Mahinda Rajapakse ratifies Second Court Martial findings against Fonseka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 September 2010, 16:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse as the Commander-in-Chief ratified the Second Court Martial recommendation against Sarath Fonseka Thursday with an endorsement that he should serve only thirty months in prison instead of thirty-six months. The Second Court Martial had recommended that Fonseka should serve thirty-six months in prison on being found guilty for irregularities violating tender procedures in purchasing arms to Sri Lanka Army. Meanwhile, military spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala said that Sarath Fonseka would be serving a rigorous imprisonment.
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Police order Kalmunai Muslim youths to surrender weapons

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 September 2010, 16:07 GMT]
Officer-in-Charge of the Kalmunai Police warned this week that legal action will be taken against Muslim youths who fail to surrender their weapons and continue to engage in unlawful activities. Kalmunai Police have asked the Muslim youths who underwent military training under the leadership of late Muslim leader M. H. M. Ashraff to surrender their arms to the mosques in Kalmunai immediately to avoid arrest, legal action and imprisonment. During the second Eelam War that began on 11.06.1990 the Government of Sri Lanka gave military training to Muslim youths under the leadership of late M. H. M. Ashraff, founder President of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and provided them with machine guns.
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SL government neglects war-ravaged Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 September 2010, 06:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka government has not allocated sufficient funds for the renovation and rebuilding of schools and other government department offices which had been either badly damaged or totally destroyed during its war on Vanni, officials of Northern Province Education Ministry and Ki’linochchi Government Secretariat said. Basic facilities are not made available for the government employees and teachers from other areas who have returned to work in Vanni mainland and they attempt to get transferred out of Vanni. Our time is spent mainly in receiving the numerous SL government ministers and their officials claiming to rehabilitate Vanni but it will take more than a year to restore working standards, an official in one of the District Secretariats, said. SL government stops with its publicity of developing Vanni without allocating the required funds for development, he added.
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Douglas Devananda pays homage to SLA soldiers killed in demining

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 September 2010, 05:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Minister Douglas Devananda paid homage to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers killed in demining operations in the North in an event held in Vassavi’laan Maththiya Makaa Viththiyaalayam Tuesday. Paying homage to SLA soldiers by Douglas Devananda is an attempt to please Major Gen. Mahinda Kathurusinghe, SLA Jaffna Commander who had openly criticized him for exploiting the sacrifices of SLA soldiers to attain selfish interests, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Northern Province Governor, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri is keen in improving relations between Douglas Devananda and Mahinda Kathurusinghe, the sources added.
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22 US, UK cities hold Sri Lanka boycott campaign

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 September 2010, 01:45 GMT]
Sixteen US cities and six UK cities held boycott Sri Lanka rally Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. local time campaigning against buying clothing made in Sri Lanka. The rally gained momentum in California as students from Stanford University joined the rally in front of the Gap and Victoria's Secret stores, to signify beginning of a student movement across the US, said one of the organizers. "As long as the opression of the Tamil people and the occupation of their land continue, we will carry on with our anti-apartheid style campaign against the 21st century apartheid regime in Sri Lanka," one of the Stanford students attending the rally said.
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Woman’s body recovered in Chammaanthu’rai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 16:43 GMT]
Chammaanthu’rai police Wednesday recovered a highly decomposed body of a woman Wednesday around 7:00 a.m from Kallaa’ru river bank in Neinaamadu in Chammaanthu’rai police division in Batticaloa district, informed by local fishermen. They had seen the body afloat in the river.
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Fasting Sinhala Buddhist monk admitted to Batticaloa hospital

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 15:05 GMT]
Venerable Ambitiya Sumanaratna Thera, chief priest of the Batticaloa Mangalaramaya Vihare and the Deputy Chief Sanganayake of Batticaloa-Ampaarai district was taken to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital Tuesday night for emergency treatment as his condition was reported critical on the third day of his fast unto death campaign, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Buddhist monk on fast-unto-death, demands colonisation of Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 09:26 GMT]
A Sinhala Buddhist monk, Ven. Ampitya Sumanaratna Thero, has been on a fast-unto-death campaign demanding construction of Buddhist temples in the predominantly Tamil-speaking Batticaloa district with Saivites, Christians and Muslims. The monk, who has on the fast-unto-death campaign for 3 days also demands appointment of Sinhala officers to Batticaloa District Secretariat, Divisional offices and Courts. The extremist monk said he would end his campaign only when Basil Rajapaksa, the brother of SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa, promises action on the demands and extends in person an apology for 'defaming' him in front of two former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders.
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Uprooted Tamils trying to resettle driven out by Sinhala men in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 05:41 GMT]
With the withdrawal of the Special Task Force (STF) camp in Oo’ra’ni in Ampaa’rai district 30 August, the Tamil families uprooted in 1990 by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) which had begun to resettle in their own places have been driven away by Sinhala men, sources in Ampaa’rai said. The affected families blame the Chief Minister of Eastern Province, Sivanesathurai Chanthirakanthan alias Pillayan for allowing lands of Tamils being appropriated for Muslim and Sinhala families in the name of creating amity between ethnic communities in Eastern Province and ask as how he is going to stop the Sinhala men chasing them from their own places.
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Kaaththaankudi police alleged of hushing up killing of a family man

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 05:08 GMT]
A young family man was found hanging from the roof of his house located in Kalladi in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district 12 August and the police had handed his body to his relatives after inquiry claiming he had committed suicide, without an inquest into the death by the magistrate or postmortem examination. Local residents, however, allege that the man was killed with the connivance of a policeman attached to Kaththaankudi police station who had an affair with the wife of the man found dead.
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Decomposed male corpse washed ashore in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 04:36 GMT]
Peasaalai police recovered the highly decomposed body of a male washed ashore on the coast of Nadukkudaa in Peasaalai in Mannaar district Tuesday. The head and legs of the body are decomposed beyond identification and the police handed it to Mannaar general hospital for identification.
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SLN soldier commits suicide in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 September 2010, 04:34 GMT]
Mannaar police recovered the body of a Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldier with gunshot injuries Monday in Damanna SLN camp located close to Thalaimannaar. Police sources said that the soldier had shot himself with his own gun.
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Sarath Fonseka appears in court on ‘white flag issue’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 20:36 GMT]
The trial-at-bar in Colombo High Court Tuesday re-fixed the inquiry for October 4 and 5 in the case against former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Sarath Fonseka. Fonseka is charged for disclosing military secrets that the Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse had issued orders not to spare any of the LTTE cadres surrendering with white flags in the final battle and that the surendees should be shot dead.
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Court dismisses petition against Fonseka's election to parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 20:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal Tuesday rejected a petition challenging the election of Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army to Sri Lanka parliament from the Colombo district in the last general election held on April 8. The petition came up for inquiry before a three member bench. The petitioner Anandan Mohandas of Haputale sought the Court of Appeal to declare the election of Fonseka as null and void as he was not a registered voter in Sri Lanka.
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Reopening Vasaavi’laan School in Palaali HSZ not immediately possible

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 20:19 GMT]
Reopening Vasaavi’laan Maththiya Makaa Viththiyaalayam caught in Palaali High Security Zone (HSZ) of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for the last twenty years is not immediately possible due to the danger of landmines in the school precincts, the school administration said. The school is functioning in a private property in Urumpiraay area since it was forced to displace in 1990 due to SLA offensives. The roof and the furniture of the school had been plundered during SLA occupation.
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SL government appropriates Tamils’ lands in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 05:48 GMT]
Aaraiyampathi Social Development Organization (ASDO) in Batticaloa district alleged Sri Lanka Deputy Minister M. L. A. M Hisbulla of converting lands of the Tamils in Kaangkeayanoadai village into a Muslim village in the name of ‘The Village of Peace’ with funds from Iranian government. The foundation stone has been laid for this purpose without the knowledge of the Local Government Body (LGB) of the area and it is said that Muslim families of Kaaththaankudi are to be settled in the village to be built, T. Mahendran, the Secretary of ASDO said.
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SLA erects Buddhist temples in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 05:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Vanni are actively engaged in erecting Buddhist temples in the surroundings of Saiva temples in Vanni, sources in Ki’linochchi said. The construction of a Buddhist temple in the precincts of Mu'rika’ndi Pi’l’laiyaar temple located on Kandy road by SLA has been suspended by the Local Government Body of the area. A case filed by a private person in Colombo High Court claiming that Mu'rika’ndi Pi’l’laiyaar temple belongs to him is being taken up for inquiry, the sources said.
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Tamil man killed in accident in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 04:34 GMT]
A Tamil man died Monday around 6:20 p.m when his motorbike collided against a lamp post on his way from Batticaloa to Kalmunai. He died on the spot, Batticaloa police said.
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High Court begins inquiry against Fonseka on ‘white flag issue’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 September 2010, 04:31 GMT]
The Trial-at-Bar inquiry in the Colombo High Court against Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, began Monday. But the court comprising Deepali Wijesundera, H. N.P. B. Warawewa and Zurfick Raseen re-fixed the inquiry for Tuesday on receipt of a report that Fonseka was indisposed. Army Legal Officer Major Karunaratne further informed court that Fonseka had fallen ill Monday morning and was later examined by SL Navy doctors.
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Explosion kills SLA soldier, injures another in Valikaamam HSZ

