suthakaran aged 20 and Mr.Sellathurai Ananthan aged 40, were shot and wounded by unidentified persons Thursday night around 10.30 p.m. at Mankerni, 64 km off Batticaloa town, police sources said.
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CTTU, Education Secretary discuss Tamil Education Issues

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2004, 00:55 GMT]
A delegation of the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) Thursday led by its general secretary Mr.T.Mahasivam held discussions with Secretary of the Minister of Education in the United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government, Dr Tara de Mel, Thursday at the latter's invitation regarding the problems confronting the development of Tamil medium education, sources said.
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"SL Govt ready with alternate peace proposals"- Samaraweera

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2004, 00:20 GMT]
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government Thursday announced that it is ready with its alternative proposals to the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). "However, we do not know whether the LTTE would accept the government alternate proposals," said Media Minister Mr.Mangala Samaraweera at a press briefing held Thursday in Colombo, sources said.
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Thamilchelvan applauds Finland's contribution to SLMM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 19:47 GMT]
“Tamil people are greatful to the Government of Finland for its significant contibution to the efficient functioning of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM),” said S.P. Thamilchelvan, head of the LTTE political wing in a meeting with Mr. Jaakko Laajava, under- secretary of state for political affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland, Thursday held at the Foreign Ministry Building.
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Manatkadu fisherman disappears in Northern seas

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 17:34 GMT]
Mr.Saverimuthu Norbert aged 38, a fisherman of Manatkadu in Vadamaradchchi east division in Jaffna district Wednesday disappeared in northern sea after being attacked by unidentified persons while fishing. Representatives of fisheries co-operative societies returned to the shore evening after a futile search operation carried out in the sea throughout the day, Thursday fisheries co-operative sources said.
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Southern delegation meets Ilamparithi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 17:08 GMT]
Jaffna district political head of the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam, C.Ilamparithi, Thursday met with a delegation comprising Southern provincial councillors and members of the Saumya Youth Foundation at the Potpathy Road offices of the LTTE, sources said.
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SLA bars paddy cultivation in Trinco village

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 12:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has prohibited resettled Tamil farming families in Paththinipuram village from cultivating their paddy fields for the forthcoming season, said the villagers in complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam Divisional Secretary (DS) and Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).
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Peace trapped in political chess game- paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 10:50 GMT]
"Leader of Opposition, Ranil Wickremasinghe, has told the Indian leaders that that United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA). should start talks with the LTTE. In earlier times, it was left to the Tamil leaders to undertake missions to bring pressure to bear on the Sri Lanka Governments. Tables have now turned, giving way to the scenario of one main southern Sri Lanka political camp persuading NewDelhi to pressure the other southern camp to start peace negotiations immediately," said Thinakkural, a popular Tamil daily in its editorial Thursday.
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Two more policemen identified in HR official assault

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 10:13 GMT]
Jaffna human rights officials Thursday identified two more policemen who were among a group that assaulted them on 27 September when they went to inquire about an arrest Tamil youth. Mr.Ruwan Chandrasekara, regional co-ordinator of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and his asscoiate Mr.S.Feroz identified two policemen in connection with the incident previously on Wednesday.
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Batticaloa court releases ten LTTE cadres on bail

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 09:53 GMT]
The Batticaloa Magistrate Mr.M.H.M.Ajmeer Thursday afternoon released ten cadres of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on cash and surety bail on the orders of the Court of Appeal. Monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Batticaloa immediately took charge of the released 10 LTTE cadres and handed over to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). Thereafter the SLA and the Police took them in their vehicles to "Karuththapalam" (Black Bridge) on A5 Chenkaladi Kandy road and handed them to the LTTE representatives under the supervision of the SLMM monitors.
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JVP supporters hold demo in Trinco

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 08:02 GMT]
A group of supporters of the Sinhala Nationalist cum Marist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), major constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) held a demonstration in front of the Trincomalee office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Commission (SLMM) Thursday around noon demanding the release of two Sinhala home guards who are in remand in Thamileelam prison on the orders of Thamileelam courts. The LTTE cadres arrested both home guards when they infiltrated into the LTTE controlled areas in the north of Trincomalee district on September 27, sources said.
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SLA bars paddy cultivation in resettled Trinco village

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 07:10 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has prohibited resettled Tamil farm families in Paththinipuram village from cultivating their paddy fields for the forthcoming season, said in complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam Divisional Secretary (DS) and Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).
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Probe commences on Gurunagar disappeared youths

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 16:25 GMT]
Jaffna Magistrate Mr.K.Viknarajah Wednesday held the preliminary inquiry into a Habeas Corpus (HC) application filed by relatives of three Tamil youths who disappeared after being arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in 1996, legal sources said. The youths were residents of Gurunagar and Ariyalai areas.
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Explosives recovered from fishermen sent to Govt Analyst

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 13:43 GMT]
Mallakam Magistrate Ms Sarojini Ilankovan Wednesday allowed an application made by the Kankesanthurai Police to send samples of explosives recovered from 10 Indian fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) to Sri Lanka Government Analysts and ordered further remand for 10 Indians till October 22, legal sources said.
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Two policemen identified in Jaffna HR official assault

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 12:01 GMT]
Two policemen of Jaffna Police Mr.T.Dhanapala and Mr.Pushpamali Fernando were identified at the identification parade held Wednesday in Jaffna Magistrate's Court in connection with the alleged assault on Mr.Ruwan Chandrasekara, regional co-ordinator of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and his associate Mr.S.Feroz on 27 September, legal sources said.
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Grenade explodes inside Chinabay cement factory

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 11:59 GMT]
A grenade attack took place Wednesday evening around 3.30 p.m.allegedly targeting a leading private sector cement factory, which is located in Chinabay, about 9 km off Trincomalee town. Prima Milling Complex, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation refinery, airport and Fisheries Corporation office are also located in Chinabay, police said.
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SLA provides security to fuel, flour transport from Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 10:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Wednesday commenced providing security to lorries transporting fuel from Ceylon Petroleum Corporation refinery and flour from Prima Flour Mill, both are located in Chinabay, about nine km off Trincomalee town to other provinces. This follows the threat by North East Sinhala Association (NESA) that it would set up road blockades from Wednesday, demanding the release to Sinhala home guards arrested by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and remanded on the orders of Thamileelam court, sources said.
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Trinco in high alert following fuel blockade threat

