TNA to boycott Eastern PC elections - MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 March 2008, 23:35 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will not contest in the forthcoming Provincial Council elections for the Eastern Province as the alliance "steadfastly opposed the de-merger of the North Eastern Provincial Council (NEPC) in January 2007 by the Government of Sri Lanka," Batticaloa district TNA parliamentarian S. Jeyanandamoorthy told TamilNet Tuesday. "We do not want to fall prey to the policy of divide and rule of the Sri Lankan government," the parliamentarian further said.
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Boston Globe advocates "Self-rule in a confederal structure for Tamil region"

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2008, 10:01 GMT]
Pointing to Sri Lanka's documented pattern of "abductions of civilians by security forces," and Rajapakse Government's complicity in "large scale disappearances," Boston Globe in an editorial Monday said: "[t]he bottom line is Sri Lanka's conflict is political, and it must be resolved by political means. A lasting solution will require that the central government grant meaningful self-rule to the Tamil region, perhaps in a confederal structure that maintains the unity of the country. Continuing attempts to resolve the conflict militarily can only produce more suffering and more war."
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Assault on media

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 March 2008, 16:08 GMT]
While the 2007 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Sri Lanka released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. State Department catalogued the deteriorating climate for media freedom in Sri Lanka, State intimidation of, and violence on journalists continue in 2008. Unidentified men have broken into the houses of journalists Munusamy Parameshwari in Gampola, and Sashi Kumar and Sunetra Athugalpura in Gonawela, Kelaniya in three separate incidents in the last two days, according to media reports. Parameshawari's relatives were assaulted before the attackers got away, reports added.
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Stray cattle beat SLA cordon in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 17:50 GMT]
The cattle-roundup-day organized by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Saturday when the SLA allowed displaced Tamil families from the Thenamaraadchy High Security Zone (HSZ) including Thananki'lappu and Maravanpulo areas to take back the cattle left behind, ended in failure as only five cows out of the more than 6000 were caught in the "net," residents of Thenmaraadchi who followed the event told TamilNet.
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India should not collaborate in genocide of Tamils: Tamil Protection Movement

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 March 2008, 22:19 GMT]
The Tamil Protection Movement (TPM), an umbrella organization consisting of pro-Eelam political parties, NGOs, members of the film fraternity and Tamil associations, condemned the Indian state for extending military support to the genocidal Sri Lankan Government. In a joint statement issued on behalf of the TPM, Paaddaa'li Makka'l Kadchi (PMK, Toilers' Party) founder-leader S Ramadoss and Viduthalai Chi'ruththaika'l Kadchi (VCK, Liberation Panthers Party) President Thol Thirumavalavan, demanded the "Indian Government to radically change its approach and actions in the Sri Lankan Tamils issue" and warned the union government not to be seen as collaborating in Sri Lanka's genocide of Tamils.
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Shaping India's policy on Sri Lanka: a reader's response

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 01:08 GMT]
"Those who watch the current developments sense a race against time on the part of India in achieving something militarily in Sri Lanka. At times it looks as though it is India’s war," writes a reader from Tamil Nadu in response to the LTTE's statement on Monday. "The Refuse-to-Retire advisors cum analysts of India, whose writings often reek of revenge, sometimes back came out with enticing hints that the target is only the leadership of the LTTE, and thereafter India will protect the Tamils. Have these advisors ever seen in their lifetime India proving its credibility in safeguarding Tamil rights in Sri Lanka or for that matter, at least India winning a diplomatic war with Sri Lanka?"
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60 SLA killed in 48 hours in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 13:40 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Operations Command in Mannaar told TamilNet Tuesday that 60 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed on Sunday and Monday when the Tigers confronted 3 major attempts by the SLA to advance into LTTE territory in Mannaar. At Paalaikkuzhi, a large ground push launched by the SLA was thwarted by the Tigers on Monday in which 20 SLA soldiers were killed and 63 wounded. Simultaneously, the SLA has suffered heavy casualties on another push, at Parappaangka'ndal. Further, the LTTE claimed that its snipers have gunned down 18 SLA soldiers on Monday. On Sunday, 22 SLA soldiers were killed in the jungle area of Karampaikku'lam in Keerisuddaan.
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'Frankenstein' franchise in Batticaloa - TNA MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 March 2008, 01:52 GMT]
"Ceylon was the first country in Asia to receive universal adult suffrage as early as in 1931. Even though many at that time eulogized it, from the very beginning, it was doomed as it was implemented in a country where the voting was communal. The Tamils boycotted the first elections. The curse continued and has become a Frankenstein monster in Batticaloa today. People are terrified at the thought of elections and would feel greatly relieved without it," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Jeyanandamoorthy while sharing his opinion with TamilNet on Friday on the local elections in Batticaloa.
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Jaffna TNA MP Sivanesan killed in DPU Claymore attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 March 2008, 09:59 GMT]
Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian, K. Sivanesan, was killed in a Claymore attack carried out by the Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit on A-9 road, 30 minutes after he crossed into Vanni through Oamanthai / Pu'liyangku'lam entry point Thursday. The Claymore attack has taken place between Pu'liyangku'lam and Maangku'lam around 1:20 p.m., according to initial reports. The MP's vehicle was targeted when he was returning to his residence in Mallaavi, after attending the parliamentary sessions in Colombo. His driver was also killed in the attack. The DPU attackers have exploded four Claymore mines in a row, Tamileelam Police officials told TamilNet.
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Armed men abduct 2 teenage girls in Vaazhaichcheanai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 March 2008, 12:08 GMT]
Fatigue uniform clad armed men who came in a white van abducted a 16-year-old girl student Monday night around 11:30 from her house in Karungkaalichchoalai in Vaazhaichcheanai police division in Batticaloa district and another 16-year-old girl student from the same area Tuesday night around same time from her house. The armed men had also tried to abduct a young woman from another house in Karungkaalichchoalai but had let her go when she, amidst wails, had begged saying she is married, residents in the area told TamilNet.
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Tigers say random explosions cause rise in SLA casualties in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 16:59 GMT]
At least 23 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded or killed in random explosions within the past week in parts of Mannaar battlefront, the Tigers said Sunday. The SLA has sustained casualties when its soldiers attempted to move around inside no-go zone and during retreats after skirmishes.
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Extortion by SLA suspected in release of Jaffna youths- MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 00:27 GMT]
Family members of 44 youths who were recently allowed to leave Jaffna prison have complained to a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian that they had paid sums of up to Rs.70,000 to brokers acting as intermediaries between the relatives and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) personnel in Jaffna, to obtain the youths' release. Meanwhile, Major. Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, claimed that the youths had confessed to being members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and had accepted to undergo rehabilitation at the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Thellippa’lai, under SLA supervision.
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Justification for Tamil statehood compelling under international law- Fein

