German parliamentary delegation to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2010, 11:15 GMT]
A German Parliamentary delegation headed by Dagmar Ernstberger, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group on South Asia, will arrive in Colombo Tuesday on a four day visit for the first time after the end of the war to obtain a first-hand impression on progress made and of challenges ahead. The main objective is to gain first-hand experience on post conflict development activities in the country. They will also visit the Northern Province and inspect the de-mining activities and resettled villages, the German Embassy sources in Colombo said.
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Mavai Senathirajah refutes Jaffna GA’s statement on Valikaamam HSZ issue

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2010, 07:58 GMT]
“I am one of the victims uprooted from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone 20 years ago and the petition filed by me in court seeking resettlement is pending inquiry. It is ridiculous for Jaffna Government Agent Ms. Imelda Sukumar to claim that there are no HSZs in Jaffna peninsula,” Mavai Senathirajah, Tamil Natilonal Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarian said. Ms. Imelda Sukumar, speaking at the event of the handing over of furniture by SLA to Jaffna Teaching Hospital Saturday had claimed that there were no HSZs in Jaffna peninsula but only areas which need to be cleared of landmines.
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War affected women in North exploited by SL ministry agents

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2010, 06:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka government ministries affected by the slump in garment exports due to the loss of GSP Plus face an acute shortage of workers in the garment industries in the South. The workers, mostly women, have left due to drastic pay cuts. The ministries now attempt to lure war affected young women in the North to work in the garment factories in the South at much lower salary. In this context, two groups of young women from Thellippazhai and Uduvil Divisional Secretariat areas in Jaffna have been taken to Colombo Thursday by the agents of some ministries, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, an attempt to entice some war affected young women in Ki’linochchi in Vanni with employment by a company in Kandy with the intention of misusing them had been stopped with the timely intervention of local social activists.
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Eelam war damaged India’s reputation: Pinang Deputy Chief Minister

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 17:42 GMT]
India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Malaysian visit to inaugurate ‘Little India’ didn’t go well with Tamils, the predominant Indian community in Malaysia, said Prof. Ramasamy, Deputy Chief Minister of the Pinang State of Malaysia. The Indian High Commission and other agents of India tried to control the damage. India does not understand that the pernicious actions of India in Eelam have damaged the reputation of the government of India and the entire Indian establishment in the eyes of global Tamils. Before the mass murder in Eelam, Malaysian Tamils looked upon India as their saviour. Today, there is little or no respect for India in general and for the politicians in Tamil Nadu or in the Congress Party, Prof Ramasamy said.
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Tourists not allowed to visit Jaffna Public Library

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 17:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers posted at the entrance of Jaffna Public Library did not allow any of the tourists who wished to visit the library Saturday, sources in Jaffna said. SLA officials had informed the Chief Librarian of Jaffna Public Library that tourists will not be permitted to visit the library according to instruction issued by government authorities. This instruction had come in the wake of a gang of Sinhala tourists storming into the library and vandalizing the premises of the Thanthai Chelva memorial monument located next to the library last on 22 October. SLA authorities had posted four soldiers at the entrance of the library Friday to guard the library along with the guards of Jaffna Municipal Council Administration.
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Denmark Tamils take legal step to file war-crimes charges

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 16:25 GMT]
Bjørn Elmquist, a Danish attorney specializing in criminal law on crimes against humanity has written to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague Netherlands to bring war crimes charges against Sri Lankan officials alleged to have committed war-crimes against Tamils in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka. The legal effort is being initiated by three Danish Tamils and the Denmark Tamil Forum. The DTF officials told TamilNet that the Danish legal effort is being closely co-ordinated with the recent legal action undertaken by Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils (SCET).
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Internal fight among Nuraichchoalai Chinese workers leaves one injured

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 16:12 GMT]
One Chinese worker sustained serious injuries following a clash between groups of Chinese workers deployed by Chinese sub contractors in constructing the Nuraichchoalai Thermal Power Plant in Kalpiddi, sources in Trincomalee said. Five Chinese sub-contractors have undertaken the construction of the thermal power plant and have employed their own staff of Chinese workers.
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Police recover male corpse in Kalladi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 16:10 GMT]
Kaaththaankudi Police Saturday morning recovered the corpse of an elderly Tamil civilian, Michael Gnanapiragasam, 65, along the coast of Kalladi in Kaaththankudi police division in Batticaloa district. The deceased was a resident of Thiruchchenthoor, according to the Officer-in-Charge of the Kaaththaankudi Police Station.
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Court remands student leader, UNP condemns arrest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 13:48 GMT]
The Colombo Magistrate Friday ordered remand for Udul Premaratne, Convener of the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), a student front organization of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), till November 12. Premaratne was produced in court after detention and interrogation at the office of the Nugegoda Division Superintendent of Police.
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Rajapakse leaves for China

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 13:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse left Friday night on a two-day official visit to China to participate in the final ceremony of the Shanghai EXPO 2010. External Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris and his Secretary Lalith Weerathunge accompanied Rajapakse on the China visit. More than 20 world leaders are attending the final event of the EXPO 2010 fair, according to Chinese reports
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Argentina: a possible forum to prosecute war criminals

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 22:18 GMT]
In a notable reversal of roles Judge María Servini is taking steps, to litigate in Argentina's Courts, cases of torture, murder and disappearance of Franco's political opponents during Spain’s Civil War between 1936 and 1939. Such probes supported by universal jurisdiction, have long been exercised in Spain by the mercurial Judge Baltasar Garzón, whose case against Chilean General Augusto Pinochet in 1998 helped lead to the undoing of amnesties that had protected dictators. With Spain's judicial system imposing constraints on filing such cases, Argentina might become a suitable forum to bring charges against alleged war criminals in other parts of the world hiding behind the cover of diplomatic immunity, or by keeping UN silent using the support of other rights violator nations.
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Jaffna Public Library out of bounds to tourists

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 17:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials Friday informed the Chief Librarian of Jaffna Public Library that tourists will not be permitted to visit the library and that SLA soldiers will be posted outside it to maintain order, sources in Jaffna said. The officials who said that they had been instructed by high level government authorities did not, however, disclose who the authorities were. This instruction comes in the wake of a gang of Sinhala tourists storming into the library and vandalizing the premises of the Thanthai Chelva memorial monument located next to the library last Saturday. SLA authorities have posted four soldiers at the entrance of the library Friday.
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Supreme Court dismisses Sarath Fonseka’s petition

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 10:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Friday dismissed the election petition filed by Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka challenging the re-election of the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential election held on January 26 this year, without trial. The five-member bench comprising Chief Justice Asoka de Silva and Justices Shirani Bandaranaike, K. Sripavan, P. A. Ratnayake and S. I. Imam upheld the preliminary objection raised by the respondents including Mahinda Rajapaksa and decided not to hear the petition as the petitioner had not been able to name the respondents in proper.
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Police arrest University Student leader

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 10:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka police arrested Udul Premaratna, Convener of the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF), a front of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Friday morning shortly after a delegation of the IUSF met the leaders of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) at its Sri Kotha office. Premaratna was arrested by policemen in uniform outside Sri Kotha when he came out after having discussions with UNP parliamentarians Karu Jayasuriya, Tissa Attanayake and Ruwan Wijewardene.
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NP Governor retracts sudden transfer of Ki’linochchi Director of Education

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 05:59 GMT]
The education officials and principals of schools in Ki’linochchi district abstained from duties Wednesday in protest against the sudden transfer order to K. Kurukularajah, Zonal Director of Education in Ki’linochchi, by Northern Province Governor, Major. Gen. G. A. Chandarasiri. The governor, however, said that the transfer order has been immediately cancelled in a meeting he convened in Vavuniyaa Thursday, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The governor had also claimed that he had nothing to do with the sudden transfer order to K. Kurukularaja. Meanwhile, the protestors in Ki’linochchi said that Chandrasiri acts more like a military commander in performing his duties than as the governor of Northern Province. He had been the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander of Jaffna before being appointed as governor. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) too had joined in the Wednesday protest.
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Jaffna police unaware of whereabouts of abducted Tamil Nadu traders

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 05:26 GMT]
The officer-in-charge of Jaffna police said that he does not have any information of the textile traders from Tamil Nadu abducted Saturday morning in Jaffna town from the lodges they were staying in, in response to questions raised by local media. He declined to answer when asked whether the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers from Colombo had arrested them. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) spokesman in Colombo said that the traders may have been arrested for overstaying their tourist visa period. No official information about the abducted traders is available.
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Sri Lanka’s judiciary divided on Court Martial inquiry against Fonseka

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 04:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal Thursday referred to the Supreme Court for a constitutional interpretation whether the Court Martial is a legally bound court in respect of Article 89(d) of the Constitution. Meanwhile the two-member Bench of the Court of Appeal Justices Ranjit Silva and Upali Abeyaratne also on Thursday directed its Registrar to inform the President of the Court of Appeal Sathya Hettige to nominate a fuller bench to hold inquiry to hear the interim relief plea of Sarath Fonseka in view of the division of opinion among them on issuing an interim order.
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SLA targets prominent Tamil businessmen in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 12:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna has cast its net wide to arrest around 163 leading Tamil traders in Jaffna on charges that they had funded Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the past, Jaffna Traders Association (JTA) circles said. Some of them had been already arrested and detained after being interrogated in the notorious ‘Fourth Floor’ of the SLA Intelligence Wing in Colombo. SLA is engaged in rounding up the prominent Tamil traders claiming that it has evidence of their involvement with LTTE found in the statements of the traders in their detention, the sources added. The real motive behind this move is to cripple the prominent Tamil traders in Jaffna to eliminate them competing with the Sinhala traders who continue to invade Jaffna since the opening of A9 land route, JTA circles said.
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Thanthai Chelva memorial monument site in Jaffna vandalized

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 12:29 GMT]
The unruly Sinhala tourists who stormed into Jaffna Public Library Saturday are suspected to have vandalized the premises of Thanthai Chelva (Late Mr. S. J. V. Chelvanayagam) memorial monument located next to Jaffna Public Library, according to Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) circles in Jaffna. The plantain and coconut trees in the premises were found cut down and the flower plants in the premises trampled and damaged in acts of vandalism, they said. They alleged that on earlier instances the decorative palms in the premises had been plundered by Sri Lanka Armed Forces men and that some of them are now found planted in front of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) base in the islets of Jaffna.
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TNA files petition challenging Local Authorities Amended Bill

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 11:30 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Wednesday filed a petition in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court that the “Local Authorities (Special Provisions)” Bill seeks to amend the Municipal Councils Ordinance, the Urban Councils Ordinance and the Pradeshiya Saba Act No. 15 of 1987 while the “Local Authorities Elections (Amendment)” Bill seeks to amend the “Local Authorities Elections Ordinance” which cannot become law without the ratification of the elected Northern Provincial Council (NPC).
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CID arrests Sinhala youth over threat on President’s life

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 11:28 GMT]
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka Police Monday arrested a nineteen-year-old Sinhala youth at Matale in the central province over an alleged threat on the life of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, police sources said
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63 war-damaged Kovils in Trincomalee need urgent repair

