White van armed men abduct TELO district organizer in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2008, 12:50 GMT]
Vavuniyaa district organizer of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Rex Ganeshalingam, was abducted Thursday early morning around 4:30 from his house by armed persons arrived a white van, according to complaints lodged with the Vavuniyaa Police by his wife.
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JHU opposes TNA participation in APRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2008, 15:18 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), all Buddhist monks' party Thursday said inviting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to the All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) deliberation is tantamount to allowing the LTTE to participate. Hence JHU severely opposes the invitation extended to TNA by APRC Chairman Professor Tissa Vitharane, said Narendra Gunatilake, JHU spokesman on international affairs at a press briefing held in Colombo.
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Rajapaksa's three-pronged strategy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2008, 01:47 GMT]
While celebrating its military achievements, Colombo is secretly prodded on an alternative game. Mahinda Rajapaksa is upto a three-pronged strategy now: limiting LTTE's jurisdiction with a low-profiled war, coercing Tamil political circles for his plans and conducting snap polls. A superficial solution is on the cards through Mahinda-Manmohan protocol. Unity and vigilance of Tamil Nadu are the need of the hour for countering any sabotage of the national cause of Eezham Tamils, writes TamilNet's Special Correspondent in a Situation Report.
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TNA parliamentarians grilled by CID

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 2008, 22:15 GMT]
Within the last few days, three Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians, S. Jeyanandamoorthy, P. Ariyanethran and S. Kajendran, were summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sri Lanka Police for investigation after getting stipulated permission from the Speaker of the Parliament. The focus of the questioning was their speeches viewed as a breach of the 6th Amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution, which prohibits any opinion expressed inside or outside of the island, in favour of secession in Sri Lanka
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2 students, civilian abducted, another reported missing in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 2008, 21:19 GMT]
Unidentified armed men on motor cycles abducted three persons including two school students Friday and Saturday in three different places in Jaffna peninsula. Meanwhile, a family man living in Ka’ranavaay in Vadamaraadchi is reported missing since 12 November after leaving home, according to the complaint lodged by his wife to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office.
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APRC: how long you tolerate a farce, Suresh asks India and IC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 2008, 01:20 GMT]
The All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) is a farce of the Sri Lanka government. It was always used to impress upon India and the International Community. The basic premise of the APRC not to go beyond unitary constitution of Sri Lanka, will not bring in any meaningful result. India and the IC know it well. Yet, if they continue to tolerate the farce, they will only be abetting the genocidal programme of Colombo, says Suresh Premachandran of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
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Patient dies as SLA blocks ambulance in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2008, 22:13 GMT]
One of the five patients sent in Ambulance from Ki'linochchi Tharmapuram hospital to Vavuniyaa hospital in need of urgent treatment died Saturday night as Vanni Sri Lankan Forces Head Quarters (Vanni SF-HQ) refused permission for the ambulance to proceed to Vavuniya general hospital, Tharmapuram hospital sources said. The ambulance had sought SLA permission to proceed to Vavuniyaa along the SLA allowed road, through the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) located in Puthukkudiyiruppu.
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Perth Tamils draw attention of Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister to IDPs plight

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2008, 21:58 GMT]
More than two hundred Australian Tamils held a vigil in Perth, Western Australia on Friday between 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., in front of the electorate office of Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith, to create an awareness among the Australian public and inform the Australian government about the plight of the displaced people in Wanni. This is the fourth in a series of protest vigils, being organised by the Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA).
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Sampanthan blames SL state for committing genocide, protests Budget speech

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2008, 13:37 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa presented his fourth budget to Parliament on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. while 12 members of the Tamil National Alliance who were present at the Sri Lankan parliament walked out after the parliamentary group leader of the TNA, R.Sampanthan made a statement in the well of the house, condemning the budget by the Rajapaksa government, which allocates a colossal sum of money for committing a genocide on Tamil civilians in the North and East.
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STF behind massacre of 5 Tamils in Ampaa'rai - Parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 18:41 GMT]
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos at Kalmunai in Ampaa'rai opened fire on five Tamil youths who were at a liquor shop and attempted to create a story through police that the victims were Karuna cadres, TNA MP K. Pathmanathan said, citing the relatives of the victims. Later, the STF attempted to place the blame on Muslims, but some Tamil Muslim youths who had witnessed the killings had helped to avert confrontation between the Tamil, Muslim communities, the MP said.
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Sri Lanka's parliament extends emergency

