Police collects personal details of Tamils in Modara

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 18:01 GMT]
“Sri Lanka Police has no authority to collect private personal details especially financial details even during the current State of Emergency in Sri Lanka,” Mr. R. Yogarajan, the Vice President of Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) said in an interview to BBC Tamil service Thursday. The forms distributed to the Tamils by the police in Sinhalese language calling for personal details including place of work, phone number, and bank details, ending into the hands of criminal elements would be dangerous to the Tamils, Yogarajan told the BBC.
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Paramilitary operative shot dead in Chengkaladi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 13:47 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot and killed a paramilitary personnel belonging to Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) Wednesday night 7:05 p.m. at Siththaa'ndi in Ea'raavoor police division in Batticaloa district.
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Search operation in Paalaavi, Puththa'lam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 12:44 GMT]
The Sri Lanka security forces Friday began a cordon and search operation at Paalaavi village in Puththa'lam district following the discovery of several suicide jackets found washed ashore the coastal area. All huts and houses in the village were checked and residents interrogated. But no arrests were made.
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SLA, police cordon, search Akkaraippattu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 10:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police started a large scale cordon and search operation from Thursday early morning in Aalayadiveampu, Koa’laavil and Naavatkaadu in Akkaraipattu in Ampaa'rai district, following the killing of two Sinhalese men at Aalayadiveampu Wednesday around 9:00 p.m, Akkaraipattu police said.
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Grenade attack on SLMC contestant’s house in Vaazhaichcheanai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 08:02 GMT]
Unidentified persons lobbed two hand grenades Thursday around 5:00 a.m into the house of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) candidate contesting local government elections for Vaazhaichcheanai Prethesa Sabai, damaging the front portion of the house, sources in Batticaloa said. The candidate complained to Vaazhaichcheanai police that a Government Minister from the area had set up the attack.
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Bomb blast kills 4 civilians, injures 15 in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 07:48 GMT]
A bomb explosion Thursday around 10:30 a.m on Aadiyapaatham Road in Thirunelveali, Jaffna, killed four civilians and injured at least fifteen. The injured were rushed to Jaffna Teaching hospital. There were no SLA troopers or vehicles at the spot when a Claymore mine attached to a bicycle exploded, civilians in the area said.
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Three siblings shot dead in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 05:01 GMT]
Armed men who came on motorcycles shot and killed three siblings at Choalaiyamman Koayiladi in Ma'nduvil in Thenmaraadchi in Jaffna Peninsula, Wednesday night around 8:00 p.m., sources in Chaavakachcheari said. The attackers, alleged to be members of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Field Bike Squad, surrounded the house, ordered the members of the family to go inside a room for inquiry and sprayed bullets on them, killing two, including a mother of two children while the children narrowly escaped from the bullets.
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Delayed Jaffna mailbags arrive in KKS

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 02:53 GMT]
663 post bags that had remained in Trincomalee harbour for three weeks due to unavailability of transport repairs to the ships, were brought to Kaangkeasanthu’rai harbour in Jaffna peninsula, Tuesday, postal sources in Jaffna said.
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SLN confiscates passes of Vadamaraadchi fishermen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 January 2008, 01:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) patrol units on Vadamaraadchi seas confiscated the passes of more than one hundred fishermen Wednesday, accusing the fishermen of violating the distance limit set by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) , Fisheries Society sources in Vadamaraadchi said. The SLN told the fishermen that they will not be allowed to fish for a month as punishment, pushing the fisher families into severe economic hardship, and many towards starvation, sources added.
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Young father reported missing in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 19:49 GMT]
A 25-year-old family man, Nicholas Newton, was reported missing since 7:00 p.m. Tuesday in Periyakadai, a suburb of Mannaar city.
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3 SLA soldiers killed in Ma'nalaa'ru clashes - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 19:44 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Ma'nalaa'ru told media in Vanni that a three-pronged ground offensive by the Sri Lanka Army was thwarted after nearly five-hour fighting on Wednesday. There were no LTTE casualties in the confrontations. 3 SLA soldiers were killed, claimed the LTTE.
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SLA hands over 4 female corpses to Mannaar Police

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 19:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army on Tuesday handed over 4 dead bodies of females with gunshot wounds to Mannaar Police. One dead body was handed over at 5:30 p.m. and three more bodies at 7:30 p.m. The SLA has claimed that the bodies belong to LTTE cadres who were killed in action in Parappangka'ndal area.
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Sri Lanka police arrests 3 Tamils in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 18:45 GMT]
Ten Sri Lanka Secret Police personnel arriving in a white van Wednesday morning arrested three Tamil civilians in Maddakkuzhi (Mattakkuliya) area in Colombo and took them for interrogation, according to a complaint made to Deputy Minister P. Rathakrishnan by relatives of the arrested civilians.
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SLA dumps dead soldiers in the stretches of Arippu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 17:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army in Mannaar, while under-reporting their casualties in the fighting, has been dumping tractor-loads of dead soldiers in the delta of Aruvi Aa'ru (Malwattu Oya), the area emptied of people after capturing it from the LTTE last year. Two Sri Lanka Army soldiers, escaping from the battlefield with the help of local residents have said that their fellow troopers killed in the battle were being dumped near a coconut palm grove at Ooral, a locality 1 km south of Aruvi Aa'ru and few kilometers east of the coastline between Arippu and Chilaavatturai.
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Tamil Nadu Government warns against expressing moral support to LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 15:32 GMT]
Desperate to appease its key ally Congress in order to retain power, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government on Wednesday warned of stern action against those who expressed moral support to the Liberation Tigers. Meanwhile, Thol. Thirumavalavan, leader of the Viduthalai Chiruththaikal Kadchi (VCK, Liberation Panthers Party), on Wednesday called upon the Indian Government to wage war against Sri Lanka and said that he was prepared to face any legal action arising out of his exercising the freedom of expression.
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Wasgamuwa national park closed after killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 15:29 GMT]
Sri Lankan wildlife authorities have closed the Wasgamuwa national park Wednesday after unknown attackers Monday night shot and killed the chief warden and a caretaker of circuit bungalow at Wasgamuwa national park in the Central Province, bordering Polonnaruwa, Ampaa'rai and Matale districts, Police said. A large scale search operation was launched despite the Deputy Inspector General of Police of Central Province, Kingsely Ekanayake, ruling out the possibility of LTTE involvement in the attack. The paradise park of Wasgamuwa, home to a variety of flora and fauna, with a varied climate, is visited by locals as well as foreign tourists.
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Police violate privacy rights of Mukaththuvaaram residents

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 14:13 GMT]
New forms with the details of residents to be registered with Mukaththuvaaram police issued Tuesday, were expected to be handed Wednesday at the police station or to policemen who come to their houses. This matter has created anxiety and fear among Mukaththuvaaram residents as details of personal bank accounts are to be filled in the new forms. The absence of any official police or government symbol in the new forms has raised suspicions among the householders about the intention and source of these registration forms, sources in Colombo said.
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Tamil youth abducted in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 12:18 GMT]
A 31 year-old Tamil youth was abducted by unidentified armed persons who went in a white colored van. The victim was in his house located at Pa'l'laththoaddam when the armed persons entered the victim's house and took him by force in the vehicle, according to a complaint lodged by his relatives with the Trincomalee Police.
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LTTE Political Head writes to UN Secretary General

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 10:17 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head B. Nadesan, in a letter to United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, bringing attention to the Claymore attack by the Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit in Madu, urged the UN Secretary to "recognize Tamil sovereignty as a constructive approach to end the unending five decades long, large scale, and serious rights violations against the Tamil people." Stating that the Tigers have ensured that there was no underage members in the movement and that the LTTE has respected the efforts made by the international community to rectify the rights situation, Mr. Nadesan said the LTTE has "demonstrated its readiness to cooperate with the international community."
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SLN restricts NGOs entry into islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 08:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in the islets of Jaffna has imposed severe restrictions on the representatives of International and Local Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) to enter the islets of Jaffna, causing many to abandon development projects related to Tsunami and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), NGO Consortium Information Centre in Jaffna said.
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Military censorship alleged in reporting Northern FDL casualties

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 08:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Palaly high command have been censoring casualty figures of SLA from clashes in the Northern Forward Defense Lines with Liberation Tigers, reliable sources internal to the SLA said. While the SLA Media Information Centre said only a single SLA trooper was injured and SLA captured several LTTE bunkers during an SLA advance to breach the FDLs in NaakaraKoayil and Mukamaalai during the last weekend, internal military sources confirmed that more than 40 SLA soldiers were killed and nearly 100 injured after LTTE engaged the SLA in resisting the advance.
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UNP to boycott official Independence Day celebrations

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 08:03 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) has decided to boycott the 60th Independence Day official celebrations to be held on February 4 by the government led by President Mahinda Rajapakse. Instead the UNP high commend as appealed to people to attend prayers' meeting in places of worships organized throughout the country. UNP has organized its main prayer meeting at Dalada Maligawaa in Kandy, capital of the central province with a vow to regain lost fundamental and human rights under the present regime, UNP general secretary Tissa Attanayake said.
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50 election candidates get police protection in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 00:41 GMT]
Fifty candidates belonging to United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), National Congress and Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) have obtained police protection, political sources in Batticaloa said. Two policemen are to be assigned every candidate, Vasantha Nanayakkara, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) said Tuesday.
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5 SLA killed, 15 wounded in Mannaar clash - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 20:28 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and more than 15 wounded when Tigers confronted an SLA unit that attempted to advance in Paalaikkuzhi, 7.5 km southwest of Adampan Tuesday morning between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., LTTE's Operations Command in Mannaar told media in Ki'iinochchi. The SLA movement was thwarted, the Tigers claimed. In Vauniyaa Tigers clashed with the SLA for 40 minutes from 12:50 p.m. Casualty figures were not available, according to Vavuniyaa Operations Command of the Tigers. Clashes erupted in Northern Front at Ki'laali and Naakarkoayil between 12:40 and 1:45 a.m. Wednesday.
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Contain threats against media, RSF appeals to Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 16:12 GMT]
Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), a Paris-based media watchdog, expressing concern over escalating threats and violence against media personnel in Sri Lanka, in a press release issued Tuesday appealing to Mr Rajapakse, said: "Mr. President, it is not yet too late to restrain those of your close associates and political allies who sow trouble and fear among journalists," and added, "The violent behaviour of the men employed by some of your ministers is bringing the government into disrepute, a situation that will be hard to redress if nothing is done."
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Bruce Fein: U.S. Declaration of Independence validates Tamil Statehood

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 13:52 GMT]
"Applying the 'self-evident' truths celebrated in the Declaration of Independence, the United States should recognize the right of Sri Lanka's long oppressed Tamil people to independent statehood from the racial supremacist Sinhalese," says Bruce Fein, the associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, and a lawyer for Tamils For Justice, a U.S. group of Tamil activists, in an opinion piece appearing Tuesday in Washington's conservative news paper, The Washington Times.
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Endorsement of media repression in Sri Lanka, alarming- CPJ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 10:37 GMT]
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York based media rights group, in a press release issued Monday, expressed alarm at "Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s brazen public call yesterday to censor the media and reintroduce criminal defamation laws." Condemning Gotabhaya's statement to Sri Lanka media, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said, "This is an open intimidation of the media...The Sri Lankan press sorely needs space to report independently on the escalating instability in the country, free of government intimidation."
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TN Congress scorns freedom of expression favouring Tigers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 10:08 GMT]
Congress party legislators in Tamil Nadu, who demanded the arrest of Viduthalai Chi'ruththaika'l Kadchi (VCK, the Liberation Panthers Party) President Thol. Thirumavalavan for publicly expressing moral support to the LTTE, staged a walkout Tuesday from the Tamil Nadu state assembly when Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi responded to their demand by saying that such arrests could not be made, citing a Supreme Court verdict on MDMK leader Vaiko, which held that expressing solidarity was not a crime. This is the first time that Congress legislators have walked out of the Tamil Nadu assembly after DMK assumed power in May 2006.
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40 Tamils still in custody after Ja-ela claymore explosion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 10:07 GMT]
Forty Tamils arrested following the January claymore explosion in Ja-ela that killed Mr.D.M.Dassanayake, Nation Building Minister in the cabinet of President Mahinda Rajapakse, are still being detained by the police and are being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division, according to Peliyagoda police.
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20 killed, 14 wounded, SLA attacks bus carrying school children in Madu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 09:59 GMT]
20 civilians, including 11 school children, a teacher of Thadcha'naamaruthamadu Roman Catholic Tamil Mixed School, the driver, conductor and two hospital workers were killed and 14 wounded when a Deep Penetration Unit of Sri Lanka Army triggered a Claymore mine targeting the bus carrying school children in Madu division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam controlled territory Tuesday at 2:25 p.m. The bus was 1 km away from Madu church, after having picked up the children at Thadcha'naamaruthamadu and was on its way to Paalampiddi from Madu. Eight school children were among the wounded.
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FMM Condemns stabbing of Thinakaran associate editor

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 08:54 GMT]
Colombo based media watchdog, the Free Media Movement, on Tuesday said it was dismayed to report a second stabbing of a journalist within a week. Five persons who entered the house of Suhaib M Kasim, the associate editor of the Sri Lankan state-owned Tamil daily Thinakaran, on Monday, forcibly took him to veranda and stabbed him in his abdomen, the FMM reported. Urging the Sri Lankan police to conduct an urgent and open investigation into the violent act, the media watchdog noted with concern that the police had arrested "arbitrary characters" to be produced in the courts when journalist from the SL state owned television broadcaster Rupavahini, Hemantha Mawalage, was stabbed a few days ago.
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LTTE, SLA clash in Ma'nalaa'ru, SLAF bombs Ira'naimadu

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 20:34 GMT]
Heavy fighting erupted between the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) Monday noon and the clash went on till 6:00 p.m. The Tigers said the SLA abandoned the attempt to breach the LTTE Forward Defence Line in Kokkuththoduvaay and Ma'nki'ndimalai after 6-hours stiff resistance.
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SLA steps up minor clashes in Madu region

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 19:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army, that has suffered casualties in medium scale offensive operations in Mannaar, has stepped up minor clashes as Tigers have successfully utilized booby traps and sniper attacks to confronting large number of SLA troops engaged in offensive operations. On Monday, Six clashes were reported in Pa'ndivirichchaan and Chinna Pa'ndivirichchaan areas in Madu division of Mannaar district and two clashes were reported in Vi'laaththikku'lam area bordering the Vavuniyaa district, in addition to another clash in Paalamoaddai.
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Suspects in Rupavahini journalist assault released on bail

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 16:30 GMT]
Kaduwela Magistrate Monday released the two suspects arrested in connection with the alleged attack of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation journalist, Lal Hemantha Mawalage, on Rupees 50,000 bail each and fixed the inquiry for February 8, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Court presses State Counsel on Hakeem security vehicles

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 16:29 GMT]
The Supreme Court Monday directed the Attorney General to submit a report describing the type of vehicles to be provided to Mr.Rauf Hakeem, Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), for his security. The SC issued the directive when the Fundamental Rights case filed by Mr.Rauf Hakeem against the reduction of his security was taken up for inquiry, legal sources said.
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Thinakaran editor stabbed in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 16:28 GMT]
Suhaib Mohamed Kasim, associate editor of Thinakaran, the Sri Lankan state owned Tamil daily, was stabbed by unknown attackers at Maligawatte Monday night at 9:10, Police said.
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2 civilians abducted, 2 seek HRC protection in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 15:30 GMT]
Two civilians, one from Oore’lu and the other from Changkaanai, are feared abducted according to complaints made Monday by the family members with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna. Meanwhile, two civilians from Jaffna and Kaithadi north have sought protection with HRC due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries, Monday.
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6 Tamils arrested in Passara, Kandy