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 00:31 GMT]
Trincomalee town has been put on security alert from Tuesday evening following the announcement by the North East Sinhala Association (NESA) to launch 24 hour-road blockades from Trincomalee to other parts of the country transporting fuel and flour until the two Sinhala home guards arrested and remanded by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are released, security sources said. NESA is a front of the Sinhala nationalist Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a major constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
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Police massed up in Mannar for Victor's Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 16:54 GMT]
Hundreds of people marched through Mannar town Tuesday evening for the remembrance day of senior Liberation Tigers commander Victor (Mr. Marcelin Fuselus). More than two thousand policemen were massed up in the town during the remembrance march and the meeting that followed on the Mannar public grounds. A large number of Police were brought from outside Mannar district to beef up deployments in the town Tuesday, residents said.
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LTTE delegation meets Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry Official

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 15:51 GMT]
Liberation Tigers’ delegation led by Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan met with Mr. Robert Milders, Director Asia and Oceania Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Dutch Ministry building Tuesday, LTTE sources said. The Dutch official stressed the urgent need for resumption of talks between the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE so that the humanitarian needs of the people can be addressed without delay.
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Identification parade ordered in Jaffna HR official assault incident

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 13:36 GMT]
The Jaffna Magistrate Mr.R.T.Viknarajah Tuesday ordered for an identification parade on Wednesday in connection with the alleged assault on Mr.Ruwan Chandrasekara and his associate Mr.S.Feroz of the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) by a group of Jaffna policemen, legal sources said.
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Jaffna High Court refers HC applications for inquiry

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 13:35 GMT]
Jaffna High Court Judge Mr.K.P.S.Varatharajah Tuesday referred two Habeas Corpus applications to the Chavakachcheri Magistrate for preliminary inquiry and report. Petitioners in the two separate HC applications have cited former Jaffna area commander Lionel Balagalle and Lieutenant Duminda Keppitigollawa, former officer in charge of the Chavakachcheri army detachment as respondents, legal sources said.
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'Lack of confidence can endanger cease fire' - Swiss FM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 10:57 GMT]
"There is lack of confidence which could be an obstacle to return to peace talks. This lack of confidence could endanger the cease fire in Sri Lanka. The Liberation Tigers are ready to reconsider the basis for restarting talks. They told our officials their Interim Self Governing Authority proposal is not non-negotiable. This is the special message I conveyed to the Sri Lankan government", said Ms. Micheline Calmy-Rey, Switzerland's Foreign Minister, speaking to the press in Colombo Tuesday.
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Britain can assist in creating consensus- British MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 10:29 GMT]
"The ceasefire agreement should be maintained, and it is essential to establish peace. Britain will extend its support," said Graham Allen, leader of the 4-member British Commonwealth Parliamentary delegation that came on an official visit to Sri Lanka last Sunday, political sources in Colombo said. The delegation met with Speaker Loku Bandara at the Parliamentary complex Monday morning. Later the delegation met with Britain-Sri Lanka Friendship Association in the Committee Room, presided over by the President of the association, Mr.Ratnayake, MP.
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Army "needs 98 more battle tanks"

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 09:52 GMT]
A top commander in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), addressing a National Security Council meeting last week, had called for a purchase of 98 more battle tanks, the Daily Mirror said Tuesday. Major General Sisira Wijesuriya’s comments were highlighted in the paper’s report on his arrest Tuesday over financial irregularities.
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India's External Affairs Minister meets Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 02:47 GMT]
India's Minister of External Affairs Mr.Natwar SIngh and Sri Lanka's Leader of the Opposition United National Front (UNF) and former Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Wickramesinghe met during the latter's visit to India and held wide ranging discussions, said a press release issued by the UNF. office of the UNF said today.
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Indian fishermen arrested near KKS harbour area remanded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 01:50 GMT]
Ten Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy with explosives in their fishing trawler in the Sri Lankan territorial waters close to Kankesanthurai harbour area Sunday around midnight were remanded till October 22nd by the Mallakam Magistrate Ms Sarojinidevi Ilankovan, legal sources said.
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Drugs causing Mannar woes, Hakeem told

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 18:36 GMT]
President of the Mannar Mohideen Jummah Mosque, Mr. M. A Cader, Monday accused Police of having a hand in exacerbating friction between religious communities in the region. He was addressing a meeting at the Mannar District Secretariat between Mr. Rauf Hakeem, leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Government Agent, officials, Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance MP and local community leaders. Mr. Hakeem visited Mannar Monday to find out and discuss problems faced by Muslims in the district.
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Health officials close Vavuniya College of Education

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 17:05 GMT]
Health officials Monday closed down the Vavuniya College of Education for three weeks after seventy students and teachers suffered from dysentery since Sunday night. The Vavuniya Medical Officer of Health (MOH) found stagnating garbage and leaking cesspits in the college when its premises were inspected Monday after students and teachers started to fall ill.
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Tamil scholars honoured in Jaffna Literary Festival

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 16:11 GMT]
Three day North East Tamil Literary Festival concluded Monday evening in Jaffna conferring Governor's Award on eight Tamil scholars and releasing videocassette on the life and literary works of veteran Tamil Professor K.Sivathamby.
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Education Ministry invites CTTU for talks to avert strike

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 14:31 GMT]
Ms Tara de Mel, Secretary to the Ministry Education in the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government has invited the Ceylon Tamil Teachers’ Union (CTTU) for talks on 13 October at her office in Colombo to resolve problems confronting the Tamil medium education and Tamil medium teachers and students in the northeast and in other provinces. President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge is also holding the portfolio of Minister of Education. Her deputy Minister for Education is Mr.Mangala Samaraweera who is also the Minister for Media.
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Police escort TNA MPs after meeting with Mahanayake Thero