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 2010, 18:06 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier was killed and another seriously injured when a device exploded Monday evening during a search operation conducted by SLA soldiers in Maaviddapuram area in the SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North occupied by SLA, a media report Monday night from Palaali SLA Head Quarter said. This incident has occurred in the context of Sri Lanka Government saying that people are to be allowed to resettle in their own properties in places excluding the areas around Palaali SLA base in Valikaamam North. Maaviddapuram is located in an area out of Palaali HSZ.
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Batticaloa district ignored in post-war 'development'

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 2010, 11:38 GMT]
“Colombo Central authority is taking steps to issue water from Unnichchai Tank in Batticaloa district to Sinhala people disregarding appeal made on behalf of Tamil people to the authority concerned. Colombo government has begun suspending 'development' works in Paduvaankarai area and plans to allocate lands in the area to foreign companies and the resources entitled for Tamil people are being given to the Sinhala community. The Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) and its Governor are answerable and should bear responsibility for the injustice done to Tamil people in the area,” R. Thurairatnam, member of the EPC said.
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Girl drowns in Verukal river in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 2010, 11:17 GMT]
Seven year-old Thiruna Mathushika of Ward No 7 Vaakarai in Batticaloa district drowned in the Verukal River Sunday morning. Her body was not recovered immediately. The search for her body continues in the river which is infested with crocodiles, sources in Batticaloa said.
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War-widowed mother, daughter reported missing in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 2010, 11:04 GMT]
A 32-year-old mother and her 5-year-old daughter have been reported missing after they left their home in Thaazhvu-paadu in Mannaar district since Friday, according to complaints lodged in the Mannaar police station by their relatives.
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Moon, Rajapaksa nexus to restrict UN panel mandate on Sri Lanka war-crimes?

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 2010, 02:33 GMT]
The statement made by the United Nations spokes person and the news release from Sri Lanka's President office, after the meeting between the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, and Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa in New York Friday raised doubts if there is any collusion between the two officials to interfere with the mandate by the UN appointed war-crimes advisory panel, a report filed by Inner City Press strongly suggested. While, Ban ignored mentioning the "advisory panel," and clarified that he was updated on Sri Lanka's own Reconciliation commission, Sri Lanka's statement said: "UN panel is “in no way empowered to investigate charges against Sri Lanka.”
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Police, SLA search for buried weapons in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 2010, 02:30 GMT]
Koappaay police, assisted by hundreds of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, engaged in a search operation Sunday in a pond in the surroundings of a Pi’l’laiyaar temple located in Ka'l'liyang-kaadu in Jaffna claiming that a cache of weapons was buried in the pond. Though the search with the use of water pumps to drain out the water continued until evening no weapons were recovered. The Officer-in Charge of Koappaay police station said that some sources had informed of the weapons buried in the pond. He said the search will continue Monday.
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Buddhist prelates to talk to Mahinda Rajapakse on Fonseka release

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 September 2010, 09:10 GMT]
Mahanayake Theras of two Chapters Malwatte and Asgiriya are reported to have assured Anoma Fonseka, wife of the detained former commander of the Sri Lanka Army that they would take up the issue of release of her husband with Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse when he returns from New York on Monday. Both Mahanayake Theras are said to have given the assurance to Anoma Fonseka when she met them and pleaded for the release of her husband, Sunday in Kandy.
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Colombo bans explosives to Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 September 2010, 08:45 GMT]
Amidst suspicions arising about circumstances leading to dynamite blast at Karadiyan-aa’ru police station that killed around 62 and injured more than a hundred, the Colombo government has banned explosives reaching Batticaloa district for blasting rocks for road construction, reports from Batticaloa said. Meanwhile, eyewitness accounts confirm that a big number of dead bodies were taken away by SL armed forces that reached the spot shortly after the blast. Colombo maintains that only 21 killed and around 70 injured.
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Smuggling ancient religious statues from North to South escalates

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 September 2010, 07:30 GMT]
The people of Vadamaraadchi on finding ancient statues of Saiva temples hidden under a bridge in Vadamaraadchi informed the police and handed over the man who had stolen them from the Saiva temples in Vadamaraadchi East occupied by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Saturday, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. The man admitted that he had stolen the statues but information on where they were stolen from is yet not known. Historical artifacts from war affected Vanni by persons connected to occupying SLA soldiers and officers were taken to the South and sold to international antique dealers for large sums of money, sources in Vanni said.
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18th Amendment becomes law in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 September 2010, 03:33 GMT]
Eighteenth Amendment to the Sri Lanka Constitution has become law with effect from Thursday with the certification by the Speaker Chamal Rajapakse, brother of the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse. The amendment removes the two term limit of the Executive Presidency and the appointment of a five-member Parliamentary Council that replaced the seventeenth amendment to the constitution.
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SLA replaces STF in Paduvaankarai in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 September 2010, 03:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops are moving into Paduvaankarai area occupying camps vacated by Special Task Force (STF) of Sri Lanka Police. STF has started withdrawing from their camps located in the villages of Vellaave’li, Paalaiyadiveddai, Periya Poaratheevu and Maavadi Munmaari in Paduvaankarai area since Saturday.
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20th death anniversary of Chavukkadai massacre of Tamils held

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 September 2010, 03:20 GMT]
The people of the village of Chavukkadai village located in Batticaloa district observed the twentieth anniversary of the Chavukkadai massacre of forty-two Tamils including men, women, children and elders by Sinhala hoodlums on 20th September 1990. Relations of the victims and people of the village held special prayers in Saiva koayils and churches in Chavukkadai.
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Jaffna Public Library services decline due to lack of funds

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 September 2010, 03:15 GMT]
Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) which has to allocate funds for the administration and maintenance expenses of Jaffna Public Library faces serious impediments in fulfilling its responsibility as Sri Lanka government has failed to support JMC with any considerable allocation of funds. Consequently, JMC administration which depends entirely on local revenues for its expenses has cut down its financial allocation to Jaffna Public Library forcing it to reduce the number of its employees and to close certain sections. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka government and the JMC administration dominated by ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance take false pride in showing Jaffna Public Library as a proof of the ‘development’ claimed to have been achieved by SL government in the North to foreign emissaries and people from other parts of Sri Lanka visiting Jaffna peninsula, Jaffna residents said.
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US University calls for Sri Lanka war crimes investigations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 September 2010, 02:10 GMT]
The Human Rights law clinic at the Washington D.C.-based American University, in a report released to the media Friday, proposed that the United Nations should establish a War Crimes Tribunal for Sri Lanka. "The Tamil community's need for truth, justice, and redress will continue to be marginalized without outside intervention. Marginalization and impunity for human rights violations may once again lead to unrest in the country and will impede justice and accountability," the report said.
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Armed men in police uniform rob 70 million in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 2010, 14:09 GMT]
Three armed men in Sri Lanka police uniform riding motorcycles ambushed and robbed 70 million rupees from a van transporting money to a private bank in Wanawasala in Kelaniya police division in Colombo Friday early morning, sources in Colombo said. The men had ambushed the bank vehicle near Thorana junction in Kandy road in Peliyagoda and had taken the vehicle at gun point to Wanawasala Station road.
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Wickremesinghe tells possible rebels to leave party

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 2010, 11:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka's United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has declared that all those parliamentarians who have announced that they will sit independently in parliament have to resign from the party and then take such a decision, the state-run Dinamina newspaper said. According to the article, Wickremesinghe has maintained that no one in the party can take a decision to sit independently in parliament while being part of the UNP and therefore they have to resign from the party and then sit independently in parliament.
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SLA intruder attacked by house-owner in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 2010, 11:33 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army soldier, who attempted to enter a house Thursday night while the house-owner, his wife and two daughters were fast asleep, was hacked and cut by the owner of the house, civilian sources in Kanakaampikaik-ku'lam in Ira'nai-madu told TamilNet Friday.
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Indian Mumbai private contractor company officials visit North

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 2010, 04:43 GMT]
A team of a Mumbai private contractor company officials on a two-day visit to North Sri Lanka participated in a meeting Thursday in Jaffna Secretariat presided by Jaffna Government Agent, Ms. Imelda Sukumar, and discussed the project of constructing 50,000 houses in the war affected Vanni and Jaffna peninsula. The team, accompanied by officials of Colombo Indian High Commission, visited many places in Vanni before coming to Jaffna. The Mumbai private contractors are in Sri Lanka to finalize the contract of constructing 50,000 houses in the war affected North. Meanwhile, local contractors have raised objection to Mumbai Company’s reported intention to bring 20,000 workers from India. Jaffna Government Secretariat officials, however, said that this issue was not discussed in the meeting.
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Tamil businessman abducted in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 2010, 03:57 GMT]
Unidentified men arriving in a white van abducted a Tamil businessman from his shop in Wellawatte Monday night, according to a complaint made to Wellawatte police by his relatives. The police said they are investigating into the abduction to ensure whether he was abducted for ransom or personal enmity.
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UNP withdraws Freedom of Information Bill