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 14:13 GMT]
Six Tamil civilians including three women, arrested on Saturday evening at Kandy, are still being detained in Kandy police station and are being interrogated to find out the reason for their visit to Kandy, police sources said.
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Ampaa'rai-Bibile road temporarily closed for traffic

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 14:09 GMT]
The Sri Lanka government security forces have temporarily closed the Ampaa'rai-Bibile highway in eastern province for traffic and public movement to a conduct a large scale cordon and search operation in the surrounding jungle area, sources said.
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Burnt body recovered in Kalladi, Puththa'lam

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 14:07 GMT]
Burnt body of an unidentified male person was recovered at Kalladi in Puthth'alam police division Monday morning, Pullalam police said. The body was removed to the Puththa'lam government hospital for identification, hospital sources said.
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Family man shot dead in Poththuvil

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 13:57 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot and killed a family man Sunday around 8:10 p.m in front of his house at Koamaari 01 in Poththuvil Police division in Ampaa’rai district. The killers fired at the victim when he came out of his house located near Tamil Makkal Viduthali Pulikal (TMVP) office, on hearing dogs barking outside, sources in Ampaa’rai said.
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Batticaloa candidates to be provided police protection

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 13:14 GMT]
At a conference held Monday at Batticaloa district secretariat chaired by Mr.Sunderam Arumainayagam, the Government Agent(GA), the officals decided to provide protection to the candidates contesting in the March 10 local council election. Two policemen will be assigned for each candidate.
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High-tech Canadian radar sold to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 12:46 GMT]
A high-frequency surface wave radar, hailed as the only one of its kind in the world and developed with Canadian taxpayer's money at a cost of $39 million has been sold to Sri Lanka. This high-tech radar, jointly developed by Canadian defence scientists adn Raytheon Canada Limited, is capable of monitoring small boats hundreds of kilometers away.
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Tamil Nadu fishermen on indefinite strike

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 09:49 GMT]
Normal life was paralysed in Rameswaram as TamilNadu fishermen continued their indefinite strike into the third day today to condemn the Sri Lanka Navy's atrocities against them and demanded immediate removal of the underwater mines set up by SLN between Kachchatheevu and Neduntheevu. They called for the nullification of the Kachchatheevu agreement and demanded the release of 12 of their brethren arrested by the SLN. None of the 2500 steamers and 1500 country boats ventured into the sea as fishermen were steely in their resolve to indefinitely boycott the seas until their demands were met.
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Tiger artillery targets Palaali airbase, fighting intensifies in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 08:01 GMT]
Liberation Tigers' artillery fire Monday morning targeted Palaali airbase while a helicopter carrying top military officials from Colombo was about to land. Tension prevailed in Palaali military complex as around 20 shells hit the base, informed sources said. All military and civilian transports were canceled. Meanwhile, Jaffna experienced a power-cut and the mobile phone links remained cut-off as Sri Lanka Army stepped up heavy artillery fire on LTTE Forward Defence Line. Sri Lanka Air Force bombers were flown from South in the skies over Jaffna to attack Tiger territory. At least 6 of the LTTE fired shells had hit the military runway in Palaali.
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Sovereignty implies responsibility to protect citizens- UN's Deng

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 00:44 GMT]
"[T]he idea of “R2P” was principally meant to stress that sovereignty implies the responsibility of states, first and foremost, to protect their own citizens, with the international community providing support when governments prove incapable of doing so," said Francis Deng, United Nation's Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide and other Mass Atrocities, in the Winter 2007 Bulletin of UN's Department of Political Affairs
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LTTE, SLA clash in Ma'nalaa'ru

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 00:19 GMT]
An attempt by Sri Lanka Army(SLA) troopers Sunday morning 9:30 a.m. to move forward through three fronts with heavy artillery gunfire in Ma'nalaa'ru area towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) bases was successfully defeated due to strong counter attack by LTTE cadres, Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Ma'nalaar'u said.
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SLA attack injures 4 civilians in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2008, 00:16 GMT]
Four civilians residing in Thadchanaa Maruthamadu refugee camp for Internally Displaced People (IDP) Mannaar district were injured when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an artillery attack Sunday morning 11:00 a.m. targeting the IDP camp, source in Mannaar said.
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2 TMVP members shot dead in Poththuvil

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 17:37 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen riding a motorbike shot and killed Sunday around 12.25 p.m, two members of the political wing of Tamil Makkal Viuthailai Pulikal (TMVP), as they were riding on another motorbike from Poththuvil to Thirukkoayil, in Ampaa’rai district. The killing occurred in Oo’ra’ni, Poththuvil, near the 330th mile post area, police said.
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15 SLA killed in Pa'ndivirichchaan clash - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 15:51 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar claimed Sunday that at least 15 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and more than 30 SLA troopers wounded Sunday evening in a five-hour fighting in Periya Pa'ndivirichchaan area in Mannaar where SLA launched a ground offensive Sunday noon into LTTE controlled territory. Reporting that minor clashes were continuing in the area, the Tigers said a Deep Penetration Unit of the SLA with Claymore mines was defeated in Chinna Pa'nadivirchchaan around 11:00 a.m. Sunday.
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9 Tamils arrested in Grandpass, Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 15:23 GMT]
Nine Tamil civilians were taken into custody by the security forces in a cordon and search operation conducted in Grandpass area in Colombo Sunday following the discovery of two suicide jackets with explosives found abandoned from a latrine pit Saturday morning. The security forces said they received a tip off by members of the Vigilant Committee enabling them to recover the suicide jackets.
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Tigers repulse two pronged SLA offensive in Paalamoaddai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 15:16 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) successfully repulsed Sunday around 3:45 p.m, a two pronged attempt by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers to move forward through two fronts to attack the Tiger sentry posts on the Forward Defence Line (FDL) in Paalamoaddai, in Mannaar district. The SLA retreated with losses, Mannaar LTTE Field Operation Command said.
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STF shoots dead Tamil youth in Ka’luvaagnchchikudi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 14:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Task Force (STF) commandos shot and killed a Tamil youth Saturday night on Ka’luthaava’lai beach, Ka’luvaagnchchikudi police said. The police claimed that the youth was a member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and STF commandos fired at him when he tried to lodge a hand grenade on an STF road patrol unit.
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SLA, LTTE clash in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 14:39 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in Mukamaalai Sunday morning between 8:00 and 9:30 a.m. when Tigers counter-attacked an SLA unit that attempted to breach the LTTE Forward Defence Line. One Tiger fighter was killed in action, according to Mukamaalai Operations Command of the Tigers.
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Abducted UPFA candidate released, in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 10:30 GMT]
A United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) candidate abducted Friday from his house by unidentified armed men in a white van was released Saturday around 9:30 p.m after being severely assaulted, in a coconut plantation area in Mayilaampaavea’li in Ea’raavoor police division in Batticaloa district, sources said.
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UPFA candidate attacked in Ea’raavoor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 09:58 GMT]
Unidentified armed men attacked and injured the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) contestant, Mohamed Halitheen, in Batticaloa local government elections Saturday around 7:30 p.m in Sadam Hussein village in Ea’ravoor police division in Batticaloa district, according to a complaint lodged with E’raavoor police. Two youths, dressed in black, attacked the contestant as he was returning from a campaign meeting Saturday in Hithayath Nakar in Ea’raavoor, sources in Batticaloa said. The youths who attacked the candidate are alleged to be supporters of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).
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Four pronged offensive by SLA in Ma'nalaa'ru thwarted by LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 21:33 GMT]
Attempt by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers Saturday afternoon 2:00p.m, to move forward through four fronts including Ma'nalaa'ru, Ma'nki'ndi Malai with heavy artillery gunfire towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) bases was successfully thwarted by Liberation Tigers in a counter attack, LTTE sources said.
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Providing moral support to Eelam, not a crime- Thirumavalavan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 18:53 GMT]
"Any move to suppress those expressing moral support to Tamil Eelam and LTTE is violation of all tenets of democracy and humanism, and will border on fascism," Viduthalai Chiruththaikal Katchi (VCK, Liberation Panthers Party) President Thol. Thirumavalavan said on Friday addressing a conference organized by his party in Chennai labeled "Redeem the Freedom of Expression."
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Media Organizations condemn attack on Rupavahini Editor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 18:35 GMT]
Pointing to Minister Mervyn de Silva for complicity in Friday attack on Rupavahini journalist, Mr Mawalage, five Colombo media organizations in a press release issued Saturday said, "Journalist Mawalage received continuous death threats after his role in the SLRC [Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation] staff protest... We strongly suspect that this knife attack could be retaliation for his role in SLRC staff protest," and added, "We hope that this will not be another attack on media in Sri Lanka which will be swept under the carpet as like what has happened to more than a hundred press freedom violations in recent times."
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SLA, LTTE clash in Paalamoaddai, Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 16:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army Saturday morning abandoned a fresh attempt to infiltrate into Liberation Tigers controlled territory in Paalamoaddai in Vavuniyaa after a counter-attack by the Tigers, according to LTTE Operations Command in Vavuniyaa.
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School damaged in SLAF bombing in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 16:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers Saturday attacked Kaiveali, located 1 km from Puthkukkudiyiruppu on Paranthan Road between 1:30 and 1:50 p.m. Kaiveali Ganesha Viththiyaalayam school sustained damage in the air-strike, Tamileelam Police officials in Puthukkudiyiruppu said. The NGO White Pigeon is located close to the attack site.
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9 Tamil civilians arrested in Chilaw

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 15:03 GMT]
Nine Tamil civilians, all residents of Vavuniya and Mannaar, were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka security forces in a cordon and search operation conducted in Chilaw police division in the northwestern province from dawn to dusk Saturday, sources in Chilaw said.
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Rupavahini producer injured in knife attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 12:56 GMT]
Lal Hemantha Mawalage, news producer at state-run Television station, Rupavahini, has been admitted to the Colombo General Hospital after being attacked with machete and knives by unknown assailants at 11:30 p.m. Friday while walking in Athurugiriya in Colombo, sources in Colombo said. Mr Mawalage suffered injuries to both hands and body, according to his relatives. The attackers are suspected to be allied to non-cabinet Minister of Labour Mervin Silva who was involved in an altercation at Rupavahini on 26 December.
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Jaffna residents first to benefit from local paddy harvest– GA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 12:12 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA), K. Ganesh, in a press announcement Saturday, informed that the paddy expected to be harvested in the Maha cultivation 2007-2008 in Jaffna peninsula will not be sent out of the district. The GA took this step in response to the strong protest raised by NGOs and other civil organizations which pointed out that Jaffna peninsula will be facing an acute shortage of rice if the expected yield is shipped to outer districts, sources in Jaffna said.
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Tamil youths arrested by Kandy Police released

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 11:55 GMT]
Two Tamil youths, one a resident of Nawalapitiya and other from Vavuniya, taken into custody by the Kandy Police on Thursday for allegedly taking photographs of the Kandy general hospital, were released Friday after interrogation by the Terrorist Intelligence Division of the Police, sources said.
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Kathirkaamam Murugan Temple closed for daily pooja

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 11:34 GMT]
Temple administrators have closed the historic Kathirkaamam Murugan Temple in the south of Sri Lanka following the closure of Buttala-Kadirgaamam road after the claymore explosion that took place along Buttala-Okkampitya road recently, sources said.
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Fisherman abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 09:13 GMT]
A 45-year-old fisherman from Eechchantheevu was abducted 200 meters away from Vavu'natheevu police station Saturday around 6:00 a.m., Police said.
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Armed men abduct paramilitary UPFA candidate in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 08:05 GMT]
A man appointed by the TMVP paramilitary group to contest in Batticaloa Municipal Council Elections under the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) ticket was abducted by unidentified armed men, around 10 p.m., Friday, Kaaththaankudi police said.
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15 civilians arrested in Buttala still in custody

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 03:12 GMT]
Fifteen civilians arrested at Buttala in Badulla district in Uva province on Wednesday evening in a combined cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Police are still being detained in police stations and interrogated. Of the arrested, 12 are Tamils and three are Sinhalese youths, police said.
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SLA faces stiff resistance in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 16:45 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army soldiers and two Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam fighters were killed Friday when Tigers offered stiff resistance to SLA units that stepped up an offensive push targeting Adampan in Mannaar, according to LTTE Operations Command in the district. A ground troop movement headed by tanks with the support of artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher fire from Tha'l'laadi base, was halted at 1:00 p.m. due to the resistance mounted by the Tigers.
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Witness in Maheswaran murder case threatened with death

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 15:33 GMT]
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sri Lanka Police Friday informed the Colombo Additional Magistrate Mr.Ravindra Premaratne that one of the witnesses in the murder of Colombo district parliamentarian Mr.T.Maheswaran did not come to court due to death threat by unidentified persons, legal sources said.
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Karuna implicates Gotabaya in false passport – report

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 15:33 GMT]
Tamil paramilitary leader Karuna (Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan) was sentenced Friday to nine months in prison for entering Britain on a Sri Lankan passport under a different name. Pleading guilty, Karuna had implicated the government of Sri Lanka and the defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa of providing the travel documents including the diplomatic passport for him to enter the UK, the BBC Sinhala service reported.
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Grenade attacks on Muslim traders in Vazhaichcheanai

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 13:48 GMT]
Unidentified persons hurled a hand grenade Friday early morning at 3:10a.m. at the residence of a Muslim business man, located in Semma’nodai, Oddamaavadi within Vazhaichcheanai police division in Batticaloa district, Vaazhaichcheanai police said. In a similar incident Wednesday night 10:45 p.m., residence of another Muslim trader near Hyrath Mosque came under grenade attack, according to police.
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Paramilitary operative shot dead in Akkaraippattu

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 13:41 GMT]
An unidentified gunman shot and killed a operative of Karuna paramilitary, identified as Panneerchelvam, Friday noon at Aalaiyadiveampu in Akkaraippattu police division in Ampaa’rai district, Akkaraippattu police said. The victim was walking with a friend towards Karuna group camp when he was shot. The killer, following Panneerchelvam on foot, took his T-56 assault rifle and escaped from the site after gunning down the paramilitary operative.
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Armed gang injures 3 Muslim traders in Pollanaruwa

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 13:11 GMT]
Unidentified armed young men went on a rampage Thursday night at 7:00p.m in the market area in Ridithenna located in the border area between Batticaloa and Pollanaruwa districts attacking three Muslim businessmen and seriously wounding them, police said.
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"We are not party to Vitarne Report"- WPF

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 12:23 GMT]
General Secretary of Western Peoples Front (WPF) in a press release issued Friday said, "Minister Tissa Vitarana has used the name of our party among other parties for his interim report he submitted to the [Sri Lanka's] president. By listing the name of our party, Western Peoples Front (WPF), he is giving an impression that we too are in agreement with his submission. This is a regrettable sinister move of the veteran samasamajist minister..."
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Tamil youth arrested in Deraniyagala