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 10:26 GMT]
TNA MPs called on the Mahanayake Thero of the Malwatte Chapter Thibbottuwe Sri Siddharatha Sumangala Thero Monday 9am and drew his attention to the historial failure thus far to find an equitable solution to the Tamil national question, and impressed on him the necessity for an interim administration for the North East, sources said. At the end of the meeting, when the TNA MPs came out, Kandy police had to intervene when opposing buddhist monks and members of extremist Sinhala organizations attacked the TNA MPs, police sources said.
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Tigers kill two Karuna associates, wound six

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 08:09 GMT]
Two associates of renegade Liberation Tigers' commander, 'Karuna', were killed and six wounded when an LTTE special forces group attacked the house in which they were staying in a village near the Batticaloa-Polannaruwa district border in the early hours of Monday morning around 2 a.m. Police said. LTTE troopers left behind the 'Karuna Group' cadres who were killed and wounded in the pre-dawn attack in Nagastenne, an interior Sinhala village about 68 kilometres northwest of Batticaloa.
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Elilan condemns State media for publishing lies

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 01:39 GMT]
"If the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is unable to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militarily it should put forward a concrete political solution to end the conflict and not engage in spreading false stories on dissention within LTTE," said Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head when he addressed at the Tamil Women Resurgence Day event held in Trincomalee Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies Hall Sunday to mark the seventeenth death anniversary of first LTTE woman martyr 2nd Lieutenant Malathi.
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Peace talk delays, diversionary tactic of SL Govt.- Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 00:33 GMT]
Charging that Sri Lanka Government's deliberate delaying of peace talks as a diversionary tactic, Leader of Sri Lanka Opposition and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing a group of political and business leaders on the eve of an official trip to India Friday, warned that if the Sri Lanka Government does not genuinely make efforts to advance the peace process it will lose a valuable opportunity for resolving the ethnic conflict. He said further that unless negotiations are undertaken immediately the economy will be adversely affected.
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TNA, People's Peace Front to hold joint seminars

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 00:19 GMT]
The Tamil Natinal Alliance (TNA) and the People's Peace Front (PPF) have reached an agreement to conduct common seminars in Sinhala areas in the South to explain the legitimacy of the demands of the Tamil people and the need to take forward the peace negotiations, political sources in Colombo said.
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Eelam Flag flown despite protest by Trinco Police

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 18:13 GMT]
The Thamileelam national flag hoisted at the event held in Trincomalee to mark the Thamileelam Women Resurgence Day was brought down only after the conclusion of the celebration Sunday afternoon around 2 p.m. Trincomalee Police protested during the event that hoisting was in violation of the ceasefire agreement, sources said.
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Jaffna observes Malathi death anniversary

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 18:09 GMT]
The 17th death anniversary of 2nd Lieutenant Malathi was observed throughout Jaffna district Sunday. The father of 2nd Lt. Malathi garlanded the memorial of her daughter constructed at the site in Kopay where she died in the battle with the Indian Army Sunday evening, sources said.
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Pt. Pedro UC should turn in keys daily, orders SLA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 18:06 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Police (SLA) has ordered the Point Pedro Urban Council (UC) authorities to hand over their office keys to the Police Station which is located inside the high security zone daily in the evening and take back next morning. The headquarters of the 524 Brigade of the SLA is also located inside the HSZ, sources said.
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Malathy Memorial opened in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 11:09 GMT]
Memorial Statue of 2nd Lt.Malathy was opened in Kilinochchi commemorating her seventeeth anniversary at 10 am Sunday in a ceremony presided by Deputy Director in charge of Heroes Cemetary, Thamilarasi, sources from Vanni said.
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SLA stops building materials getting into LTTE held villages

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 10:57 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has completely stopped the transportation of building materials such as cement, steel and timber through Muhamalai check point to the villages of Pallai, Iyakkahchi, Maruthankerni, Thalaiyadi, Vembadi, Mamunai and Kaddaikadu, which are located in the LTTE, controlled areas. The SLA's unilateral action has seriously disrupted all development and construction work undertaken by non-governmental organizations in the war-torn villages, civil sources said.
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U.S Congressman speaks on Sri Lanka violence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 02:06 GMT]
Republican Iowa Congressman James A. Leach, chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific of the House International Relations Committee, expressed concern about the rising level of political violence in Sri Lanka and called for a resumption of the peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in a statement before the U.S House of Representatives issued October 7 and distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.
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Tamil literary festival begins in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 01:39 GMT]
First day of the Tamil Literary Festival-2004 organized by the Cultural section of the NorthEast Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs started at 8.30am at the Jaffna Hindu Ladies College Hall, Saturday, civil sources in Jaffna said. Provincial Director Mr.R.Visakalingam presided.
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LTTE delegation bound for Holland

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 17:01 GMT]
Delegation of Liberation Tigers will be travelling to Holland Sunday for meetings with Dutch Government officials, sources close to the delegation told TamilNet. The LTTE delegation is currently on a tour of European countries and are completing a three-day stay in Vienna, Austria, following their arrival in Geneva Switzerland on 1st October.
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Tigers dismiss split reports as 'psy-ops gimmick'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 16:17 GMT]
Commander of the Sea Tigers, Col. Soosai, will be the special guest at the final day rally to mark the women's day of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Daya Master, media co-ordinator of the LTTE told TamilNet Saturday. He said Col. Soosai will deliver the keynote address at the public meeting. Meanwhile, Daya Master dismissed reports in Sinhala and English papers in Colombo that Col. Soosai, Col.Sornam and senior commander Ram had split from the LTTE. "It is just another pathetic psy ops gimmick of the Sri Lankan government", he said.
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SLA abandons building new checkpoint after protests

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 15:56 GMT]
Buisness owners, auto drivers and residents of Kaithady protested for more than an hour from 11.30am Saturday in Kaithady junction on Kaithady-Chavakachcheri portion of A9 highway against the Sri Lanka Army's (SLA's) attempt to build a new checkpoint at an existing Auto-stop near the junction, sources from Kaithady said.
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Police assault civilians, fire in Jaffna town

