Jaffna Bishop rejects polls

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Catholic Bishop of Jaffna along with a group of senior clergymen declined to help the group monitoring local government elections in the peninsula today.
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Canada to deport Suresh

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Canadian government intends to deport a Tamil activist, Mr. Suresh Manickavasagam, to Sri Lanka, despite fears that his life would be at risk there, said a Tamil expatriate organization today, which called for public appeals against the move.
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SLA 'motorcycle group' arrest Palameenmadu youth

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan soldiers and two hooded informants arrived on motorcycles and took away a youth at Palameenmadu, two km east of Batticaloa town around 6:00 p.m. this evening, said sources in Batticaloa.
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No foreign observers for Jaffna polls

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Election monitors from two Sri Lankan NGO networks, Peoples Action for a Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL) and Movement for Free and Fair Election (MFFE) arrived in Jaffna today. The seven member team, which flew into Jaffna, is expected to meet the Jaffna Journalist Association on Sunday and the Tamil groups contesting the local government elections.
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Suresh 'in danger' - Amnesty International

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Amnesty International said today that Mr. Suresh Manickavasagam "would be in danger of serious human rights violations, particularly torture", were he to be forcibly deported to Sri Lanka. The London-based human rights organization called for public appeals against Mr. Suresh's planned deportation from Canada.
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Missing the Jaffna bus

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
If providing an efficiently run public transport system is part of the Sri Lankan Government's plan to win the hearts and minds of Jaffna people, it has very little to show for it in the peninsula.
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SLA fire hits Karuvakerni school

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A child playing in the premises of the Karuvakerni school was injured by heavy mortar fire from SLA camp in Valaichenai, Tuesday evening. Karuvakerni is a Tamil village on the outskirts of the strategic Valaichenai town which straddles the vital Main Supply Route to Batticaloa at the junction where it turns south.
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EPDP undemocratic - EPRLF, DPLF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A war of statements and counter-statements erupted in the Uthayan, the only newspaper published in Jaffna, when the Democratic Peoples Liberation Front (DPLF) and the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) came out strongly against the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) for blocking other Tamil groups from campaigning for the forthcoming local government elections in the islands off the Jaffna peninsula.
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Soldiers' dispute ends in deaths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A corporal and a soldier were killed at the SLA's Thallady base in the Mannar district over a dispute on Sunday night said army sources today.
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Residents fearful of further reprisals

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The situation in Veeramunai continues to be tense as friends and colleagues ofthe Muslim Homeguard shot dead by the Liberation Tigers have threatened the people here with severe retaliation.
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Tamil groups promise to behave

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Tamil parties contesting the Jaffna local government polls signed an agreement in Colombo today with the People's Alliance for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), an election monitoring NGO, amidst strong doubts in many quarters whether any of the document's clauses would be honoured in practice.
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Tamil groups squabble at military meeting

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Brig. C.M Thilakaratna who is in charge of the SLA's civil administration division in Jaffna called separate meetings with the Tamil parties contesting the local polls today to discuss propaganda facilities.
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US delegation to visit Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A top level US government team will arrive in Colombo tomorrow to explore the possibility of evolving a peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka said foreign ministry sources today.
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Breakaway EPDP faction avoids joint meeting

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Jaffna town commander Brigadier Susantha Mendis called all the Tamil groups for a discussion on security and related matters for the forthcoming local polls in the peninsula at his office this morning around 10 a.m.
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Veeramunai tense after killings

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Veeramunai, a Tamil village about 35 kilometers south of Batticaloa, in the Ampara district, is reported to be tense today following the retaliatory killing of two youths last night by armed persons alleged to be Muslim home guards.
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Tiger activity seen rising in SE Ampara

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers blasted protective structures built around transformers by the Special Task Force (an elite commando unit of the Sri Lankan security forces) in the early hours of the morning today in the villages of Kolavil, Aalaiyadivembu and division - 7 of Akkraippattu in the south eastern part of the Ampara district.
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Tamil groups must make people vote - police

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan police convened a meeting today at 10. a.m, with all the groups contesting the Jaffna local government elections, due on January 29. The specially appointed Assistant Elections Commissioner for Jaffna, who is yet to report to the Kachcheri, took part in the meeting. Senior Police officials in Jaffna Town were also present.
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SLA bans transport across Kinniyadi lagoon

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The SLA banned transport across the Kinniyadi lagoon from January 1, after the Liberation Tigers took away some supplies which were sent from the Meeraodai SLA to the Kinniyadi SLA camp, said sources in Batticaloa.
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Tamils group seen exploiting cast in Jaffna election

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Community leaders in Jaffna and sections of the Tamil press deplored the spectre of casteism and a host of other social evils which they say are reappearing within Jaffna community, as the campaign for the local government elections gathers momentum in the peninsula. The Tamil groups are said to have selected candidates from castes which dominate constituencies in Jaffna.
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News in Brief

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The PLOTE opened an election campaign office in Delft today, Police in Jaffna has called all the parties contesting the local polls in Jaffna for a meeting tomorrow and 16 persons arrived at Kurunagar in Jaffna.
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