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 01:09 GMT]
Sixty three Saiva Kovils out of the 343 in the Trincomalee district are in a state of repair as they have been partly destroyed or damaged in the conflict. They urgently need financial assistance for their reconstruction and renovation. A memorandum detailing the damages was handed over to the to Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, D. M. Jayaretna, by the leader of the Trinco delegation led by Mr. Arulsubramaniam, General Secretary of the Trincomalee Koneswaram Kovil, at a discussion over the state of affairs of Saiva Kovils in the district held at the Trincomalee district secretariat auditorium on Tuesday afternoon.
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Britain reiterates support for independent inquiry into Sri Lanka war crimes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 00:39 GMT]
British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday reiterated his government’s support for an independent inquiry into war crimes committed during the closing stages of Sri Lanka’s protracted war. Mr. Cameron comments on his government’s stance, made in response to a question from opposition MP Siobhian McDonagh, come a week after similar comments by British Foreign Secretary William Hague in the wake of his meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Prof. G. L. Peiris.
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Sinhala professors file petitions challenging the amended Local Elections Bill

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 16:51 GMT]
Two professors of Sri Lanka Peradeniya University have filed petitions in the Supreme Court separately seeking the court to declare the amended Local Government Authority Bill is contrary to the constitution. The petitioners Professors Navaratna Bandara and Ranjit Amerasinghe have named the Attorney General as the respondent.
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SLA claims removal of road blocks, check points in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 16:44 GMT]
The removal of road blocks and check points between Wellawatte and Bambalapity in the Colombo district commenced Wednesday. This is being done due to the improved security situation in the country and with the advanced surveillance system now put in place, according to media spokesman Major General Ubhaya Medawela to local media Wednesday morning.
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White van armed gang abducts Tamil Nadu traders in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 16:41 GMT]
An armed gang alleged to be operating with the Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) abducted Wednesday early morning the textile traders from Tamil Nadu staying in the lodges in Jaffna town, sources in Jaffna said. The abducted traders had not been produced in any of the court or police station in Jaffna peninsula until Wednesday night. The whereabouts of the abducted traders and their fate remains unknown.
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Undergrad Buddhist monks allegedly attack university officials

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 13:51 GMT]
A group of monk undergraduates of the Sri Jayawardenepura University in Colombo allegedly attacked some university officials, accompanying Vice Chancellor Dr. N. L. A. Karunaratne, when they visited the monk hostel on Sunday night, The Island reported Monday. According to the Vice Chancellor, the attack took place when he and the officials visited the hostel to inquire on a complaint they had received from the people of the area that their children could not study at night due to the din from the hostel.
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SLA, SLN take over lands of Muslims in Trincomalee district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 09:45 GMT]
Several acres of land belonging to members of Muslim community located in villages of Pulmoaddai, I’raakka’ndi, Nilaave’li and Pudaivaikkaddu in the north of the Trincomalee district are still under the control of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN). In Moothoor area several acres of lands belonging to Muslim farmers are still in the custody of the SLN. Hence farmers and fishermen of this community are not allowed to engage in their livelihood activities which have come to a standstill even after the war is over, R. M. Anwer, a councilor of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC), said.
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Controversy over ICRC employees giving tractors to Sinhala people in North

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 08:43 GMT]
The Governor of Northern Province, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, the former Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander of Jaffna district, has ordered SLA intelligence officers to probe into the allegation that ICRC employees in North had issued some of the two-wheel land master vehicles meant for the war affected farmers in the North to Sinhala men, sources in Jaffna said. But it is alleged that the Governor himself had instructed the employees to give the vehicles to Sinhala men. Meanwhile, the Governor is said to be very upset about photos appearing in various local and international websites and media showing the Chief of ICRC in the North shedding tears in the vicinity of a refugee camp and the inquiry launched by him is a but ploy to get hold of the persons who had sent the said photos to the media, the sources added.
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Sinhala fishermen invade Mannaar assisted by SLA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 08:13 GMT]
Sinhala fishermen from South Sri Lanka are allowed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupying Mannaar district to fish in Mu’l’likku’lam reservoir located in the area where local residents uprooted during war are not permitted by SLA to resettle, sources in Mannaar said. Hundreds of Sinhala fishermen from South with six cooler vehicles stay in Mu’l’likku’lam area and drain the tank dry of fish which they take to the South. Brigadier Nisanka Ranawana, the Commander of SLA 61 Division in Mannaar, is alleged to be the person who is instrumental in allowing the Sinhala fishermen to fish in Mannaar, the sources added. The sale of the catch from Mannaar sold in South brings quite a large amount of profit in the venture.
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Uprooted Mullaiththeevu detainees in Vavuniyaa demand immediate resettlement

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 06:40 GMT]
The uprooted civilians from Mullaiththeevu detained in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Menik Farm camp staged a protest demonstration refusing food in front of the camp Monday demanding the authorities to immediately allow them to resettle in their places in Mullaiththeevu district, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The situation turned tense when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers tried to scare the protestors away but the situation was brought under control due to the efforts of UNHCR personnel, the sources added. The protesters were forced to demand resettlement as living conditions in the camp had worsened due to problems arising between the government administrators in Mullaiththeevu and Vavuinyaa on the issue of the responsibility of looking after the people of Mullaiththeevu.
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6 Village divisions in Mullaiththeevu district declared as HSZ

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 06:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka President’s Action Committee and Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence have declared six Village Officer divisions in Mullaiththeevu district as High Security Zone (HSZ) of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Tuesday evening, according to the officials of Mullaiththeevu Government Secretariat. The above authorities have instructed the officials not to permit resettlement of uprooted families in the areas declared as HSZ. Puthukkudiyiruppu East and West, Mallikaiththteevu, Sivanakar, Aananthapuram and Manthuvil are the village officer divisions declared as HSZ.
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China campaigns to block UN War Crimes inquiry in Burma

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 03:13 GMT]
China has launched a diplomatic campaign to thwart U.S plan to back an international probe into possible war crimes by Burma's military rulers, Washington Post said in its Tuesday edition. China's U.N. ambassador, Li Baodong, paid a confidential visit to Ban's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, to make his opposition clear: The U.S. proposal, he said, was dangerous and counterproductive, and should not be allowed to proceed, sources familiar with the exchange told The Post. Not unlike Sri Lanka, according to the paper, Burma's ruling junta, has detained thousands of political prisoners many of whom have endured torture, inadequate medical care and even death.
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Tamil Nadu daily questions lack of solidarity from Indian opposition on ban controversy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 08:21 GMT]
Dinamani, a leading newspaper in Tamil Nadu in its editorial last Friday crticised major opposition political parties in India for not voicing for the Tamil people as the judge presiding over the last three debating sessions of the Special Tribunal to examine the legality of extension of ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had rejected any others except the LTTE to present their case while the ban on the LTTE is continously used as a pretext to arrest Tamil activists. The paper also questioned whether the Indian government would guarantee [former] LTTE members [from other countries] to appear before the Tribunal without facing arrest in India and present their case.
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Nurses stage token protest in major hospitals in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 06:44 GMT]
Medical nurses in ten major government hospitals in Sri Lanka abstained from duties for three hours Monday from 8:00 a.m to 9:00 a.m demanding Sri Lanka government to meet the four demands placed by their trade union. The nurses in Jaffna Teaching Hospital too took part in the token protest demonstration, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, the protesting nurses had sat in front of the National Hospital in Colombo Monday for an hour as a sign of their protest demonstration. The nurses will extend the boycott from duties in all the hospitals of the country if SL government fails to meet their demands, the sources added.
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SL government fails to help renovation of war destructed Saiva temples

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 06:22 GMT]
“Sri Lanka government has done nothing to help to renovate the places of worship of Tamil people destroyed during tsunami and war in the North and East,” Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa parliamentarian Pon. Selvarasa said speaking at an event in Thaazhangkudaa Sri Periyathampiraan temple in Batticaloa district. “Only five percent of the 500,000 rupees allocated by SL government to each parliamentarian under the annual budget could be spent on renovating temples. The requests by temple administrators to renovate their temples cannot be fulfilled by us completely,” Selvarasa said.
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Resettled families in North suffer without basic medical facilities

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 06:00 GMT]
The female patients of the families allowed to resettle in Ki’linochchi district are forced to travel a long distance to Jaffna or Vavuniyaa as there is no female medical specialist in Ki’linochchi government hospital, hospital sources said. Meanwhile, there is no hospital at all in Vadamaraadchi East where more than six thousand uprooted people had been allowed to resettle and the people have to come to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for treatment of all kinds of illness travelling a long distance, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka government which says that it is gradually improving medical services in the North has failed to provide even the basic medical facilities to the resettled people in Vanni and Vadmaraadchi East, the sources further said.
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SLA soldiers chase away resettled Tamil families in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 05:41 GMT]
Nearly a hundred Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers chased away Monday night more than fifty Tamil families who had returned after fifteen years to resettle in their lands in Vasanthapuram village in Ma’niam Thoaddam area located within Jaffna Municipal Council limits, sources in Jaffna said. The Sinhala families from South who had recently come to Jaffna seeking resettlement demand to be settled in Ma’niam Thoaddam which they claim as the lands of ancient Sinhala people, the sources added. The uprooted Tamil families had come to their lands Saturday and begun constructing sheds to live in.
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Former Chief Justice demands release of Fonseka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 04:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva Monday signed a public petition demanding Sri Lanka government to release Sarath Fonseka, the former Commander of the Sri Lanka from Welikada prison where the latter is serving a jail sentence on being found guilty by the Second Court Martial for involvement in politics while serving the army. The petition is to be submitted to Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa shortly. The event of signing the petition was held at J. R. Jayawardene Centre Monday, sources in Colombo said.
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Foreign remittances boost Sri Lanka economy, says state run daily

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 01:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka is expected to earn US $3.8 billion in foreign remittances by the end of the year from the Sri Lankan expatriates working abroad, an increase from the $3.3B received last year, the state run Dinamina newspaper said. The amount represents the largest remittance received by Sri Lanka in a single year, the article said.
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CID probes into Nuraichchoalai coal power plant fire

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2010, 10:19 GMT]
A team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka Police is probing into the mysterious fire that broke out Sunday at the Nuraichchoalai coal thermal power plant in Puththa’lam district. Sri Lanka Government Analyst too is sending in a team, a senior police officer said Monday. Meanwhile, it is reported that Chinese workers in the Nuraichchoalai power plant had protested Saturday about their salaries not being paid in time.
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Only 20% of vehicles abandoned during war can be returned to owners

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2010, 05:36 GMT]
Some of the vehicles abandoned by their owners during the war on Vanni are found fit enough to be handed over to the owners, Ki’linochchi Government Agent (GA) said. A team of motor vehicle inspection has identified 2050 motor cycles and 250 vehicles of other types as fit to return, the GA said. The owners have to produce a copy of the complaint made to local police and the documents of ownership to claim their vehicles.
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TNPF opposes new local government elections bill

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2010, 05:15 GMT]
Former Jaffna district parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said that Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) would oppose the proposed new local government elections bill by Sri Lanka government in a press briefing held at the party office in Jaffna Sunday. Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which had also expressed its strong opposition to the said bill will file a petition against it Monday in the High Court, according to the announcement made by TNA Jaffna parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah.
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Sri Lankan state paper highlights 'return' of Tamil refugees from India