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 2010, 03:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) Thursday withdrew its private member’s Bill on the Freedom of Information due to the pressure brought by the ruling United Freedom Alliance (UPFA) that the government is in the process of drafting a similar legislation.
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Colombo Crime Division arrests press owner in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 2010, 18:25 GMT]
A special team of Colombo Crime Division arrested the owner of Churapi Achchakam (printing press), C. Kuruthev, in Jaffna Tuesday and took him to Colombo for inquiry, sources in Jaffna said. Kuruthev’s brother, the General Manager of the Tamil daily Namathu Eezhanaadu, C. Sivamaharajah, had been assassinated at his house in Thellippazhai in August 2006. Sri Lanka Minister Douglas Devananda, the head of Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), had sought to acquire Churapi Achchakam to print a Tamil Daily in the name of Thinamurasu to which Kuruthev had not consented, media circles in Jaffna said.
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Two teenagers killed in train accident in Wattala

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 2010, 10:18 GMT]
Two Tamil teenagers were killed in a train accident Thursday around 7:00 a.m. at Hunupitiya railway track in Wattala, Police said. The victims had failed to hear the train as they were using earphones of their mobile phones while walking in the rail track.
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Compensation not paid to uprooted families in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 2010, 03:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka government has failed to pay compensation to the families uprooted from their homes in Batticaloa district due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 2006 offensives on places like Paduvaankarai who are languishing in the interim camps in Batticaloa town, Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian P. Selvarasa said. Though this matter had been brought to the notice of Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Rehabilitation on several occasions no action has been taken by the minister, he added.
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SL government imposes restrictions on local NGOs in North, East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 2010, 03:25 GMT]
Local Non-government Organizations (NGOs) in North and East in Sri Lanka face the risk of becoming inactive due Sri Lanka government’s new restrictions on registering or renewing the registration of such organizations, NGO circles said. These NGOs should submit applications to register themselves or to renew registration to Sri Lanka President’s Action Committee and Sri Lanka Defence Ministry for their approval to function, according to the new procedure imposed on them. The local NGOs serve local people in need with the assistance of International Organizations. Securing the required approval of the above authorities is not easy as Sri Lanka government generally views the local NGOs as agencies of foreign elements opposed to it, NGO circles in Jaffna said.
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Speaker to recommend 2 MPs to SL Parliamentary Council

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 2010, 03:13 GMT]
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa is to recommend two names from among Tamil and Muslim parliamentarians for approval to Sri Lanka’s President as nominees to the Parliamentary Council as Prime Minister D. M. Jayaretna and the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe failed to nominate as required by the 18th amendment within the stipulated seven day period, Acting Secretary General of Sri Lanka Parliament Neil Iddawela told media Wednesday.
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Ampaa'rai student tops Tamil scholarship exam

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 18:23 GMT]
A girl student of Thampiluvil Kalaimakal Viththiyaalayam in Thirukkoayil Education Zone in Ampaa’rai district secured the first place in Tamil medium Year Five scholarship examination 2010.
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Colombo plans to settle Sinhala people in Thiryaay in Trincomalee district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 18:02 GMT]
Due to pressure from the Buddhist priests of Kirihandu Seya Buddhist temple situated in the traditional Tamil village of Thiriyaay in Trincomalee district, the Government Agent of Trincomalee, Major Gen. (Retd) Ranjit de Silva has stopped the restoration of Neelappa’nikkan tank in Thiriyaay which feeds about 3,000 acres of paddy fields of the residents evicted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources in Trincomalee said. Sri Lanka Minister of Irrigation and Road Development M. S. Uthumalebbe had recently inaugurated the restoration of the tank on the requests of the people of Thiriyaay. Meanwhile, the residents of Thiriyaay said that this is part of a subtle move by the chauvinist elements in Sri Lanka government to attach more lands to the Buddhist temple in order to settle Sinhalese from South.
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Resettlement possible in Valikaamam North HSZ: Jaffna SLA Commander

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 13:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna Commander Major Gen. Mahinda Kathurusinghe for the first time commented on the issue of resettling families uprooted by SLA in Valikaamam North saying that it is possible to resettle them in areas excluding Palaali High Security Zone (HSZ). The SLA commander admitted this Tuesday in Maanippaay Piratheasa chapai hall while participating as Chief guest in an event for school children organized by SLA. Many similar announcements had been made by Sri Lanka government ministers, officials and politicians during the Presidential and Parliamentary elections and in the following period but around 100,000 uprooted persons still live in camps and with their relatives and friends for the past twenty years, Welfare Organizations for Uprooted Families circles said.
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UNP to campaign abroad for Fonseka's release

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 11:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka's United National party (UNP) is to commence a large scale international protest campaign against the recent court martial decision which has ordered for the imprisonment of former army Commander Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Sarath Fonseka for three years over alleged arm dealings, during his time as commander.
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Colombo hurriedly readies military colony in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 07:34 GMT]
One hundred houses in the military occupation scheme consisting twelve thousand houses by the Sri Lanka government in Ki’linochchi district to colonize the Tamil land of Vanni with Sinhala families of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are being hurriedly prepared for occupation. Families of one hundred SLA officers will take possession of them in an event to be held shortly, informed sources in Ki’linochchi said. Arrangements are under way for the event in which key persons of Sri Lanka Defence Ministry will take part. Meanwhile, the owners of the land, all of them Tamils, their properties encroached by Sri Lanka government for colonisation, are not allowed even to go to their places where the military colony is being constructed. Informed Tamil officials in Vanni also said that Colombo is using foreign funds donated in the name of resettlement of uprooted families of Vanni.
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ASP, 6 policemen arrested in Polonnaruwa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 07:29 GMT]
Seven Sri Lanka police officers including an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) who attempted to dig out hidden treasure in a Buddhist temple in Thimbulaagala in Polonnaruwa district were arrested at a police check post Monday night in Mannampiddi. The gang had threatened the Buddhist priest of the temple and dug for the treasure but a local politician had rung the temple bell. People rushing to the temple saw the gang escaping in two vehicles without registration number plates and informed the police, sources in Batticaloa said. The arrested police officers are detained in Polonnaruwa police station for further investigation.
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Highway construction by Chinese firm in Batticaloa district suspended

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 September 2010, 06:47 GMT]
All highway construction work in Batticaloa district by State-run China Overseas Holdings limited company has been suspended following the explosion of stored dynamites in Karadiyan-aa’ru police station 17 September. The deaths of two Chinese engineers in the explosion, shortage of explosives and the additional expense incurred in transporting granite from other places are said to be the reasons for the suspension. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Highway Development Authority has nothing to do with the construction work carried out by the Chinese company, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Trincomalee town security strengthened

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 16:21 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police have been conducting random checks on three-wheelers, motor bikes and other vehicles plying in Trincomalee town and its suburbs since the explosion that took place in Karadiyan-aa’ru police station in Batticaloa district last week.
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Container of dynamite parked in Vaazhaichcheanai police station

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 16:13 GMT]
A container loaded with dynamites parked in Vaazhazichcheanai police station located in a densely populated area poses threat to people’s lives as was the cause of the explosion in Karadiyan-aa’ru police station 17 September claiming many lives, sources in Batticaloa said. Sri Lanka police who had occupied the buildings of Liberation Tigers during the war to escape Tiger attacks continue to use them as police stations where containers of dynamite are usually parked. Meanwhile, more than hundreds of bodies of persons killed in Karadiyan-aa’ru explosion were found lying after the blast occurred, eye witnesses said. They had seen a large number of injured and killed policemen being swiftly removed through Makaa Oyaa to Sinhala areas.
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Complaints against SL Deputy Minister’s empty promises

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 06:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Rehabilitation, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, has failed to fulfill his promises to solve the drinking water problem of the people of Kuruma’nve’li and Murungkaiyadi and the difficulties caused by the break down of the boat service between Thu’raineelaava’nai and Annamalai in Batticaloa district, the people of the areas said. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa district parliamentarian P. Selvarasa had raised these issues two months ago in the District Development meeting presided by the Deputy Minister. There is no use in Muralitharn being a Deputy Minister in Sri Lanka government when he hasn’t the power to solve even these problems, the people said.
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Former Tamil SLA accomplice abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 06:11 GMT]
A gang of unidentified armed men arriving in a van abducted a Tamil youth who had operated with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during the war, on 15 September at Kalladi in Batticaloa district, according to complaints made by his wife to Batticaloa police. She had first complained at the office of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a political-cum-paramilitary party led by Eastern Province Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, raising suspicion whether he has joined TMVP on returning from a Middle East country where he had worked after the war, sources in Kalladi said.
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Sri Lanka’s LLRC, a hoax – Vanni war victims

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2010, 05:36 GMT]
Only fifteen of nearly four hundred persons, most of them women, were allowed to witness before Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in Mullaiththeevu Government Secretariat Monday while the others were driven away, sources in Mullaiththeevu said. The women had come with the hope of getting information about their husbands, sons and daughters who had disappeared without trace after surrendering themselves to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the final days of the war on Vanni. Denied of the opportunity to witness before the Commission and from futile attempts in the past they said they had no faith in the Commission calling it a hoax staged by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa to deceive them and the world.
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Upcountry Tamils who fled to escape attack live in fear

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 2010, 16:23 GMT]
Several upcountry Tamil families had fled from Kiribathgoda rubber plantation in Nivithigala in Ratnapura district 12 September night due to attacks by Sinhala gangs following the killing of a Sinhala estate watcher. The families had sought refuge in the neighbouring estates where they continue to live in fear, unable to return to their homes. The body of the watcher killed was found 13 September. Unidentified persons had abducted the watcher the previous night.
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Human skeletons found in abandoned well in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 2010, 16:19 GMT]
Uppuve’li police recovered Sunday human skeletons in an abandoned well in in Uppuve’li police in the presence of Trincomalee magistrate who directed the police to handover the skeletons to Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital for forensic examination and report.
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Desecration of Saiva temples in upcountry escalates