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 15:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police fired in the air and assaulted civilians in Kasthuriyar Road in Jaffna town Saturday around 8.30 following a fracas between some locals and traffic Policemen. Police and military patrols were immediately stepped in Kasthuryiar Road and KKS Road in the northern town. Heavily armed Policemen chased civilians indoors while firing in the air.
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Lay leaders of JHU move to contain damage

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 14:52 GMT]
Lay leaders of Jathika Hela Urumaya(JHU), a key Sinhala Buddhist nationalist party in the Sri Lankan Parliament, agreed Saturday to discuss next week a proposal to completely restructure the organisation. Sources close to the JHU dismissed speculation that Mr.Udaya Gamanpilla, the assistant lay general secretary of the party intended to join the United National Party. "It part of a UNP conspiracy to undermine JHU", the sources said.
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TNA MPs to meet Buddhist prelates in Kandy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 13:45 GMT]
A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary delegation is to meet Mahanayake Theras of Malwatte Chapter and Asgiriya Chapter on Monday to brief them on the current situation of the stalled peace process and to solicit their support for the establishment of the Interim Self Government Authority (ISGA) proposals of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, political sources said.
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STF kills assassin of LTTE activist

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 07:47 GMT]
A political activist of the Liberation Tigers was shot dead by a gunman suspected to be a member of a paramilitary group in Akkaraipattu, 64 kilometres south of Batticaloa, Saturday around 11.45 a.m., Police said. The gunman was later shot dead by a Special Task Force (STF) patrol that pursued and cornered him in a house. ''We opened fire when the gunman attempted lob a grenade at our commandos in bid to escape the round up'', said an STF officer in Akkaraipattu.
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Soccer battles mark Women's Uprising Day celebrations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 04:14 GMT]
District level competition in women soccer marked the second day of the Tamil Womens' Uprising Day celebrations and 17th year memorial of 2nd Lt Malathy at the Kilinochchi Uthayatharahai play grounds Friday, sources in Vanni said. Deputy Head of LTTE Women's Sea Tiger Wing, Ms Poorani, presided the event.
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Sinhala nationalist party faces further crises

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 01:34 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a key Sinhala Buddhist nationalist group in Sri Lanka’s Parliament, said Friday that it had removed the party’s lay general secretary, Mr. Champika Ranawaka. The JHU was plunged in crisis following the resignation of its national organizer earlier in the day. Meanwhile, Mr. Ranawaka said that he was not going to accept the decision by the monks to remove him from the party. The JHU crisis has been further exacerbated by reports that it’s general secretary (clergy), Ven. Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero, is supporting the ruling party.
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TNA to inaugurate political awareness campaign in northeast

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 16:28 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is to inaugurate district level political awareness campaign in the northeast province next week, said TNA parliamentary group leader and Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan. The three-day campaign will be inaugurated in Trincomalee district on October 16 with a public rally in Trincomalee town, TNA sources said.
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Identification parade to be held in Jaffna assault

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 16:22 GMT]
An identification parade will be held in Jaffna magistrate's court next week to identify the policemen who assaulted Jaffna regional co-ordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) in the Jaffna police station few days ago, legal sources said.
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Security forces assault Tamil youths in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 16:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army soldiers, police personnel and Sinhala home guards severely assaulted a group of Tamil youths Friday evening at Anpuvallipuram junction, in Trincomalee, injuring two of them. The injured youths have been admitted at the Trincomalee general hospital, sources said.
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Dhanapala visits Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 12:05 GMT]
Dr.Jayantha Dhanapala Secretary General of Sri Lanka's Government Peace Secretariat Friday visited Trincomalee and held discussion with the local and expatriate members of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the office of the SLMM located along the Inner Harbour Road, Trincomalee. The discussions mainly centred on the question of obtaining the release of two Sinhalese home guards who are now in remand on the orders of Thamileelam courts, SLMM sources said.
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Shadow war endangering CFA- paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 11:13 GMT]
"Attempts by the Sri Lankan armed forces to use renegade commander Karuna to destabilize the east, have resulted in the continuation of killings that started in Batticaloa and extended to Colombo. Military analysts have characterized this scenario as a shadow war between the LTTE and the Sri Lanka Army. This situation should be brought under control immediately to avoid breakdown of ceasfire," said Thinakkural in its editorial Thursday.
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Trinco refugees protest demanding resettlement

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 10:40 GMT]
A group of Tamil refugees sheltered in UNHCR run Allesgarden camp located about three km north of Trincomalee town Friday morning around 7.30 a.m.held a sit in protest obstructing the traffic on the Trincomalee Nilaveli road stating that they are unable to return their villages of Kanniya and Kuchchaveli as their lands are still occupied by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), civil sources in Trincomalee said.
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Leading Buddhist monk MP resigns

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 09:08 GMT]
Ven. Kolannawe Sri Sumangala Thero, MP, the National Organiser of Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a Sinhala Buddhist nationalist party, resigned his seat in Sri Lanka’s Parliament Friday. Informed sources close to the JHU said long simmering contradictions between the party’s lay leadership and monks who were elected to Parliament led to Ven. Kolannawe Sri Sumangala’s resignation. Mr. Tilak Karunaratna, who led the party when it was known as Sihala Urumaya, left the JHU recently and joined the United National Party earlier this week.
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General shut down paralyses Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 07:52 GMT]
The entire Trincomalee town except few settlements where Sinhalese live in majority was paralysed Friday when Tamils and Muslims observed a general shut down (‘hartal’) responding to the call of the Trincomalee Tamil People’s Forum (TTPF). The ‘hartal’ is organised to express opposition to construction of new Buddhist shrines (vihares) and Sinhala settlements in traditional Tamil villages in the Trincomalee district after the ceasefire came into operation about two and half years ago and chauvinist elements making Trincomalee a centre for their racist activities, organisers said.
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Life sentence on Tamil youth quashed, acquitted