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2010, 17:32 GMT]
67 refugees who fled to India during the war, have returned on October 21st, 2010, the state owned Dinamina newspaper said Sunday in a front page article. Meanwhile, Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu say they find themselves in a desperate situation either to face a long term genocide in the island by returning to the island to safeguard their lands from the Sinhala Army of colonisation. Informed media circles in Colombo said New Delhi was negotiating with Colombo on returning Tamil refugees.
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Jury finds Singaporean guilty of material support to FTO

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2010, 14:42 GMT]
Baltimore, Maryland jury Monday returned a guilty verdict on Balraj Naidu, a Singaporean tried in the US Federal Court for "providing material support" to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), after a trial that lasted four days. Sentencing is scheduled for 16th of December. Before being extradited to the U.S., Singaporean Government arrested Balraj and later released him dropping all arms procurement charges. The FBI listed the out come of the trial as one of the top ten news stories for the week.
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TID arrests DPF trade union secretary

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2010, 11:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Terrorist Investigations Department (TID) arrested L. Barathithasan, Trade Union Secretary of the Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) Saturday allegedly for aiding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. A team of the TID in charge of the Central Province took him to custody and brought him to TID headquarters in Colombo for interrogation, police said.
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Fire breaks out at Nuraichchoalai Thermal Power Plant

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2010, 11:31 GMT]
A major fire broke out at the Nuraichchoalai thermal power project in Kalpiddi in the Puththa’lam district Sunday early morning. An air force helicopter had been called into assist fire fighters to extinguish the fire from spreading. No workers at the site have been harmed by the fire, police said. A team of fire fighters from the Kalpiddi Naval base was rushed to the scene to assist the fire brigade, Navy Spokesman Captain Athula Senarath said. Meanwhile, media personnel and photographers who rushed to the area were prevented from getting closer to the site by the Chinese workers at the project.
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2 fishermen arrested in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2010, 05:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) occupying the islets of Jaffna arrested two fishermen on the seas of Ma’ndaitheevu in the islets of Jaffna Saturday for possessing an explosive device, sources in Jaffna said. The device is said to be a part of one of the unexploded shells found during war. The fishermen intended to use it in catching fish. SLN handed the fishermen to Jaffna police station where they are detained.
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Unruly Sinhala tourists storm into Jaffna Public Library

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2010, 05:00 GMT]
A group of Sinhala visitors from South on Saturday stormed into Jaffna Library while the All Ceylon Medical Association sessions were in progress. The group was from the Sinhala tourists who arrived Saturday in more than 30 buses at the main entrance of Jaffna Public Library. Despite a sign board in three languages – Sinhala, Tamil and English on display that no visitors will be allowed during the usual visiting hours (4:30 p.m to 6:30 p.m) due to the conference, the Sinhala visitors had demanded the security guard and the only unarmed policeman to allow them in, an eyewitness told TamilNet. Following heated argument the visitors smashed the sign board and overpowered the guard and stormed into the library where the seminar was in progress. The seminar which began Friday is to continue until Sunday.
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Paintings depicting horror of war on Vanni draw large crowds in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2010, 21:24 GMT]
A collection of paintings by Artist Kuzhanthaivelu Pugazhenthi titled ‘The Faces of War’, depicting the horror experienced by Eezham Tamils in its Fourth War and the heroic sacrifice and valour of Liberation Tigers, was exhibited in several places in Tamil Nadu from 11 May till September, beginning in Chennai. The exhibition was later held in Thanjaavoor and Thiruchchi drawing large crowds of people who also took part in the political seminars conducted at the venues of the exhibition. The French Cultural Centre in Chennai which usually caters to the upper class society which had first exhibited the paintings for ten days later extended it for another ten days due to the unexpected welcome shown by the people of Chennai, sources in Chennai said.
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Blast kills boy, 4 children wounded in Moothoor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2010, 12:58 GMT]
An eight year old boy, Mohajideen Zharwan, succumbed to his injuries after he, along with four others were when they were playing with an explosive devise that exploded Saturday morning near Moothoor jetty. The injured boys were admitted to the Trincomalee general hospital. All were from the Muslim community and were living with their parents at Thakwa Nakar, a suburb located close to the jetty in Moothoor.
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Daytime robbery in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2010, 06:28 GMT]
A gang of men robbed a house during daytime Tuesday in Kaatththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district when there was no one in the house, according to the complaint made to Kaththaankudi police by the owner of the house who is a male nurse in Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. The robbers had stolen 19 sovereign gold and cash more than 400,000 rupees. The robbers had come in a white van on the previous day of the robbery to the location to study the situation, according to a relative of the owner who was in the house at the time.
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SLA reluctant to disclose information of LTTE detainees in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2010, 06:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army did not disclose the number of ex-combatants of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) still held in the SLA special detention camp located in its High Security Zone in Thellippazhai in Jaffna when it allowed 23 female Liberation Tiger ex-combatants to join their families Friday evening. Sri Lanka Minister of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms D. E. W. Gunasekara who was the chief guest in the Friday event said that the released ex-combatants had undergone vocational training, sources in Jaffna said. However, SLA is reluctant to reveal the number of LTTE ex-combatants still held in the SLA special detainment camp. Families of the detainees still held in the special camp are in a state of anxiety and fear as they do not know of their fate, the sources added.
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Tissainayagam speaks at 2010 Mackler Award ceremony

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2010, 02:31 GMT]
2009 recipient of the prestigious Peter Mackler Award, Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, who was incarcerated in Sri Lanka prison for his writing, and was unable to receive the award in 2009, spoke at the 2010 Award ceremony held Friday at 6:00 p.m. at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. Tissainayagam was announced as the Award's first recipient on August 31, 2009, the same day he was convicted on terrorism charges relating to his work as a journalist. 2010 Mackler award winner is a 24-year old Russian, Ilya Barabanov, the deputy editor of the New Times, an opposition magazine in Russia. Tissainayagam was previously hailed by US President Barack Obama as an "emblematic example" of journalists who are persecuted for their craft.
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Millennium old Tamil inscription found in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2010, 00:53 GMT]
A stone slab having a Tamil inscription, clearly in the alphabet of the Chola times, was found in Trincomalee while digging for cricket stadium construction work recently. The land where it was found is a part of the esplanade, on the right side of the Koa’neasvaram Road leading to the Siva temple inside Fort Frederick and is adjacent to the bay where the temple’s Theerththam (water cutting) ritual is held. Sometimes back, a Buddhist Vihara and another structure called Sanghamitta Buddhist Rest were constructed at this place. The inscribed slab was taken into possession by the Trincomalee police and was sent to the Department of Archaeology in Colombo.
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CID arrests Vaazhaichcheanai PS Vice Chairman

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2010, 09:22 GMT]
A team of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of Sri Lanka Police arrested Tuesday Vadivel Ravichchandran, Vice Chairman of the Vaazhaichcheanai Pradeshiya Saba in Batticaloa in his private office. He is detained in the Nuwara Eeliya Police Station in the central province, according to his wife Selventhini. She had said that she visited her husband on Thursday in Nuwara Eliya Police station and she was unaware of the reason for his arrest and detention, according to her complaint to the Chief Minister of the Eastern provincial Council (EPC) Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan.
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2000 sq.kms in North remain to be de-mined - SLA

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2010, 09:20 GMT]
More than two thousand square kilometers (sq.km) of land in the Northern Province have to be cleared from land mines. About 1800 sq.kms have been cleared so far, Sri Lanka’s military spokesman Ubaya Madawela claimed.
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Manmohan Singh unworthy to open “Little India” in Kuala Lumpur – MMSP

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2010, 06:03 GMT]
The Malaysia Makkal Sakthi Party (MMSP) Youth Wing said that it does not want Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to open the “Little India” in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, according Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news report Wednesday. N. Ramu, the Youth Wing’s chief said that Manmohan was not the right person because of his government’s failure to protect the Tamils in Sri Lanka, the report said. “We feel that the New Delhi administration virtually did nothing to protect Sri Lankan Tamils. He just folded his hands and watched thousands of Tamils being killed,” Ramu had said.
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Civilians’ gold recovered from Vanni should be returned to them – Mano Ganeshan

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2010, 05:33 GMT]
Commenting on Sri Lanka government’s claim that its troops collected vast amount of gold jewelry during its war on Vanni, Civil Monitoring Commission chief Mano Ganeshan told AFP that, “We don't know where the military found this gold, but what is clear is that it belongs to Tamil civilians." Chief government whip Dinesh Gunawardena told parliament Wednesday that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops had collected gold items worth more than four million USD during the final months of the decades-long civil war last year and that they had been handed over to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. “The rightful owners of the gold are Tamil civilians and they should get their property back,” Mano Ganeshan told AFP.
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TNA appeals people to be aware of betrayers in East

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2010, 05:24 GMT]
“People should be aware of persons who betray the Tamils for petty concessions of Sinhala chauvinists,” Tamil National Alliance (TNA) key person in Ampaa’rai district, Chelliah Rasaiah, the Executive Director of Kaarainakar Pushpa Social Development Society said in a meeting held in Ampaa’rai by TNA to create political awareness among people, sources in Ampaa’rai said.
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UN War Crimes Panel solicits submissions on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 15:19 GMT]
A copy of a notice, purportedly issued by the United Nation’s War Crimes advisory panel on Sri Lanka, circulated in the internet, but not officially displayed in any of the UN’s website, requested “[o]rganizations and individuals” to send submissions to the Panel before 15th December 2010. Inner City Press (ICP), in its website said, UN Secretary General Ban’s acting Deputy spokesperson Frahan Haq has verified that the notice was authentic and was issued by the UN Panel. ICP expressed surprise at the unceremonial and “stealth” launch of the solicitation, and noted the lack of seriousness of the Panel’s mode of distribution of the notice, which appeared on the “comments section of a Sri Lankan website,” and another non-UN website.
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Confidential report on Devananda to Madras High Court

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 13:20 GMT]
A lower court in Chennai handed over a confidential report to the Madras High Court related to a 1994 order declaring Sri Lanka minister Douglas Devananda a “proclaimed offender” in connection with a murder case in Chennai in 1986, Press Trust of India reported Wednesday. Douglas Devananda had filed a petition in August seeking to set aside the lower court order declaring him as a proclaimed offender treating him as an absconding accused, it further said. Consequently Justice G. M. Akbar of Madras High Court had called for a report from the trial court on 22nd September 2010.
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Human corpse washed ashore in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 10:45 GMT]
Oorkaavattu’rai police recovered a highly decomposed human body which had been washed ashore Wednesday night near the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) base in Ma’ndaitheevu in the islets of Jaffna. The body is so decomposed that it is unable to determine its gender, the police said. The islets of Jaffna are under the total control of SLN. Police handed over the body to Jaffna Teaching Hospital mortuary where it remains unclaimed by anyone, hospital sources said.
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SL government to build star hotels in Vadamaraadchi coast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 10:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka government which had not allowed families uprooted twenty years ago by occupying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to establish its High Security Zone in Vadamaraadchi North has allocated funds for the construction of a star hotel in Kaangkeasanthurai for tourists from the South, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA in Vadamaraadchi have begun to warn of landmines in Vadamaraadchi area occupied by its personnel. This new move is a scheme to delay the resettlement of the uprooted families in Vadamaraadchi, the representatives of the Welfare Organizations for the Uprooted Families said.
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Power cut in Jaffna peninsula will continue – SLEB