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 2010, 04:15 GMT]
The destruction and desecration of Saiva temples is reported to be on the increase in Kandy district. Since January this year about twenty Saiva temples have been plundered, desecrated and destroyed, Saiva community sources in the central province expressed serious concern.
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LTTE's Elilan surrendered to SLA on 18 May, wife tells BBC

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 16:21 GMT]
Ananthi Sasitharan, wife of Elilan, former Trincomalee political head of the LTTE, told BBC Tamil service that she and her three daughters witnessed her husband and hundreds of other LTTE members surrendering to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers on 18th May 2009, after the war has come to an end. "I have been trying to trace my husband and has not been successful to locate his whereabouts. I have no doubt that Sri Lanka's president knows where my husband and others who surrendered are being held," she told the BBC.
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TID torture Tamil detainees held under PTA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 07:07 GMT]
The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) of Sri Lanka government continues to torture hundreds of Tamil youths arrested and detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) without trial, a journalist who had met the detainees said, under conditions of anonymity. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka government intends to keep the Tamil youths who were combatants of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in detention for five more years, sources close to Sri Lanka prison authorities said.
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SL minister’s men attack editor’s house in Kaaththaankudi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 05:27 GMT]
The editor of ‘Uraikal’, a weekly paper published in Kaththaankudi in Eastern Province, said that a gang of men of Sri Lanka minister M. L. A. M. Hisbulla have for the second time attacked his house in Kaaththaankudi on 13 September, in a complaint made to Kaaththaankudi police. A news item in the paper had contained information exposing the corruption in the Co-operative sector administered by the minister’s men was the reason for the attack, the editor, Rahmathulla, said and added that so far the police have failed to take action against the minister or his men.
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Speaker to appoint nominee to Parliamentary Council if UNP fails

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 05:00 GMT]
The Speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament will be entrusted with the powers to appoint the relevant representative to the parliamentary council if the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe fails to appoint a member within next week. Ranil Wickremasinghe Thursday nominated Tamil national Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M. A Sumanthiran as his nominee to the Parliamentary Council but the TNA MP rejected the nomination. Since then Ranil Wickremasinghe has not nominated a new person, SL parliament sources said.
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SL Parliament to debate local government amendment bill

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 02:06 GMT]
The Local Government Election Amendment Bill that would introduce mixed electoral system will be tabled in Sri Lankan parliament in October for debate and approval, the SL Government Media Unit said Saturday.
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Aayiththiya-malai Police to cover Karadiyan-aa'ru division

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 01:41 GMT]
Sri Lankan Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya said in a press release Saturday that the normal functions of the Karadiyan-aa'ru police station were being temporarily handled by the Aayiththiya-malai police station till a suitable place is located.
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Sri Lanka plays down Batticaloa blast toll

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2010, 01:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka revised down the official casualty figures of a massive explosion Friday that destroyed a police station in the eastern Batticaloa district, from over sixty dead to an official count of 25, but local government officials amongst those who rushed to the site said dozens of bodies from the rubble had been swiftly removed by Sri Lankan forces. Citing negligence, the authorities said later on Friday that two Chinese construction contractors, seven civilians and 16 policemen were amongst those killed when containers of dynamite stored at the Karadiyan-aa'ru police station exploded. Local officials, however, insisted over 60 people, mainly police had been killed. It was not clear why the authorities, who have also ruled out sabotage, were downplaying the blast, they added.
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Colombo bans BBC from covering LLRC hearings

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 September 2010, 15:20 GMT]
While the forthcoming hearings by Sri Lanka's Lesson and Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) at the former LTTE stronghold Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu are to be held in public, BBC has been "blocked from covering the public hearing," BBC said Friday. "A senior defence ministry official said he could not allow the BBC to attend the sittings, due to start on Saturday....The military liaison officer declined to give any reasons," BBC said in its report.
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Court Martial sentences Fonseka three years in prison

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 September 2010, 08:02 GMT]
The second court marital Friday sentenced Sarath Fonseka, to a prison term not exceeding three years, on being found guilty for violating tender procedure in purchasing arms while being the Commander of Sri Lanka Army. The second court martial further said the sentence is to be served or not is to be decided by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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LLRC member Prof. Jiffry passes away

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 14:49 GMT]
Professor M. T. M. Jiffry, one of the eight member- Lesson and Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) passed away Friday morning after a brief illness in Colombo. His burial took place Friday evening at Dehiwala Jummah Mosque. Born in Matara, Jiffry was the Professor of the Medical Faculty in Sri Jayewardenepura University.
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Questions raised on Ban's handling of Sri Lanka war-crimes panel

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 10:34 GMT]
The panel of experts on war crimes in Sri Lanka, which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced in March, is supposed to complete its work within four months of formally beginning. On September 14, Inner City Press (ICP) asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky why the panel had not yet even begun. Nesirky replied that it would be held Thursday afternoon. ICP reported that the meeting was not listed on Ban's schedule while several similar meetings were listed.
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UN, EU reps discuss development with Batticaloa district GA

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 08:34 GMT]
The delegation led by Neil Buhne, the UN Resident Representative and Human Coordinator, accompanied by representatives of European Union, met Batticaloa district Government Agent (GA) Suntharam Arumainayagam Wednesday and discussed matters related to the development of Batticaloa district, Batticaloa District Secretariat sources said. Meanwhile, the resettled families in Paduvaankarai complained that though Sri Lanka Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan says that funds have been allocated for the supply of drinking water to them every time he comes to Batticaloa, nothing has been done, the sources added. Lack of drinking water is the most serious problem the resettled families in Paduvaankarai face.
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62 killed, 100 wounded in Batticaloa blast, official figures on casualty low

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 08:15 GMT]
Around 62 persons including Sri Lankan policemen, civilians and two Chinese nationals have been killed in a massive explosion that rocked the Karadiyan-aa'ru area, situated 20 km northwest of Batticaloa city, Friday around 12:30 p.m., initial reports from the area said. Containers with explosives parked close the police station exploded destroying the entire police station. The explosion also affected the nearby agricultural department building. There were at least three containers with dynamites intended for road construction which was operated by Chinese workers, the reports further said. Around 100 persons, including engineers from the South, wounded in the blast were being rushed to hospital. Ex LTTE members deployed in the construction work under Colombo's publicized rehabilitation programme were likely among the victims, a local NGO official told reporters in Colombo.
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Properties of uprooted families in Vadamaraadchi East plundered by SLA

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 06:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) have constructed many bases and camps in the properties of uprooted families and on the coastal villages of Vadamaraadchi East using the roofing, door and windows plundered from the shops and houses left by the residents, persons who visited the area said. The areas from Naakar-koayil to Kaddaik-kaadu are fully occupied by SLA and SLN, they further said. Meanwhile, Jaffna Government Agent Ms. Imelda Sukumar has announced that uprooted families from Vadamaraadchi East will be taken to their own places in the second stage of the resettlement plan and that Jaffna SLA Command had given permission for the resettlement.
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TNA parliamentarians to visit Valikaamam North HSZ

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 05:51 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesman and Jaffna district parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said that a group of TNA parliamentarians will be visiting Valikaamam North Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied High Security Zone (HSZ) once they get the permission from Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence. Meanwhile, Basil Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka minister and brother of SL President Mahinda Rjapaksa who is in Jaffna has again said that the families uprooted from Valikaamam North by SLA will be allowed to resettle in their places excluding the surroundings of Palaali Airport, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA authorities have already marked places in Palaali to construct housing schemes for the colonization of Sinhala families in the lands of Tamils evicted by SLA, sources in Palaali said.
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Guatemalan ex-soldier jailed in US for 1982 massacre

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 01:31 GMT]
Gilberto Jordan, 54, a former Guatemalan soldier was sentenced to 10 years in prison for failing to reveal his participation in the 1982 killings of at least 162 villagers at Dos Erres during the de facto presidency of General Efraín Ríos Montt. Guatemalan Government soldiers allegedly killed nearly 200,000 indigenous and Mayan people as part of the Guatamalan Government's scorched earth policy.
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90% of mines in Mullaiththeevu remain uncleared

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2010, 01:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka military has been able to remove only 10% of the total area in which mines are suspected to have been buried, state-run Sinhala daily Dinamina reported. According to the article, Sri Lanka military has decided to accelerate the mine removal program.
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Tamil youth abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2010, 16:21 GMT]
A Tamil youth was abducted by a group of unidentified persons from his house located in Thiruchchenthoor in Kalladi in Batticaloa district Wednesday night. The victim has been identified Munusamy Narenthiran, 30, according to complaints made to the police.
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TNA rejects Wickremesinghe’s offer

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2010, 14:44 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday refused to give consent to the opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to appoint TNA parliamentarian, M. N. Sumanthiran as his nominee to the Parliamentary Council constituted under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. TNA media spokesman and Jaffna district parliamentarian said Ranil Wickremesinghe wanted the party’s consent to appoint Sumanthiran. TNA has informed Ranil Wickremasinghe that it has opposed the 18th amendment and it will boycott the Parliamentary Council.
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Resettled families in Jaffna peninsula abandoned by SL government

