TULF announces election plans

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) sources in Jaffna said yesterday that they were planning to contest only Jaffna Municipal Council, Valigamam West, Valigamam East, Valigamam North, Nallur Pradeshiya Sabhas and the Chavachcheri Urban council.
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Application to collect Kalutara bodies rejected

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A writ application to take the bodies of the Tamil political prisoners who were killed in the Kalutara prison on December 12 to their homes in the north, was rejected by the Kalutara magistrate today. The writ was filed this morning in the Kalutara courts by the Tamil human rights lawyer, Maheswari Velayutham on behalf of the prisoners' families.
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Kalutara Tamil prisoners will stay - G.L Pieris

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
It was decided at a high level meeting convened by Prof. G.L Pieris this morning that Tamil political prisoners will not be transferred from the Kalutara jail where three of them were massacred and more than seven wounded on December 12.
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Murdered prisoners innocent - Devananda

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Leader of the EPDP Douglas Devananda sent an urgent fax to the Sri Lankan Presdient today claiming that he is personally aware that the two Tamil prisoners from Jaffna killed in the Kalutara prison are innocents and therefore their bodies should be released to their kith and kin for funerals in the peninsula.
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Tamil parties to meet in Jaffna over elections

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Minister for local government and provincial councils, Mr. Alavi Moulana is to have discussions with Tamil parties tomorrow about the planned local council elections in Jaffna.
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Autorickshaw drivers protest over killing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Autorickshaw drivers in Vavuniya staged a demonstration today to protest against the killing of an autorickshaw driver by Sri Lankan police on 11 December.
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Kalutara survivors vow to continue fast unto death

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Tamil political prisoners in Kalutura prison who went on a fast unto death refused to give up their protest when members of the Tamil parties met them today in an attempt to persuade them to stop their fast.
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Eastern schools seen shielding SLA camps

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
On his way to school Ram 12, was stopped by a group of Sri Lankan soldiers in front of his school. They asked him to open his bag and show them its contents. The books were thrown down. The bag was empty. There was nothing inside. He was then allowed to go.
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Tigers hit 13th Colony STF Camp

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers fired mortars on the Special Task Force (STF) camp in the 13th Colony, about 20 miles south west of Batticaloa near the district border with Ampara in the early hours of the morning today, seriously wounding the Officer In Charge (OIC) of the detachment.
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Jail attack was planned - survivors

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
"The attack on Tamil political prisoners had a political motive and was quite clearly premeditated" said Mr. Dharmalingam Sidarthan MP for Vavuniya and leader of the PLOTE speaking to the Tamil Net this afternoon after returning from a visit to the Kalutara prison and the Nagoda hospital earlier today.
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Many Northeastern school teachers said untrained

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
There are more than two thousand seven hundred primary school teachers in the northeastern province who have not received any type of training said officials of the Provincial Council Ministry of Education in Trincomalee.
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Three Tamil prisoners killed by Sinhala inmates

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports reaching Colombo today revealed that three Tamil prisoners among those who transferred recently from the Colombo magazine (Welikada) prison to the Kalutara jail were killed today in an attack by Sinhala prisoners allegedly incited by some prison officials. Seven others were injured and have been admitted to the Nagoda hospital in Kalutara.
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Lone applicant for Jaffna police

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Faced with an increasingly apparent shortage of troops for holding Jaffna, the Sri Lankan government has embarked on an ambitious project to recruit Jaffna girls to its Reserve Police Force.
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Elderly woman held over scenic prints

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sellaiah Thavamanithevi, a sixty year old Tamil woman, was arrested on Dec. 6 at Muthiraichanthi near Jaffna town
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Nervous human rights rally in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A rally to mark World Human Rights day was held in Vanthaarumoolai in Batticaloa today. More than a thousand people took part.
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A luxury they cannot afford

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
"The soldiers set upon the pregnant woman. As one of them stripped her naked, she screamed. The second sliced her belly with a sword. She fell down, blood spurting out. They cut her breasts and finally her throat. She rolled into the pit. Then came the turn of the second woman, also pregnant".
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Vanni situation talks inconclusive

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The meeting called by Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Defence Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte today with all the parties in Parliament ended on an inconclusive note, said leaders of Tamil parties which participated in the discussion.
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Party leaders to discuss Vanni situation

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Defence Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte called all party leaders in Parliament today for a discussion about the situation in the Vanni.
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Jaffna conditions not conducive for elections: TULF

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
TULF politburo member and former MP Mr. Mavai Senathirarajah who is currently in the peninsula told the TamilNet's Jaffna correspondent today that the government has announced the local government elections to scuttle the peace signal in LTTE leader Prabhaharan's Maveerar day speech.
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Round up in Batticaloa town

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Batticaloa market was rounded up last evening around 4.30 p.m. by the Sri Lankan Police and its much feared Counter Subversive Unit (CSU).
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