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 10:19 GMT]
Jaffna Sri Lanka Electricity Board (SLEB) is forced to impose one hour power cut during nights in entire Jaffna peninsula as ‘Northern Power’, the Chinese firm which had entered into a contract to supply the electricity needs of the peninsula has failed to do so, its officials said. Though the officials had attempted to suspend the contract of Northern Power high level officers of Sri Lanka government had obstructed it. It is alleged that a large sum of money has been paid as bribe by Northern Power to obstruct the move to suspend its contract. SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother Minister Basil Rajapaksa is alleged to be using his influence to keep Northern Power in Jaffna despite its inefficiency, sources in Jaffna said.
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People not happy despite the end of war – European representatives

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 07:56 GMT]
The representatives of the British Parliament and Commonwealth Parliament led by Labour MP Paul Murphy who met Jaffna Government Agent and representatives of civil societies in Jaffna Monday said that from what they had heard from people and seen for themselves it was obvious that the people are not happy though the war has ended, according to Uthayan daily published in Jaffna. “Though the war had ended people are denied the freedom of movement and expression due to the Prevention of Terror Act (PTA) and the State of Emergency in force. The removal of these two acts can only bring complete freedom,” the civil society representatives had told the European representatives, Uthayan news report said.
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3 civilians injured in explosion in Ki’linochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2010, 05:24 GMT]
A landmine hidden under a destroyed building in Paarathipuram in Ki’lincochi exploded Monday around 5:00 p.m injuring three civilians who were removing the remnants of the building, the office in charge of de-mining, in Jaffna Secretariat said. One of the injured was transferred to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for further treatment from Ki’linochchi government hospital where the injured had been admitted.
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SL Muslim devotees on Hajj pilgrimage

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2010, 11:50 GMT]
The first charter flight comprising 357 Muslim devotees from Sri Lanka left for the Hajj pilgrimage on October 17th, the state daily, Dinamina newspaper said. According to the news article, a total of 5800 pilgrims from Sri Lanka will be going to Makkah in Saudi Arabia to perform the religious obligation of Hajj, which is one of the main pillars of Islam. This year, the Sri Lanka government has made arrangements to provide concessionary rate packages for all pilgrims in comparison to other years when each pilgrim had to pay as much as Rs. 525,000+ for the holy trip.
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Vadamaraadchi fishermen complain of intrusion by Sinhala fishermen

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2010, 05:29 GMT]
Fishermen in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied areas in Vadamaraadchi East in Jaffna peninsula accused the SLA officials for bringing in Sinhala fishermen from South who catch sea cucumber and conch shells in great quantities in the seas of Kudaththanai and Ma’natkaadu where local fishermen are not permitted to fish freely by the SLA. The Sinhala fishermen, numbering from 600 to 800 occupy the houses of local people who are not allowed to resettle in their houses by the SLA authorities, Vadamaraadchi Fishermen Society representatives said.
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SL Parliament extends state of Emergency

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2010, 04:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Parliament Tuesday adopted the motion moved by its Prime Minister to extend the state of emergency for another month by ninety votes. 118 parliamentarians of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its constituent parties voted for the motion. The members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) voted against the motion. The main opposition United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians abstained from voting. State of emergency is being extended every month by the parliament since August 2005.
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Explosive device found along A9 road in Maangku’lam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 18:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials suspended all traffic along A9 road in Maangku’lam Tuesday from 7:00 a.m to 8:30 a.m on finding an unexploded land mine along Mallaavi road from Maangku’lam junction. The vehicles were allowed to resume their journey after the landmine was exploded by SLA soldiers, sources in Vavuniayaa said. This incident had caused tension if Vavuniyaa where Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa was conducting a meeting in Vavuniyaa Joseph Camp of SLA.
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Revoke ban on Liberation Tigers: Activists in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 17:26 GMT]
Political activists in Tamil Nadu organized a meeting Tuesday evening in Chennai Press Hall to collect signatures demanding Indian Government to revoke the ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, sources in Chennai said. Hundreds of persons including Lawyers, Law students and political party leaders and supporters joined in the campaign and set their signatures on the memorandum which was written on a 50 m long banner. The meeting was initiated and organized by Cinema director Pukalenthi Thangaraj.
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Batticaloa Court orders removal of ineligible occupants in Muslim colony

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 16:55 GMT]
Batticaloa District Court ordered the Secretary of Ma’nmunaipattu to immediately remove all who are not eligible reside in the Muslim Colony for tsunami victims established in 2004 in the lands of Tamils by M. L. A. M. Hisbulla when he was the Minister of Post and Telecommunication during former Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaranatunge with funds from Kuwait government. The owners of the land encroached for the Muslim colony had filed petition against the Muslim colonization scheme and M. L. A. M. Hisbulla who is a Deputy Minister in the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) now. Directed by the court, the Secretary of Ma’nmunaippattu, Ms. Pathmarajah had written to the ineligible occupants to vacate before 11 November.
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IUSF stages protest against police assault on journalists in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 12:23 GMT]
Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) and media rights groups staged a protest demonstration at Lipton Circus in Colombo Tuesday against police assault on media persons covering the protest march of IUSF Thursday in Colombo. The students were protesting outside the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education to demand the release of a group of student activists from Sri Lanka’s Peradeniya University, who were imprisoned after booing the Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake on a recent campus visit. Twenty-one students arrested at the protest will face court on October 29, according to media reports.
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Identify murderers of Tamil journalist, RSF appeals to Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 11:33 GMT]
Expressing hope that the Government of Sri Lanka will launch an investigation to identify the murderers of Tamil journalist Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan, who was gunned down on 19th October 2000, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), cautioned that "[r]econciliation in Sri Lanka will require tough government initiatives to combat impunity in high-profile cases such as Nimalarajan’s murder, one of the most shocking killings of the past decade."
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SL Resettlement minister meets Sinahala families claiming resettlement in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 05:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka minister of Resettlement Affairs, Milroy Fernando, on a special directive of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid a sudden visit to Jaffna Monday to meet the Sinhala people brought into Jaffna by Sri Lanka government claiming resettlement in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The minister assured the Sinhala families now lodged in the old Jaffna Railway Station that their problems will be solved within the next three months. Meanwhile, some of the Sinhala families have been allowed to erect shelters in vacant lands adjoining some of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps in Jaffna town, the sources added.
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Amnesty urges Hague on independent probe into Sri Lanka war crimes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 05:23 GMT]
Amnesty International Monday urged British Foreign Secretary William Hague to demand an independent international investigation into alleged war crime abuses in Sri Lanka when he meets his Sri Lankan counterpart, Professor GL Peiris, in London Tuesday. Amnesty also said it has “huge reservations about the effectiveness” of both Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), and the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon’s Panel of Experts set up to look into the reports of war crimes.
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Mahinda Rajapaksa shuns North TNA parliamentarians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 05:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has failed to invited the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians of the North to a meeting related to ‘Development of North’ in Vavuniyaa Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Joseph Camp Tuesday, deliberately keeping away the elected representatives of the people from participating in the meeting, TNA parliamentarians of North accused. The participation of the elected representatives is crucial as issues of Sinhala colonization in the North, refusal to resettlement of uprooted Tamils in their own properties and similar matters are to be explored in Tuesday meeting, they said. Purposely shunning the democratically elected representatives from participating in decision making meetings by Sri Lanka government reveals how very much it discriminates the Tamils, TNA MPs said.
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SLA, police harass ex LTTE members in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2010, 15:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police personnel collect details of persons who had been members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and ex-combatants who had surrendered themselves and later released in Batticaloa district and use the information to check on them house by house subjecting them to harassment in the name of interrogation, P. Ariyanenthiran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa district parliamentarian said. The families of LTTE war heroes are also harassed by the police and SLA soldiers, according to complaints made to him by the affected persons, the MP said.
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Mannaar Tamil village faces extinction due to illegal sand mining

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2010, 08:49 GMT]
Oalaiththoduvaay, a traditional Tamil village on the coast of Mannaar district faces extinction due to illegal sand mining by a group of Sinhala men from the southern province. A Sinhala man who had bought a piece of land in Oalaiththoduvaay has allowed illegal sand mining. Residents of the village said that if the transport of sand in large number of tippers is allowed the village will be facing sea erosion that could wipe out the village.
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Sinhalicisation of Jaffna disguised as resettlement

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2010, 04:41 GMT]
Sinhala people from various parts of Sri Lanka brought into Jaffna peninsula by Sri Lanka government claiming resettlement has raised suspicion of Sinhalicisation in the name of resettlement among the residents of the peninsula, civil societies said in a message to local media Sunday. Sinhala and Muslim people who had resided in Jaffna peninsula before displacement are welcome to resettle providing they produce the legal documents for their properties in Jaffna peninsula, the message said. Attempting to encroach the lands near Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps in the peninsula to settle Sinhala families will only lead to ethnic confrontations, the message further said.
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UNP leader Wickremasinghe, SL Minister Peiris visit Britain this week

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2010, 04:09 GMT]
Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), is scheduled to leave for tour in Europe Sunday evening. During his stay in London he is expected to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Affairs Minister William Hague. He is also expected to meet the leaders of the main opposition Labour Party, UNP sources said. He is also to visit Norway and to hold talks with Norwegian Minister of International Development Eric Solheim.
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SL Police identifies body washed ashore in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2010, 02:48 GMT]
One of the two bodies of young men found in Wellawatte beach was identified as that of Ramakrishnan Sandanakumar from Rangala state plantation who was employed in a shop in Wellawatte, according to Wellawatte Police. The second body is yet to be identified. Police found the bodies washed ashore on Sunday morning, one of the bodies near a naval camp located in the area and the other body near the Wellawatte railway station.
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Amnesty to begin campaign on SLA execution of Trincomalee students

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 October 2010, 18:41 GMT]
With the fifth anniversary of the massacre of five Tamil students in Trincomalee beach by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers approaching on January 2nd, Amnesty International (AI), the human rights watchdog has embarked on a postcard campaign "to use this case as an example of the ongoing lack of accountability in Sri Lanka," according to the U.S. Director of Amnesty Jim McDonald. AI researchers plan to use the campaign as the focus of a broader effort to highlight the need for an independent international investigations into Sri Lanka's war crimes.
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Broke no Singapore laws, defendant testifies in Maryland case

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 October 2010, 12:11 GMT]
While being cross examined by US Prosecutor, the Singaporean being tried in Baltimore Federal Court for material support to a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), Balraj Naidu, said that Liberation Tigers were engaged in a "civil war" with Sri Lanka Government, LTTE was not listed as a terrorist organization in Singapore, and that he was arrested but later released when Singapore court dismissed all arms procurement charges. The US Government produced more than 100 e-mails to establish Naidu was part of the conspiracy, and Naidu admitted that he participated in the early part of the group's attempt to procure arms, but denied that he had knowledge that LTTE was listed in the US list of FTOs.
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Amended Local Authorities Elections Bill goes to PCs for ratification

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 October 2010, 10:14 GMT]
The Local Authorities Elections Amendment Bill has been sent to Provincial Councils for their ratification. Provincial Councils that have elected administration are scheduled to meet next week to study the Bill and to express their consent or not. The Bill is to be taken up for perusal at a special meeting of the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) that is scheduled to meet on October 19. Western Provincial Council is to meet on October 17. Likewise other elected PCs have also fixed dates to study the amended bill. The Northern Provincial Council, however, has no elected administration and is administered by the Provincial Governor who is a retired Major General in the Sri Lanka Army.
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Police arrest 4 youths with T56 rifles in Kiraan in East