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 18:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament Tuesday extended the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of seventy five votes. Eighty five parliamentarians voted for the motion and ten against. Parliamentarians of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and National Freedom Front (NLF), a splinter group of the JVP voted with the government, parliamentary sources said.
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India has not asked to stop the war - SL Foreign Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 10:03 GMT]
India has not exerted any pressure on the Sri Lankan government to halt the war against the LTTE, said Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, while responding to a demand made by Joseph Michael Perera, chief whip of the main opposition United National Party to table the secret understanding reached in New Delhi between President Mahinda Rajapaksa's special envoy Basil Rajapakse and Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjie on 26th October. 'As a step to strengthen the relationship of the two countries,' India has come forward to send 800 metric tones of food material to internally displaced people in Vanni region.
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White van gunmen abduct 5 Tamil youths in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2008, 13:55 GMT]
Unidentified armed men in white van abducted five Tamil youths during the past seven days in Trincomalee district, according to complaints by public to Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Mr. Thurairatnasingam. The fate of the five abducted youths is not known, the relatives of the youths told the MP.
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Police uniform clad men abduct Tamil returnee from Korea

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2008, 20:40 GMT]
A Tamil youth from Pazhukaamam, Batticaloa District, returning to Sri Lanka after working in Korea for three years, was abducted Monday afternoon by men dressed in police uniform, the relatives of the victim reported in a complaint lodged with Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Jeyanamthamoothy.
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Committee appointed to investigate Minister Chandrasekaran

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2008, 19:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse has appointed a three-member special committee chaired by the Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake to investigate the conduct of Minister Periyasamy Chandrasekaran over his support to Tamilnadu political leaders in support of the LTTE and Sri Lankan Tamils while holding a cabinet minister post in the Sri Lanka government. The other members of the Committee are Nimal Sripala de Silva, Leader of the House and Minister of Health and Nutrition, and Dinesh Gunawardene, Chief Whip of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Minister of Urban Development.
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Food to hoodwink, war to continue

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2008, 01:00 GMT]
The voice of Tamil Nadu people has certainly shaken the power centres of India, but what they really heard or orchestrated was the US ambassador's voice. The establishments are not prepared to change course immediately either on stopping war and military assistance to Colombo or on coming out with meaningful political solutions to Eezham Tamils, but rather the 'machinations' are to bring in a wedge between the suffering people and their fighters, said a Colombo based political analyst. Only a resolute Tamil people and ground realities in Sri Lanka may able to convince the 'strategic partners' of the futility of going against the aspirations of the oppressed, observed the analyst.
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TNA condemns forced participation of civilians in Batticaloa paramilitary meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 October 2008, 23:47 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a communiqué issued Sunday, condemned the actions of paramilitary factions led by Karuna and Pillaiyan for forcibly transporting Batticaloa residents, who did not extend their support to the meeting conducted by paramilitary groups expressing solidarity with the Government of Sri Lanka, to the venue of the meeting.
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Heavy flood claims the lives of two, displaces 80,000 in South Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 October 2008, 08:40 GMT]
At least two people have been killed and 20 houses completely destroyed in different parts of Sri Lanka’s south and central areas due to floods caused by heavy rain, according to the officials at the Disaster Management Centre in Colombo.
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SLA arrests 9 upcountry Tamil youths

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2008, 18:50 GMT]
Nine Tamil youths were arrested Wednesday morning by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) with the help of three masked men during a cordon and search operation in Kirkil Estate in Uva Paranagama in the hill country, civil society sources in Colombo said. This was the first time the state armed forces had used masked men for their search operation to arrest upcountry Tamil youths.
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Grenade attack on SLA sentry post in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2008, 10:31 GMT]
Unidentified persons hurled a hand grenade Tuesday night on the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry post located close to Naavalar Veethi in Jaffna, and local residents had heard sounds of gunshots following the attack, sources in Jaffna said. Details are not known if anyone was killed or injured.
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