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 February 2008, 15:10 GMT]
Accusing a Sri Lanka website of "surrender[ing] the honorable role of scrutinizing and criticizing [Sri Lanka] government to become an obsequious courtier daily genuflecting to the GOSL and the Tamil quislings Karuna and Pillaiyan group," Bruce Fein, an attorney based in Washington D.C, in responding to questions posed by the website, challenged the site to publish a list of Americans killed or threatened by the LTTE, saying "[O]ne statutory requirement is proof that an organization threatens Americans or impairs the national security of the United States."
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Producers of documentary on Women Tigers showcase new film

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 February 2008, 05:00 GMT]
Sabiha Sumar's "Dinner with the President: A Nation's Journey," which she made with her husband, political columnist Sachithanandam Sathananthan, is the story not only of an unusual and intimate dinner with Pervez Musharraf but chronicles a series of gatherings with the constituencies of modern Pakistan, reports Salt Lake Tribune, citing the showing of the documentary at Sundance festival, Utah held 17-27 January. Sri Lanka born Dr Sathananthan, currently in self-exile in India, and his Pakistani wife Sabiha Sumar, produced a 1996 documentary "Suicide Warriors" based on the lives of women cadre amongst the LTTE's women's brigade, some of whom belong to the elite Black Tigers.
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New office for Assistant Superintendent of Police opened in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 15:20 GMT]
"The lack of at least one police officer proficient in Tamil language is the cause for the public's reluctance to seek police assistance to have their needs attended," Jaffna magistrate Mr. R. T. Vicknarajah said, speaking at the official opening ceremony of the new office for Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) at the Jaffna police station premises Tuesday around 2:00 p.m. According to the 13th amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution, the Tamil language also shall be the official language of Sri Lanka. Despite this, the status of Tamil as an official language has not been implemented for the past 20 years.
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APRC: key to peace or an albatross?

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 01:02 GMT]
J.R. Jayawardena's Government claimed that the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed in August 1987 fulfilled the promises made in the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, to 'devolve power' to the Tamil people. The Liberation Tigers dismissed the legislation outright, and said it allowed "perpetuation of the domination, oppression and exploitation of the Tamil masses by the racist Sinhala state," and N. Satyendra, a constitutional scholar and attorney who represented ex-militants in Sri Lanka trials, ridiculed the legislation as a "comic opera."
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Alarming increase in Mannaar abductions

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 16:45 GMT]
In the past three weeks, Mannaar has witnessed the abduction of five Tamil civilians, including a leading businessman and a young mother, in broad daylight. In at least two of the cases, the victims had received mysterious phone calls asking them to come to an appointed place at a particular time. Distraught families have been running from pillar to post to trace their missing relatives, but a hostile police force has ensured that they remain groping in the dark.
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Police HQI 'abducts' Up-Country Tamil girl

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 12:36 GMT]
Hatton Police Headquarter Inspector (HQI) Chandana Gamage, Friday night, entered a restaurant in the town, after consuming liquor and dragged an Up-Country Tamil girl into his jeep along with seven other Tamil youth and took the girl to an unknown location after releasing the boys on his way. The HQI is yet to return to duty and the girl was not traced, an NGO official in Hatton told TamilNet Saturday.
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SLAF bombing raid injures 3 civilians in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 17:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLA) fighter jets dropped 12 bombs in 3 sorties Friday morning on civilian settlements in Va'l'lipunam in Vanni, injuring three civilians including a woman, besides completely destroying a settlement, sources in Vanni said. An event enrolling new students to Grade I in Udaiyaarkaddu Mahavithtiyaalayam was disrupted when the bombs fell and exploded near by. Chentha'lir Children Home for girls, relocated from Mullaitheevu coast to Va'l'lipunam after Tsunami, narrowly escaped the air-strike.
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SLAF bombs Ki'linochchi suburb, 1 killed, 7 wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2008, 04:09 GMT]
Liberation Tigers anti-aircraft guns fired at Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) warplanes that bombed a civilian area with a mechanic workshop near Kanakapuram Maha Viththiyaalayam school at Kanakapuram, a suburb of Ki'linochchi town, Thursday morning. A 32-years-old man who sought safety inside a bunker was wounded and succumbed to his injuries. Seven civilians were wounded in the SLAF attack. Nine houses were damaged in the bombardment that was launched at 9:30 a.m. and carried out four times.
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