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 October 2010, 10:03 GMT]
Vaazhaichcheanai Police arrested four youths in Kiraan in Batticaloa district with T 56 rifles. They are alleged to have been involved in several robberies and house breaking thefts in the area, police said. The four youths were taken into custody Friday and are detained in Vaazhaichcheanai police for interrogation.
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Local authorities warn of landmine danger in Pachchilaippa’l’li in North

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 October 2010, 05:04 GMT]
Pachchilaippa’l’li Piratheasa Chapai officials have warned the people allowed to resettle in their area by Sri Lanka government to be extra cautious of unexploded devices advising them not to burn the rubbish but to burry them to avoid being injured by them, sources in Jaffna said. This warning comes despite Sri Lanka Army (SLA) allowing resettlement in the area claiming that de-mining of this vast area including Pazhai and Iyakkachchi had been completed. A youth was seriously injured in Iyakkachchi Wednesday when he set fire to the rubbish heap in his compound. Sri Lanka government local officials too have warned the people of this area to be aware of the danger of landmines and other explosive devices that are found in this area.
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Civilian dies in accidental police firing in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 16:22 GMT]
A thirty-year-old civilian of Munaikkaadu in Batticaloa district died due to gunshot injuries Friday night while a team of police personnel went to Muthalikkudaa to arrest a suspect involved in arson. While members of the police team and two others in the area were engaged in a heated argument, the rifle in the hand of a police officer had accidentally gone off wounding the deceased, police sources said.
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UPF general secretary Vijayakumaran passes away

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 16:17 GMT]
S. Vijayakumaran, General Secretary of the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF) passed away Saturday morning following a heart attack. He died while being rushed to the Dickoya government hospital. He was fifty-five years of age. He was a founder member of the UPF. UPF founder leader Periyasamy Chandrasekaram also had died of heart attack earlier.
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‘Sinhala Only’ imposed on name boards in East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 08:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka government Road Development Authority (RDA) in Eastern Province using only Sinhala language in the name boards reveals the intention of Sri Lanka government to impose the ‘Sinhala Only’ Act again, Batticaloa residents said. The name board of the road to Vaakarai from Batticaloa is written only in Sinhala language and despite the request made by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa parliamentarian Pon. Selvarasa to RDA to include the names in Tamil and English languages in August in the Vaakarai Development Meeting, the name board remains with the Sinhala name only.
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Uprooted families due to SLA offensives in East denied assistance

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 06:48 GMT]
Vanthaa’rumoolai Village Development Society president, bearing witness before Sri Lanka President’s Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) in Chengkaladi Divisional Secretariat in Batticaloa said that even basic facilities are denied to the families uprooted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensives, now resettled. Ms. Subramaniam Vijayaladchumy, the president, told the LLRC that paddy fields and lands of Tamils in Chengkaladi Divisional Secretariat area are being encroached by Muslims and requested the LLRC to take action to stop the encroachment.
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De-mining in Vanni delayed by lack of funds

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 06:12 GMT]
International organizations including European countries limiting their funds to the organizations engaged in de-mining in Vanni has resulted in the delay of de-mining projects in the war ravaged Vanni, Jaffna District Humanitarian De-mining Coordination Office authorities said in a press meet held in Jaffna Secretariat Friday to explain the cause of the delay in de-mining activities in Vanni. Meanwhile, most of the landmines in Vanni had been sown by Sri Lanka Government while the majority of them are found to be products of Pakistan and USA, the officials said.
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Villagers stop illegal sand excavation in Vadamaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 05:46 GMT]
The people of Kuddaththanai East in Vadamaraadchi protesting against the illegal sand excavation in their villages by persons of ‘Maheswary Funds’, an organ of Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), stopped the men and vehicles excavating Friday, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. Indiscriminate excavation of sand has caused seepage of sea water into their village submerging the public crematorium and the villages too will be submerged if the sand excavation is not stopped, the protestors said. Maheswary Funds representatives joined by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) personnel and EPDP men who arrived at the scene had to agree to suspend the excavation for two days. The villagers will continue their united protest unless the excavation is stopped completely, the protestors said.
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Appeal Court instructs AG to ensure Fonseka’s presence in court

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 04:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal Friday instructed the Attorney General to ensure the presence of Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of Sri Lanka Army in court when his writ application against the First Court Martial decision to strip him of the rank of General is taken up for inquiry on the next date. The Bench comprised Judges Rohini Marasinghe and Upali Abeyratne. Sarath Fonseka was not present in court Friday.
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Fonseka vows to break out of prison to protect masses

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 04:55 GMT]
Sarath Fonseka, former commander of the Sri Lanka Army while leaving the Colombo High Court Friday told media persons gathered there that he along with others remanded in prison by Sri Lanka government are prepared to break out of prisons and protect the people. He has been indicted in the trial at bar of the High Court for causing disrepute to the government by giving an interview to the Sunday leader.
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Kandy court orders remand for UNP MP in defraud case

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 October 2010, 04:53 GMT]
Kandy Additional Magistrate Thanuja Jayatunge Friday ordered remand till October 18 for Ranjan Ramanayake, Ratnapura district parliamentarian of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) when he was produced in court on a complaint of defrauding one million rupees from a female teacher on the promise of marriage. He was arrested in Colombo Thursday afternoon and later taken to Kandy where the complaint was lodged.
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US War Crimes Unit receives list of Sri Lanka's missing Tamil surrendees

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 21:32 GMT]
Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group, submitted to the War Crimes unit of the U.S. Department of State, a list of persons known to have surrendered to the Government of Sri Lanka forces in the final stages of the war in the first five months of 2009 and who remain missing in custody as of October 2010. The list was compiled from witness statements and interview data collected by Tamil Diaspora groups in the UK.
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Mahinda Rajapaksa’s effigy burnt in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 10:38 GMT]
Political parties including Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam, Viduthalai Chiruththaikal Kadchchi and supporters of the people of Tamil Eelam burnt the effigy of Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa in several places in Tamil Nadu Thursday protesting against Indian government for having invited Mahinda Rajapaksa as an Honoured Guest on the final day of the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, sources in Chennai said. The protestors carried out their demonstration defying the ban on the demonstration imposed by Tamil Nadu police. Vaiko, the leader of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) vehemently condemned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi for having invited Mahinda Rajapaksa in the demonstration in Koavai.
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Sri Lankan police fail to protect harassed female ex-combatant

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 09:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka police in Veala’nai in the islets of Jaffna have ignored the complaints made by a former underage female member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on attempts made by a gang of ten men on 09 October to abduct and sexually abuse her in her relative’s house in Veala’nai. IOM and UNICEF officials who had facilitated her release from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention camp and placed her in the custody of her relatives too have not taken steps to protect her from being intimidated by her tormentors even in Jaffna Teaching Hospital where she is admitted for treatment, the girl said. The family members who had given her refuge had been attacked by the gang and injured when they tried to protect the girl.
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EP Chief Minister abets appropriation of Tamils’ lands – TNA parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 07:30 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa district parliamentarian P. Selvarasa accused the Chief Minister of Eastern Province, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias (Pillayan), for not taking any action against lands belonging to Tamils being encroached by Sinhala and Muslim people. Selvarasa, speaking as the chief guest in an event of the release of a CD titled ‘Gone with the Waves’ in Periya Kallaa’ru in Batticaloa district, raised the accusation. Repeated complaints made to the Chief Minister remain ignored as the colonization of Sinhala and Muslims in the lands of the Tamils continue unchecked, the MP said.
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Canada will urge SL to propose solution to ethnic issue

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 06:24 GMT]
Canada Deputy Ambassador in Sri Lanka, Mr. Tred Jacques, who is on a visit to Jaffna told the representatives of the Jaffna district Committee for Peace and Goodwill (CPG) that Canada will continue to urge Sri Lanka government to forward a solution to the ethnic issue when he met them at Jaffna Bishop House. Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna presided over the meeting with the visiting emissary, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, a delegation of the Inter Religious Assembly for Peace (IRAP) from South consisting Buddhist priests inaugurated a branch of IRAP in Thiruma’rai Kalaamant’ram Hall in Jaffna Thursday in an event presided by Prof. Pon. Balasundarampillai, former Vice-chancellor of Jaffna University. More than a hundred Buddhist priests participated in the inauguration.
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SL government sabotages IUSU activities in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 05:36 GMT]
Inter University Students Union (IUSU) representatives accused Sri Lanka government and the Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) for sabotaging their activities in Jaffna peninsula. Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) administration had cancelled its permission for a film show that was to be held in Nalloor Naavalar Cultural Hall on 15, 16 October by the Socialist Youth Organization (SYO), an organ of IUSU, instigated by Sri Lanka government, the representatives said. Meanwhile, SYO representatives alleged that SLA intelligence unit men had attacked Uthila Premaratne, the president of IUSU and stolen his phone and camera in Koappaay in Jaffna Tuesday as he was returning to Colombo after holding a press meet in Jaffna town.
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Sri Lanka PAC to meet next week

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 04:24 GMT]
The inaugural meeting of the Parliamentary Advisory Council (PAC) established under the 18th Amendment in place of the Constitutional Council, is expected to be held next week, according to the Secretary General of Parliament, Dhammika Kithulegoda. Meanwhile, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, confirming that the PAC had duly been established, said the filing of names to establish the seven independent commissions was almost complete and would be gazetted shortly.
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New SL Ambassadors to France, Italy

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 04:19 GMT]
Dayan Jayatilake has been named by the Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry Thursday as the new Ambassador to France as the incumbent Lionel Fernando is to relinquish his post at the end of the year. Asitha Perera has been named for the Ambassador post in Italy. He is to take over from the incumbent Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, President Counsel by the end of the year.
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Ratnapura UNP parliamentarian arrested on cheating complaint

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 04:15 GMT]
Ranjan Ramanayake, Ratnapura District United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian was arrested Thursday evening by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on a complaint that he had cheated a female teacher of a Kandy school by obtaining about one million rupees on the promise of marriage. He was taken to Police Headquarters for further inquiry from a home of his friend, police sources said.
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HRW, ICG, Amnesty reject invite, slam LLRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 15:25 GMT]
Three leading international organizations will not accept an invitation to testify before a Sri Lankan government commission because it lacks the ability to advance accountability for war crimes, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, and Amnesty International said in a joint letter to Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission that was released Thursday. The LLRC was set up by President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government, whose military campaign against the Liberation Tigers concluded in early 2009 with the massacre in systematic shelling of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians. “"This Commission is nothing more than a cynical attempt by Sri Lanka to avoid a serious inquiry that would bring genuine accountability,” HRW’s Kenneth Roth said.
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Abducted Tamil jeweler released on payment of ransom, in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 09:45 GMT]
The unknown persons who had abducted the owner of a jewelry shop in Sea Street in Colombo Wednesday around 7:15 p.m on Green Street in Kotahena released him around midnight after his family members paid the demanded ransom of 50 million rupees, sources in Colombo said.
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Tamil man found dead in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 08:25 GMT]
Kalmunai police recovered Thursday morning the body of a Tamil man from the bank of a river in Cheanaikkudiyiruppu in Kalmunai police division in Batticaloa district.
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Fisherman gone missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 08:23 GMT]
A fisherman has gone missing and another reported to have swum ashore safely when their fishing boat collided with a Sri Lankan Navy patrol boat five miles off the coast of Dehiwala in Colombo district Wednesday night. The fishing boat sank after breaking into two, police sources said.
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Sri Lanka’s defense ministry 2011 allocation increases