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 11:39 GMT]
A Tamil youth, resident of Killinochchi was taken into custody on Wednesday midnight by the police at Noori Estate in Deraniyagala in upcountry, in a cordon and search operation. Police said he was arrested as he failed to provide reasons for his stay in the location. Meanwhile, the Police have warned all Tamil plantation workers in Ratnapura district not to give accommodation to strangers in their houses.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka security forces ban pavement business in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 11:34 GMT]
Citing security reasons, Sri Lanka Security forces on instructions from higher authorities in the Defense sector banned pavement businesses along roads and lanes in Wellawatte in Colombo district with effect from Thursday. Police have removed all structures put by pavement hawkers, sources said.
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Enhanced security to Uva Chief Minister, councilors

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 11:17 GMT]
The security of the Chief Minister and four ministers of the Uva Provincial Council is to be enhanced with immediate effect on an appeal made by Uva Chief Minister Wijithamuni Soysa following the claymore explosion and other violent incidents that took place recently in Moneragala district.
Full story >>

Tamil woman arrested in Wattegama

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 11:11 GMT]
A Tamil young woman was arrested Thursday in front of Madawela Madeena National School in the Wattegama police division, allegedly for loitering in front of the school. The woman was first apprehended by the security guard of the school and later handed over to the Police for further inquiry, sources said.
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Jaffna Undergrads condemn killling of Student leader

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 09:18 GMT]
Jaffna District Tamil Students’ Union (JDTSU), in a press release issued Friday, strongly condemned the killing of Panchadcharam Kunenthiran, 22, who was shot dead inside the Jaffna Campus premises, and praised him for his efforts to safeguard the interests of Jaffna district students. The youth, the former president of Jaffna District Students Union, had gone to Jaffna University campus to meet his friends and was gunned down in day light inside the campus by two men in civil clothes on a motor bicycle amid tight security around the campus with several Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops posted in sentries posts near the campus, sources in Jaffna said.
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8 Batticaloa youths arrested in Colombo Fort

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 04:59 GMT]
Eight Batticaloa Tamil youths from displaced families residing in Batticaloa and who had arrived in Colombo to obtain Passports to travel to a Middle East country for employment, were arrested at Fort Railway station Wednesday early morning, relatives said in a complaint.
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3 SLA killed, 6 wounded in Ma'nalaa'ru skirmish - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 03:38 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and six wounded Thursday evening when Liberation Tigers counter-attacked SLA soldiers who mounted an attack on Tiger positions at Ma'nki'ndi Malai, according to the operation command of the LTTE in Ma'nalaa'ru. Meanwhile, the Tigers said they had seized weapons from the SLA in a separate clash at Ceylon Theatre area in Ma'nalaa'ru.
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Civlian killed, 2 wounded, SLAF bombs Ki'linochchi suburb

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 03:21 GMT]
A civilian traveler was killed and two civilians were seriously wounded when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked Viveakananthaa Nakar, an outer suburb of Ki'iinochchi, located 3 km southwest of the town, Friday morning between 7:50 and 8:10 a.m. Three houses were fully destroyed and six more houses have sustained damage. Liberation Tigers anti-aircraft unit rushed to the area and opened fired when SLAF fighter jets swooped over the suburb, forcing the planes to higher altitudes.
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Youth abducted in Kotahena

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 01:00 GMT]
A Tamil youth from Batticaloa district, a resident of Poaratheevu, recently captured from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), was abducted in Kotahena, Colombo on the 14 January by group of five men operating in a white van with license plate number 2534899, the relatives of the youth stated in a complaint lodged with P.Rathakrishnan, Deputy minister and an Upcountry United Front (UPF) parliamentarian.
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3 SLA killed, 16 wounded in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 15:55 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar claimed it repulsed a ground movement of the Sri Lanka Army towards Paalaikkuzhi Thursday morning following a confrontation that lasted from 6:00 a.m till 8:15 a.m. The Tigers further said SLA soldiers suffered casualties in booby traps while withdrawing from their mission. One LTTE fighter was killed in action.
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AG to submit report on security to Mano Ganeshan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 15:34 GMT]
When the Writ Application filed by Mano Ganeshan, leader of the Western Peoples Alliance and President of the Civil Monitoring Group on missing persons, came up for inquiry Thursday before two member bench of the Court of Appeal, the Court directed the Attorney General to submit a report on the enhanced security to Mr Ganeshan and fixed the inquiry for January 30.
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Tigers seize SLA weapons in Ma'nalaa'ru

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 14:59 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Ma'nalaa'ru Operations Command said it repulsed a ground movement by the Sri Lanka Army in Ceylon Theatre area of Ma'nalaa'ru Thursday evening and seized three T-56 assault rifles, a 40 mm gun and more than hundred 7.62 mm rounds after more than 2-hours stiff resistance.
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Ex-president of Co-operative union shot dead in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 14:29 GMT]
Unidentified gun men shot dead the former president of Kodikaamam Multi Purpose Co-operative society (MPCS) Thursday around 6:30 a.m, in front of his house at Naavatkaadu in Va’rani in Thenmaraadchi, sources in Jaffna said. The victim is the fourth person engaged in co-operative activities in Jaffna peninsula to be shot and killed, the sources added.
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17 dead bodies located in Kebitigollewa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 12:49 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police has located 17 dead bodies in Kiriketuwewa GS area of Kebitigollewa division in Anuradhapura district Thursday evening, initial reports said. The victims, all civilians, with gunshot injuries had their hands tied behind their back, according to the Police. The bodies were located in two graves, 10 in one and 7 in the other, Police said. The bodies are still lying at the crime scene.
Full story >>

Pilfering of goods at KKS Harbour adds to material loss

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 12:03 GMT]
Construction contractors and traders in Jaffna made representations to Government Agent (GA) Jaffna that millions of rupees worth of essential goods and construction materials are routinely pilfered in Kaankeasanthu’rai (KKS) and Mayiliddi harbours located in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ), sources in Jaffna said.
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Rantembe reservoir security tightened

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 11:05 GMT]
The security of Rantembe reservoir in Kandy district has been tightened when residents of the area reported to the Hasalaka police about the presence of a group of strangers in the surrounding jungles, media reports said.
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Youth returns back to HRC for protection

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 10:57 GMT]
A youth, who was earlier placed in protective custody in the Jaffna prison by Human Rights Commission (HRC) after seeking protection due to death threats by Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries, and later left the custody, surrendered at the HRC again asking them to provide protection as unidentified armed men had allegedly tried to kill him, HRC sources said.
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18 Tamils arrested in Polonnaruwa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 10:52 GMT]
Eighteen Tamil civilians were taken into custody by the police at Polonnaruwa and its border villages during a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army from Wednesday night till the dawn of Thursday.
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Yala sanctuary to be closed again

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 10:46 GMT]
Yala sanctuary in the southern province is likely to be closed down for tourists again with the drop of foreign tourists following claymore explosions and attack that took place recently. The Yala sanctuary was re-opened in the beginning of January this year after several months' closure due to violence. Meanwhile more than eight thousand soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army are reported to have been deployed in about 12 villages in the Moneragala district to curb the movement of armed groups in the jungle area.
Full story >>

TNA to boycott Batticaloa local polls

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 16:32 GMT]
Parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a parliamentary group meeting held Wednesday, unanimously agreed to boycott elections to nine local authorities in the Batticaloa district. Mr. R.Sampanthan, President of the TNA parliamentary group presided over the meeting.
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LTTE refutes SLAF claims of air strike on Tiger leadership

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 13:11 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan Wednesday evening refuted the claims by the Sri Lanka Air Force that it had hit a location of the leader of the LTTE Velupillai Pirapaharan Wednesday morning. Stating that Colombo was spreading false propaganda, Mr. Ilanthirayan said the SLAF attack targeted civilian settlements at Vaddakkachchi twice between 11:10 a.m. and 11:35 a.m. and in the evening between 5:15 and 6:00 p.m.
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UNP decides to boycott Batticaloa local elections

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 11:22 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) Wednesday decided not to contest the elections to nine local authorities in the Batticaloa district in the eastern province. The Political Affairs Committee of the UNP met Wednesday with Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe in the chair and decided that the ground security situation in the Batticaloa district is not safe to conduct a free and fair election, party general secretary Mr.Tissa Attanayake said.
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13 Tamils arrested in Kalpity

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 11:20 GMT]
The Chilaw Police Wednesday arrested 13 Tamil civilians in Kalpity coastal village in a cordon and search operation conducted from Tuesday night. Majority of them now detained and interrogated at Kalpity police station are residents of Mannaar and Jaffna, sources said.
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"International HR intervention, only over our dead bodies" - Weerawansa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 10:12 GMT]
"As long as there is JVP in Sri Lanka, no one can intervene and subject the Sri Lankan leaders to international investigations on Human Rights," declared Wimal Weerawansa, the Propaganda Secretary of the Sinhala extreme nationalist party, in a protest against UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, held in front of the UN office in Colombo Wednesday 10:00 a.m., sources in Colombo said.
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ICRC hands over 9 bodies to LTTE in Oamanthai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 08:59 GMT]
International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) officials in Vavuniyaa handed over nine dead bodies to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Oamanthai in LTTE controlled area Wednesday around 9:00 a.m, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The Sri Lanka Army had handed over the 9 bodies to Vavuniyaa hospital Tuesday.
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SLA trooper killed, 3 injured in Northern FDL

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 08:19 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forces killed an Sri Lanka Army (SLA) trooper and injured three in an attack Tuesday around 2:00 a.m on a group of soldiers attempting to penetrate the Front Defence Line (FDL) in Mukamaalai with the intention of attacking LTTE sentry posts, LTTE Operation Command in northern front said.
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Tamil youth reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 19:35 GMT]
A young construction worker from Jaffna working at the site of Colombo Mahavidyalaya Mawathe has not returned home after leaving his workplace for lunch Friday, the relatives of the youth complained to Deputy Minister Rathakrishnan, sources in Colombo said.
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New office for Assistant Superintendent of Police opened in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 15:20 GMT]
"The lack of at least one police officer proficient in Tamil language is the cause for the public's reluctance to seek police assistance to have their needs attended," Jaffna magistrate Mr. R. T. Vicknarajah said, speaking at the official opening ceremony of the new office for Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) at the Jaffna police station premises Tuesday around 2:00 p.m. According to the 13th amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution, the Tamil language also shall be the official language of Sri Lanka. Despite this, the status of Tamil as an official language has not been implemented for the past 20 years.
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Tigers deploy snipers to confront SLA troops in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 13:55 GMT]
At least 12 Sri Lanka Army soldiers were sniped and killed and 27 wounded Tuesday morning when Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar deployed Tiger snipers to confront advancing SLA troops in Paalaikkuzhi. The SLA movement was repulsed without LTTE casualties, the LTTE command in Mannaar told media.
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APRC proposals postponed again

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 13:47 GMT]
Rajitha Senaratne, the Sri Lankan minister of construction and engineering services, on Tuesday said that the proposal by the All Party Representatives Committee (APRC), scheduled to be handed over to Sri Lankan president on Wednesday, would be delayed as the People's United Front (Mahajana Eksath Peramuna—MEP) and the extremist all monks Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) have demanded to reduce the level of devolution of provincial power in the draft proposal.
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Two SLA troopers wounded in Moneragala

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 12:26 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army troopers were wounded when a group of attackers opened fire on a SLA unit engaged in a search operation in a jungle area near Kithulkotte in Thanamalwila Police division Tuesday noon, Police said. Meanwhile, informed sources in Colombo said around 8,000 security personnel comprising SLA troops, Special Task Force, Police and homeguards, have been deployed in the jungle areas in a search operation. Around 2000 Sinhalese men were to be recruited to Civil Defence Force as homeguards in the district, informed sources further said.
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EDF, independents file nominations for Batticaloa elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 22:21 GMT]
As of Monday 4:00 p.m. four independent groups and one registered political party, Eelam Democratic Front (EDF), have filed nominations for the forthcoming local Government elections to be held in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said.
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LTTE beats back SLA troops in 2 separate fronts in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 21:28 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched an attack and beat back the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops Monday around 10:30 a.m at Vilaaththiku'lam area in Mannaaar district, and in a similar clash at Pa'ndivirichchaan in Mannaar district Monday around 7:30 a.m fought back an SLA unit which attempted to advance into LTTE territory supported with artillery, mortar, and multi-barrel rocket fire, Mannaar Tiger operations command said.
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16 SLA troops killed, 38 injured in Mannaar- LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 21:22 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officer and 12 troopers of an SLA commando unit were killed, and 29 soldiers injured in a clash with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sunday in Paalaikuzhi area in Mannaar. Two LTTE fighters were killed in the clash, Mannaar LTTE operation command said. Meanwhile, in a separate confrontation Sunday morning at Mu'l'liku'lam in Manaar, 3 SLA troops were killed and 9 soldiers were injured, according to the LTTE.
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SLA blocks Jaffna - Pt.Pedro Road to transport supplies, casualties

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 20:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna blocked Jaffna - Point Pedro Road for more than 3 hours Monday morning to transport dead and wounded soldiers in two vehicles from Naakarkoayil frontline where an artillery duel and direct clash was reported in the early hours of Monday. Meanwhile, truck loads of military hardware were transported from Palaali military base to SLA positions in Naakarkoayil through this supply route. The stepped-up clashes and the renewed preparations come following a top-level meeting by Sri Lankan military officials at Va'rani 52-4 Brigade HQ on Sunday, sources in Jaffna said. In the meantime, LTTE Northern Forces Command put the SLA casualty figure at 3 dead, 13 wounded.
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India-UK summit: 'No military solution in Sri Lanka'

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 20:12 GMT]
A joint statement signed by the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and India, at the UK-India annual Summit held in New Delhi on Monday, said they agreed that there is no military solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka and urged the Sri Lankan government to put forward a credible devolution package as a key contribution to finding a political settlement acceptable to all communities within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. The joint statement, discussing a range of international issues, also said that the UK reaffirmed its firm support for India’s candidature for a permanent membership in an expanded United Nations Security Council.
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Police Sub Inspector, 2 constables killed in Moneragala

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 16:21 GMT]
Unknown gunmen shot and killed a Police Sub Inspector and two Police constables who were on a search mission at Kithulgoda in Thanamalwila police division in Moneragala district Monday at 8:20 p.m., Police said.
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Court orders 2nd identification parade in Maheswaran case

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 15:52 GMT]
The Colombo Additional Magistrate Ravindra Premaratne Monday ordered that the sole suspect arrested in connection with the killing of Colombo district parliamentarian, Mr.Thiagarajah Maheswaran, on January 1 at Ponnambalavaneswarar Temple should be produced in court on January 25 for a second identification parade, legal sources said.
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Court denies injunction to postpone Batticaloa elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 15:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Monday refused to issue an interim injunction to postpone the elections to nine local authorities in the Batticaloa district. "The Supreme Court has no authority to issue such interim injunction," said the Chief Justice Mr. Sarath Silva after hearing the submissions in the two Fundamental Rights violation petitions filed by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), legal sources said.
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GOSL to unveil monument for Indian soldiers

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 12:17 GMT]
A monument to soldiers of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) who lost their lives, while serving under the Indo-Sri Lanka peace accord in North East of Sri Lanka, is to be opened on February 4, Sri Lanka's Independence day, sources in Colombo said. The monument is located near the Sri Lanka Parliament Complex. Several Indian Military officials have previously made statements to the Indian media of the indifference Sri Lanka had shown towards casualties India suffered during the peace keeping operation.
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SLA shoots dead 2 youths in Kaithadi