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2010, 05:56 GMT]
Non-government Organizations in Jaffna peninsula accuse Sri Lanka government to have abandoned most of the uprooted families resettled in Jaffna peninsula without providing them adequate assistance for rehabilitation. 82,000 uprooted persons had been resettled in Jaffna peninsula so far, according to Jaffna Secretariat statistics. Meanwhile, nearly 100,000 persons uprooted from Valikaamam North High Security Zone of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) twenty years ago continue to stay with their relatives, friends and in camps not allowed by SLA to resettle in their own properties.
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SL government responsible for abductions – TMVP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2010, 05:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka government should take responsibility for the abductions that have taken place after the war in Eastern Province, the propaganda secretary of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), a political-cum-paramilitary party led by Eastern Province Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, said in a meeting held in Kommaanththu’rai in Batticaloa district. Meanwhile, Batticaloa district residents said that armed men alleged to be Pillayan group and Karuna group abduct persons and rob houses in the outskirt villages of the district. Karnuna group is also a political-cum-paramilitary party led by Sri Lanka minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna.
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UN Rep meets Champoor uprooted families

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2010, 05:14 GMT]
The Champoor Displaced Persons Welfare Association (CDPWA) on behalf of around six thousand five hundred persons of about 1,300 uprooted Tamil families from Moothoor east Wednesday handed over a memorandum to Neil Buhne, the UN Resident Representative and Human Coordinator appealing to him to take steps to ensure their early resettlement in their traditional villages now being declared as high security zone by the Sri Lankan forces and acquired for the proposed coal mine power plant with the assistance of the Government of India.
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Colombo refuses visa to NGO official

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 22:53 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Government has ordered Daniel Horgan, security coordination officer of Nonviolent Peaceforce, a foreign NGO, to leave Sri Lanka immediately, the Sinhala language Divaina newspaper said in an article. The order was made when Horgan sent in his papers seeking renewal of his visa to continue his work in Sri Lanka.
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SL government ‘explores’ development of Jaffna district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 15:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka government which had not contributed to the development of Jaffna district in any significant manner is showing off the development activities in Jaffna peninsula funded by World Bank and Asian Development Bank as if it is spending its own money on them, government officials who participated in SL government’s Jaffna District Development Meeting (DDM) held in Jaffna Secretariat Wednesday said. The meeting was similar to the earlier ones where on going development activities and future plans for development were just ‘explored’ into without any concrete allocation of funds for them. On the whole it was lip service paid to the ‘development of North’ Sri Lanka government claims to be interested in, they added.
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Rajapaksa leaves for US via London

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 13:35 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Wednesday left via London to United States of America (USA). Mr. Rajapaksa left few days in advance for personal reasons, informed sources in Colombo said. He will take part in both the plenary meeting of the General Assembly of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the sessions of UN General Assembly.
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Tension in Ratnapura following attack on Upcountry Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 08:18 GMT]
More than 100 Upcountry Tamil families were displaced after Sinhalese estate workers burnt their houses and properties in Kiribatgala rubber plantation in Nivithigala in Ratnapura district Monday night. The attack on Tamils comes following the killing of a Sinhala estate watcher who was found dead Monday after being abducted by unidentified persons Sunday night. Tension prevails between in the district following the outbreak of the violence. Tamils in the district complain that they have been increasingly targeted by Sinhala mobs in recent times.
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European Court to review Jagath Dias case

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 03:43 GMT]
A. Muller-Elschner, the legal secretary to the Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), said in a letter to the Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils (SCET), the democratically elected country council of Eezham Tamils in Switzerland, that the European Court will take up the case against the appointment of ex-SLA commander Jagath Dias as a diplomat to the Sri Lanka embassy in Germany. SCET, the Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils (NCET) and the US based NGO, Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), had filed an application to the ECHR in July 2010 charging the German government for violating EU Rights conventions by accepting a Sri Lankan military commander, Major General Jagath Dias, an accused in the war crimes.
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Jaffna peninsula fishermen exploited by SL government men

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 02:26 GMT]
Some influential Sri Lanka government politicians and Sinhala traders from South are exploiting the fishermen of Jaffna peninsula not allowing them to take their catches South for sale, Fisheries Societies in Jaffna peninsula accuse. Fish now being caught in large quantity exceed local consumption and the fishermen are forced to dry them as the export to South is a monopoly of SL government politicians like SL Minister Douglas Devananda and his supporters, they said.
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NP Governor visits restricted areas in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2010, 02:21 GMT]
Northern Province Governor Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri accompanied by some Sinhala parliamentarians and Sri Lanka government officials visited Tuesday some places in Vanni where uprooted people have not been allowed to resettle by occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA). Meanwhile, some influential sections are trying again to shift Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and its offices to Ki’linochchi from Trincomalee, a move which had been suspended by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in August, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Supreme Court begins inquiry into Presidential election petition filed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2010, 19:30 GMT]
Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Tuesday appeared first time in the Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on the second day of inquiry into the presidential election petition filed by him. Fonseka has challenged the election of incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse in the presidential election held in January this year. The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) produced Sarath Fonseka, the petitioner in the case in the court Tuesday on the direction made by the five-member bench of the Supreme Court on Monday. Fonseka is being detained in the Sri Lanka Navy headquarters since he lost in the presidential election to Rajapakse.
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UNP crisis deepens, dissidents likely to sit in parliament as independent group

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2010, 17:42 GMT]
Twenty five parliamentarians of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Tuesday issued ultimatum to their leader Ranil Wickremasinghe till September 22 to address the leadership crisis soon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, said to be the leader of the dissident 25 MPs has told electronic and print media that they would inform the Speaker of parliament of their intention to consider them as an independent group when parliament meets on September 22.
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Youth dies in road accident in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2010, 06:21 GMT]
A 20-year-old man riding in his motor bike died in a road accident in Puthukkudiyiruppu in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district Monday night around 8:30.
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Jaffna MPCS employees agitate against political interference

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2010, 05:09 GMT]
The General Manager of Jaffna Multi Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS) resigned his post Monday due to pressure by Sri Lanka minister Douglas Devananda and his supporters, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka government has scrapped the democratically elected Board of Directors of MPC societies appointing its own persons as directors who are alleged of corruption, Jaffna MPCS members said. A case against the former President of Jaffna MPCS, Kiritharan, appointed by Douglas Devananda, for misappropriating millions of rupees is pending in Jaffna High Court in which Douglas Devananda is also involved, the members said. Jaffna MPCS handles various services to people of Jaffna peninsula including the distribution of relief dry food rations.
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2 Tamils die in road accident in Marawila

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 September 2010, 17:49 GMT]
A man and a five year old boy, both Tamils, died in a road accident when a Prisons Department vehicle crashed against a passenger van from behind at Marawila Sunday morning. Seven others were injured in that accident, Marawilla police said.
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Tamil youth dies in road accident in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 September 2010, 17:45 GMT]
A Tamil youth died on the spot and another seriously wounded when a container vehicle crashed against a stationary motor cycle in Vavuniyaa Sunday around 7:00 p.m. The motor cycle had met with an accident colliding against a bicycle near Thennamaruthoadai Chanthi in Poonthoaddam in Vavuniyaa.
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Local government elections to be held in a single day

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 September 2010, 14:39 GMT]
Elections to all local government bodies of Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradesya Sabas in Sri Lanka including North and East provinces will be held in a single day in January 2011 under the amended Local Government Elections Act that is to be tabled in the parliament next month for approval, Sri Lanka Local Government Ministry sources said. Meanwhile, the main opposition United National Party (UNP) is reported to have decided to support the said bill in parliament, sources in Colombo said.
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TNA attends SL District Development meeting in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 September 2010, 04:48 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarians Suresh Premachandran and Sarvanabavan participated in the Sri Lanka government’s Jaffna District Development meeting Sunday in Jaffna. This is the first time TNA parliamentarians are participating in the District Development Meeting in Jaffna district. Suresh Premachandran had issued a message to local media Saturday night that TNA will attend the Sunday meeting. Sri Lanka Minister of Disaster Management A. H. M. Fowzi and SL Minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Douglas Devananda jointly chaired the Sunday meeting.
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Farmer abducted in Achchuveali released in Jaffna town

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 16:06 GMT]
A gang of unidentified persons arriving in a white van in Achchuveali Sunday morning bound the eyes and hands of a farmer working in his vegetable plot and took him away forcibly. The abductors had demanded 200,000 rupees and when the farmer said that he does not have such a big sum the abductors had reduced the amount demanded as an act of mercy, the farmer said in his complaint to Acchuveali police. The abductors had then pushed the abductee out of the van in Veampadi Road in Jaffna town located 25 kms from Achchuveali where there were a lot of people.
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Desecration of Saiva temples in Trincomalee district continues

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 14:39 GMT]
Desecration of Saiva temples in the Eastern Province, especially in Trincomalee district, continues causing serious concern among the Saiva community. Last week unidentified men had desecrated three Saiva koayils in Thampalakaamam, a traditional village in Trincomalee. The head of the statue of Vairavar in the historic Aathi Koa'neasvarar Temple and the head of the Naakathampi’raan statue in Kaa'limeadu Mari Amman Koayil were found smashed and the holy trident in Paddimeadu Chinthaama'ni Pi’l’laiyaar Koayil was found missing, according to complaints lodged with Thampalakaamam Police.
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UNP crisis reaches climax, Wickremasighe to make statement