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 08:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Defense Ministry is to get 214 billion rupees for the year 2011, according to Appropriation Bill approved Wednesday by Sri Lanka Cabinet chaired by the Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This is an increase from the Rs. 201 billion allocated for the current year. According to the Bill the government had apportioned Rs. 75 billion for the Economic Development Ministry, Rs. 62 billion for the Health Ministry and Rs.31 billion for the Education Ministry.
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Complaints against SLA, paramilitary groups made to LLRC in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 06:00 GMT]
Majority of the complaints made to Sri Lanka President’s Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) in Eastern Province are related to persons disappeared after arrest by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence Unit personnel, and the paramilitary groups of Pillayan (Eastern Province Chief Minister) and Karuna (Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Resettlement), sources in Batticaloa said. 490 complaints had been made to LLRC Monday in Chengkaladi Divisional Secretariat and six of them were confidential. Meanwhile, the families of disappeared persons in Batticaloa district accused that the LLRC has narrowed down its scope of action only to a selected number of years thus conveniently keeping out the genocide of Tamils in several villages of Batticaloa district in which hundreds of persons had been taken away by Sri Lanka armed forces and the paramilitary groups that operate with them.
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Police instructs Tamils in Colombo to register their presence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 05:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka police conducting a search in Narahenpitiya Flats in Colombo instructed the Tamil residents to register their presence anew with the police. They told the residents that application forms are available in all the police stations in Colombo and all Tamil residents should register the presence of all the persons living in their houses with their respective police stations. Though the war has ended Sri Lanka government imposes similar conditions only on Tamils every time the State of Emergency in extended in Parliament causing nervousness, fear and dissatisfaction among them, Tamils residents in Colombo said.
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Court orders TV viewing privileges to Fonseka in prison cell

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2010, 02:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ordered the Welikada Prison administration to allow former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka to view televison programs in his prison cell. The order was made to the Prison Chief following a submission by Fonseka’s lawyer this week, Sinhala daily Dinamina said.
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Youth injured in landmine blast in Pazhai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 15:27 GMT]
A landmine in an area declared demined and allowed for resettlement by Sri Lanka government in Iyakkachchi in Pazhai in Jaffna district exploded Wednesday morning seriously injuring a youth when he tried to set fire to the rubbish heap in his compound, sources in Jaffna said. The youth was first rushed to Pazhai government hospital and later transferred to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for further treatment. The demining is done by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) units in the above area.
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Mahinda Rajapaksa leaves to New Delhi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 07:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to leave for India Wednesday evening to participate in the finals of the Commonwealth Games now being held in New Delhi Thursday as the guest of honor. External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris is to accompany him. Rajapaksa is to hold discussion with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his stay in New Delhi.
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North ‘Development’ meeting to be held in Vavuniyaa SLA Headquarters

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 07:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to preside over the Northern Provincial Development Committee meeting on October 19 in Vavuniyaa. The venue of the meeting is the regional headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) located in Vavuniyaa. Similar development committee meeting for the Eastern Province was held in the Naval Headquarters located inside Trincomalee Naval Dockyard recently.
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USTR explores investment possibilities in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 06:52 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Ambassador to United States, Jaliya Wicramasuriya brought a team of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for South and Central Asian Development Tuesday to Jaffna to explore into the possibility of trade investments in Jaffna peninsula. The USTR team met the representatives of Jaffna Traders Association and Sri Lanka National Chamber of Commerce in Jaffna Public Library Tuesday. Northern Province Governor Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, Sri Lanka minister Douglas Devananda and Jaffna Mayor were some of the persons who were present in the meeting. US is also trying to initiate its trade activities in Jaffna peninsula which is already teeming with show rooms displaying Indian products while imported Chinese goods are available in large quantities in Jaffna peninsula and Vanni, Jaffna Traders Association circles said.
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IUSU demands release of Northern youths detained or disappeared

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 06:00 GMT]
Inter University Students Union (IUSU) president Uthila Premaratne said that a demonstration demanding the release of young men and women of the North detained by Sri Lanka government or gone missing is to be held in Jaffna, in a press meet in Jaffna town Tuesday. He appealed to the families of the youths detained or disappeared after arrest by Sri Lanka armed forces to join in the protest demonstration that is to be held in Jaffna in the end of October. Similar demonstrations will be launched in Colombo, he said. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers had interrogated the media men and local daily reporters who attended the press meet. It is also alleged that the CID officers had intimidated the owner of the lodge where the IUSU group are staying in, media sources in Jaffna said.
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Rajapaksa to form new cabinet after swearing in for second term

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2010, 04:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday indicated that a fresh cabinet would be formed after him being sworn in for the second term on November 19. He revealed this at a conference held Tuesday at Temple Trees while addressing Trade unions’ representatives, sources in Colombo said.
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SLA continues to limit number of students into VMMV College in Palaali HSZ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2010, 06:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Palaali High Security Zone (HSZ) permitted only three upper grade classes to function in a small section of Vasaavi’laan Maththiya Makaa Viththiyaalayam (Central College) located in Palaali military HSZ in an event Monday when the building was officially handed over to the school administration. Though Sri Lanka government had handed the entire school officially in an event held with much publicity in September, SLA officials had later not allowed the school to reopen claiming that land mines in the location have to be removed. The principal of the school said that so far he has not been informed as to when the other classes would be permitted to attend classes. However, he confirmed that renovation of the school buildings is under way.
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Northern ‘Development’ Meeting to be held in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2010, 05:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to hold the ‘Development’ Meeting of North in Vavuniyaa 19 October and a meeting to discuss arrangement for the Vavuniyaa meeting was held Monday in Jaffna Secretariat by Northern Province Governor, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri and Sri Lanka Minister, Douglas Devananda. The Government Agents of the districts of Jaffna, Ki’linochchi, Mullaiththeevu, Vavuniyaa and Mannaar participated in the meeting.
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Indian fishermen encroach Jaffna seas

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2010, 05:22 GMT]
Indian fishermen are allowed to fish in the seas of Kaangeasanthu’rai and Kaarainakar where local fishermen are not permitted to fish for the last fifteen years, Jaffna District Fishermen Society representatives complained to Jaffna Government Agent (GA) Ms. Imelda Sukumar Monday. The GA had convened a meeting to look into complaints by Mullaiththeevu Fishermen Society representatives that Jaffna fishermen are encroaching Mullaiththeevu seas. Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) had not permitted local fishermen to fish in the seas of Kaangeasanthu’rai and Kaarainakar seas claiming that it was a threat to the security of their bases. How could the Indian fishermen be allowed to fish in the seas forbidden for local fishermen, Jaffna District Fishermen Society representatives asked the GA.
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Rajapaksa to set up new Intelligence Service

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2010, 04:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse has submitted a Cabinet paper recommending the establishment of a new National Intelligence Service (NIS) under the Defense Ministry to safeguard peace and stability in the country. The NIS would be set up through a new Act of Parliament replacing the current institution, government sources said.
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IMF to discuss Sri Lanka's debt repayment terms

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2010, 03:16 GMT]
A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka next month, state owned Dinamina newspaper said in a front page report. During the visit, the delegation will meet with government official to discuss terms related to debt repayment and other issues related to the island's economic revival, the paper said.
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Colombo stops construction of cricket stadium in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2010, 03:13 GMT]
The Sri Lanka’s Department of Archaeology has instructed the Divisional Secretary of the Trincomalee Town and Gravets to stop work immediately on the construction of a cricket stadium in the Trincomalee esplanade. The directive was issued by the Department of Archaeology following the finding of a stone inscription from the site while the leveling of the ground was in progress.
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Fonseka not prepared to ask for pardon from Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2010, 18:14 GMT]
Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Monday told journalists in Colombo that he would prefer to serve life imprisonment and die in prison rather than asking for a pardon from “gangsters”. Mr. Fonseka talked to journalists when he was brought to Colombo High Court Monday by prison officials from Welikada prison for making his presence in “white flag” case.
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Singaporean on trial in US on material support charges

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2010, 01:36 GMT]
William Purpura, the court appointed attorney for Singaporean Balraj Naidu, will be defending his client at the federal district court in Baltimore Tuesday, against charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), according to court docket on the case. The conspiracy charge follows guilty pleas and subsequent sentencing of four other "co-conspirators" sentencing ranging from 30 months to 57 months during latter part of 2008. Naidu's trial will last 3 to 4 days, and to be convicted, as in federal jury trials, the 12-person jury must unanimously return a guilty verdict.
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HRW discusses Sri Lanka war-crimes in Harvard event

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2010, 12:53 GMT]
In a talk titled "Prosecuting War Crimes in Sri Lanka: “No Reconciliation without Justice” at the Harvard Law School earlier this week, James Ross, Legal and Policy Director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), discussed options available for prosecuting war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the war in 2009 in seeking justice to the victims. The event well attended by students and several Boston area Tamils heard Ross describe how HRW exhausted all options to stop the mass killings during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka where more than 300,000 Tamil civilians were holed up along with Tamil Tiger units in a narrow stretch of beach front.
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Rajapaksa to take oaths for second term in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2010, 10:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to be sworn in for the second term on November 19 and the venue of the ceremony will be Colombo and not Anuradhapura in the North Central Province as earlier stated in the media quoting some ministerial sources. The reason for the change of the venue is not revealed by the authorities concerned.
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Indian naval ships arrive in Trincomalee for joint training

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2010, 10:30 GMT]
Three ships of the Indian Navy arrived in Trincomalee harbour Saturday morning around 10:30 a.m on a goodwill and training mission between Indian Navy and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN). INS Dheer, INS Shardul and INS Coast Guard vessel Varuna are anchored in Trincomalee harbour. The fourth vessel INS Tarangini has arrived in Colombo harbour. The four ships with 160 Indian naval officer cadets are scheduled to stay in Sri Lanka till 15th October, naval sources said.
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Former LTTE spokesman Ilanthirayan’s wife bears witness before LLRC

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2010, 06:13 GMT]
“I have not seen my husband after Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers took him away saying that he was to be given medical treatment and I do not know what had happened to him,” Vanitha Ilanthirayan, the wife of former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman Ilanthirayan (Rasiah Sivaroopan), said bearing witness before the Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) Saturday in Batticaloa District Government Secretariat. Meanwhile, Bobby, the wife of former LTTE Commander of Batticaloa district Piraba (Krishnapillai Pirabakaran), told the LLRC that she has no information of her husband who was taken away by SLA soldiers when they came along with the people to the SLA controlled Vadduvaakal area in Mullaiththeevu district when the war ended, sources in Baticaloa said.
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Tamil daily reporter attacked in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2010, 05:22 GMT]
Unidentified men arriving on a motorcycle attacked the Addaa’laichcheanai reporter of Tamil national daily Virakesari Thursday noon on Addaa’laichcheanai Main Street in Akkaraipattu police division in Ampaa’rai district. The seriously injured reporter, S. M. Arooz, is admitted to Paalamunai hospital with severe chest pain, hospital sources said. The reporter said that he was attacked by supporters of a prominent political party which is a constituent of Sri Lanka government, according to his complaint to Akkaraipattu police.
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Fonseka instructs wife not to appeal for pardon