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 12:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops shot and killed two youths during a cordon and search operation Sunday early morning in Kaithadi area in Thenmaraadchi, sources in Jaffna said. Chaavakachcheari police handed over the corpses of the youths to Jaffna Teaching Hospital claiming them to be members of Liberation Tigers (LTTE), sources added.
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Tamil trader shot dead in Ka'luvaangchchikudi

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 12:06 GMT]
Two unidentified gunmen on motorcycle shot and killed a shop keeper Sunday around 7:35 p.m at his house in Ka'luvaangnchikudi police division in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Extortion of money from Tamils in Colombo on the increase

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 11:54 GMT]
Extortion of money from affluent Tamils residing in Wellawatte, Bambalapitya and Dehiwala in Colombo has been on the increase in recent days, according to media reports. Gangs posing as police officers and CID personnel have been waylaying Tamils walking along roads in evening in these areas threatening them with death if not yielded to their demands.
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Youth shot and killed inside Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 11:44 GMT]
Unidentified armed men in civil clothes chased a young man trying to escape them into Jaffna University and shot him dead inside the campus Monday around 10:30 a.m. The killers had chased the youth passing the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry troops who remained passive at their sentry post behind the University campus, residents in the area said.
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Colombo plans to handover Cement Factory in Jaffna to Indian firm

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 11:29 GMT]
The management of the Kaangkeasanthu'rai (KKS) Cement Factory located in the High Security Zone, 17 km northeast of Jaffna city, is to be handed over to the India's Birla Corporation Limited, according to Sri Lanka's Minister of Construction and Engineering Services Rajitha Senaratne. A team of officials of the Birla Corporation Limited, one of the biggest cement production companies is expected to arrive in Colombo on February 4, on the Sri Lankan Independence Day, to hold talks with SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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Transformer explodes, causing island-wide power failure

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 10:58 GMT]
The entire island of Sri Lanka plunged into darkness Monday morning around 5.55 a.m. for about two hours when a transformer of the Ceylon Electricity Board had exploded at Katunayake, a high security zone in the western province.
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SLN attacks fishermen on Mullaitheevu seas

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 05:36 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Dvora fast attack crafts opened fire Sunday around 6:50 a.m on 23 fishermen in 12 boats fishing in Mullaitheevu seas in an attack which lasted til 7:00 a.m, sources in Mullaitheevu said.
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2 SLA troops killed in Pa'divirichchaan

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 05:21 GMT]
Sniper Unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) shot and killed 2 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and injured more in a clash at Pa'ndivirichchaan, around 3:00 p.m, Sunday, LTTE Operations Command in Mannaar said.
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4 Tamils arrested in Moneragala

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 23:54 GMT]
Five Up-Country Tamils were arrested by Sri Lanka Army on Saturday at Thanamalwila area in Moneragala division were being detained at Sooriyawewa police station and subjected to interrogation. They were arrested in a cordon and search operation.
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Political parties delay nominations for Batticaloa elections

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 16:46 GMT]
None of the major political parties have submitted nominations up to Sunday afternoon for the forthcoming local government elections for the nine local councils, sources from Batticaloa district elections office said. Meanwhile, 12 independent groups have paid their deposits.
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LTTE foils SLA offensive in Ma'nalaaru, recovers SLA body

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 15:56 GMT]
An attempt by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to attack the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) bases in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) Ceylon Theatre area Sunday afternoon 1:40 p.m. was foiled due to counter attack by LTTE fighters, LTTE sources said. The Tigers have recovered the body of an SLA soldier after the skirmish.
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Youth shot dead by paramilitary in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 15:19 GMT]
A youth about to participate in a cricket tournament was shot and killed Sunday morning 11:00 a.m. in Mausoor Mowlana playgrounds, Maruthamunai within Kalmunai police division in Ampaa'rai district.
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Accidental gun fire kills Policeman in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 14:44 GMT]
A police constable on duty in Ma'ndapaththadi, Vavu'natheevu in Batticaloa district died Saturday arond 6:00 p.m. when the gun belonging to a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) colleague on duty accidentally went off, police said.
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Civilian shot, injured in Ea’raavoor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 14:32 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and injured a middle aged man Saturday night 8:45 p.m. along Kovil road in 4th division in Kovil Thoaddam area, within Ea’raavoor police division in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said.
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'Canadian Tamil Village' foundation stone laid

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 05:03 GMT]
The foundation stone laying ceremony for a project costing $625K to build 250 houses and associated village infrastructure for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Raasapuram, Mulankaavil in Kilinochchi district was held Thursday at 12:45 p.m., sources from Kilinochchi said. The foundation stone was laid by the Government Agent (GA) of Kilinochchi District Mr. Vethanayakam, and Mr. Thangan, Deputy Head of Political Division.
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SLA trooper killed in Mukamaalai clash

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 19:18 GMT]
The forward movement by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers Saturday afternoon intending to attack the sentry towers of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) in Mukamaalai area was beaten due to stiff resistance by LTTE fighters, LTTE sources from the Northern Front Line said.
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Tigers locate SLA dead body, seize weapons in Ma'nalaa'ru

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 16:54 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Ma'nalaa'ru said that the Tigers repulsed a two pronged Sri Lanka Army movement at Ma'nki'ndimalai in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) Saturday afternoon following stiff resistance that lasted for more than one hour. Four SLA soldiers were killed, the Tigers said. A dead body of an SLA soldier was recovered and a T-56-2 assault rifle and a Claymore mine were seized by the LTTE in the clearing mission.
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Alarming increase in Mannaar abductions

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 16:45 GMT]
In the past three weeks, Mannaar has witnessed the abduction of five Tamil civilians, including a leading businessman and a young mother, in broad daylight. In at least two of the cases, the victims had received mysterious phone calls asking them to come to an appointed place at a particular time. Distraught families have been running from pillar to post to trace their missing relatives, but a hostile police force has ensured that they remain groping in the dark.
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Tamil businessman shot dead in Chilaw

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 13:14 GMT]
Unknown gunmen shot and killed a Tamil businessman, Kathiresan Ganesan, 43, while he was driving home with his family at Udappu (Udappuwa) in Chilaapam (Chilaw) police area Saturday around 9:20 a.m. His wife, Pakiyanaathan Puvani, 32, was seriously wounded in gunfire and rushed to Chilaw hospital, Police said.
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Court fixes inquiry into Mano Ganeshan's petition

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 12:41 GMT]
A Writ Application filed on Thursday by Colombo district parliamentarian Mr.Mano Ganeshan, leader of the Western Peoples Front, in the Court of Appeals against the reduction of his security personnel and withdrawal of the back-up vehicle allocated to him, is listed to be taken up for inquiry on January 24, legal sources in Colombo said.
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UNP undecided on participating in Batticaloa polls

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 12:36 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) announced on Saturday that it would take a final decision whether to contest the local polls in the Batticaloa district taking into consideration the volatile ground situation and after consulting the members of its Political Affairs Committee, party sources said. The decision would be announced following the meeting of the party political affairs committee scheduled to be held on January 23 at the party's headquarters Sri Kotha.
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Police HQI 'abducts' Up-Country Tamil girl

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 12:36 GMT]
Hatton Police Headquarter Inspector (HQI) Chandana Gamage, Friday night, entered a restaurant in the town, after consuming liquor and dragged an Up-Country Tamil girl into his jeep along with seven other Tamil youth and took the girl to an unknown location after releasing the boys on his way. The HQI is yet to return to duty and the girl was not traced, an NGO official in Hatton told TamilNet Saturday.
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Foreign, local monitors to supervise local elections in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 12:32 GMT]
PAFFREL, a Sri Lanka based organization monitoring parliamentary and local elections in the island, said Friday that it would deploy twenty monitors from United States of America, New Zealand, and Germany, and 200 local monitors to monitor the elections to nine local authorities.
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Tamil woman shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 04:02 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot to death a middle aged woman Thursday night in Vaarikkuddiyoor area in Vavuniya, sources said. The victim’s body was recovered by Vavuniyaa police Thursday night and handed over to the Vavuniyaa teaching hospital Friday morning.
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Body of missing police constable recovered in Tellippalai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 01:19 GMT]
The body of a police constable attached to Jaffna police station and went missing two weeks ago was recovered Friday in a desolate area, 500 metres from his residence in Tellippalai, with severe head injuries, sources in Jaffna said.
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Karuna group cadre shoots himself to death

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 00:40 GMT]
A Tamil youth employed by Karuna group shot himself to death Thursday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at the office of the Karuna group in Aalayadiveampu, Akkaraippattu area in Ampaarai district, Akkraippatu police said.
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SLA offensives towards LTTE bases in Mannaar foiled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 00:17 GMT]
A massive ground operation, started by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) bases located in Paalaiku’li and Adampan in Mannaar area, was beaten due to fierce resistance by LTTE cadres, LTTE sources said.
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LTTE attacks SLA DPU near Madu Church

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 18:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants staged a surprise attack on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers from the Deep Penetration Unit lying in ambush having planted claymore devices near Madu Church along Mannaar-Madu road in Mannaar district Thursday around 2.00 p.m causing SLA troops to flee, carrying the wounded, LTTE command in Mannaar region said.
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Ki'linochchi schools close fearing SLAF attacks

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 18:29 GMT]
Two schools in Ki'linochchi were closed, while three other schools were without pupils Friday as many students chose to stay home near bunkers fearing another SLAF bombing raid. Four Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombs missed hitting Kanakapuram Maha Viththiyaalayam by 100 meters, and 790 schoolchildren and 22 teachers at the school narrowly escaped death. One civilian was killed and seven wounded in the air-strike.
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Nicholas Burns resigns

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 18:16 GMT]
US Undersecretary of Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns, U.S.’s third-ranking diplomat and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s right-hand man, is stepping down from his position for personal reasons, according to Washington media.
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SLAF bombing raid injures 3 civilians in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 17:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLA) fighter jets dropped 12 bombs in 3 sorties Friday morning on civilian settlements in Va'l'lipunam in Vanni, injuring three civilians including a woman, besides completely destroying a settlement, sources in Vanni said. An event enrolling new students to Grade I in Udaiyaarkaddu Mahavithtiyaalayam was disrupted when the bombs fell and exploded near by. Chentha'lir Children Home for girls, relocated from Mullaitheevu coast to Va'l'lipunam after Tsunami, narrowly escaped the air-strike.
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SLA shoots dead Tamil youth in Chengkaladi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 13:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops shot killed a Tamil youth Friday around 4:30 a.m on Chengkaladi Main Road in Batticaloa district. The Senior Police Commissioner of Batticaloa claimed that the SLA troops opened fire on the youth when he was fixing a Claymore device along the road.
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U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 13:05 GMT]
Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Robert F. Willard, visited Sri Lanka on Thursday and Friday to meet Sri Lanka Navy leadership and the Sri Lankan President and Commander-in-Chief of the SL armed forces Mahinda Rajapaksa. He also visited Trincomalee to discuss "U.S. - Sri Lankan cooperation against LTTE terrorism," according to a press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Colombo. Reaffirming the support of the United States to Sri Lanka in defending against terrorist activity through cooperation on maritime security, he noted that improvements in human rights protection could lead to enhanced cooperation, the press release added.
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SLA launches large scale search in Valikaamam

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 08:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) in Jaffna launched an intensive large scale cordon and search operation from early morning in Valikaamam until evening Friday forcing people to gather in public places where they were subjected to lengthy interrogation, sources in Jaffna said.
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3 seek protection with HRC Jaffna, youth reported abducted in Kaithadi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 03:47 GMT]
Three family men sought protection with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna Thursday due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries. Meanwhile, two unidentified armed men abducted a young man from his house in Meesaalay in Thenmaraadchchi, his wife complained to HRC Jaffna Thursday.
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Batticaloa council elections Nominations submission begins Friday

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 02:40 GMT]
Acceptance of nominations for elections in nine local authorities in Batticaloa district will begin Friday 18 January and continue till noon 25 January, T.Krishnananthalingam, Assistant commissioner of elections, Batticaloa district said.
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10 persons killed in Moneragala jungle

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 01:02 GMT]
Ten persons who accompanied home guards on a cordon and search operation into the jungle area of Moneragala district were gunned down by armed men Thursday night in two separate incidents. Three persons, including a home guard, were wounded in the incident that took place in the Thanamalwila DS division in the Uva Province. Government of Sri Lanka has taken steps to arm civilians and form a Civil Armed Force in Uva.
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iTRO urges countries to allow diaspora help

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 00:02 GMT]
International Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, iTRO, based in U.K., in a press release issued this week following the unilateral abrogation of Cease Fire Agreement by the Government of Sri Lanka, appealed to the Governments of the West "to allow space for the Tamil Diaspora to provide much needed humanitarian assistance to their people. International organizations have been restricted in their ability to access the affected areas and deliver the necessary relief and the GoSL has restricted food, medicine, fuel and construction materials to the Vanni. As a result in many areas TRO is the only organization with access to the war and tsunami affected populations," the release said.
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Youth found dead with bullet wounds in Irupaalay

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2008, 19:26 GMT]
Koappaay police recovered the body of a youth with gun shot injuries Thursday around 11:00 a.m in a farmland in Irupaalay east in Koappaay east in Valikaamam where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and Field Bike Unit had conducted a cordon and search operation Wednesday evening, sources in Jaffna said. The police informed Jaffna Magistrate that a weapon was found near the body.
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SLA fires artillery on Northern Fronts

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2008, 18:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched heavy artillery and mortar attack Thursday from 5:30 a.m to 7:00 a.m in Mukamaalay, K’laali and Nakarkoayil areas in the Northern Defence Lines (FDLs), sources in Jaffna said.
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LTTE foils STF penetration in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2008, 18:21 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters foiled an attempt by the Special Task Force (STF) to penetrate into their territory in the jungle near Kagnchikudichchaa'ru in Ampaa’rai district Thursday around 9:30 a.m, Amparai district political head of the Tigers, P. Kaviyarasan said.
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790 schoolchildren escape SLAF attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2008, 13:09 GMT]
790 schoolchildren and 22 teachers at the Kanakapuram Maha Viththiyaalayam school escaped the jaws of death when four Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fighter jets dropped bombs barely 100 meters away from their school in the Ki'linochchi suburb Thursday morning. A repeat of the gruesome Chegnchoalai massacre was avoided as civilians sought shelter inside bunkers, managed to flee the area and anti-aircraft fire disturbed the SLAF mission. One civilian was killed and seven wounded in the air strike.
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SLA withdraws from Mu'l'likku'lam - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2008, 04:28 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials told media in Ki'linochchi that a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) unit that was lured into a booby-trapped minefield in Mu'l'likku'lam in Mannaar abandoned its ground movement Wednesday around 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, a group of SLA soldiers engaged in setting up Claymore mines in the area were counter-attacked by the Tigers.
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SLAF bombs Ki'linochchi suburb, 1 killed, 7 wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2008, 04:09 GMT]
Liberation Tigers anti-aircraft guns fired at Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) warplanes that bombed a civilian area with a mechanic workshop near Kanakapuram Maha Viththiyaalayam school at Kanakapuram, a suburb of Ki'linochchi town, Thursday morning. A 32-years-old man who sought safety inside a bunker was wounded and succumbed to his injuries. Seven civilians were wounded in the SLAF attack. Nine houses were damaged in the bombardment that was launched at 9:30 a.m. and carried out four times.
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Norwegian Tamils march against abrogation of CFA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 21:56 GMT]
Abrogation of the CFA by the Government of Sri Lanka has removed the only reporting body of human rights and humanitarian law violations that take place in Sri Lanka, said K. Sivapalan, a senior attorney-at-law from Trincomalee, addressing four hundred participants, mainly members of the Tamil diaspora, who participated in a march carrying torches towards the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, expressing solidarity with the Tamils in the homeland Wednesday evening.
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NGOs curtail Jaffna activity after SLMM's withdrawal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 17:49 GMT]
Many International Non-government Organizations (NGOs), including Danish Demining Organization, serving in Jaffna peninsula closed their branch offices with the departure of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Thursday, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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SLAF bombers attack civilian settlements in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 16:48 GMT]
Four Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jet fighters bombed Thursday 2:25 p.m. civilian settlements in Udaiyaarkaddu in Vanni for nearly 45 minutes, dropping more than 16 bombs in eight sorties and injuring an old man besides damaging four houses and crops in the area, sources in Vanni said.
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Explosion damages Oaddamaavadi opposition leader’s house

