Forced labour on Eastern road

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The people of Kirankulam were again taken by the Special Task Force today for making a by road for its camp at Kurukkalmadam, about fourteen kilometers from Batticaloa town.
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Tiger fighter killed in Thirukovil

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A confrontation between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan army was reported near Thirukovil on Friday. The Liberation Tigers announced that one of their members called Sathyaseelan (Kandaswamy Uthayakumar) was killed in the confrontation.
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Claim of normalcy in Jaffna questionable: VoT

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers radio service said today in a comment which usually follows its night news bulletin that the Sri Lankan government's claim that there is normalcy in the Jaffna peninsula has now become questionable in the light of the recent Amnesty International report on "disappearances" in Jaffna.
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Pandimadu refugees arrested

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army in the Valaichenai fishing harbour detachment 20 miles north of the Batticaloa town rounded up all the inmates of the Pandimadu refugee camp which is about two kilometers east of Valaichenai town and herded them, including women and children, to the harbour premises for interrogation.
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Demonstration planned before Parliament

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) will hold a protest demonstration before the Sri Lankan Parliament tomorrow, said a spokesman for the group today.
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Tamil groups to contest council elections

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The PLOTE is to contest the Jaffna Municipal council elections. A spokesman of this ex-Tamil militant group said today that its military wing leader Manikkam Daasan will file nominations at the Jaffna Kachcheri as its mayoral candidate. The TULF's politburo will meet on Sunday morning to take a decision about contesting the local polls in the peninsula.
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Nominations called for local elections in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Commissioner of Elections called nominations for polls to the local government bodies in the Jaffna peninsula. Nominations have to be filed between December 16 and 12 noon December 23.
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28 hurt in grenade accident

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Twenty five Tamil civilians were wounded when a grenade exploded in a bus on its way from Thirukkovil to Batticaloa around 12.30 p.m. today.There were about eight STF personnel in the bus said sources.
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Vanni situation deteriorating: UNP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The UNP today called for an adjournment debate in the Sri Lankan Parliament on what it described as the deteriorating food and medical situation in the Vanni. The UNP had discussions with the Tamil parties in Parliament this afternoon on the matter.
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82 Sri Lankan troops killed in November - Radio

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Tamil Eelam Radio, which is the commercial service of the Voice of Tigers broadcast in the Vanni said in its evening news bulletin at 6.30 p.m. today that the Liberation Tigers had carried out sixteen attacks on the Sri Lankan army in the Jaffna peninsula during the month of November.
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SL Govt.'s chance fading: US official

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 December 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government may have lost its opportunity to win support amongst the Tamil people according to the US State Dept.'s Director for South Asia, Mr. Steve Mann. He was speaking during discussions at a conference on Sri Lanka held at Harvard University recently.
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Colombo moviegoers arrested

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army and Police launched an unusual operation this afternoon in Kotahena, a densely populated neighbourhood near downtown Colombo.
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Mass arrests near Yala Park

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Eighty Tamil people were arrested in two villages near Kadhirgamam in an early morning operation today. Seven persons, including a woman are said to have been detained on suspicion that they may be linked to the LTTE. Kadhirgamam is on the southern edge of the Yala national park in the south east of the island.
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Araipattai STF camp attacked

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked the Special Task Force camp at Araipattai, five miles south of Batticaloa around 10 p.m. last night. The exchange of fire went on till 11 p.m.
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Riot police smashed prison protest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan riot Police broke up a fast unto death protest of Tamil prisoners and snatched away the camera of the Virakesari (Tamil daily) photographer who was at the scene this morning as the Sri Lankan government tried to control the repercussions of the developments in its Welikada jail.
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Protest fast in Welikade prison

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Eight Tamil prisoners detained in Colombo's Welikade prison are staging a protest fast, demanding that they are charged and their cases be heard soon.
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Thousands mark Heroes day in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Maveerar Day (Heroes Day) was celebrated on a grand scale in three places in the areas controlled by The Liberation Tigers (LTTE), in Batticaloa district. Several thousand people took part in these celebrations yesterday, says the TamilNet correspondent in Batticaloa.
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Jaffna 'disappeared' are dead: Amnesty

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Approximately 540 Tamil people who 'disappeared' in the Jaffna peninsula are dead according to Amnesty International. In a report published yesterday, the London based human rights organisation said that "nearly all of them are likely to have died under torture or to have been deliberately killed [by Sri Lankan security forces]".
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Colombo prison protest spreads

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Over 200 Tamil detainees detained in Colombo's Welikada prison are staging a protest fast, demanding that they are charged and their cases be heard soon. Some of them have taken to the prison rooftops to highlight their protest.
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Pardons to mark Heroes' day

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Voice of Tigers (VOT) announced this morning that 22 people convicted for various crimes by the LTTE's civil administration judiciary administration in Vanni were given general pardon yesterday.
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