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 05:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal Thursday quashed the life sentence imposed on a Tamil youth Mr.Mylwaganam Wijeyaratnam who was charged under the Prevention of terrorism Act (PTA) and acquitted him from all charges indicted by the Attorney General.
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Tamil Women's Uprising Day celebrations begin in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 01:35 GMT]
Tamil Womens' Uprising Day celebrations and 17th year memorial of 2nd Lt Malathy began at 9am Wednesday at the Kilinochchi Central play grounds, sources in Vanni said. Deputy Director of Heros Memorial, Ms Thamil Arasi, presided the event.
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Jaffna Mosque Committee against SLMC meeting

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2004, 00:10 GMT]
"We publicly appeal to the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leadership not to use the resettled Muslim internally displaced families as pawns for its political purposes. If SLMC attempts to hold their general meeting in Jaffna we will launch a protest campaign on the same day," said Jaffna Masjid Mohamedia Jumma Mosque Committee in a press statement released Thursday.
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International Teachers Day celebration in Kalmunai draws thousands

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2004, 23:32 GMT]
International Teachers Day celebrations were held in Kalmunai, Wesley College grounds on Wednesday in a large scale involving Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala communities. About 2000 pre school teachers from Batticaloa and Ampara districts were taken in procession with pre school children's bands from Batticaloa district and Sinhala zones in Ampara district. The main banner leading the procession was carried by Muslim, Tamil and Sinhala Pre school teachers.
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Mannar Police arrest four for building LTTE memorial

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2004, 16:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police Thursday night arrested four workers who were constructing a memorial in Mannar town for 'Victor'(Mr.Marcelin Fuselus), a senior commander of the Liberation Tigers who was killed in battle with the Sri Lanka army in 1986. The masons and their assistants were arrested when they were starting work on the memorial at the roundabout in Bazaar Street in the heart of Mannar town around 7.30 p.m. Sri Lanka army and Police stepped up patrols and deployed more troops in the town following the arrest.
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Indian de-miners hand over cleared land in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2004, 14:00 GMT]

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Sri Lanka ID card symbol of Tamils’ humiliations – TNA MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2004, 12:57 GMT]
“The national identity card is a symbol of enslavement for the Tamils. It is a symbol of the humiliations to which they were subjected by the Sinhala state. What is the guarantee that the two main Sinhala parties won’t unite in the future to deny Tamils their voting right by making voter identity cards issued under this law invalid in the northeast? These parties get together only to disfranchise Tamils or to deny their legitimate rights”, said Mr. Selvarajah Gajendran, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna, speaking on the election identity card bill in Sri Lanka’s Parliament Thursday.
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Grenade, ammo found in Mannar school

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2004, 09:01 GMT]
A hand grenade and eighteen rounds of live ammunition were found in a plastic container by the compound wall of a school in Mannar town Wednesday evening, Police said. The grenade was exploded by a bomb disposal squad from the Sri Lanka army camp in Thallady around seven p.m.
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TRO honours Tamil, Sinhala, and Muslim pre-school teachers in Trinco

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2004, 04:25 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in Trincomalee district and Pre-School Educational Development Council (PSEDC) honoured pre-school teachers of all communities, Tamil, Sinhala and Muslims in the district, Wednesday, to mark the International Teachers' Day with the Trincomalee Government Agent Mr.Gamini Rodrigo as the chief guest.
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Trincomalee to observe general shut down Friday

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2004, 00:15 GMT]
Trincomalee Tamil Peoples' Forum (TTPF) Wednesday issued a statement appealing to Tamil speaking people of the port district to observe general shutdown (hartal) on Friday, 8 October, in support of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and to urge the international community including United States of America (USA) to exert pressure on the Sinhala political parties to take steps to restart the peace process.
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Resettled Muslims oppose Jaffna SLMC meet

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 16:23 GMT]
''Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) high command's decision to hold its public meeting in Jaffna would create rift between Tamils and Muslim who now live in cordial atmosphere,'' said a statement released in Jaffna Wednesday by the resettled internally displaced Muslim families, civil sources in Jaffna said.
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Jaffna SLA commander meets NGO representatives

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 13:36 GMT]
Major General Sunil Tennekoon, Jaffna Area Commander of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), said during discussions with representatives of the Consortium of Jaffna District Non-Governmental Organizations (CJDNGO) Wednesday that poor public relations skills of his soldiers serving in the peninsula are contributing to the difficulties in maintaining cordial relationship with members of public, civil sources said.
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Peace Council will exacerbate contradictions- paper

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 11:04 GMT]
"Sri Lanka President Ms Kumaratunge's tactic to show that the peace process is being continued, while avoiding talks with the LTTE will only exacerbate contradictions among the southern political parties and will not create consensus," said Thinakkural, a popular Tamil daily published in Colombo in its editorial today.
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Three shot in Welikanda, Polannaruwa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 08:06 GMT]
Tension prevailed in the Welikanda, 65 kilometres northwest of Batticaloa after unidentified gunmen shot dead two Muslims in the area on Tuesday night around 7. The two men, Mr. K.M Kuththoos, 47, and Mr. N.M Segu Mohammad, 35, were returning from Polannaruwa to their village, Athugala, when they were shot dead, Police said. Welikanda is a border town in the Polannaruwa district.
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SLA, LTTE meet again in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 04:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan armed forces met the Liberation Tigers Wednesday in Batticaloa to discuss the implementation of the cease fire agreement in the districts of Batticaloa and Amparai. The LTTE delegation was led by Mr. S. Marshall, head of the Tigers' headquarters branch for Batticaloa-Amparai. Sri Lankan armed forces delegation was led by Col. A. L Amaratunga, commander of 23-3 Brigade in Batticaloa. Continuing killings and the activities of paramilitaries in the eastern district were discussed at the meeting.
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ICRC, Rights Experts meet LTTE delegation, NESOHR in Geneva

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 03:46 GMT]
A five member International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) team and another team of Swiss based Human Rights experts met with the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the LTTE and with NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) team in Geneva Tuesday. Later in the day, Human Rights lawyer Ms Karen Parker, conducted a session to the NESOHR members on Geneva Conventions on Human Rights as applied to post conflict situation, sources in Geneva said.
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Resettlers receive houses built with World Bank funding