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 14:18 GMT]
Unknown assailants triggered a claymore attack on the residence of A.L.M.Haniffa, the opposition leader of Oaddamaavadi District Council, Batticaloa district, Wednesday early morning 4:40 a.m.
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Amnesty International calls for urgent protection of civilians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 14:12 GMT]
Amnesty International, in a press release issued on Wednesday said it was gravely concerned that the end to the Ceasefire Agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam today will lead to an increase in hostilities that will result in a dramatic rise in indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population. The Human Rights watchdog called on all parties in the conflict to comply with their obligations under international law to protect civilians and urged the international community to support the call to establish an independent, international monitoring presence on the ground without delay.
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SLMM bids farewell

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 12:41 GMT]
In a press statement issued by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Nordic Monitors whose functions were terminated by the unilateral termination of the CeaseFire Agreement (CFA) by Sri Lanka Government, Maj.Gen Solvberg, the Head of Mission, thanked the GOSL and the LTTE for inviting SLMM to serve them, and said "Future heroes in Sri Lanka will be those who recognize the complexity of the situation, and prove able to manage this complexity in a way that reduces rather than increases human pain, fear and hopelessness – those capable of respecting people with different perceptions, and bringing them together."
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2 STF killed, 6 wounded in Ampaa'rai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 11:26 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) personnel who were on a combat mission inside the jungles of Kagnchikuddichchaa'ru in Ampaa'rai district Tuesday evening entered a booby-trapped area of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE). At least two STF commandos were killed and 6 wounded, resulting in the withdrawal of the STF personnel, according to P. Kaviyarasan, the political head of the Tigers in Ampaa'rai district.
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U.S condemns attack on bus in Uva Province

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 11:05 GMT]
The Embassy of the United States of America, in a press release said it strongly condemned the attack on a civilian bus. Expressing condolences to the victims and their families, the U.S. statement said the targeting of civilians serves to foster fear and cause further suffering among the Sri Lankan people. Only a political solution to the country’s conflict offers a way out of the current cycle of escalating violence.
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SLA disrupts Thaippongkal Day in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 10:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops in Kaithadi in Jaffna forcibly took more than 600 local residents Tuesday early morning, disrupting their Thaippongkal rituals, to the playgrounds and schools in the area and held them for interrogation until evening. The SLA troops also assaulted the people going along Jaffna-Kandy road in Kaithadi during the extensive SLA cordon and search operation conducted in Kaithadi area on Thaippongkal Day.
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Elections Commissioner rejects appeal to postpone election in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 10:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Commissioner of Elections has rejected the appeal made by the political parties to postpone the elections to nine local authorities in Batticaloa district including the Batticaloa Municipal Council as the current ground situation is not conducive for holding such polls in a peaceful atmosphere.
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Moneragala district terrorized, 2 farmers killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 09:32 GMT]
Two Chena cultivators were killed by a group of armed men Wednesday morning in Okkampitiya GS area in Buttala division of Moneragala district, Police sources said. Tension prevails in the district where three attacks were reported in the morning. Schools were closed until further notice in the district.
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3 SLA wounded in Galge in Buttala, Claymore blast

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 04:59 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded in a Claymore attack on a 'Buffel' Armored Personnel Carrier (APV) at Galge in Buttala in Moneragala district, around 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, Police said.
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27 killed, 63 wounded, bus explosion in South

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 03:33 GMT]
27 civilians, including 3 school children, were killed and 63 wounded in a Claymore blast that targeted a bus in Helagama in Buttala DS division in Monaragala district in Uva Province at 7:35 a.m. Wednesday, Police said. The blast comes amid reports the Sri Lankan military leadership was trying to convince the government to shut down schools in the South for extended periods, ahead of major offensives, including bombardments likely to cause heavy civilian casualties, into the Vanni. The 6-years-old ceasefire expires today.
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'Pathetically unenforceable' – Sri Lanka response to UN war crimes warning

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 23:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s militarist government reacted furiously Tuesday to warnings by UN Human Rights Chief, Louise Arbour, that human rights abuses in Sri Lanka left perpetrators and their commanders at risk of international war crimes charges. Rejecting Ms. Arbour’s comments as “pathetically unenforceable threats,” Sri Lanka’s embassy to the UN said the Colombo government “will not be deterred by thinly veiled threats attempting to undermine the morale of its military, deter its military campaigns and save separatist terrorism from elimination.” It also challenged the transparency of funding for Ms. Arbour’s office and the extent to which it represented the “world’s peoples.”
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Tamils respect Pirapaharan's single-minded commitment- civil activist

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 18:12 GMT]
Prominent Tamil civil society activist, Shanthi Satchithanandam, discussing her views on Pirapakaran's role in the Tamil National struggle, says: "Pirapaharan is the single most dedicated leader who gave voice and form to the demands put forward by Tamil political leaders of the 50s, 60s and 70s," in an interview to Vikalpa, a citizen journalism initiative in Sri Lanka built on the effort pioneered by the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo-based think-tank.
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Arbour: SL rights abuses risk war crimes charges

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 15:59 GMT]
A day before the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement in Sri Lanka is due to formally end, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, on Tuesday, reminded the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of their obligations under international law to respect human rights. She warned that rights abuses “by any party could entail individual criminal responsibility under international criminal law, including by those in positions of command.”
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IDP shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 15:24 GMT]
An unidentified gunman shot injured Monday around 7:00 p.m a male Internally Displaced Person (IDP) in a refugee camp in Kalliyangkaadu area in Batticaloa and the victim, rushed to Batticaloa Teaching hospital, succumbed to his wounds at the hospital, Batticaloa police said.
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Claymore attack injures STF trooper in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 08:34 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Special Task Force commando was wounded in a Claymore ambush at Kalladi, a suburb of Batticaloa city, Tuesday around 7:30 a.m., Police said.
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SLA, police cordon, search many areas of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2008, 17:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police launched extensive cordon and search operations in many parts of Jaffna peninsula from Monday morning till evening, subjecting people to search and interrogation. Karaveddi in Vadamaraadchchi, and Kurunakar near Jaffna town were two places where the searches were intensive, with hundreds of SLA troops and policemen deployed, sources in Jaffna said.
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Muslims demonstrate against Pillaiyaan group in Aaraiyampathi

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2008, 17:06 GMT]
Muslims in Eastern province observed total hartal Monday condemning paramilitary shooting on Muslims emerging from a Mosque in Karbala village in Aaraiyampathi Saturday evening, injuring three persons including a chief Mawlawi. The Muslim Mosques Federation in Kaaththaankudi had called for the hartal and more than 1000 people marched in a protest demonstration arranged by the federation.
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SLA, Tigers clash in Northern Front, 1 SLA killed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2008, 15:38 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamleelam said three attacks mounted by Sri Lanka Army on LTTE positions in the Northern Front in Jaffna were thwarted by them on Monday. One SLA soldier was killed and many wounded when Tigers counter-attacked a group of SLA soldiers who launched an attack on a LTTE Forward Defence Line post at Naakarkoayil. The SLA, with wounded soldiers, pulled back the troops to its FDL, the Tigers said. Meanwhile, two attempts were made by the SLA at Mukamaalai.
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Iran's Finance Minister visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2008, 15:14 GMT]
Iran's Finance Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari arrived in Colombo Monday on a formal three-day visit to discuss bilateral economic cooperation between the countries before visiting New Delhi on Wednesday, ministry officials at the Iranian embassy in Colombo told the Iranian news agency, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The visit by the Iranian finance minister was in response to the recent visit by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpaksa to Iran, according to a news report by the IRNA. Mr. Danesh-Jafari is scheduled to meet the Sri Lankan President during his stay in Colombo.
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30 SLA killed, ground offensive thwarted in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2008, 13:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam Operations Command in Mannaar has claimed to have thwarted a major push by the Sri Lanka Army launched in Parappaangka'ndal area on Monday. The SLA movement was thwarted after almost 8-hours of stiff resistance. At least 30 SLA soldiers were killed and more than 100 soldiers were wounded, the Tigers said. One SLA dead body was recovered by the Tigers who seized three AK-LMG guns, one RPG, two disposable Light Anti-tank Weapons and five T-56 type-2 assault rifles. Three LTTE fighters were killed in action.
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Abductees released, bus strike called off in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2008, 10:35 GMT]
Paramilitary Pillayan Group that abducted a driver and two conductors, allegedly for criticizing the the group's activities in a private conversation at their working place, released the abductees Sunday evening after issuing stern warning against them, informed ex-militant sources in Batticaloa said. Employees at Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) depot in Batticaloa, called off the strike which was in force from early morning on Sunday.
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Young man beaten to death inside temple

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2008, 10:05 GMT]
A body of a young male was recovered from a Vishnu temple in Ka'luvaagnchikkudi, 24 km southeast of Batticaloa city Monday morning, Police said.
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Claymore attack kills 3 in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2008, 07:51 GMT]
A military police and two home guards were killed and three persons, a soldier, a home guard and a civilian, were wounded when a Claymore attack targeted a vehicle carrying explosives to a stone quarry, at Kachchaikkodi near Pirappamadu southeast of Vavuniyaa town, Monday around 10:00 a.m., Police said.
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Armed men abduct three bus drivers in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 January 2008, 20:26 GMT]
Three bus drivers of Batticaloa district Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) were abducted Sunday morning in Iruthayapuram in Batticaloa district by unidentified armed men operating in a white van, sources said.
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Census officials escape claymore attack in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 January 2008, 18:06 GMT]
A team of officials involved in census work in Jaffna peninsula escaped injuries in a claymore attack targetted on them Sunday noon in Sampanthan Kadai area in Karaveddy as the device failed to explode completely, sources said.
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Thousands attend White Pigeon Mega Musical in U.K.

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 January 2008, 17:40 GMT]
Thousands of British Tamils attended White Pigeon's 2nd Annual Mega Musical Festival in the Great Hall of the historic Alexandra Palace in London, Saturday to raise funds to support White Pigeon humanitarian projects in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka. White Pigeon works with UNICEF and international NGOs in the NorthEast of the country to provide prosthetic limbs for mine victims and Mine Risk Education for those living in war affected areas.
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Indian Foreign Minister refuses to criticise Colombo for abrogating CFA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 January 2008, 17:29 GMT]
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in an interview to CNN-IBN news channel, Sunday admitted that India had "scrupulously avoided" being a party to peace negotiations in Sri Lanka. The Indian FM who last week had ruled out any military solution to the ethnic strife in the war-torn island, on Sunday, failed to criticize Sri Lanka for abrogating the ceasefire. Questioned whether Colombo's decision to abrogate the ceasefire agreement was a "mistake," the minister replied that "any country that takes action against terrorists is free to do so within their legal system."
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Youth killed near Kurunakar SLA Camp

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 January 2008, 17:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) claimed an unidentified youth detonated a hand bomb and died Sunday early morning at 2:30 a.m, near Kudaakkadal, Kurunakar within Jaffna municipal council area while trying to infiltrate through barbed wire fencing around the Army camp.
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Military action against LTTE not a solution: Indian Defence Minister

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 January 2008, 07:37 GMT]
Indian Defence Minister A K Antony favoured a political solution to the 25-year-old ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and said that military action against the Tamil Tigers would not bring lasting peace to the island nation. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a defence meet in New Delhi Friday.
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Fonseka vows not to leave war to successor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 January 2008, 06:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army Commander Lt. Gen. G.S.C Fonseka, due for retirement this year, has claimed that he would not leave the war to his succeeding commander, at a New Year party hosted by him Friday evening to select local and international journalists at his residence at Bauddhaloka Mawatha in Colombo. Fonseka was being tactfully upbeat as news of an explosion inside Fort Railway station threatened to dampen spirits at the cocktail party.
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Sri Lanka Navy attacks TamilNadu fishermen

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 19:38 GMT]
A TamilNadu fisherman was injured and his boat damaged when Sri Lankan naval personnel fired 'indiscriminately' at his boat fishing between Kadchatheevu and Thalaimannaar on Saturday, official sources said.
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Colombo's low enthusiasm on reconciliation, distressing- British FM

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 19:21 GMT]
During discussion in British Parliament on 8 Jan 2008, Dr Kim Howells, British Foreign Minister, in responding question on increasing number of killings in Sri Lanka, said: "I think that the most distressing feature is how the Government have won some military battles, but then become less enthusiastic about reconciliation and involving everyone who lives on that troubled island in a more inclusive way. We will continue to work with the Government, however, to emphasise that reconciliation must take place. There must be talks; otherwise the killing will continue."
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White van abductions escalate in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 17:33 GMT]
Threatened by increasing number of abductions in the area, members of 40 families residing in a refugee camp located in Thaalikulam, Vavuniyaa handed over a written appeal Saturday to the officials of Vavuniyaa Human Rights Commission (HRC) requesting them to take immediate action to provide protection and relocate them to a safer location, civil society sources in Vavuniya said.
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Hakeem seeks legal redress for reduction in security personnel

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 16:47 GMT]
Rauf Hakeem, leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) filed a petition Friday in Colombo Supreme Court stating that reducing security for him is a violation of human rights, simultaneously claiming a compensation of 100 million Rupees from the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL).
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Paramilitary opens fire on Muslim worshippers at Mosque in Kaaththaankudi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 15:33 GMT]
Paramilitary gunmen from Pillayaan Group opened fire on Muslims who were emerging from a Mosque in Karbala village in Aaraiyampathi Saturday at 7:55 p.m. Three persons, including a chief Mawlawi were wounded, two of them were in critical state, eyewitnesses told TamilNet. Tension prevails in the village with longstanding settlement dispute between the Tamil and Muslim communities. Shops were closed and additional police and Special Task Force personnel have been rushed to the village, Police said.
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Tamil trader shot dead in Kaaththaankudi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 15:08 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot and killed a Tamil trader in Selva Nakar in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district Friday around 8:45 p.m as he was going home after closing his shop, Kaaththaankudi police said. Police recovered his body Saturday morning and handed it over to Batticaloa Teaching hospital.
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17 SLA, 5 Tigers killed in Pa'ndivirichchaan - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 14:09 GMT]
A two pronged ground movement by the Sri Lanka Army was thwarted at one front by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam after almost 6-hours heavy fighting in which 17 SLA soldiers and five LTTE fighters were killed, according to LTTE Operations Command in Mannaar, media sources in Ki'linochchi said. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopters landed at least 10 times, transporting wounded soldiers from the SLA defence line.
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Goods pilfered in Colombo Harbor, Jaffna traders complain