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 14:37 GMT]
Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) is expected to make a statement as his leadership is under challenge from his loyalists in the party even after defection. Political circles speculate he may relinquish his leadership in the party to give way for another leader amid reports carried in electronic and print media quoting his main rival Sajith Premadasa that he is ready to take over the leadership of the party from Wickremasinghe.
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Batticaloa MC member reported abducted

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 10:43 GMT]
The wife of a member of Batticaloa Municipal Council (BMC) complained to Batticaloa police that her husband had gone missing since August 23 after having met BMC Mayor Sivageetha Pirabakaran and a member. She said she suspects that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence Unit officers had abducted her husband. A person had called her 22 August night and intimidated that her husband will be abducted by the SLA. Meanwhile, Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias (Pillayan) is reported to have said that SLA and Sri Lanka police in Batticaloa should take responsibility for the abductions in Batticaloa district.
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Gotabaya Rajapaksa in China with military top brass

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 10:12 GMT]
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka Defence Ministry Secretary, left to China Saturday leading a military delegation consisting of the Chiefs of Staff of Sri Lanka Army, Navy and Airforce. China had been one of the mains suppliers of military hardware and expertise during Sri Lanka’s war on Vanni last year.
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Danger of landmines in nearly half of Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 07:30 GMT]
49,7 sq kms of Jaffna peninsula (44%) are identified infested with land mines sown during war, according to Jaffna District Secretariat survey statistics. The explosive devices so far removed in Jaffna peninsula excluding the outskirts of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikaamam North are more than 120,000. The residents of Valikaamam North evicted by occupying SLA 20 years ago still live in interim camps as SLA refuses to permit them to resettle in their own properties.
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SL National Defence Day to be held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2010, 06:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Minister of Disaster Management A. H. M. Fowzie will hold a meeting in Jaffna Sunday with government departmental heads and representatives of public organization to discuss arrangements of the Sri Lanka National Defence Day that is to be celebrated in Jaffna 26 December, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. This is another event like Sri Lanka Cabinet meeting held in Ki’linochchi and the Government Agents conference staged in Jaffna by the Sri Lanka government to show the world as if it is genuinely interested in the 'development' of the North, civil society organizations in Jaffna said.
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CWC member Radhakrishnan goes independent

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 September 2010, 17:35 GMT]
V.S.Radhakrishnan, Nuwara Eliya district parliamentarian of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) told Saturday that he leaves his party and will sit as an independent member in parliament and support the government led by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse. Earlier there was speculation in political circles that he would join the Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF) to fill the post of leader of the UPF with the demise of its founder leader Periyasamay Chandrasekaran.
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SL Police arrest 6 traders in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 September 2010, 06:32 GMT]
Jaffna Traders Association (JTA) members raised strong protests against Jaffna police for taking law and order into their hands and arresting six traders in Jaffna city. In a meeting held Friday in JTA office, the association accused that the arrest was an act of revenge instigated by Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) administration. Heated arguments ensued in the meeting. Jaffna Mayor Ms. Yogeswary Patkunam of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) who was also present at the meeting assured the Association that acts of this nature will not take place in the future, JTA representatives said.
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FMM condemns arrest of printers producing posters against Rajapaksa's amendment

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 19:37 GMT]
The Free Media Movement on Friday condemned the arrest of the printer and seven workers of Sarala Graphics, Nugegoda, for printing a poster protesting against 18th Constitutional Amendment. On the night of September 7, 2010, as Parliament prepared to debate the Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the owner and press workers, including a woman, were arrested by the Sri Lankan police under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Meanwhile, Mangala Samaraweera, the head of UNP media unit, has claimed responsibility for printing the poster. Informed media circles in Colombo said Rajapaksa brothers have instructed their media to step up campaign against Mr. Samaraweera.
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Tamil asylum seeker in UK deported to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 17:15 GMT]
United Kingdom Immigration officials forcibly deported 31st August a Tamil youth from Sri Lanka who had sought political asylum in United Kingdom a year ago back to Colombo in a Sri Lankan Air Lines flight. The youth was detained in Katunayake International Airport on arrival for more than 24 hours and subjected to interrogation, his family members said. The youth whose fingers are inert due to injuries is admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital in a mentally affected state, hospital sources said.
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Average 12 persons commit suicide daily in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 13:32 GMT]
An average of twelve persons commit suicide in Sri Lanka everyday and ten times of that number attempt to commit suicide everyday, according to Lanka Sumithirayo, a counseling service and the VSO, an international development charity organization based in Colombo, quoting police reports to mark the International Day of Prevention of Suicide Friday.
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Samaraweera entangled in poster campaign against Rajapaksa - Dinamina

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 11:09 GMT]
Sri Lankan police have uncovered a 'clandestine' move to print several 'mudslinging' posters targeting Sri Lanka' President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Dinamina newspaper said in its lead story. Quoting police investigators, the article claimed that the group behind this attempt was opposition parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera. The order to print the posters has allegedly being given to a printing press with links to the Janatha Simukthi Peramuna.
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Explosion in Vanni SLA camp, 3 soldiers wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 09:25 GMT]
Three soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army were injured in a blast that took place Friday afternoon at SLA 211 headquarters in Vavuniyaa. It was an accidental explosion while soldiers were cleaning a detonator box in the camp, SLA spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala told media in Colombo.
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‘Tamil Youth Conference 2010’ held in Germany

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 08:11 GMT]
Many diaspora Eezham Tamil youths from European countries participated in the ‘Tamil Youth Conference 2010’ held Saturday in Dusseldorf in Germany with the aim of getting to know talented youths engaged in diverse pursuits and to set up a creative website connecting them. The participants shared their views related to the political situation in their homeland, the miserable life of the people there and the confusion prevailing among expatriate Eezham Tamils. The Conference is the outcome of the first effort to rally the diaspora Eehzam Tamil youths in a meeting without leanings to any particular organization, Sanjeevkanth Luxshumikumar, a digital media artist from Germany and one of the organizers of the event said. It is our intention to hold this conference annually and in a large scale, he added.
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Namal Rajapaksa to open Mihin Lanka Airlines office in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 05:39 GMT]
Namal Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lanka president and parliamentarian, is expected to open an office of Mihin Lanka Airlines in Jaffna Sunday. Mihin Lanka will begin a special flight service between Katunayake International Airport and Palaali Airport in Jaffna as Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence had given the Airlines permission to operate the local flight service, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, opposition parties allege that Mihin Lanka Airlines is a Rajapaksa family concern and that it has not paid millions of rupees due to Sri Lanka government for the fuel it had used in the past.
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SLA obstructs resettlement in Vadamaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 05:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has not permitted the families uprooted from Vadamaraadchi brought Thursday morning from Raamaavil and Kudaththanai camps in Thenmaraadchi to be resettled in their houses. SLA has instructed the families to stay in temporary interim camps in Vadamaraadchi East until their houses are renovated, Jaffna District Secretariat sources said. The families, now lodged in government buildings under the control of SLA, complain that they are unable to engage in fishing which is their main livelihood.
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'LLRC lessons advocate permanent subjugation of Tamils'

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 02:30 GMT]
LLRC, the Rajapaksa appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, is created “neither to learn lessons nor to reconcile but to make Tamils accept and tolerate the crime and cruelty of the Sinhalese and live with repression forever,” says a reader, Sam Thambipillai, in sending a comment on Jayantha Dhanapala’s submission to the LLRC. Colombo’s diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala, who once attempted to contest for the UN Secretary General position, in his submission to the LLRC last month said: “We have learnt a great deal of lessons from the experience of combating one of the most ruthless terrorist groups […] We would be providing something innovative to the international community […] to give some guidance to armies of nation states as to how they should react to such a situation”.
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ICRC to close Mannaar office end of November

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 September 2010, 16:44 GMT]
The Mannaar district regional office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is to be closed down at the end of November 2010, according to a news release by the ICRC. It will however continue to support communities that are being resettled in the area from its regional office in Vavuniyaa, which will also assist beneficiaries of the ICRC's Family Visits Assistance (FVA) programme, the release further said..
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Jaffna to get new prison complex

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 September 2010, 11:40 GMT]
A new prison complex with the capacity to accommodate one thousand inmates, in a land in extent of 2.5 acres belonging to the Prisons Department located in Pa’n’nai area in Jaffna, will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 272 million. Sri Lanka’s Cabinet Thursday gave approval to the above proposal submitted by Sri Lanka Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms D. E. W. Gunasekara.
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Next local government poll on mixed electoral system

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 September 2010, 11:27 GMT]
The next local government election that is scheduled to be held January next year in Sri Lanka will be under the First Past the Post System (FPTP), according to the proposal approved by the Cabinet Thursday. Sri Lanka Local Government Minister M. L. A. M.Athaullah tabled the draft proposal in the cabinet meeting Thursday with President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the chair.
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Some areas in Vadamaraadchi East to be declared HSZ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 September 2010, 03:01 GMT]
The uprooted families of Vadamaraadchi East ín Raamaavil and Kudaththanai camps who will be taken to Vadamaraadchi East Thursday will be first lodged in four government buildings and the families from Kaddaikkaadu and Vettilaikkea'ni areas will not be permitted to resettle in their own houses as these villages now occupied by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) are expected to be declared as High Security Zone (HSZ), Jaffna District Secretariat sources said. The uprooted families from these villages may have to remain in the government buildings and nothing can be confirmed about the resettlement procedure now, according to Maruthangkea'ni Assistant Government Agent Office sources. Meanwhile, Point Pedro-Maruthangkea'ni road through Naakarkoayil that had been closed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for the last fifteen years will be opened for public use Thursday from 7:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m, the sources added.
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SMS misstep reveals Colombo's information control