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 03:16 GMT]
Ceremonial handing over of keys of new houses built with World Bank funding and organized by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) was held in Ananda Nagar in Kilinochchi at 12.30 Tuesday. Local Non Governmental Organizations and private citizens provided additional funding support to the Rs.150,000 provided by the World Bank to build each house.
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U.S Courts to hear case against Anti-terrorism Law

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 01:00 GMT]
The Ninth Circuit Court in California is scheduled to hear an oral argument against a provision of the Antiterrorism and Death Penalty Act on 14 December in Pasadena, legal sources said. The law suit was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in the U.S. District Court in March 1998 on behalf of eight plaintiffs including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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Re-examine stand on Home guards, SLMM tells LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2004, 00:03 GMT]
While saying that "there is no logic" to the demand of Liberation Tigers to release ten LTTE cadres arrested by Government of Sri Lanka nearly a year ago in exchange for the release of two homeguards is unreasonable the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in a press release said that a Trincomalee organization engaged in "irresponsible behavior" and is trying to discredit the SLMM.
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'Will defeat Colombo's international safety net'- LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 18:03 GMT]
''The Sinhala state is trying to weave an international safety net against Tamils. Our political action committe is explaining the legitimacy of our struggle to the international community to defeat such machinations of the Sinhala state. We will never allow Sinhala nationalists or thier allies to defeat our struggle. The Sri Lankan President is not sincere about the peace process'', said Mr. C. Ilamparithy, head of LTTE's political division for Jaffna Tuesday evening.
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SLA permits dredging mooring points in Vadamaradchi again

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 13:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka army Tuesday permitted fishermen to dig two mooring points in Valvettithurai. Work on one of the mooring points began Tuesday. Workmen who were on their way to Valvettithurai were, however, stopped by SLA at Polikandy but were allowed to proceed after commander of 54-2 Brigade in Pt. Pedro intervened.
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Mannar magistrate remands five Indians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 11:43 GMT]
Mannar magistrate Tuesday remanded five Indian boatmen for entering Sri Lankan waters. He directed Thalaimannar Police to hand over fifteen Indian fishermen who were arrested along with the five boatmen to Sri Lanka navy for repatriation. Sri Lanka Navy seized seven Indian fishing boats that were poaching in Sri Lankan waters north of Thalaimannar Monday afternoon around 4.Twenty eight fishermen were taken into custody and were brought ashore by SLN.
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Norwegian Ambassador to visit Southern Province

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 11:32 GMT]
The Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Hans Brattskar, will this week pay a three days visit to Matara and Galle districts in the Southern Province, the Royal Norwegian Embassy said in a Press Release issued in Colombo Tuesday. The Norwegian Government has contributed 160 million rupees to new information technology for the Sri Lanka higher education sector, including the Ruhuna University, and 115 million rupees to the development of rural roads in the Southern Province.
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Helgessen meets LTTE delegation in Geneva

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 03:18 GMT]
Deputy Foreign Minister of Norway, Mr. Vidar Helgessen, briefed members of Constitutional Affairs Committee of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and officials of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) in Geneva Monday, sources from Geneva said.
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CID records statement of Human Rights official

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 02:36 GMT]
Criminal Investigation Department of the Police recorded the statement of Mr.Ruwan Chandrasekara, Jaffna regional co-ordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka when he was in HRCSL head office in Colombo regarding the alleged assault on him last week in the Jaffna police station by a group of policemen, HRCSL sources said.
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Development needs of Kopay electorate spotlighted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 02:33 GMT]
Mr.Suresh Premachchandran, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Monday held a conference in his office and discussed the problems affecting the development of Kopay electorate in Jaffna district. About seventy representatives of civil organizations from 31village level divisions (Grama Sevaka) in the electorate attended the discussion, sources said.
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World Bank team visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 02:28 GMT]
A team of World Bank officials is in Jaffna district monitoring the progress of housing projects implemented with World Bank's financial assistance. Construction of 125 houses is in progress in the district, district secretariat sources said.
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UNF, TNA, JHU boycott SL President's Council on Peace

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 01:58 GMT]
United National Front (UNF), Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) boycotted the event as Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga inaugurated the National Advisory Council on Peace and Reconciliation (NACPR) Monday afternoon in Colombo. NAC has been publicized by the Sri Lanka Government as a mechanism to seek "wide spectrum of views" to resolve the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka.
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AAT course inaugurated in Killinochchi Technical Institute

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2004, 16:29 GMT]
Killinochchi Technical Institute functioning under the guidance of Economic Consultancy House and supported by London TR Tech recently inaugurated the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Course. Mr.T.Priapaharan, Principal of the Institute presided over the inaugural event of the course.
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Mannar Bishop, Chief Immam visit Karisal

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2004, 12:25 GMT]
The Bishop of Mannar and the chief Immam of the Mannar Mohideen Jumma Masjid Mosque Monday visted Karisal - the village of the man who was shot dead near Pesalai on Thursday night. The two religious leaders were accompanied by the chairman and secretary of the Mannar Citizens' Committee and the President of the Mohideen Jumma Mosque's board of trustees. Meanwhile, Police said that a parcel containing two kilograms of heroin worth 6 million rupees was disovered by the roadside Saturday near the place where the man from Karisal was shot dead.
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Drug dealers, Police said instigating religious strife in Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2004, 12:20 GMT]
“Our office in Mannar town was attacked with the backing of the Sri Lanka Police. It appears to have been well premeditated. Some anti-social elements here that are opposed to our campaign to rid of Mannar of drugs want to attack us and hinder us. They are using religion to divide the community so that they can continue their nefarious activities without any hindrance. We will not rise to the communal bait. Mannar, as you know, has become a major transit point for drugs. We want to stop this”, said Mr. S. Iniyavan, head of the LTTE's political division for Mannar, speaking to TamilNet Monday.
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Human Rights experts meet NESHOR delegation in Geneva

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2004, 11:07 GMT]
Ian Martin, the former Secretary General of Amnesty International, and special envoy to monitor Human rights dimension in Sri Lanka and Pascale Bariswyl, a swiss human rights expert addressed the members of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESHOR) in a meeting in Geneva Monday.
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TNA rejects joining SL President's Advisory Council for Peace