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 13:49 GMT]
Jaffna Traders Association representives accused workers and other agents at Colombo Harbor for organized pilfering of millions of rupees worth of goods waiting to be transported to Jaffna, and blamed this theft as one of the key reason for the elevated prices of essential food and other items in Jaffna compared to the prices in other areas of Sri Lanka, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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Mob smashes SLMC Hizbullah's vehicle in Vaazhaichcheanai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 11:23 GMT]
An armed mob Saturday afternoon smashed the vehicle of M.L.A.M Hizbullah, a Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Executive Committee member and former minister when he went there to meet his party representatives for local election preparations as his party had decided to contest in five local councils. The SLMC has charged that the mob, linked to Muslim ministers aligned with the Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, was trained by the TMVP paramilitary group. Hizbullah has alleged that supporters of Ameer Ali, Sri Lankan minister of disaster relief services, were engaged in sabotaging the meeting he was conducting with the local Muslims.
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Co-chairs request Colombo to provide diplomatic access to Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 10:59 GMT]
The Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference for Sri Lanka Peace Process, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Norway, jointly expressing "strong concerns" about the termination of the 2002 CFA by the Government of Sri Lanka, Saturday called on the GoSL to provide access to the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam in Ki'linochchi for representatives of the Co-Chairs and the facilitator, Norway. The Co-chairs also expressed deep concern about the human rights situation and protection of civilians in Sri Lanka, and called for continued monitoring of the human rights situation by such means as to assure an appropriate role for the United Nations.
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Gunfire ambush kills SLA soldier, wounds troops

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 10:10 GMT]
A group of gunmen armed with assault rifles ambushed a group of Sri Lanka Army soldiers on foot patrol near Aa'ndiyaa Pu'liyangku'lam area 28 km southwest of Vavuniyaa town Saturday around 7:00 a.m., Police said.
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LTTE, the most dangerous, deadly, says FBI

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2008, 03:09 GMT]
In a campaign "celebrating a century," U.S.'s Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) said of the Liberation Tigers: "Needless to say, the Tamil Tigers are among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world. For more than three decades, the group has launched a campaign of violence and bloodshed in Sri Lanka, the island republic off the southern coast of India." The website added that LTTE's "ultimate goal is to seize control of the country from the Sinhalese ethnic majority."
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Sri Lankan State not secular, nor fair- Retd Indian Colonel

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 21:01 GMT]
Noting that Sri Lankan State has a fundamental problems that lie at the root of the conflict, Retired Indian Colonel, Mr Anil Athale, in a column appeared in Rediff Friday, says "many Indian commentators have flippantly advised Tamils to accept Sri Lankan unity without realising that Sri Lanka is not a secular State like India nor is it a 'fair State' like the UK in terms of rule of law."
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Civilians in protective custody apprehensive of future

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 19:02 GMT]
212 civilians in Jaffna peninsula who sought protection with Human Rights Commission (HRC) due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries, and placed in the protective custody of Jaffna prison, are uncertain of their future in after the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna ceasing to funtion in Jaffna, legal society sources in Jaffna said.
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Parents of 2 arrested students seek HRC help

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 18:32 GMT]
The parents of two students of Jaffna St. Patrick College arrested and held in connection with Maheswaran’s killing sought help from Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) Friday to have them released. Jaffna police produced the two students, alleged to be involved in the assassination of Tamil parliamentarian Maheswaran, before Jaffna Magistrate R. T. Vignarajah January 2nd who directed them to be produced before Colombo Chief Justice.
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SLMM representatives to leave Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 17:36 GMT]
One fo the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) representatives in Jaffna peninsula is expected to leave to Colombo by plane Saturday, while the other will be leaving on Sunday, sources in Jaffna said. The earlier arrangements to hand over the SLMM vehicles and office equipment to two Danish NGOs had to be abandoned at the last moment due to legal issues related to transferring ownership of the vehicles, the sources added.
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"Military solution is all Mr. Rajapakse has left" - Wall Street Journal

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 15:47 GMT]
Despite holding moral high ground as countries have labelled the LTTE terrorists and cracked down on funding, Rajapakse's "commitment to the negotiated cease-fire has always been shaky," and Rajapakse and his party "have done little to win over moderate Tamils," said the Wall Street Journal in an article published in Friday edition, and added that "now, the military solution is all Mr. Rajapakse has left, and it's not a sure bet by any means."
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Bomb explodes in Colombo Fort station

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 14:11 GMT]
A bomb explosion was reported in Colombo Fort Railway station at 7:30 p.m. Friday. All railway services have been cancelled. One person has been reported injured. The bomb exploded underneath the pedestrian bridge that connects two platforms, informed sources said.
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Family man shot dead in Ea’raavoor

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 13:51 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot to death Thursday night 10:00 p.m. an elderly civilian, a resident of Uma mill road, Kommaathu’rai within Ea’raavoor Police division in Batticaloa district, police sources said.
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SLA, LTTE clash in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 08:16 GMT]
Heavy clashes erupted in Mannaar between the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers on two fronts when the SLA launched ground movement towards Uyilangku'lam in Mannaar Town DS division at 6:00 a.m. and towards Paalamoaddai in Vavuniyaa - Mannaar border, around 8:00 a.m. Friday. Mannaar Operations Command of the Tigers told media in Vanni that the SLA units was pushed back to their old positions after counter attacks that were carried out amid heavy artillery fire. The SLA sustained heavy casualties in Uyilangku'lam, the Tigers said. Meanwhile the SLA handed over 3 dead bodies of females to Murungkan Police claiming that the bodies belonged to LTTE fighters.
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Conflict sustained by world equating oppressor and oppressed - paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 08:12 GMT]
The international community’s “stubborn refusal to accept, even when it is thrust in their faces, the racist oppression that underpins ethnic politics there and, consequently, the impossibility of reforming the Sinhala state,” is sustaining Sri Lanka’s conflict the Tamil Guardian newspaper argued this week. “It is [the] ready equating of the violence of the oppressor with the resistance of the oppressed which reveals the international mindset,” the paper’s editorial said.
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Young woman shot dead in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2008, 00:54 GMT]
Unknown gunmen shot dead a 20-year old woman in Alvaai North, Karaveddi in Vadamaraadchi district Thursday 1:30 p.m., sources in Point Pedro said. The woman was visiting her relatives in a bicycle when the gunmen following her shot her and fled the scene.
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Mannaar magistrate orders SLN to cease photographing civilians

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 18:45 GMT]
Mannaar district magistrate, T.J. Prabakaran on Thursday ordered the Head Quarters Inspector (HQI) of Mannaar Police, Chief Inspector Suthath Thasmadalle, to investigate and record statements from the Sri Lanka Navy officials who have been photographing civilians within the jurisdiction of Mannaar Magistrate's Court. The Magistrate also ordered to cease the practice of photographing people with immediate effect, questioning who gave such orders to the SLN in Mannaar, legal sources said. Two police constables who attacked a freelance journalist while the SLN troops were photographing civilians in Pa'l'limuani Wednesday, and their OIC were ordered to be transferred from their check post.
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Woman shot, injured in Kalladi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 18:30 GMT]
Unidentified armed men called a woman out of her house in Kalladi area in Batticaloa district Thursday around 3:30 a.m and opened fire on her inflicting serious injuries. The woman, rushed to Batticaloa Teaching hospital is in a critical condition after being operated on, hospital sources said.
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SLA cordon, searches Vaddukkoaddai, youth missing in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 18:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an extensive cordon off and search operation in Thu’naivi and Changkaraththay in Vaddukkoaddai area from Thursday early morning, ordering more than fifteen youths to reclaim at the SLA camps in their localities, the National Identify Cards (NIC) confiscated during the operation, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, a youth from Koa’ndaavil west is reported missing since Saturday.
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SLMM representatives preparing to leave Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 17:48 GMT]
The representatives of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) are completing any remaining activities and are preparing to leave Jaffna peninsula on the 16th, two weeks after the unilateral withdrawal of Sri Lanka state from the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Jaffna said. SLMM representatives are handing over their vehicles and equipments to two Danish Non-governmental Organizations which still remain in Jaffna peninsula, the sources added.
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4 burnt corpses located in Uva Province

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 16:50 GMT]
Four charred dead bodies were located by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Ranminikanda jungle, bordering Kataragama in Buttala police division of Moneragala district in the Uva Province Thursday evening, Police said. Buttala police has received a complaint on Tuesday that four persons from Lunugamvehera had gone missing.
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Jaffna braces for battle

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 13:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna have forwarded requests to the Director of Public Health Service (DPHS) in Jaffna to hand over the ambulances in their use in case of an emergency situation, sources in Health Ministry in Colombo said. Speculation is rife in Jaffna that SLA is preparing an offensive in the northern front, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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Sri Lanka's UN mission refutes newsreport on losing voting right at UNHRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 12:40 GMT]
The Sri Lankan mission to the United Nations office in Geneva, on Thursday, refuted a front page story by the Colombo based news paper, Daily Mirror, which said Sri Lanka had lost its powers to vote at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). Urging the paper to publish an apology, the Sri Lankan mission, in a statement said it is a full fledged member of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with "all rights including the unfettered right to vote." Sri Lanka's two-year initial term as the elected member of the 47-seat HRC ends this year and a periodic review of the country is scheduled to take place between 5–16 May 2008.
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LTTE requests Norway to continue facilitation, urges IC's support for Tamil rights

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 05:51 GMT]
The Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Major General Lars Johan Solvberg on Thursday met Liberation Tigers Political Head B. Nadesan in Ki'linochchi, following the GoSL announcement of unilateral withdrawal from the Ceasefire. Noting that the GoSL has withdrawn from the CFA without any justifications, LTTE's political head said that the Tigers, even at this juncture, stood ready to implement every clause of the agreement and requested Norway to continue with its facilitation role with the support of the International Community. He urged the IC to recognize the right of the Tamil people to live with self-determination in their homeland and remove the bans it has placed on the LTTE.
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2 men shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 05:45 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot killed two men Wednesday around 8:45 p.m near Kalladi Sivaananthaa playground, 5 km south of Batticaloa city. One of the victims was earlier working in Sri Lanka police department, Kaaththaankudi Police said.
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SLA hands over female dead body to Mannaar Police

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 21:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army on Wednesday handed over a dead body of a female in military fatigue to Mannaar police. The SLA said that an LTTE female cadre was killed during a confrontation with the SLA in Parappaangka'ndal area in Mannaar where the SLA claimed it had infiltrated 1 km into LTTE controlled territory. Meanwhile, four SLA soldiers with severe injuries were admitted at Mannaar hospital Wednesday. 13 SLA soldiers have been admitted at the hospital within the past 24 hours.
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Negotiations, sole path to peace in Sri Lanka- Pope

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 17:23 GMT]
“Pope has a special place for the people of Sri Lanka in his heart and in his Christmas message he did mention the need to seek peace through negotiation in Sri Lanka by all parties concerned,” Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Mario Zinari, the Papal representative for Sri Lanka said in an event Wednesday in Jaffna handing over 150 houses built by HUDEC to Tsunami victims, sources in Jaffna said. Rev. Harlold Anthony, Bishop of Galle Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Savundranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna and Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh took part in the event, the sources added.
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White van armed men abduct 3 Tamil civilians in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 14:27 GMT]
Armed men in military uniform arriving in a white van forcibly abducted Monday a father of three children at Mukaththuvaaram in Colombo, and in a separate incident a 30-year-old mother and her 5-year-old daughter are alleged abducted Tuesday from their house in Wathala, according to complaints made to Deputy Minister, P. Rathakrishnan and Wattala police by the relatives of the abducted persons.
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Batticaloa elections details released

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 14:00 GMT]
A total of 101 members are to be elected from nine local councils in the soon to be held local council elections in Batticaloa District, according to the information provided by the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Elections.
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Withdraw Indian radars from SL: Vaiko

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 13:52 GMT]
Vaiko, General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu based Marumalarchchi Dravida Munneatta Kazhakam (MDMK), wrote to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week urging him not to attend the February 4 independence day celebrations at Colombo to be "carried on by the bloodstained hands of the Rajapaksa regime." He also appealed to Dr. Manmohan Singh to withdraw the Indian radars supplied to Sri Lanka and stop any further supply of military equipment.
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STF, police search Eastern University student hostel

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 13:46 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandos and police surrounded Wednesday dawn the student hostel in Vanthaa’rumoolay Eastern University and conducted a search operation, subjecting the students to intensive checking and interrogation until 9:30 a.m, sources in Batticaloa said. SLA and the police have been deployed in large numbers in Batticaloa district in the wake of Sri Lanka government’s announcement of its unilateral withdrawal of the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement signed with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the sources added.
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STF shoots dead youth in Ea’raavoor refugee camp

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 13:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF) troops lay in ambush and shot dead a youth coming out of the refugee camp in Tha’lavaai Wednesday around 12 noon, Chavukkadi in Ea’raavoor police division in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said. The STF claimed that the youth killed was Sankar, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Batticaloa district head, and that a micro pistol was found at the place he was killed.
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SLN orders Mannaar villagers to obtain photos of families

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 11:57 GMT]
Commanders of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) camps located in littoral villages in Mannaar have ordered the residents living within the SLN's area of dominance to avail themselves to take photographs, residents in Mannaar said. Areas of Thalaimannaar, Nadukkudaa, Peasaalai, Vankaalaippaadu, Erukkalampiddi, Pa'l'limunai, Thaaraapuram, Thaalvuppaadu and Sunny Village are affected by the SLN order, sources added.
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Residents catch paramilitary robbers in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 10:12 GMT]
Residents of Naavatkudaa area in Batticaloa district way laid and caught five members of the paramilitary Pillayaan group Tuesday around 8:00 p.m. as the paramilitary group was about to rob a house in the area, police said. Kanagaratnam Athiravan, one of the five caught, is the person in charge of Kalladi Pillayaan camp. The public got together and caught the robbers, who carried three T-56 type assault rifles with them, and handed the robbers with their rifles over to the Kaaththaankudi police.
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SLA suffers casualties in Tiger artillery strike

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 09:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army suffered casualties Tuesday evening around 7:30 p.m. when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) fired artillery shells on SLA troops, positioned 17 km southeast of Mannaar city at Parappaangka'ndal. At least 9 SLA soldiers with severe injuries were admitted at Mannaar hospital Tuesday night.
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Sri Lankan Police shoots dead Up-Country Tamil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 09:16 GMT]
A 25-year-old Tamil youth was shot dead and another injured when Sri Lankan police opened fire as they had failed to stop their three-wheeler at a checkpost in Balagolla, located 19 km southeast of Kandy in the Central Province, Tuesday around 7:30 p.m.
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2 corpses washed ashore at Ka’luvangchchikudi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 07:13 GMT]
Two corpses of youths with bullet wounds and cut injuries were found washed ashore Tuesday around 11:00 a.m on a river bank in Onthaachchimadam area in Ka’luvvaangchchikudi in Batticaloa district. The two corpses were identified as those of two youths who had gone missing since Saturday, Ka’luvaangchchikudi police said.
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SLA, LTTE clash in Mukamaalai FDL

