Feared militia commander shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Rasasingham Seevaraththinam, 27, alias Sinnavan, one of the most feared Tamil ex-militants working for the Sri Lankan security forces in the Batticaloa district, was shot dead this morning around 8.30 a.m. near the Manmunai Special Task Force (STF) camp. The STF blamed the Liberation Tigers for the killing.
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Jaffna curfew may be lifted temporarily

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Security Forces Commander (North), Major General Lional Balagalle said this week that if the people of the Jaffna wanted the curfew in the peninsula lifted for the midnight vigil during Mahasivaraththri which is observed by Tamil Saivites annually, he was prepared to consider the request with favour, said sources in Jaffna.
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Minister threatens to burn newspaper's offices

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
M.H.M Ashraff, Sri Lanka's powerful Minister of Ports, Shipping and Rehabilitation, threatened to burn the state run Tamil daily newspaper Thinakaran and demanded that the Parliamentary passes issued to its lobby correspondents be withdrawn forthwith in an outburst in the Sri Lankan Parliament today.
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SLA, LTTE exchange bodies in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the SLA exchanged their dead through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at Mirusuvil in Jaffna yesterday for the first time since the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) took control of Jaffna in early 1996.
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UNP unveils constitutional reform proposals

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The opposition United National Party (UNP), will kick off its campaign to muster support its package for constitutional reform with a public meeting in Galle on February 20, said UNP sources today. Journalists have been invited to cover this event.
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LTTE holding Kilinochchi FDLs

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Brigadier Lohan Gunawardana, the General Officer Commanding of the 54 division told the team of journalists which was taken by the SLA to Kilinochchi yesterday that the LTTE is still in control of the four kilometer long Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in the southern part of the town. The 54 division is stationed in the Elephant Pass- Paranthan- Kilinochchi complex.
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Shoot-out at Maruthamunai market

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
One Sri Lankan Policeman was wounded and a suspected member of the Liberation Tigers killed, when a group of policemen from Neelavanai had gone to the Maruthamunai market and opened fire at 2 Tamil youths around 9.45 a.m. today, said sources. The Police, according to sources, were acting on a tip-off that some Tigers were among the shoppers.
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Shelling causes panic

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelled Gurunagar in Jaffna town from the Palaly SLA camp around 8.45 p.m. last night said sources in Jaffna. Though no one was injured, there was panic among the residents of the area.
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Most plantation workers on strike today

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan plantation workers burnt an effigy of S. Thondaman, leader of the main trade union in the Sri Lanka's hill country, for reaching a compromise on the strike, and demanding 105 rupees as minimum daily wage.
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TULF waives rates

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), which controls the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC), has pledged to the residents living within the municipal borders, that rates will not be levied for the next four years, said sources in Jaffna.
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Youths arrested near Buddhist temple

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two Tamil youths were taken into custody by the Kandy police for attempting to enter the Dalada Maligawa after forcing their way past a checkpoint near the Temple around 9:00 p.m. last night, said Police sources in Colombo today.
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Woman marked by informant

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Vethanayagam Geetha (29), a woman from Muthalaikudah west of Batticaloa across the lagoon was apprehended by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) at the Aaraiampathy checkpoint, 3 km from Batticaloa town yesterday, said sources in Valaichenai.
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EPDP releases PLOTE cadres

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Eelam Peoples' Democratic Party (EPDP) released this morning the three cadres of the Peoples' Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) whom they had abducted on Wednesday night from Velanai, an island off the Jaffna Peninsula, said sources in Jaffna.
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Jaffna soldiers go missing

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers, who arrived in 2 speed boats last night, attacked and completely destroyed one Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry point at 'Savakalai' junction in Gurunagar in Jaffna. Other sentry points were also damaged near the Gurunagar housing scheme.
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LTTE seeks access to "secret" records

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Lawyers representing the Liberation Tigers have filed a motion with the US Court of Appeals, claiming the right to full access to "secretly compiled" US State department records, with a view to correcting "inaccuracies and distortions", according a news release released by Ramsey Clark Lawrence W. Schilling today.
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Batticaloa farmers face bleak prospects

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Farmers in the Batticaloa District - especially those from areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - are facing financial ruin with middlemen purchasing their harvest at very low prices, reports the TamilNet correspondent in Batticaloa.
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Protest planned over massacre

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A public rally is to be held on Saturday in Thambalakamam, demanding the removal of three police posts in the area where the policemen and home-guards who were involved in the massacre of eight youngsters on January 31st had been stationed, sources in Thambalakamam told the Trincomalee TamilNet correspondent today.
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Pro-government militia seen bracing themselves

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Paramilitary organisations in Batticaloa such as the Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Razeek Group which is affiliated to the Eelam Peoples' Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), are strengthening the fortifications around their camps and exercising greater vigilance through more rigorous checking of civilians, in fear of an attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said sources in Batticaloa.
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More internecine clashes in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Three cadres People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) were abducted from their office in Velanai and a member of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), A . G Fernando, had a knife stuck in his throat last night are the latest in the bizarre series of clashes between the Tamil parties in the Jaffna peninsula.
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Disease takes Jaffna toll

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sixteen persons died this year in the Jaffna District from Malaria, Dr. E. Deivendram, of the Jaffna Municipal Council told the TamilNet correspondent today. Death from Malaria for 1997 stood at 41. There were also 104 deaths from dengue last year.
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