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 September 2010, 02:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka government’s information department on Wednesday sent out a premature SMS (Short Message Service) alert to all mobile phone users in Sri Lanka, announcing that the 18th amendment to the constitution was passed in parliament with the government obtaining a two thirds majority for the bill. The SMS alert was sent 30 minutes before the bill was actually taken up in parliament for voting.
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Fonseka refuses to seek pardon from Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 15:10 GMT]
Former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sarath Fonseka said that he had been approached by intermediaries of Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa urging him to ask the President for a pardon. “I told them that I will never do that,” Sarath Fonseka said at a media briefing held in the parliamentary complex Wednesday. Sarath Fonseka, leader of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and other MPs of the DNA participated in the media briefing.
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Six UNP MPs support Rajapaksa's 18th Amendment

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 13:29 GMT]
Six parliamentarians of the main opposition of United National Party (UNP) crossed over to the government benches while the debate on the 18th amendment to the constitution was in progress Wednesday evening.
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Debate on 18th amendment begins in Sri Lankan Parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 07:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s seventy nine year-old Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratna tabled the 18th Amendment to the constitution in Parliament Wednesday morning. According to the 18th amendment, the restriction of the two term executive presidency system is to be removed allowing the incumbent president to contest any number of times.
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SL Army, Archaeology dept appropriate lands of uprooted Tamils in Maathakal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 07:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka government’s archaeological department with the help of Sri Lanka Army is constructing more structures in Thirvadinilai in Maathakal in Vallikaamam North SLA High Security Zone (HSZ), in addition to a Buddhist temple erected in October 2009. This area had been the home of Tamil families living there since ancient times evicted twenty years ago when Valikaamam North HSZ was established by SLA. Now the families are not allowed even to see their own places in Maathakal while thousands of Sinhala Buddhist pilgrims visit the newly built temple daily which now has become a 'tourist attraction' in Jaffna peninsula, sources in Jaffna said.
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UNP to boycott debate on 18th amendment Wednesday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 06:36 GMT]
Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Tuesday announced in Sri Lanka parliament that his party would not attend the debate on the 18th amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka when it is taken up for debate on Wednesday. UNP parliamentarians led by Ranil Wickremasinghe thereafter walked out.
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SL parliament adopts emergency extension without voting

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 06:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Parliament Tuesday adopted a motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month without voting. Prime Minister D. M. Jayaretna tabled the motion seeking the approval of the parliament. Parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who were present in the house did not ask for division when the motion was put to vote.
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UNP MPs enter parliament clad in black

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 September 2010, 09:18 GMT]
Majority of parliamentarians of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Tuesday afternoon entered the parliament clad in black as a mark of protest in opposition to the 18th amendment to the constitution. One dissident parliamentarian of the UNP Abdul Cader of Kandy district was present in the house in his usual attire and not in black.
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Thousands attend Nalloor Thear festival

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 September 2010, 08:15 GMT]
The Thear (Chariot) festival of the historic Nalloor Kanthasuvaami Temple in Jaffna town was held Tuesday morning with at least a hundred thousand devotees from all over the island and abroad participating in the annual festival. The opening of A9 road had enabled the devotees to travel easily to Jaffna. Tamils and Sinhala people from South and expatriate Tamils in particular were among the thousands of devotees, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA Commander declines to comment on Jaffna GA’s announcement

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 September 2010, 05:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander Major Gen. Mahinda Kathurusinghe declined to endorse Jaffna Government Ms. Imelda Sukumar’s announcement that uprooted families from Valikaamam North SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) will be soon allowed resettlement in a recent meeting at Jaffna Veerasingham Hall, representatives of welfare organizations for uprooted families from Valikaamam North said. The GA is acting as if she is the spokesperson of Sri Lanka Defence Ministry, they accused. SLA Jaffna continues to deny permission for resettlement as Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa is unyielding in his decision not to permit resettlement in Valikaamam North HSZ, they said.
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TNA to vote against 18th amendment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 September 2010, 04:42 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that has a parliamentary strength of fourteen members Monday decided to vote against the 18th amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, according to Colombo media reports quoting TNA media spokesman and Jaffna district parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran.
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Pro-government left parties to vote for 18th amendment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 September 2010, 04:37 GMT]
The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL), Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP), constituents of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), Monday decided to support the 18th amendment in parliament. CPSL is led by Minister D. E. W. Gunasekara, LSSP by Minister Tissa Vitharana and NSSP by Vasudeva Nanayakara.
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Sivathamby denies involvement in Tamil writers conference

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 September 2010, 02:19 GMT]
Veteran Eezham Tamil scholar Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby, Emeritus Professor of Tamil of the University of Jaffna, Sunday denied a report that he had been in the forefront in organizing the so-called 'World Tamil Writers Conference' in Colombo scheduled for January next year. His denial was carried in the Sunday edition of a leading Tamil weekly, Thinakkural, published from Colombo.
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Devotees throng Nalloor Chappa’ram festival

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 September 2010, 16:59 GMT]
Devotees in their thousands from across Sri Lanka and abroad filled the temple precincts at the annual Chappa’ram festival of Nalloor Kanthasuvaami temple in Jaffna held Monday night. Jaffna peninsula devotees took part in greater number than they had in previous years, sources in Jaffna said. The Chappa’ram festival will be followed with Thear (Chariot) festival Tuesday and Theerththam (Water cutting) festival Wednesday.
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Deepening of fisheries jetties in Vadamaraadchi stopped

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 September 2010, 04:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka National Environment Commission (NEC) has stopped the deepening of the fisheries jetties in Vadamaraadchi saying prior permission had not been obtained from NEC. The deepening of the jetties had commenced after a long period. Fishermen societies in Vadamaraadchi said that they will gather fishermen to launch protest demonstrations unless Sri Lanka government finds a solution for the problem.
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NJ court dismisses 5 out of 7 charges against alleged fund raising by Tamils

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 September 2010, 02:02 GMT]
During the pre-trial phase of a lawsuit accusing two Tamils and a US-registered Tamil charity, Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) for allegedly providing funds to the Liberation Tigers which is listed as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)" by the US Department of State, and thereby aiding the Liberation Tigers in causing the death of several Sri Lanka civilians, U.S. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh dismissed all but two charges, legal sources in Washington said. The suit was filed by relatives of 24 Sri Lankan civilians under a 1789 US statute Alien Tort Claim Act (ATCA) for the alleged killing by the LTTE. Legal sources in Washington said that the plaintiffs face a difficult legal challenge to establish that the remaining two charges due to the higher thresholds of burden of proof demanded by the Court.
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Sri Lanka stifles attempts to investigate war atrocities - paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 September 2010, 19:06 GMT]
Comparing how the United States accounted any Vietnamese killed as Viet Cong, Peter Bouckert, in the British Daily Guardian said Sunday that "Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has taken such creative accounting to new heights. The United Nations reported that at least 7,000 civilians were killed and tens of thousands wounded during the final months of the brutal conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which ended in May 2009. But Gotabhaya has repeatedly cast aspersions on the idea that there were any civilian casualties."
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All island District Government Agents conference in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 September 2010, 15:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Public Administration Affairs Ministry held its first all island District Government Agents conference in Jaffna Monday in District Secretaiat hall at 9:00 a.m presided by Sri Lanka Minister of Public Administration, John Seneviratne. Jaffna Government Agent Ms. Imelda Sukumar told Tamilnet that past development activities in the North and future devolpment projects were discussed in the meeting. Allocation of funds for various projects was also considered, the GA said.
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174 Tamil youths disappeared in Vanthaa’rumoolai remembered

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 September 2010, 11:38 GMT]
Parents and relatives of one hundred and seventy four Tamil youths disappeared after arrest by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from Vanthaa'rumoolai campus of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka in Batticaloa district two decades ago held prayers in memory of them Sunday. SLA troops had come in buses and taken 158 Tamil youths by force from Vanthaa'rumoolai campus on 05.09.1990 and 16 youths eighteen days later on September 23.
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Boycott Colombo International Tamil Writers Conference - Tamil Nadu Creativists

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 September 2010, 06:36 GMT]
The Association of Tamil Creativists in Tamil Nadu against the Colombo International Tamil Writers Conference to be held in Colombo from 5th to 8th January 2011 has appealed to all Tamil writers to boycott the Colombo conference in a message to media released Tuesday in Chennai. Several leading Tamil creativists including writers, artists, film industry persons and journalists who took part in the Tuesday press meet have signed the appeal.
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Police arrest 2 JVP members in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2010, 16:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka police in Jaffna arrested two members of Janatha Vimukthi Party (JVP) while they were putting up posters against the proposed 18th Constitutional Amendment at Hospital Road junction in Jaffna Saturday early morning, sources in Jaffna said. One of the men arrested is Veeraraj Lalithakumar who had contested as the chief candidate of Democratic National Party of Sarath Fonseka in Jaffna district in the last parliamentary election and lost. The police had removed all the posters pasted.
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Uprooted families from Vadamaraadchi East, Pa’lai to be resettled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2010, 06:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka government authorities in Jaffna have announced that uprooted families from Pa’lai Divisional Secretary area and Vadamaraadchi East in Jaffna district will be resettled in their own villages 9 and 10 September. The announcement comes in the wake of the recent meeting held on this issue between Jaffna Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander and Jaffna Government Agent in Palaali Military head office. Though similar announcements had been made on resettling the uprooted families from Valikaamam North SLA High Security Zone earlier, so far they had not been allowed to resettle by SLA. The uprooted families now held in interim camps said that they will believe the announcement only when it becomes a reality.
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One-day debate, voting on 8 September in SL parliament

