SLA ragging kills soldier, 16 remanded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 December 2002, 15:07 GMT]
The Chavakachcheri acting Magistrate Tuesday ordered sixteen soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to be held in remand in connection with the ragging death of a fellow soldier, S.Ratnayake (25) of Balangoda, legal sources in Jaffna said.
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SLMM hands over SLA proposals on HSZ to LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 December 2002, 19:15 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Monday handed over a document containing proposals by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) regarding the normalization of High Security Zones (HSZs) in Jaffna peninsula to the representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Jaffna said


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Irrigation tanks overflow, A9 repaired

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 December 2002, 15:53 GMT]
Transport on the A-9 highway was interrupted Wednesday morning as heavy rainfall worsened the conditions of the already damaged highway between Umaiyalpuram and the Chemical factory in Paranthan. The Tamil Eelam Administrative Service, The Tamil Eelam Police Service and the Tamil Eelam Traffic Police jointly repaired the road and transport was restored to normal by Wednesday night, the Voice of Tigers radio said in its news broadcast.
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'EPDP is being used to derail peace process'- Karuna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 December 2002, 16:51 GMT]
"Some elements are using the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) to derail the peace process. The return of EPDP members to Nedunthivu and recent incidents in Nelliady have clearly demonstrated the motives of such elements," Colonel Karuna, Special Commander of the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) in Batticaloa-Ampara district said Saturday.
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Phased approach agreed to address Jaffna HSZ resettlement

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 December 2002, 13:54 GMT]
At the second meeting of the Sub Committee on De-escalation and Normalization (SDN) held Saturday at Muhamalai it was agreed that a solution to the resettlement of internally displaced people in High Security Zones (HSZ) and other areas presently perceived as inaccessible to the public could be only solved through integrated plans of action agreed upon by the two parties, said a press release issued by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka.
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Karuna Oslo bound

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 November 2002, 12:14 GMT]
Colonel Karuna, Senior Commander of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) took off from Batticaloa in an Sri Lanka Airforce helicopter to Colombo at 9.30 am today on his way to the next round of peace talks between LTTE and Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to be held in Oslo, Norway 2 December, sources said.
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Military-LTTE commanders meet at Muhamalai second time

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 November 2002, 18:40 GMT]
The delegations of the Sri Lanka armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam met Saturday at Muhamalai and discussed several issues regarding the question of resettling displaced families in high security zones and removal of fishing restriction in the Jaffna peninsula. The discussion, the second of its kind, commenced around ten in the morning, continued till six in the evening, sources said.
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NE Resettlement, Relief Oslo talk focus- Peiris

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 November 2002, 19:39 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government Thursday announced that it would submit a white paper regarding the issues that are to be taken up for discussion which is scheduled to be held on November 25 at Oslo, Norway. "Priority will be given to resettlement of displaced and relief to the people in the war torn northeast province in the island at the Oslo aid talks," said Minister G.L.Peiris at the weekly cabinet briefing held Thursday.
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Sea Tigers, SLN confer on Jaffna issues

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 November 2002, 12:44 GMT]
The Deputy Commander of the Sea Tigers Wednesday urged the Sri Lanka Navy not to engage in any action that would disrupt the peace negotiations to end the island’s conflict at a meeting with a Sri Lankan military delegation in the no man’s land in Muhamalai in southern Jaffna Wednesday.
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Tigers, GOSL optimistic after first defence meet

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 November 2002, 13:39 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) said they were confident of making further progress in stabilising the island’s peace process on the ground as their high-level defence teams wound up four hours of talks in Omanthai, 18 kilometres north of Vavuniya, on the line of control, Sunday.
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Tigers help IDPs resettle in high security zone

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 November 2002, 18:08 GMT]
(News Feature) In a major gesture to reiterate their commitment to peace in Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers Thursday helped displaced civilians settle in a village situated in one of their most heavily defended high security zones in the north. The village of Kudarappu is on Jaffna’s southeastern coast in the Nagar kovil sector where the armed forces of the Liberation Tigers and Sri Lanka face each other across heavily defended and mined Defence Lines.
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Norway, LTTE discuss talks agenda

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 09:40 GMT]
The Norwegian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Vidar Helgesen met with the leadership of the Liberation Tigers Wednesday and held two and a half hours of discussions on "crucial issues pertaining to the formation of the joint task force" for economic development and reconstruction of the northeast, sources in Vanni said. Issues underlying the high security zones (HSZ) and the security situation in the northeast were also discussed, they said.
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Hartal in northeast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 09:03 GMT]
Shops remained closed and streets were deserted in all the towns in the northeast as a general shut down ('hartal') was observed in protest at the attacks on Tamil civilians in Trincomalee and Kanchirankuda. Black flags were hoisted on shops, houses and at public places. Burning tyres were seen on main roads, sources in several north-eastern towns said.
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Lt.Col Thileepan death anniversary concludes in NE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 September 2002, 20:10 GMT]
"The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have begun peace negotiations with the United National Front government sincerely and with confidence that we can achieve full autonomy based on Tamil nationality, Tamil homeland and the right of self determination" said the Head of the LTTE's Judiciary Mr. Pararajasingham addressing the concluding ceremony of the week long observance in honour of the Tiger martyr Lt.Colonel Thileepan in Poonthottam, Vavuniya Thursday morning.
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SLA dismisses A9 reports

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 September 2002, 11:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army Wednesday dismissed reports in sections of the Tamil press that the A9 would be open 24 hours on all days of the week for public traffic. Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence officials said that they are working on having the road open round the clock on all days of the week. The Liberation Tigers say that limits on the traffic flow through the A9 should be removed.
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SLA meets LTTE’s Northern Forces Commander

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 September 2002, 17:08 GMT]
(Adds: Photo) The commander of the Northern Front Forces of the Liberation Tigers, Col. Theepan, had discussions with the commander of the Sri Lankan security forces in Jaffna, Major. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, Thursday evening to discuss the opening of the Pt. Pedro – Maruthankerni Road on Jaffna’s east coast and the positioning of Forward Defence Localities in the Nagar Kovil sector.
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US Deputy Secretary of State visits Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 August 2002, 11:36 GMT]
The United States Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Richard Armitage, visited Chavakachcheri Urban Council grounds Thursday morning accompanied by Sri Lanka’s Economic Reforms Minister Mr. Milinda Morogoda, Defence Ministry Secretary Mr. Austin Fernando, US Ambassador in Colombo Mr. Ashely Wills and the three heads of the armed forces. While touring the Chavakachcheri area, the visiting US diplomat said, "It reminds me of Vietnam where I served for six years. This shows the urgent need of finding a political solution to Sri Lanka's crisis."
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SLA troops 'provoking' LTTE, monitors told

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 August 2002, 04:51 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Sunday protested to international ceasefire monitors and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commanders that government troops are engaged in provocative acts such as advances from their lines and the establishment of new positions closer to LTTE lines in Jaffna. Senior military commanders from both sides met under the auspices of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said.
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Trinco-Batticaloa highway to reopen

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 August 2002, 12:47 GMT]
The A15 highway between Batticaloa and Trincomalee is to be reopened for public use following discussions between representatives of the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers, Tamil press reports said Monday. A significant portion of the 132 km long road is under the control of the LTTE.
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Tamileelam Police escorts Jaffna prisoners

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