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 07:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army faced stiff resistance from the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam Wednesday morning when the SLA attempted to advance towards the Forward Defence Line of the LTTE at Mukamaalai in Jaffna district. Heavy fighting ensued between the SLA and the LTTE for one hour from 7:00 a.m. The SLA was forced to retreat as they suffered casualties in the confrontation, media sources in Vanni said citing LTTE's Northern Forces Operation Command.
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Col. Charles laid to rest in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 01:29 GMT]
The remains of Col. Charles, Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Military Intelligence, killed Saturday evening in a random Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit in Pa'l'lamadu in Mannar, was laid to rest with full military honours in Kanakapuram Heroes Cemetery Monday.
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14 SLA killed in Mannaar clash - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 17:18 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command of Maanaar told media Tuesday that a ground movement by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was thwarted at Mu'l'ikku'lam in Mannaar after 3 hours stiff resistance by the Tigers. Four more SLA soldiers were killed, trapped in a booby trap, while they were retreating with their casualties around 11:00 a.m., the Tigers said. Around 40 SLA troops were wounded, according to the LTTE claim. There were no Tiger casualties, they said. But, the SLA claimed that they had killed six LTTE fighters when the Tigers attempted to enter an area under SLA control.
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4 civilians disappear in Jaffna, 4 seek protections with HRC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 16:27 GMT]
Four Tamils, including youths and young married men, disappeared in Jaffna peninsula within the one week period ending Monday, according to reports lodged at the Jaffna office of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), sources said.
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Teachers Union President shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 15:09 GMT]
The president of Batticaloa district Volunteer Teachers Union was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen Monday night at 8:30 in Santhive'li area, Mu’rakkodaanchenai within Ea’ravoor police Division in Batticaloa district, Ea’ravoor police said. The incident may mark the first killing related to local electoral politics as Batticaloa moves towards local government elections.
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Parcel bomb explodes in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 14:47 GMT]
A parcel bomb explosion was reported in Colombo High Security area, 50 meters away from the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Head quarters near Lake House building around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Two civilians were treated for shock. Nobody was injured in the attack, Police said.
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Tigers thwart SLA advance in Mukamaalai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 10:38 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forces successfully repulsed an attempt by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops Monday around 6:00 a.m at Mukamaalai Front Defence Line (FDL) to penetrate into LTTE territory, killing an SLA trooper, and injuring many. One LTTE fighter was killed, Mukamaalay LTTE operations command said.
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SLA artillery fire kills 2 civilians in Pooneryn

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 10:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched heavy artillery fire Saturday around 6:40 p.m on civilian settlements in the Fourth Mile area in Poonakari killing two family men besides causing damage to some of the dwellings in the area, sources in Ki’linochchi said.
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Sri Lankan minister killed in Claymore blast in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 05:52 GMT]
Sri Lankan Minister of Nation Building D. M. Dassanayaka, seriously injured in a Claymore blast near Ja-Ela junction, 18 km northeast of Colombo city, Tuesday around 10:35 a.m., succumbed to his wounds at Ragama teaching hospital, Police said. The driver of his pajero vehicle and a security guard also succumbed to their wounds while 8 others were wounded in the attack. Mr. Dassayanaka was on his way to the Sri Lankan parliament to take part in the first day of 2008 parliament session. Meanwhile, pandemonium reigned at the first meeting of the Sri Lankan parliament as main opposition UNP protested over the assassination of Tamil parliamentarian T. Maheswaran who was slain on New Year's Day.
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"Deepening media crisis in Sri Lanka"- IFJ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 03:45 GMT]
Expressing alarm at the comments at made by Sri Lanka's Army (SLA) Commander Major General Sarath Fonseka labelling some journalists and sections of the media as "traitors," the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is a press release issued Monday said, "the statement by Major General Fonseka and the allegations of death threats against journalists are indicative of a deepening media crisis in Sri Lanka."
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Obama: Sri Lanka afflicted with "problem of the other"

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 01:02 GMT]
Characterizing the conflict in Sri Lanka as a "vicious civil war," Senator Barack Obama, a leading Democratic contender in America's forth coming 2008 Presidential Elections, said during an interview that, "the problem of the 21st century is the problem of the other." He described this phenomenon as the inability of people to accommodate others "who are not like us," and mentioned Sri Lanka as an example, pointing out that war rages even when "everybody there looks exactly the same."
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Eligible voter details for Batticaloa district released

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 22:05 GMT]
A total of 270,041 voters in nine local council areas are eligible to cast their votes in the forth coming local council elections scheduled to be held soon in Batticaloa District, Assistant Commissioner of Elections, T. Krishnananthalingam said Monday .
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Jaffna University undergrad released in tortured state

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 18:46 GMT]
The final year science undergrad arrested in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) cordon and search operation Thursday from his home in Koanamalay, Koa'ndaavil in Jaffna was brought in a vehicle Sunday midnight and released in a severely tortured state near his home, Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) sources said. Jaffna University VC confirmed the release of the arrested undergrad.
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30,000 Ampaa'rai families affected by floods

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 15:03 GMT]
Heavy rain since Saturday night in Ampaa’rai district has flooded Poththuvil, Thirukkoayil, Aalayadiveampu, Akkaraipattu, Addaalaichcheanai and Sainthamaruthu areas, forcing many residents to seek shelter in places of worship, schools and public buildings, sources in Ampaarai said.
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SLA, police intensifiy search, checking in Jaffna town

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 14:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and police carried out meticulous checking on passengers and vehicles at the entry points on all roads leading into Jaffna town Monday following the bomb blast Sunday noon in Jaffna town area, killing two youths and injuring two SLA troops, sources in Jaffna said.
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Jaffna VC appeals to SLA to release arrested undergrad

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 14:18 GMT]
The newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of Jaffna University, Prof. N. Shanmugalingan, made urgent request to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna to immediately release Balasubramaniam Mayooran, the final year Science faculty student arrested at his home Thursday in a SLA cordon and search operation, administrations officials of Jaffna campus said. Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU), Science Faculty Student Union and other similar organizations also have appealed to the SLA in Jaffna urging the immediate release of Mayooran, according to student leaders.
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Colombo removing witnesses to impending carnage- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 00:24 GMT]
Colombo abrogated the CFA to remove the presence of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) which was instrumental in exposing rights violations by all sides. "Government will want to rid the Northeast of any witnesses of the carnage that it intends to unveil on the Tamil people in the name of safeguarding the Sovereignty of the State," said Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam in an interview to TamilNet this week. He added that anti-Tamil actions by Rajapakse Government are taking place under the full glare of the International Community which is able to only make verbal condemnations, but remains largely ineffective to reign in on Colombo on the rights abuses.
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Jaffna GSs released after interrogation in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2008, 00:02 GMT]
Eleven Grama Sevaka (GS) Village Officers, from GS divisions in Vadamaraadchi, Thenmaraadchi, Valikaamam and the islets in Jaffna peninsula, flown to Colombo on New Year Day to Police Crime Branch (PCB) Interrogation centre ‘Fourth Floor’ by PCB officials, returned to Jaffna Sunday morning after being interrogated by Crime Branch officials in Colombo, sources in Jaffna said.
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198 Tamil youths arrested in cordon, search in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 20:05 GMT]
198 Tamil youths were arrested in Colombo and suburbs during a large scale cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka armed forces Sunday, Senior Inspector General of Police M.K.Ilangakone said. The arrested included several young women.
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Vanni pays homage to Col. Charles

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 17:08 GMT]
Hundreds of Tamils paid homage Sunday at Puthukkudyrippu in Vanni to the remains of Col. Charles, Head of Liberation Tigers Military Intelligence, killed Saturday evening in a random Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit in Pa'l'lamadu in Mannaar, sources in Vanni said. Col. Soosai, Liberation Tigers special commander of the Sea Tigers paid tribute to Col Charles at the event held Sunday around 4:00 p.m in the Heroes Cemetary Hall in Puthukkudiyiruppu, presided by C. Ilamparithi, Puthukkudyiruppu region Political Head of LTTE.
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Annulled CFA compels need for Rights Monitoring: MRG

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 14:59 GMT]
Minority Rights International (MRG), a London-based international human rights organization, in a press release issued Friday, expressed "deep concern over the Sri Lankan government’s announcement on Wednesday that it was formally withdrawing from a cease-fire agreement," and said, it will "lead to more human rights abuses against minority Tamils and Muslims," and added: "[T]here is now going to be a greater void in monitoring and reporting of human rights abuses in the conflict zone. The need for international human rights monitors is now ever more crucial."
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SLA fortifies key positions in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 14:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops, deployed in large numbers, are constructing new and permanent sentry points along key roads in Jaffna peninsula since Friday. With the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) ending on January 16, SLA in Jaffna, fearing attacks by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is strengthening security arrangements in the sentry posts and camps, sources in Jaffna said.
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Bomb blast kills 2 youths, injures 2 SLA troops in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 14:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sources in Jaffna claimed that two youths caught in a cordon and search in Navaanththu’rai area Sunday around 12.30 p,m activated bombs killing themselves while seriously injuring two of their troops. Eyewitnesses from the area said that the two youths were seen going towards the beach when the blast occurred. Jaffna magistrate R. T. Vignarajah visited the scene of the blast Sunday evening and conducted inquiries.
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Dhanapala quits

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 13:08 GMT]
Advisor to Sri Lanka President on Peace Process, Jayantha Dhanapala, quit his position following the termination of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) by the Rajapakse Government on 2nd January, media reports from Colombo said. "Close confidants of Dhanapala said he was embarrassed by the turn of events, with the government pressing for a military victory after scoring several battlefield successes against the rebels last year," an AFP report said.
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Ki'linochchi DS hires TechShack to setup IT infrastructure

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 10:39 GMT]
TechShack, VanniTech’s Employment Incubation Centre, in a press release issued on Sunday said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with District Secretariat of Ki'linochchi, on the first day of 2008, to setup and maintain its computer systems and networks.
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2 SLA killed in Mukamaalai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 07:58 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and many wounded when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) mounted a surprise attack on identified SLA Forward Defence Line positions in Mukamaalai around 8:00 a.m. Sunday, according to LTTE's Northern Front Operations Command.
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LTTE's Head of Military Intelligence killed in Claymore ambush

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 01:20 GMT]
Col. Charles, Head of Liberation Tigers Military Intelligence, was killed Saturday evening in a random Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit in Pa'l'lamadu in Mannaar, LTTE sources in Vanni said. Col. Charles who has been in charge of internal intelligence within the ranks of LTTE ground forces and led an external operations corps as well as a regular combat force that has been deployed in Mannaar district, was killed together with three LTTE lieutenants in the ambush while they were riding in a van between Iluppaikkadavai and Pa'l'lamadu at 3:10 p.m.
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Meritorious A/L performance brings cheer to Jaffna parents

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 22:47 GMT]
The performance of students from Jaffna in the General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level) Examination released Friday has brought cheer to the parents, Northern Province education department sources said. Jaffna students, while obtaining first places in the Tamil medium in Math and Biological Sciences, students have also performed competitively in all-island ranking, with a students getting 3rd and 5th places in Mathematics.
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New Deputy IGP appointed for North

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 21:55 GMT]
Poojitha Jayasundera, until recently was serving as Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) of Kurunegala District, has been appointed as the new DIG for Jaffna, media reports in Colombo said.
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Elections to local bodies in Batticaloa in March

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 17:37 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Commissioner General of Elections announced Friday that submitting nominations for the elections to be held for nine local authorities in Batticaloa district will begin on January 18 and closes on January 25. The local authorities are Batticaloa Municipal Council, Pradesiya Sabah of Eravoorpattu, Koralaipattu, Koralaipattu north, Eruvilpattu, Manmunaipattu west, Manmunai southwest, Porativupattu, and Manmunai south. Elections Department sources said that the election would be held during the second week of March.
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Kumar Ponnambalam remembered on eighth anniversary

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 13:33 GMT]
Eighth year anniversary of Kumar Ponnambalam, president of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Wellawatte, a Tamil suburb of the capital Colombo around 11.15 a.m. 5 January 2000, was commemorated in U.K. and in Vanni in simple ceremonies.
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No military solution: Indian External Affairs Minister

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 13:00 GMT]
Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee ruled out any military solution to the Sri Lankan problem two days after the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) formally scrapped the five-year ceasefire with the LTTE. Mr Mukherjee stressed that the solution to the island nation's problem "had to be found through dialogue and discussion" and called upon the Lankan government to address the problem by "fulfilling the legitimate aspirations of the ethnic groups."
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Japan concerned of escalation of violence following abrogation of CFA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 12:37 GMT]
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Masahiko Koumura, on Friday issued a statement stating that Japan was deeply concerned that the decision taken by the Government of Sri Lanka to withdraw from the Ceasefire may lead to the escalation of the conflict by way of increased level of violence and greater civilian casualties, and leave the peace process at a standstill. Japan further said it expected a devolution package, "in line" with Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa's previous commitment.
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Passenger ship service between Trincomalee-Jaffna to be suspended

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 11:42 GMT]
The passenger ship service between Trincomalee and Jaffna is to be suspended from January 7 due to repairs to be carried out in the vessel "Green Ocean." The last service from Trincomalee Harbour to Jaffna will take place on January 5 Saturday and from Jaffna to Trincomalee on January 6 Sunday, Trincomalee divisional secretariat sources said.
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Delegation of Catholic Clergy to visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2008, 01:00 GMT]
A high level delegation of catholic clergy including the Papal representative for Sri Lanka, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Mario Zinari, and Rev.Harold Anthony, Bishop of Galle Diocese, are scheduled to visit Jaffna peninsula Wednesday 09 January to officially hand over houses of built for Tsunami victims, sources in Jaffna said.
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Nordic countries regret Colombo's decision to abrogate CFA

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 17:58 GMT]
Foreign Ministers from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, the Nordic countries that took part in the formation of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, issued a joint statement on Friday, stating that the withdrawal of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission from Sri Lanka would mean the end of an important mechanism that protected civilians and which gave a voice to the victims and their families. "The termination of the Ceasefire Agreement will only make it more difficult to find a way back to the negotiating table," the Foreign Ministers of the Nordic countries said in their joint statement regretting the unilateral decision by the GoSL to abrogate the ceasefire.
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10 passengers injured in accident in Kaarainakar

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 17:34 GMT]
A bus carrying passengers from Kaarainakar to Jaffna Friday around 8:30 a.m, slipped off Ponnaalai bridge road that was submerged in floods, causing serious injuries to two of the passengers and minor injuries to several others, sources in Jaffna said. The passengers in the bus were mostly relatives and well wishers of the assassinated Tamil parliamentarian T. Maheswaran, who were returning to their places after attending events Thursday in Maheswaran's home town Kaarainakar.
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13 Tsunami survivors wounded in SLAF air strike in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 13:53 GMT]
13 civilians, 7 of the victims children below 15-years, were wounded Friday evening when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets bombed and fired rockets targeting a tsunami resettled civilian settlement at Uduppukku'lam in A'lampil in Mullaiththeevu at 4:30 p.m. 11 houses have sustained heavy damage in the air attack. The children were playing at Uduppukku'lam playground while adults were gathered at a Kaa'li temple for a Pongkal poojaa.
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STF officer, 2 bodyguards killed in Ampaa'rai ambush - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 12:41 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam officials in Ampaa'rai claimed that a Sri Lankan Special Task Force officer and two of his bodyguards were killed in an ambush on their vehicle 15 km west of Poththuvil in Ampaa'rai Friday around 3:00 p.m. Meanwhile, sources in Colombo said one STF Sub Inspector, identified as Herath, was wounded together with four STF commandos in the attack.
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SLMM to terminate operational activities on January 16