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2004, 10:42 GMT]
"It is our considered view that if the government takes clear and courageous action to recommence the negotiations, which the Government's has hitherto to failed do, the peace process can be taken forward... We would strongly urge you to implement what you enunciated at the meeting with the TNA parliamentary group on 10th June," Mr.R.Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance parliamentary group leader said in a letter to Sri Lanka's President Ms Kumaratunge officially informing the TNA's decision of rejecting her invitation to attend the National Advisory Council for Peace and Reconciliation.
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Suspected Karuna associates kill civilian

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2004, 10:00 GMT]
A civilian was shot dead by gunmen suspected to members of the paramilitary lead by renegade Liberation Tigers commander ‘Karuna’ Sunday night around 8 in Omadiyamadu, an interior village near the Batticaloa-Polannaruwa district border, Police said. The man was identified as Mr. Vannamani Dharmarajah, 40. Valaichenai Police said that they had no further details of the person.
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Solheim addresses LTTE meeting in Geneva

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2004, 18:40 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim Sunday addressed the LTTE Constitutional Affairs Committee meeting in Geneva during its third day sessions, sources in Geneva said.
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Rains threaten to worsen Thenmaradchi farmers' woes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2004, 17:06 GMT]
Majority of paddy fields in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district cannot be cultivated during the forthcoming season as several channels located inside the high security zones are blocked by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), preventing water flow into the sea, farmers told government officials who attended a meeting at Usan Ramanathan Vidiyalayam School held Sunday.
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SLA soldiers assault Vadamaradchchi youth

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2004, 16:48 GMT]
Mr.Soorasingham Prakash aged 19 was admitted Sunday night to the Valvettithurai government hospital with serious injuries alleged assaulted by a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army stationed at the Viyaparimoolai army check point in Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district, civil sources in Vadamaradchy said.
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Estate workers demand wage increase

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2004, 14:24 GMT]
Over thousands of Upcountry workers staged a protest campaign at Hatton main market, today afternoon, demanding increase in salary for estate workers and demanding that Collective Agreement (CA) should include other trade unions and should not be exclusive to Ceylon workers congress (CWC), sources in Hatton said.
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SLA bars priest, trustees from entering temple

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2004, 13:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka army Sunday refused permission to the priest and trustees of the Nagathambiraan temple in Nagarkoil to enter the place of worship for its annual pongal ceremony. The Nagathambiraan temple of Nagarkoil was taken over by Sri Lanka army in 2000. Permission to hold the annual pongal (cooking of milk rice) was granted to the priest and some trustees by the Sri Lankan military after Liberation Tigers and Colombo signed a cease fire agreement in 2002.
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Women's "Coming Together" event held in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2004, 11:27 GMT]
A "Confluence" of Tamil Eelam Women Associations, Sangamam, was held in Kilinochchi Cultural Hall Thursday where more than 650 women activists from all regions of Kilinochchi took part, sources in Vanni said. Kilinochchi district LTTE Head of Women's Political Wing, Poovili presided the event.
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Journalist author releases book on Koneswaram Temple

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 15:36 GMT]
Pilgrimage to Holy Thirukoneswaram (Thirukoneswara Thiruthala Yathirai), a research book on historic Trincomalee Koneswaram Temple and the history ofTrincomalee is to be released on October 2 at an event held in London Muthumariamman Temple located at Upper Totting Road, London.
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Children's Day celebrated in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 14:29 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in Kilinochchi organized several pre-schools in Vanni to jointly celebrate the International Children' Day in Kilinochchi Friday sources said. Several elderly citizens of the area were also felicitated during the ceremony.
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Tigers kill two Karuna group cadres

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 13:55 GMT]
Special Forces of the Liberation Tigers' Jeyanthan Regiment Saturday morning attacked a group of heavily armed paramilitary cadres northwest of Batticaloa, killing two and wounding three around 6.30 a.m., LTTE sources in the east said. The group of ten men from the paramilitary led by renegade LTTE commander 'Karuna' were in a safe house in Omadiyamadu near the Polannaruwa-Batticaloa district border, the sources said.
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All communities join to celebrate Children's Day in Trinco

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 13:05 GMT]
Pre-school teachers and children of Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala communities, participated in the International Children's Day event held in Trincomalee Friday organized by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) with the support of Pre-School Education Development Centre (PSEDC). Simultaneous translations were provided in Sinhala and Tamil during the proceedings, sources attending the event said.
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Solheim, NESHOR delegation to arrive in Geneva for talks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 12:21 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim is expected to arrive in Geneva Sunday morning to meet the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Liberation Tigers which is touring European countries, sources close to the delegation told TamilNet.
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LTTE Women's unit releases film on liberation struggle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 11:48 GMT]
Part 2 of the "Akkini Paravaikal" (Volcanic Birds) of Nitharsanam Women Unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was released in Trincomalee Friday evening. Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE Mr.S.Elilan handed over the first copy of the CD to the mother of a LTTE martyr at the event held in Trincomalee Town Hall.
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Pt.Pedro UC asks SLA to return council building

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 11:38 GMT]
The administration of the Point Pedro Urban Council (UC) in Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district again requested the Jaffna area command of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to release its land and buildings now being used as the headquarters of SLA 524 Brigade since 1995, local government sources said.
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Businessman shot near Punanai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 08:12 GMT]
A businessman was shot Friday around 5.30 p.m. by unidentified gunmen near Punanai, 45 kilometres northwest of Batticaloa. The businessman, Mr. Poopalapillai Sivapragasam, 47, was returning from Welikanda on his motorbike on the Valaichenai-Polannaruwa Road when four gunmen who had trailed him on their motobikes shot and wounded him, Police said.
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Thiriyai resettled students get free milk

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 02:48 GMT]
Social Economic Development Organization in Trincomalee (SEDOT) financially supported by Trincomalee Welfare Association-Canada, which is run by Trincomalee expatriates in Canada, inaugurated on the International Children Day Friday the supply of free milk to students studying in Thiriyai Government Tamil Mixed School in Trincomalee district. North East Provincial Director of Education Mr.R.Visahalingam gave the ceremonial first cup of milk to a student during the ceremony.
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Tamil Language festival held in Trinco