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2010, 05:12 GMT]
The 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill will be debated and put to vote 8 September in Sri Lanka parliament, according to decision taken at a meeting by the leaders of political parties represented in Sri Lanka parliament, presided by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.
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Opposition groups declare September 8 Black Day

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2010, 05:04 GMT]
Opposition parties’ Movement Against 18th Amendment stated that 8 September, the day Sri Lanka government tables the constitutional amendment bill in Parliament, has been declared a Black Day and that a protest demostration will be held at the Borella Ayurveda Junction in Colombo on the same day. The convener of the Movement described the amendment as “undemocratic” leading to dictatorship and said it should be defeated.
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No-confidence motion against SL Minister Peiris

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2010, 05:02 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) Friday handed over a No-confidence motion to Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa against Sri Lanka External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris charging him for the failure in handling international affairs.
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Re-examine claimed safety of refugee returnees, AI appeals to Australia

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 September 2010, 16:35 GMT]
“The Australian government must re-examine its claims that asylum seekers returned to countries they are fleeing from are not subjected to torture and mistreatment,” Madhu Malhorta, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Asia said in an appeal to Sri Lanka government Friday calling on it to ensure the safety of three men who have been tortured and jailed following their forced return from Australia where they had sought asylum in 2009. Three Sinhala men, two of them brothers, seeking asylum in Austarlia had been forcibly sent back to Sri Lanka by the Australian government.
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Ranil Wickremasinghe in India on official visit

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 September 2010, 09:02 GMT]
The leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremasinghe Thursday evening left for India on an official visit. He flew first to Chennai to meet Tamilnadu politicians soon after meeting the visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Ms Nirupama Rao in Colombo, sources in Colombo said.
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3 UNP MPs to support Rapajaksa's 18th Amendment

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 September 2010, 08:36 GMT]
Three parliamentarians from the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Friday announced in Colombo that they will support the proposed constitutional amendments. Badulla District Parliamentarian Lakshman Seneviratne and Polonnaruwa District Parliamentarian Earl Gunasekera made this announcement at a joint press conference. Meanwhile Galle District UNP MP Manusha Nanaykara also said he had decided to support the proposed constitutional amendment.
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SLA commander invites Indian Army commander to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 September 2010, 07:54 GMT]
Indian Army General Vijay Kumar Singh is scheduled to visit the island 05 September on a five day visit on invitation by Sri Lanka Army commander Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya.
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2 Eastern Province youths arrested in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 18:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) special police from Colombo arrested two youths from Eastern Province Thursday in Nalloor in Jaffna claiming they were robbers, Jaffna police sources said. Jaffna magistrate directed the police to place the youths in remand in Jaffna Prison for two weeks when they were produced in the court by Jaffna police.
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18th Amendment move reminds of Emergency Bill: Media movements

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 14:56 GMT]
Seven media associations in South have jointly opposed the proposed 18th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, describing the move as violating the freedom of expression on the part of the people. The proposals have not been discussed among the masses and it is a dangerous trend to make such amendments in the form of an Emergency Bill, said the joint statement issued by the movements. When the country requires a new Constitution to address the challenges faced by it, the amendments which further concentrate power seriously around one person, dismantling checks and balances on that rule taking an individual nature, would further establish this dangerous trend, the statement said.
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Rajapaksa blames opposition for 'aiding' LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 14:33 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has alleged that "some groups who said they did not have money to fight the war, and signed ceasefire agreements with the LTTE, had money to give the LTTE,” the Sri Lankan state-run paper Dinamina quoted Mr. Rajapaksa as saying in its front page lead story on Thursday.
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SLA deserters rob jewelry posing as Interpol officers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 12:22 GMT]
Kosawathe police in Chilaw district arrested Wednesday six deserters of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) including an officer who had robbed one million rupees worth jewelry from a woman who had recently returned from Middle East, posing as Interpol officers, the police said.
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Anglican Bishop: 18th Amendment will lead to destructive erosion of democracy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 10:13 GMT]
The 18th Amendment, proposed by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, if passed by the SL Parliament, will lead to destructive erosion of already fragile democratic culture said Rt. Revd Duleep de Chickera, the Anglican Bishop of Colombo in a statement issued Thursday.
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Properties of uprooted in Vanni plundered with SLA assistance

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 05:55 GMT]
Muslim and Sinhala traders from Southern Sri Lanka are actively plundering the properties abandoned when the people of Vanni were forced to leave them during war, with the assistance of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers occupying Vanni. The traders make huge profits transporting them in vehicles to Vavuniyaa, Anurdapura and Puththa’lam for sale. The plundered goods include iron objects, spare parts dismantled from abandoned vehicles, house fittings and other valuable things. SLA soldiers are given a percentage of the profits made by the traders for allowing them to plunder and transport the goods of the people in Vanni to the South, sources in Vanni said.
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Death sentenced man attempts to escape in Jaffna High Court

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 05:29 GMT]
An accused man sentenced to death for killing his son jumped down from the upper floor of Jaffna High Court in an attempt to escape when he was handcuffed and led to Jaffna prison by guards Wednesday. The seriously injured man is admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital, sources in Jaffna said. The death sentence was passed after four years of trials of the case in the courts in Jaffna.
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Nirupama meeting uprooted families in Champoor cancelled

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 04:48 GMT]
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao Wednesday visited Trincomalee and held talks with the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan and the Governor of Eastern Province at their respective offices. But her scheduled visit to Champoor in Moothoor East Wednesday was cancelled at the last minute. According to her program she was to meet uprooted people of Champoor now lodged elsewhere. The reason for the cancellation was not disclosed, Trincomalee sources said.
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Court decision on constitutional amendment sent to Speaker

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 04:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Wednesday sent its decision on the proposed constitutional amendments to the Speaker of the House, Chamal Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The decision would be announced in the parliament on September 7. The five-member Bench of the Supreme Court chaired by Justice Shiranee Bandaranaike went through the draft bill that removes the restriction of the two term executive presidency system and the introduction of a parliamentary Advisory Council replacing the Constitutional Council appointed under the 17th amendment of the Constitution.
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More than 25,000 war widows in Batticaloa district alone

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2010, 14:00 GMT]
“Estimates reveal that there are more than 89,000 war widows in the North and Eastern provinces and more than 25,000 of these widows are in Batticaloa district in the Eastern province,” Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa district parliamentarian P. Selvarasa said in a meeting of the War Victimized Women Association in Batticaloa. “Women have been victimized by war even more than by natural disasters and Sri Lanka government has failed to do anything constructive to improve their miserable living conditions though thirteen months have passed since the end of the cruel war,” Selvarasa said.
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UNP to oppose constitutional amendment

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2010, 11:25 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) Wednesday decided to vote against the proposed constitutional reforms in parliament. After the party’s working committee held Wednesday morning its leader Ranil Wickremasinghe told a media briefing that his party has decided to oppose the removal of two year term executive presidency system and the modification of the Constitutional Council system into a five-member parliamentary advisory council.
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Pro-government left parties to decide on constitutional amendment

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2010, 11:16 GMT]
The Combined Left Front (CLF) that comprises the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), Sri Lanka Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL)) and New Left Front (NLF) is to meet this week to take a final decision on the proposed constitutional amendments. “Final decision would be taken after meeting Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse to apprise him of their position and get his opinion on this issue,” veteran left leader Vasudeva Nanayakara who is currently a national list parliamentarian from the ruling party United Peoples Freedom Alliance, said.
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SL media curbed to publish news on military appointments, transfers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2010, 11:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Defense Ministry with immediate effect banned publishing news of all transfers and appointments of the military officers of the three armed forces, Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF). Media institutions have been asked to report on such transfers and appointments only with the approval of the Media Centre for National Security. Publishing such stories could lead to direct or indirect threat to national security and military officers concerned, according to a press release by the Defense Ministry.
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SLA soldier killed, 2 injured in Kandy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2010, 08:00 GMT]
A truck carrying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in Galagedera in Kandy Tuesday night ran off the road killing a soldier and seriously injuring two, Kandy police said.
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1215 uprooted civilians abandoned in Visuvamadu in Vanni - MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2010, 02:30 GMT]
1215 uprooted civilians from Vanni brought from the camps three months ago in the name of resettlement are held without any help in Visuvamadu area in Mullaiththeevu district, Suresh Premachandran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, who visited them Monday told media. Mullaiththeevu district Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities do not allow them to settle in their own lands in the district and the people abandoned by government authorities and humanitarian organizations are subjected to untold hardships. The families say that they will look after themselves if only they are allowed to settle in their own properties, the MP said.
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