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 11:55 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on Thursday said it would terminate its current operational activities in Sri Lanka effective 16 January at 1900 hrs., following the decision by the Government of Sri Lanka to abrogate the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002 with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam effective as of 16 January 2008.
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Abrogation of CFA endangers respect for human rights - NPC

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 10:16 GMT]
The GoSL withdrawal from the Ceasefire, resulting in the removal of the role played by the truce monitors, will reduce the flow of credible information to the world outside and deprive the hapless civilians with a credible authority to lodge complaints, said National Peace Council, a Colombo based peace group, on Thursday. Colombo's rejection of a UN Human Rights field presence, the inability of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) and the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) to make meaningful progress in discharging their mandates, and the recent downgrading of the National Human Rights Commission, combine to place respect for human rights in Sri Lanka in further jeopardy.
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U.N. regrets Colombo's decision to withdraw from CFA

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 10:00 GMT]
The U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday said he regretted the decision made by the Government of Sri Lanka to terminate the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Secretary-General said he was deeply worried that the withdrawal from the Agreement comes amidst intensifying fighting in the North and increasing violence across the country, including Colombo.
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U.S 'troubled' by GoSL withdrawal from CFA

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 January 2008, 09:08 GMT]
The United States Department of State, in a statement issued on Thursday said, it is troubled by the Sri Lankan Government's January 2 decision to terminate the 2002 cease-fire agreement. Ending the cease-fire agreement will make it more difficult to achieve a lasting, peaceful solution to Sri Lanka's conflict.
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Canada regrets Sri Lanka terminating truce agreement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 21:08 GMT]
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Maxime Bernier, in a press release issued today, regretted Sri Lanka's decision to withdraw from the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), and expressed concern about the "escalating violence on civilians, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders," and that Sri Lanka's action will make "search for a more durable solution more difficult."
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Maheswaran's TV interview to drive Police investigations

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 19:31 GMT]
The Colombo Additional Magistrate Ravindra Premaratne Thursday instructed the Police to conduct investigation into the killing of Mr. Thiagarajah Maheswaran, Colombo district parliamentarian of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), based on the latter's interview carried by Sakthi television in the "Minnal" programme prior to his death.
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Maheswaran’s remains cremated in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 18:58 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians took over the casket containing Maheswaran’s remains from his family Thursday around 2:30 p.m. at his residence in Wellawatte and the cortege, and the funeral procession went along Galle Road and several areas in Colombo to reach Kanaththai cremation grounds in Borella. Homage was paid to the Tamil parliamentarian, who was assassinated while worshiping in Colombo Ponnampala Vaa'neasvarar temple on New Year Day, before the body was cremated.
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Silencing Tamil voices, genocidal tactic - Puleedevan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 17:31 GMT]
Director of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Peace Secretariat, S. Puleedevan, on Thursday charged that the Government of Sri Lanka, locked in a military mindset, has been eliminating Tamil politicians who voiced for Tamil rights, irrespective of their political alignment. Mr. Puleedevan was referring to the slaying of the Colombo Tamil parliamentarian T. Maheswaran of the United National Party on New Year's Day inside a Sivan temple in Colombo.
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Family man seeks protection with HRC Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 17:20 GMT]
A family man from Navaali in Valikaamam sought protection with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office Thursday as he was continuously threatened to death by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitary men. The man was placed in the protective custody of Jaffna Prison. The number of civilians seeking protection with HRC is on the increase at an alarming rate.
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SLA in Jaffna disrupts mourning events for slain MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 16:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers on Thursday forced shop owners in Jaffna city to keep their shops that were shut down to mourn the slain former Jaffna district parliamentarian T. Maheswaran, who was assassinated on New Year day allegedly by SLA-backed paramilitary men while he was worshiping in a Saiva temple in Colombo.
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STF commandos shoot dead 3 youths in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 16:20 GMT]
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos shot dead Wednesday around 8:35 p.m. three youths riding bicycles along Kalmunai Road in Neelavaa’nai in Ampaa’rai district, Kalmunai police said. The bodies of the youths remain unidentified in Kalmunai hospital.
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U.S. suspends defense export licences to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 14:42 GMT]
Department of Defense Trade Controls of the U.S. State Department announced in its website that U.S. is suspending defense export licences to Sri Lanka. This announcement follows the signing by President Bush of the H.R.2764 bill of the 110th Congress of U.S.A., Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008 which barred sales of military equipment to Sri Lanka.
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Holland Tamil reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 14:14 GMT]
A 22-year-old Tamil citizen of Netherlands, Ajith Anand, 22, who was visiting his parents in Colombo, has been reported missing since Wednesday night when he went to nearby Internet cafe, according to a complaint made by the family members to Wellawatte Police.
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SLA advance in Vavuniyaa defeated, 3 SLA killed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 14:02 GMT]
A ground operation launched by the Sri Lanka Army in Paalamoaddai in Vavuniyaa - Mannaar border area was defeated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam in a clash in which three SLA soldiers were killed and seven wounded. The Tigers have seized military hardware in the clearing operation after the clash. The clash lasted for 40-minutes, LTTE's operations command in Vavuniyaa told media in Ki'linochchi Thursday.
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Sri Lanka withdraws from CFA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 11:29 GMT]
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Thursday evening officially conveyed in writing to the Norwegian Ambassador Tore Hattrem in Colombo that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) was withdrawing from the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA). The message was conveyed to the Ambassador at the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry in Colombo. The CFA formally ends on 16 January, the day after the Tamil festival Thaippongkal. GoSL has also suspended the Status of Mission Agreement (SOMA) with 14-days advance notification.
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2007: The year in review

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 07:34 GMT]
For the people of the NorthEast, 2007 was a grim year. Sri Lanka’s security forces and allied paramilitaries intensified their campaign of abductions (‘white van’ abductions), torture, and murder of Tamil civilians. Tamil civil society leaders bore the brunt of the counter-insurgency campaign. Jaffna remained an open prison with shortage of essential items, east falling under the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) control with thousands displaced as Colombo concocts colonization schemes to make east a Sinhala majority province.
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Hartal for Maheswaran in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 05:58 GMT]
Vavuniyaa observed a day of mouring and a general shut down Thursday in protest against the killing of T. Maheswaran, the Tamil parilamentarian of the United National Party (UNP) in Jaffna on New Year day allegedly by Sri Lankan military intelligence backed paramilitary armed men.
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2 SLA killed, 4 wounded in Ma'nalaa'ru pressure mine attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 05:07 GMT]
At least two Sri Lanka Army were killed in a pressure mine ambush that targeted an SLA truck on Yakawewa Padaviyaa Road, at Sinhayaulpatha in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) region, bordering Kebithigollewa of Vavuniyaa district, Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m., Sri Lankan military officials told media. Four wounded soldiers were rushed to hospitals.
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Tigers thwart SLA movement in Mannaar, 10 killed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 03:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army on Thursday suffered heavy casualties and abandoned a ground offensive through Ku'lakkaddu in Paalaikkuzhi in Mannaar, according to initial details released by the Mannaar operations command of the Tigers. The Tigers mounted stiff resistance against the SLA troops that were backed by heavy artillery and Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher fire since 5:30 a.m. Around 10 SLA troopers were killed and more than 15 wounded in the offensive push which was thwarted at 11:30 a.m., the Tigers said.
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Norway regrets Sri Lanka's decision to terminate CFA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 03:28 GMT]
Norway's Minister of International Development Erik Solheim, in a press release issued Wednesday, Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that he regrets that Sri Lanka is taking this serious step, and added that "[T]his comes on top of the increasingly frequent and brutal acts of violence perpetrated by both parties, and I am deeply concerned that the violence and hostilities will now escalate even further."
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2008 will bring clarity to Sri Lanka conflict- Balakumaran

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 16:54 GMT]
"The International Community has been vacillating in taking decisive actions on Sri Lanka because they are unable to relate their own interests to the chaotically unfolding political and military situation in Sri Lanka. Only the demonstration of military strength by the Tigers can bring clarity to the situation, for the international community to correctly relate their interests, and assertively engage," said Balakumaran, a Senior Member of Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, during a Political Analysis program, Nilavaram, in National Television of Tamileelam (NTT), this week.
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2 youths related to Maheswaran killing produced in Jaffna Court

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 16:03 GMT]
Jaffna police produced two youths from Kurunakar, alleged to be involved in the assassination of Tamil parliamentarian Maheswaran, Wednesday before Jaffna Magistrate R. T. Vignarajah who directed the youths to be produced before Colombo Chief Justice. The two youths were arrested on information claimed to be found in the National Identity Card (NIC) of the youths injured in the shooting of Maheswaran and later arrested by the police, sources in Jaffna said.
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Colombo to annul CFA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 15:28 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces as well as the Minister of Defence, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has decided to annul the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE). Sri Lankan Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwela, has confirmed that a cabinet decision to withdraw from the CFA has been taken on Wednesday. But, he did not provide a date for the GoSL withdrawal. The February 2002 agreement, in its paragraph 4.4, specifies that the agreement shall remain in force until notice of termination is given by either Party to the Royal Norwegian Government.
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SLAF bombs Mullaiththeevu thrice, 2 civilians wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:49 GMT]
Two civilians were wounded Wednesday in A'lampil in Mullaiththeevu district when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed a civilian area there, Tamileelam police officials said. Two civilians were rushed to hospital with injuries. The SLAF bombers also attacked two other places in the district, but there were no casualties, according to the Police.
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4 SLA soldiers killed in Northern Front - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:45 GMT]
Four Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and many wounded in two clashes in Ki'laali and Mukamaalai in Northern Front Wednesday, LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet. Meanwhile, sources in Jaffna said that the people hurried home early from their places of work, scared by the intense artillery fire directed towards LTTE positions from the SLA bases in Jaffna. SLA helicopters were seen flying between the FDL poisitions and Palaali Military Main Base.
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EU condemns Maheswaran assassination

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:24 GMT]
European Union, in a press release issued today condemned "unreservedly the assassination of Sri Lankan Parliamentarian Honourable Thyagarajh MAHESWARAN," and said it expects the "culprits to be arrested and taken to justice immediately." EU added in the release that it noted with "dismay the increasing level of violence which has marked the beginning of the year 2008 in Sri Lanka."
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Mano Ganesan sends back his security personnel to MSD

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:09 GMT]
Stating that under-numbered guards from Ministerial Security Division (MSD) cannot provide meaningful security to him, the Western Province Peoples Front leader and Convener of the Civil Monitoring Commission, turned down a latest offer of increasing the security guards by three by the MSD, after the assassination of fellow Tamil parliamentarian T. Maheswaran. By slashing down the number of security personnel, the MSD is not only putting the parliamentarian's life in danger, but also endangering the lives of remaining security personnel, Mr. Mano Ganesan said in a media release. The MP has earlier said he was preparing to leave Sri Lanka.
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91 civilians still held in Boosa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 12:22 GMT]
Ninety one civilians including eighty nine Tamils and two Sinhalese are still being detained in Boosa detention camp located in Galle, south of Colombo, without any charges. Eight of them are Tamil women, and most of them are residents of Nugegoda, a suburb in Colombo.
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U.S. condemns Maheswaran assassination, Slave Island attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 10:04 GMT]
The United States embassy in Colombo Wednesday issued a press statement condemning the assassination on January 1 of Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, United National Party Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament. The statement also condemned the deadly attack on Wednesday in the Slave Island area of Colombo that killed and injured numerous persons, including members of the Sri Lankan armed forces and civilians.
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Claymore attack in Colombo targets SLA bus, 5 killed, 24 wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 04:11 GMT]
Two SLA soldiers and three civilians were killed, 10 SLA soldiers and 14 civilians were wounded Wednesday around 9:30 a.m. in Colombo's High Security nerve center at Slave Island, 200 meters from Sri Lanka Army headquarters and the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) headquarters, where a Claymore mine was triggered targeting a bus carrying SLA soldiers, Police said. The attack comes a day after a leading Tamil parliamentarian of the opposition UNP, Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, was assassinated inside Ponnampala Va'neasvarar temple while attending New Year's prayers.
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Clinton presidency worries Colombo- Balakumaran

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2008, 18:41 GMT]
Apart from U.S. policy related implications, the significance to Sri Lanka of Senator Clinton's statement on "terrorism" can be assessed from the shock waves the statement generated in Sri Lanka's South, said K.V. Balakumaran, a Senior member of LTTE's Political Wing, during a political analysis segment, Nilavaram, presented in National Television of Tamileelam (NTT) this week. Hillary Clinton had earlier urged a more nuanced approach to armed non-state actors, and identified Tamil Tigers as one of the groups deserving such consideration.
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Artillery exchanges continue on New Years day in Northern FDLs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2008, 15:44 GMT]
While Jaffna celebrated New Years day, the peace was disturbed by intermittent sounds of gun fire as Liberation Tigers and Sri Lanka Security Forces exchanged artillery and mortar fire for 30 minutes at 8:00 a.m. and again for 30 minutes in the evening at 6:30 p.m. near Forward Defense Lines (FDLs) in Naakarkoayil and Mukamaalai, sources in Jaffna said. Details of casualties and injuries are not known.
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Wickremasinghe shortens New Delhi visit

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2008, 15:37 GMT]
Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National Party, meeting with Indian leaders in New Delhi has cut short his visit and is expected to return to Colombo Wednesday morning following the murder of fellow UNP parliamentarian Mr.Maheswaran in Colombo Tuesday morning in a Hindu temple, media sources said.
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Maheswaran killing, disturbing erosion of democracy- FMM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2008, 12:50 GMT]
The Free Media Movement (FMM), a Colombo-based media watchdog, in a press release issued Tuesday, strongly condemned the assassination of United National Party (UNP) MP T. Maheswaran, and said the murder adds to the "incredible number of political killings and the suppression of those who seek to bring to light gross human rights abuses," in Sri Lanka, and FMM is "mindful that the Sri Lankan Police have been unable and unwilling to bring the killers of other high profile political figures."
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Maheswaran assassination suspect among wounded - Police

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2008, 10:14 GMT]
One of the 12 wounded persons at Ponnampala Va'neasvarar temple Tuesday morning is a suspected assailant, Kotahena Police said. The suspect is from Kurunakar, Jaffna.
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Maheswaran MP assassinated in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2008, 04:37 GMT]
Colombo district Tamil parliamentarian of the opposition United National Party, T. Maheswaran, was shot at Ponnambala Va'neasvarar temple at Kochchikkadai in Colombo Tuesday around 10:00 a.m., while he was paying homage at the shrine, and succumbed to his injuries at Colombo hospital. The shooting, which also claimed the live of his bodyguard, comes a few hours after the parliamentarian had said that he would reveal details on how abductions and killings in Jaffna are managed by the Sri Lankan establishment through the EPDP paramilitary, from Colombo. Eleven days ago, the government of Sri Lanka had reduced the Ministerial Security Division guards provided to the MP from Eighteen to two.
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