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 01:14 GMT]
"Preliminary work on the establishment of a Tamil Research University in "Ariviyal Nagar" in Killinochchi is underway under the direction of LTTE leader Pirapaharan," said Mr.Kavi Anban, Trincomalee district head of the Educational Development Board of Thamileelam when he spoke at the Zonal Tamil Language Day celebrations held at Trincomalee St.Joseph's College auditorium Thursday under the auspices of the Trincomalee Zonal Educational Department, sources said.
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'Guardians for Children' office opened in Amparai General Hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 19:44 GMT]
The Ampara District Child Protection Committee (DCPC) Friday opened its office ’Guardians for Children’ located in the Pediatric Ward at the Ampara General Hospital to mark the International Children's Day.
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Tigers kill paramilitary operative in Batticaloa jungle

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 19:03 GMT]
A close associate of renegade Liberation Tigers' commander 'Karuna' was shot dead by LTTE's special jungle warfare units operating in Kulaththu Madu near Vakaneri, 40 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Friday night around 11 p.m. according to well informed sources in the eastern town. The dead paramilitary cadre was identified as 'Ruben'. LTTE sources in Batticaloa said he was involved in the murder of one of their supporters in Kiran recently. Kiran is a village controlled by the Sri Lanka army.
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LTTE Constitutional Affairs Committee meets in Geneva

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 18:24 GMT]
The Constitutional Affairs Committee of the LTTE met with the expatriate Legal and Constitutional experts who participated in the original formulation of the ISGA in Geneva today, LTTE sources said. The meeting was chaired by Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Head of the LTTE's Political Wing.
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Refugee children's drawings express anger, frustration

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 17:37 GMT]
“It is sad that there are some parts of our country where children can only dream of a normal life”, said Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, chairperson of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission speaking at an art exhibition by refugee children to mark ‘World Children Day’ in Colombo Friday. Drawings by children from 307 refugee camps, mostly from the northeast, were on exhibit. Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Mr. Mahinda Rajapksha, also spoke at the exhibition, titled 'Can a Colour Pencil Talk?' Friday afternoon.
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SLA gives eviction order to Valalai resettIed IDPs

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 16:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has ordered about twenty families who had resettled 600 meters away from the high security zone in Valalai village Palaly, Jaffna district, to vacate their houses and lands immediately, civil sources in Jaffna said.
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First LTTE medical service in SLA held area

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 13:54 GMT]
The medical services of the Liberation Tigers conducted free mobile clinics for civilians for the first time in areas controlled by the Sri Lanka military Friday. The program was inaugurated in Vavuniya by LTTE’s Thileepan medical services. Fifteen doctors led by Dr. Ezhumathi Karikalan provided medical services and advice to hundreds of people at the refugee camp in Poonthottam in the morning and later in Maharampaikulam in Vavuniya.
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Book on Pirapaharan to be released

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 11:03 GMT]
A book titled "Prabhakaran: A Leader for all Seasons" is to be released at a ceremony in Hotel Baren, Ostermundigen, Switzerland Saturday 6.00pm, an LTTE official close to the visiting LTTE delegation said.
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'Police acting partially'-Mannar MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 07:54 GMT]
"The Police in Mannar are acting in a partial manner in bringing the situation under control", said Vanni Tamil National Alliance MP Mr. Vino Noharathalingam, Friday. "I brought the matter to the notice of the Deputy Inspector General of Police for Vanni when I met him in Mannar this morning", he said. An emergency meeting was convened Friday morning by at the truce monitoring mission office in Mannar to restore peace in the town.
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Tamil artistes honoured in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 05:43 GMT]
Sixteen Tamil artistes most of them from remote villages in the Trincomalee district who are excelled in various forms of Tamil arts were honoured at the fifteenth anniversary of a leading musical club in Trincomalee ‘Super Sangeeth’ held recently at Trincomalee St.Joseph's College auditorium.
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Large crowds attend Vallipuram "Theertham" festival

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 04:02 GMT]
The Water-Cutting (Theertham) festival of the historic Vallipuram Alvar Temple was held Tuesday in the seacoast of Vallipuram in Vadamarachchi division in Jaffna district. Several thousands of pilgrims participated in the event after several years, sources said.
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Civil group requests re-opening of Kerativu-Sangupiddy road

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 03:32 GMT]
People's Committee for Peace and Goodwill (PCPG) in Jaffna district Thursday handed over a memorandum to Major General Sunil Tennekoon, Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), requesting him to take steps to reopen Sangupiddy-Kerativu road to link peninsula from the south, civil sources said.
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Curfew in Mannar after attack on LTTE office

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 02:12 GMT]
Curfew was declared in Mannar Friday morning after a group of Muslims attacked the administrative office of the Liberation Tigers in the island town on Sri Lanka's northwestern coast around midnight. The attack was linked to the killing of a man suspected to be a drug smuggler on Thursday night near Pesalai, 15 kilometres west of Mannar. An LTTE official in Mannar said that the attack appeared to be aimed at instigating communal violence in the area. "No one was injured in the attacks on our office", he said.
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TNA MPs meet U.S Ambassador

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 00:45 GMT]
''Statements by International Community including the United States of America consistently attempt to blame the Liberation Tigers for the stalled peace talks. These statements fail to highlight the fact that internal dissentions and resulting inconsistent policies of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance government are really the root causes for talks not moving forward,'' Tamil National Alliance Foreign affairs committee (TNA) members told U.S Ambassador Jeffery Lunstead when they met the Ambassador Thursday morning at the U.S Embassey in Colombo.
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Advisory Council, ploy to delay peace talks- Prof.Peiris

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 00:10 GMT]
"United National Party will not participate in the All Political Party Advisory Council proposed by Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge since we believe that involving a multiparty council would lead to inordinate delays in peace talks. Instead, Ms.Kumaratunge should take a firm stand against JVP's opposition to talks and strive to move peace process forward," said UNP Member of Parliament and former Minister Prof. G.L Peiris in a press conference Thursday at the opposition party office in Colombo.
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