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2010, 04:59 GMT]
Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, has instructed his wife Anoma and his children not to appeal for pardon on behalf of him as he had done nothing wrong, media reports in Colombo said. He had issued this instruction to Anoma Fonseka when she visited him in Welikada prison Friday where her husband is serving a rigorous imprisonment. Sarath Fonseka had told his wife that there was no necessity to apologize on his behalf as he had done nothing wrong, the report said.
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Resettled families in Vanni suffer without adequate transport

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2010, 05:35 GMT]
The resettled families in Vanni are facing great difficulty without adequate transport facilities as Sri Lanka government had not done anything to meet the transport facility needs of the people resettled in villages in Vanni located far apart, sources in Vanni said. The government run Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) had abandoned its depots in Vanni for the last twenty years and the limited number of buses allocated to Vanni after the war is hardly enough to serve the residents of Vanni, Ki’linochchi SLTB officials said.
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193 Sinhala families seek resettlement in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2010, 05:12 GMT]
193 Sinhala families have arrived in Jaffna until Friday seeking resettlement in Jaffna claiming that their families had lived in Jaffna before 1983. They are occupying the old Jaffna Railway Station premises displacing the families of uprooted families from Valikaamam North Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ) who had been staying there, local media sources said. Some of these Sinhala families belong to SLA soldiers in Jaffna and SLA authorities are providing the basic needs for all the Sinhala families. Meanwhile, Jaffna Government Agent Ms. Imelda Sukumar said that no one had informed Jaffna Secretariat about the Sinhala families coming to Jaffna. The families handed Friday appeals to Jaffna GA and Sri Lanka minister Douglas Devananda requesting help to resettle them in Jaffna.
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Bread consumption drops by 40% as price skyrockets

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2010, 02:07 GMT]
Following the skyrocketing price of a pound of bread, the consumption has dropped by more than a million pieces, the daily Sinhala daily, Lakbima newspaper said in a front page article. According to the news report, approximately 2.5 million pounds of bread are sold on a daily basis, however, with the recent increase in prices following the price hike in wheat flour, the consumption has dropped to a mere 1.5 million pieces.
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Pakistan joins Sri Lanka in execution video storm

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2010, 01:16 GMT]
In the wake of criticism on Pakistan's human rights abuses by key US Congressmen, Pakistan's military Friday ordered an investigation into a video, widely available in the internet, showing Pakistani soldiers summarily executing blindfolded men in civilan dress, Washington Post reported. A similar, but more horrendous, video showing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers extra-judicially executing blindfolded men, stripped naked with hands tied back was shown by British Channel-4 news in August 25th and declared authentic after a UN investigation, but no attempts have yet been made by Colombo to investigate the crime to identify the perpetrators.
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JVP gets Fonseka's parliamentary seat

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2010, 17:21 GMT]
Lakshman Nipunaarachchi of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is to fill the vacant parliamentary seat created with the imprisonment of the Sarath Foneska. The JVP is the main constituent of the Democratic National Alliance led by Sarath Fonseka, retired Commander of the Sri Lanka who unsuccessfully contested the presidential election on January 26.
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Parliamentarian Radhakrishnan to lead UPF political wing

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2010, 17:18 GMT]
V.Radhakrishnan, a senior parliamentarian of the Ceylon Workers Congress, one of the constituent parties of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is to lead the political wing of the Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF) which was founded and led by late Mr. Periyasamy Chandrasekaran.
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Sri Lanka has abandoned all efforts to solve ethnic issue – CPG

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2010, 06:08 GMT]
The Jaffna district Committee for Peace and Goodwill (CPG) said that Sri Lanka government has abandoned all its efforts to find a solution for the ethnic issue and that the Indian government maintains silence over the issue, when the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mr. Ashok K. Kantha met the CPG Thursday at the Bishop House in Jaffna. India has forgotten the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord and the 13th Amendment in the context of the defeat of Liberation Tigers, CPG further said. The Indian High Commissioner in response to the accusation said that India continues to urge Sri Lanka government to propose a solution for the ethnic issue that can give hope for the Tamils, sources in Jaffna said.
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Fonseka loses parliamentary seat

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2010, 12:34 GMT]
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Leader, parliamentarian and former Sri Lanka Army commander Sarath Fonseka has lost his seat in the Sri Lankan Parliament on Thursday, according to the Parliamentary Secretary General Dhammika Dissanayake, sources in Colombo said. Sarath Fonseka, who challenged Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential election, was sentenced for 30 months rigorous imprisonment last week after he was found guilty at the first Military Court Martial.
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Sinhala men continue to intimidate Tamil cultivators in Eastern Province

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2010, 08:14 GMT]
Sinhala men continue to intimidate the Tamil cultivators in the Tamil villages located on the boundaries of the districts of Batticaloa and Ampaa’rai in Eastern Province preventing them from cultivating their paddy fields, P. Selvarasa, Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian said. The Tamil cultivators uprooted from their villages due to war had resettled in their places after a period of 25 years during which the Sinhala men from their neighboring villages had appropriated most of their paddy fields, he said. Recently, Sinhala men had attacked two Tamil cultivators and chased them away from their own properties, the MP further said. No action has been taken on this issue though the TNA parliamentarians of Batticaloa district has brought it to the notice of it to the Government Agent of Batticaloa, he said.
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SLA stops volunteer teachers’ demonstration in Ki’linochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2010, 07:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in Ki’linochchi did not allow more than 300 volunteer teachers of Vanni to stage their token protest demonstration in front of Ki’linochchi Education office Wednesday demanding Sri Lanka government to appoint them permanently in their posts. The volunteer teachers have been serving the schools in the districts of Ki’linochchi and Mullaiththeevu without salary for the last ten years and even during the war on Vanni, sources in Ki’linochchi said. SLA said that no demonstration will be allowed in public places. The demonstrators who then went into the Education Office held a brief meeting before handing their appeal to the Education officials.
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Medical surgeon M. Ganesaratnam receives honorary degree

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2010, 07:14 GMT]
Jaffna University bestowed honorary PhD degree to medical surgeon Dr. M. Ganesaratnam attached to Jaffna Teaching Hospital in its twenty-sixth convocation ceremony held Wednesday in Kailasapathy Auditorium, sources in Jaffna said. Chancellor M. Sivasuriya presided at the event in which more than 1200 students, including 22 of the medical faculty received their degrees. Law students passed out from Jaffna University for the first time in its history in this event.
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Colombo takes control of historic Kanniyaa hot wells in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 October 2010, 06:08 GMT]
The Government Agent of Trincomalee Major General (retired) Ranjith de Silva Tuesday stopped the Trincomalee Town and Gravets Pradesya Saba (PS) from maintaining the historic Kanniyaa Hot Wells stating that it belongs to the Department of Archaeology. The Government Agent (GA) also directed his men to remove the name board put up by the Pradesya Saba stating that the ancient King Raava'nan founded the hot wells and constructed the Pi’l’laiyaar temple to conduct the 31st day ritual ('Anthiraddi' rites) to his deceased mother. The Hindus in this region conduct "Anthiraddi" rites in memory of their deceased kith and kin.
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SL government prioritizes tourism neglecting rehabilitation in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2010, 08:15 GMT]
While the people of Jaffna peninsula having lost their lives, properties, livelihoods and being uprooted due to war suffer without any assistance, Sri Lanka government is bent on turning Jaffna peninsula into a tourist place for the Sinhala people in the South, Non Government Organizations (NGOs) in Jaffna pointed out, in the context of the opening ceremony of a new road to the newly built tourist complex in Casuarina Beach in Kaarainakar in Jaffna, by key politicians and officials of Sri Lanka government, Wednesday. The funds allocated for the rehabilitation of war-affected people in the peninsula have been diverted to construct pleasure projects to please the Sinhala Buddhist people from the South by the Governor of Northern Province, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, they said. .
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Ki’linochchi volunteer teachers demand permanent appointment

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 October 2010, 07:27 GMT]
More than 300 volunteer teachers serving in Ki’linochchi district without payment for the last ten years in war-ravaged Vanni are to launch a token protest demonstration in front of Ki’linochchi Education Office Wednesday demanding permanent appointments, sources in Ki’linochchi said. Sri Lanka government which has made permanent the volunteer teachers in other districts had ignored the volunteer teachers in Vanni saying it was under the control of Liberation Tigers, the sources added. This token protest is to be staged in the context of Sri Lanka government claiming to have rehabilitated Vanni.
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SLA opens ‘luxury’ resort in occupied Tamil land

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 18:31 GMT]
A ‘tourist resort’ owned and managed by Sri Lanka Army was opened at Kaangkeasanthu’rai in the occupied ‘High Security Zone’ in the Jaffna Peninsula on Monday by Colombo’s Army commander Jagath Jayasuriya. The resort bears a Sinhala name ‘Thalsevana’. The HSZ there was created after evacuating several ancient villages of Tamils. On Sunday, the Army rejected all possibilities of resettling the displaced. The Army didn’t permit the re-opening of a Central College in the zone either. If a tourist resort could be opened there by the army, what is the meaning of continuing the area as HSZ, asked a person who is unable to even visit his house and land there. While Sri Lanka teaches new lessons to the world on genocide, there are some ‘responsible’ global bigwigs who advise Tamils not to call a spade, a spade, he further said.
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Colombo shuns Eastern province TNA parliamentarians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 17:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka government has failed to invite Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Eastern Province parliamentarians to the Eastern Provincial Development review meeting held Monday in the Naval Headquarters auditorium in Trincomalee presided by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa, P. Selvarasa, Batticaloa distirct TNA parliamentarian said. Shunning the representatives democratically elected by the people to participate in decision making meetings by Sri Lanka government reveals how very much it discriminates the Tamils, he added.
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Fonseka needs SL Speaker’s permission to attend parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 16:44 GMT]
“Sarath Fonseka can be allowed to attend Parliament if the Speaker or Parliamentary Affairs Secretary gives us orders in writing,” the Commissioner General of Prisons Major General (retired) V. R. de Silva said Monday. Sarath Fonseka, former commander of the Sri Lanka Army currently held in Welikada prison serving 30 month rigorous imprisonment will not be allowed to attend Sri Lanka parliament which is scheduled to meet Thursday until a written directive from the Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa is received by prison authorities, according to V. R. de Silva.
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Eastern Provincial 'development' meeting held in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 14:56 GMT]
The Eastern Provincial 'development' review meeting was held Monday in the auditorium of the Naval Headquarters in Trincomalee presided by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa. His secretary Lalith Weeratunge, Defense Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera accompanied the President to Trincomalee to attend the meeting.
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Lightening deaths in southern Sri Lanka increase to eight

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 07:59 GMT]
Eight people struck by lightening died in the southern parts of Sri Lanka since the torrential rain with thunderstorm began ten days ago. The latest victim was a fourteen year-old student. Lightening struck while he was watching television with his father Saturday around 7.30 p.m in Waharaka, Indurana, Ruwanwella Police said.
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SLA closes access road to resettled families in Vaadmaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 04:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna has closed Point Pedro- Maruhthangkea’ni road in Vadamaraadchi East where uprooted families from Kudaththanai and Raamaavil camps had been taken to be resettled. Recently, the road had been opened with great publicity by Sri Lanka government allowing public to use the road from 7:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m daily. But now SLA authorities have closed the road for public use. SLA and government officers, however, are permitted to use it, sources in Vadamaraadchi said.
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Swindler from South arrested in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 04:30 GMT]
A person from southern Sri Lanka who tried to cheat the war-affected women in Changkaanai in Valikaamam Jaffna was caught by local government officers and handed over to Maanippaay police. He had announced in the local media that he would help to get compensation money from Sri Lanka government and that the applicants should pay an amount of money for registration. He was caught when he was about to organize a meeting for the registration of applicants in Changkaanai. The person is detained in Maanippay police station for interrogation.
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SLA units in NorthEast to be strengthened

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 03:05 GMT]
Moves are underway to restructure the Army before January 1st, 2011, the Lankadeepa newspaper said quoting Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander Jagath Jayasuriya at a function held in Anuradhapura to commemorate the army’s 62st anniversary. Special military units will be appointed in every district following the restructuring of the military, according to Jayasuriya. All security forces units in the north and east will also be strengthened in the coming months as part of the overhaul, the Commander added.
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Wickremesinghe demands immediate release of Fonseka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2010, 02:56 GMT]
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has demanded Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa to immediately pardon and release former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, who led the battle against the Liberation Tigers and ended the war May last year, the Sinhala daily Lankadeepa said Tuesday.
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Trincomalee under heavy security for Rajapaksa’s visit

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2010, 15:39 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to preside over a conference at the Trincomalee Naval Base Monday morning to discuss development of the Eastern province that comprises the three districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai where security arrangements have been strengthened heavily. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and policemen deployed in large numbers are on patrol covering all parts of Trincomalee town.
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Sunday Leader Editor first witness in ‘white flag’ case

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2010, 15:22 GMT]
Ms. Fredica Janz, Editor of the Sunday Leader, is listed as the first witness in the case against Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), related to the ‘White Flag’ issue. Fonseka, in an interview to the Sunday Leader, had alleged that Sri Lanka Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse had ordered not to spare any Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres surrendering with white flags but to shoot all of them dead. The case is scheduled to be taken up for inquiry before a three-member bench of the Colombo High Court presided by Deepali Wijesundera Monday.
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Police issue deadline for surrendering illegal weapons in the East

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2010, 15:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police authorities have instructed all police stations in the Eastern province to seize illegal firearms from unauthorized persons if they fail to surrender them before 30 October. The order has been issued following reports that unauthorized persons in the province are in possession of a large number of unlicensed firearms. Meanwhile, last week Kalmunai Police Officer-in-Charge had ordered the Muslim militant youths in his division to surrender their weapons to the nearest mosque in his division.
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Lightening kills 5 in southern Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2010, 15:05 GMT]
Lightening claimed the lives of five persons within twenty-four hours in the districts of Moneragala, Gampaha and Ratnapura in southern Sri Lanka. Some persons are missing due to floods following torrential rain. The number of missing persons has not been officially released by the Disaster Management Centre in Colombo. Sri Lanka has been experiencing heavy rains since Friday.
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Police security to Jaffna Tamil daily strengthened

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2010, 08:07 GMT]
Following threats to a Tamil daily in Jaffna by Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) led by Sri Lanka minister Douglas Devananda the editors had sought extra protection from Jaffna police and security to the office of the daily has been strengthened, media sources in Jaffna said. The daily had published Sunday, news related to the illegal sand excavation by EPDP firm ‘Maheswary Funds’ highlighting the appeal by the residents of Vadamaraadchi East to Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians to stop the sand excavation destroying large areas in Kudaththanai and Ma’natkaadu. EPDP men arriving in two buses had gathered in front of the daily’s office to demonstrate against the daily and to attack its office, sources in Jaffna said. However, the situation was brought to normalcy following the talks held between the editors of the daily and some of the EPDP men.
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Resettlement in Valikaamam North HSZ not possible – Jaffna SLA Commander

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2010, 07:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander, Major Gen. Mahinda Kathurusinghe, who had earlier admitted the possibility of resettling uprooted families in Valikaamam North SLA High Security Zone, however, said that resettlement is not possible due to the danger of landmines. He told the representatives of the Committee for Peace and Goodwill so in a meeting held in Jaffna Bishop House Sunday, presided by Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam. Meanwhile, the Coordinating Committee for De-mining in Jaffna Secretariat said that SLA had not permitted de-mining in its HSZ in Valikaamam North. Mahinda Kathursinghe’s announcement has caused shock and despair among the families uprooted by SLA from their properties in Valikaamam North, sources in Jaffna said.
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Woman found dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2010, 05:13 GMT]
Kalmunai police recovered Sunday morning the body of a woman found dead in a house in the housing scheme in Chaainthamaruthu area in Kalmunai police division. The neck of the body was tied with a rope, sources in Kalmunai said.
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Dublin follow-up on Sri Lanka war crimes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2010, 15:33 GMT]
School of Law and Government of Dublin City University together with Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka are holding two events this week as follow-up to the Dublin war crimes tribunal on Sri Lanka held in January this year. Dublin findings issued at the end of the hearings said, Sri Lanka Government is "guilty of War-Crimes" and "guilty of Crimes Against Humanity." The tribunal also concluded that the charge of Genocide requires further investigations. Eye witnesses included several escapees from the final week of Sri Lanka offensive in the Mullaitivu "No Fire Zone" where more than 20,000 Tamil civilians were allegedly slaughtered by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) training heavy weapons on them.
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Child abuse escalates in Sri Lanka – SL Deputy Minister

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2010, 13:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka National Children Authority receives 400 complaints of child abuse per day, Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Child Development & Women's Affairs M. L. A. M. Hizbullah said. The children in the North and East are very much affected by war and natural disasters while there are eighty-nine thousand war widows in these regions, he said. Meanwhile, Eastern Province Council Health Minister, M. S. Subair said that sexual abuse of children had increased in Eastern Province more than it had been during the war.
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Acute shortage for wheat flour in Colombo due to price hike

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2010, 12:57 GMT]
An acute shortage for wheat flour prevails in Colombo as traders have hoarded their stocks expecting price of wheat flour to be increased by Sri Lanka government, sources in Colombo said. SL government had raised the price of wheat flour twice in the recent past and the price of 450 gm bread has shot up from 40 rupees to 44 rupees with the price hike of 8 rupees per kilo wheat flour enforced from Saturday midnight. The people hit most by the rise of price of bread are the plantation workers in the central hills who eat bread for all three meals of the day. Most of the people in Colombo who eat bread for breakfast and dinner too are badly affected, the sources added.
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Indian High Commission to open office in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2010, 05:46 GMT]
The Indian High Commission to Sri Lanka will be opening its branch office in Jaffna 21st October and the Indian Foreign Secretary S. M. Krishna is expected to open the office, according to a press briefing to local media by Jaffna Government Agent (GA) Ms. Imelda Sukumar Saturday. She said that the Indian Foreign Secretary had officially informed about his visit. A section of the Indian High Commission to receive visa applications is already functioning in Jaffna town.
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Ban, Rajapakse collusion undermining UN action on Sri Lanka?

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 2010, 02:14 GMT]
Controversy surrounding United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's meeting with Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse was fueled further as the UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky dodged questions from Inner City Press on the veracity of Rajapakse's statement that Moon has said that "UN panel was in no way empowered to investigate charges against Sri Lanka.” “It's up to individual heads of state” to issue whatever summaries they want, Spokesman Martin Nesirky was quoted as saying.
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EPDP Thinamurasu published as daily paper in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2010, 03:14 GMT]
Thinamurasu, the Eealam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) weekly that was published in Colombo and issued in Jaffna peninsula by EPDP leader and Sri Lanka minister Douglas Devananda was released in Jaffna Friday as a daily when he opened his press located in Chu’ndikkuzhi on Jaffna main road. It is alleged that Douglas Devananda had coerced the editors and workers of former ‘Namathu Eezhanaadu’ daily which had stopped publishing, into working in his newly opened press, local media sources said.
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Lightnening kills fisherman in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2010, 02:47 GMT]
Lightening struck a fisherman who was about to go fishing in Vadamaraadchi in Jaffna peninsula Friday around 7:00 a:m killing him on the spot, sources in Point Pedro said. It has been raining persistently in the peninsula the last few days with thunderstorms and lightening. Recently, another fisherman was killed and some other fishermen injured in Vadamaraadchi sea by lightening.
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Body of Sinhala officer found in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2010, 21:01 GMT]
Ampaa’rai police recovered the body of a male Sinhala government officer Friday morning from Ampaa’rai Town Council playground on being informed by the local residents. Meanwhile, a body of a woman washed ashore in Chammaanthu’rai in Kalmunai in Batticaloa district was recovered Wednesday by police and handed over to Kalmunai Ashrap Hospital. It remains unidentified.
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Former SLA commander Fonseka in Welikada Prison

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2010, 09:03 GMT]
Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, was transferred to Welikada Prison Thursday around 10:30 p.m to serve his 30 months’ rigorous imprisonment following the ratification of the recommendation of the Second Court Martial. Sri Lanka President’s ratification endorsed that Fonseka should serve thirty months in prison and not 36 months as recommended by the Second Court Martial for violating tender procedures in purchasing arms to the Sri Lanka Army.
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Swaminathan, Aswer nominated to PAC

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2010, 08:54 GMT]
Two national list parliamentarians, a Muslim and a Tamil, have been nominated respectively by Sri Lanka Prime Minister and the opposition leader to the five-member Parliamentary Advisory Council (PAC) that is to be established under the 18th amendment to the constitution. The Prime Minister D. M. Jayaretna nominated A. H. M. Aswer from the national list of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the opposition nominated D. M. Swaminathan from the national list of the main opposition United National Party (UNP).
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SLA denies permission to reopen Central College in Palaali HSZ

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2010, 05:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials in Palaali High Security Zone did not permit the school administrators to reopen Vassavi’laan Maththiya Makaa Viththiyaalayam located in Palaali HSZ which was officially handed over Tuesday in a event held in the school in the presence of Northern Province Governor Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, SLA Jaffna Commander Major Gen. Mahinda Kathurusinghe, Sri Lanka Minister Douglas Devandanda and Education Department officers. The school administrators who took the furniture and other necessary things from the temporary location of the school Thursday were sent back and directed to take all the things brought out of the HSZ. The SLA officials told them that the school could only be reopened in 2011, Jaffna Education Department sources said.
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One-person dominated TGTE decided by narrow margin

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2010, 01:49 GMT]
The question of one-person dominated leadership or collective leadership was not at all taken for voting in the TGTE Constitutional Assembly meeting held in New York Thursday and Friday, TGTE members told TamilNet. The voting took place only on the question of whether there should be three regional deputies or not. 42 voted in favour of having deputies and 41 voted against it. However, there was another voting to decide whether the ‘prime minister’ as ‘supreme leader’ nominating the three deputies or whether they should be elected by the Assembly. In this voting, 46 favoured the ‘prime minister’ to nominate the deputies and 43 voted against it. At a third voting, on the question of ‘prime minister’ appointing 7 cabinet ministers, there was no stiff opposition as 43 voted in favour, 28 opposed and 10 from Europe abstained in protest.
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