Senior PLOTE operative 'Farook' talks to media in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 May 2006, 16:01 GMT]
A senior People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) operative, Sinnathamby Ganeshalingam, alias Farook, who was reported missing in December last year in Vavuniya, talked to the media this week in an undisclosed remote village in Vanni. Ganeshalingam claimed that he has begun a settled peaceful life in Liberation Tigers controlled Vanni with his wife Shantha, and refuted earlier reports that he was abducted by the Tigers. He said he left the paramilitary group after PLOTE leadership began to develop close relationships with the hardline elements in Sri Lankan military and extreme nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
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Allaipiddy families vacate village

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 May 2006, 12:19 GMT]
Eighty families which remained in Allaipiddy, the islet village where 13 civilians were massacred by Sri Lanka Navy last week, completely vacated the village Saturday in fifteen lorries, sources from Jaffna said. 42 families have sought shelter in St.Michael's church in Navanthurai. 38 families in six lorries proceeded towards Liberation Tigers controlled areas but two lorries were stopped by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers manning the Muhamalai checkpoint saying the checkpoint was closed for the day, sources said.
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EU ban 'obstacle to just and lasting solution' - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 May 2006, 09:45 GMT]
"The resolution of the European Union Parliament imposing punitive measures and harshly censuring our liberation organisation is unfair, untimely and utterly biased. This EU intervention will thus emerge as a serious impediment to reaching a just and lasting solution to Sri Lanka’s conflict," the LTTE’s chief negotiator and political ideologue, Mr. Anton Balasingham, said Saturday when asked by TamilNet for his response to the move by the EU Parliament to proscribe the movement.
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EU bans LTTE as terrorists - Times

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 May 2006, 06:53 GMT]
The European Union has agreed to blacklist the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist group, despite warnings that this could lead to full-blown civil war in Sri Lanka, the Times newspaper reported Saturday. Quoting EU diplomats, the London daily said Britain and other countries persuaded Sweden, Denmark and Finland to overcome their reservations and that pressure from the United States was also a factor.
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‘EU proscription will seriously damage peace process’ - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 May 2006, 08:34 GMT]
Further international proscriptions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will seriously impact negatively on the already weakened peace process in Sri Lanka, the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist Anton Balasingham said Thursday. Asked by TamilNet for his comments to press reports that the European Union (EU) would ban the LTTE this week, Mr. Balasingham warned that “the hardliners in the south are urgently seeking the international isolation of the LTTE as a prelude to taking up the military option in earnest.”
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General shut down paralyses Tamil areas in Ampara

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 May 2006, 06:32 GMT]
General shut down was observed in the Ampara district Wednesday in response to the call by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), condemning the extra judicial killings of Tamil speaking civilians in the Northeast province. Normal life in Kalmunai, a major town and several villages, Thirukovil, Thambiluvil, Alaiyadivembu, Akkaraipattu, Karaitivu, and Paandiruppu in the district was completed disrupted, TamilNet sources said.
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BBC ‘supporting Tamil terrorists’ - protest

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 May 2006, 12:37 GMT]
An estimated two hundred Sinhala expatriates demonstrated outside BBC headquarters in London Monday, protesting what they described as the organisation’s bias towards the Liberation Tigers. The protest, organised by a hitherto unknown group, Sri Lankans Against Terrorism (SLAT), drew together members of other Sinhala organisations and, in defiance of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s instructions, members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) also.
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SLA sets Students Association Jaffna building, office of Jaffna MP on fire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 May 2006, 01:55 GMT]
The International Students Association of Tamileelam (ISATE) building which also contains the office of Tamil NationalAlliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr Gajendran located close to Parameswara College in Jaffna Palaly Road was set on fire Friday night at 11.30 p.m., according to sources from Jaffna.
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Gunfire reported in Muttur east seas, tension high

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 May 2006, 11:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) boats entered the Liberation Tigers controlled coastal area in Muttur east Thursday around 1:30 p.m.where ten boats of LTTE's naval wing was engaged in training exercises. Despite the warnings issued by the Tigers, the naval boats with Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials on board, had approached the LTTE controlled area in Muttur east and reports indicate sounds of mortar and gun in the seas were heard from the seas. Tension has escalated in the coastal areas, sources from Muttur east said.
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SLMM yet to inspect the crime site, Jaffna TNA MP complains

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 May 2006, 06:53 GMT]
"Almost 30 hours have passed since a crime against humanity has taken place at a temple site. The truce monitors from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in Jaffna are yet to visit the crime site or approach the area where the bodies are said to be found," accused S. Gajendran, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Jaffna district. The SLMM officials have explained that the delay was caused due to the lack of resources. There was no translator or driver available for the SLMM to visit the sites, according to the Director of the Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. S. Puleedevan, who said the SLMM delay was "too late."
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Gunmen fire on SLA troopers in Jaffna, 2 soldiers wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 May 2006, 07:56 GMT]
An unidentified attacker, armed with a handgun, fired on Sri Lanka Army soldier who was guarding policemen providing security to Uthayan newspaper office located on Kasthuriar Road in Jaffna. The incident took place around 12:15 p.m. Saturday. Meanwhile, another gunman in Vadamaradchi, shot and wounded an SLA soldier around 1:00 p.m.
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Paramilitary gunmen attack Jaffna daily, 2 killed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2006, 14:25 GMT]
Five armed paramilitary gunmen who entered the main office of the Jaffna daily Uthayan Tuesday night around 7:45 p.m., opened fire on editorial staff, killing at least two staffers, including the daily's marketing manager and wounding two, according to initial reports. At least 40 gunshots were heard, residents said.
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SL Police abandons Sivaram murder investigation- RSF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2006, 12:14 GMT]
"Violence between Tamil factions, sometimes manipulated by the security forces, has had particularly bloody results. The renowned Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram "Taraki", head of the news website TamilNet and editorialist on the Daily Mirror, was gunned down in Colombo in April. After arresting one suspect, police abandoned the investigation," said Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its annual report for 2006 on Sri Lanka, issued Tuesday.
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Colombo assails SLMM, accuses media bias in refugee figure dispute

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 April 2006, 16:58 GMT]
While Sri Lanka's President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse drew attention to "propaganda war," Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told the state-run weekly Sunday Observer that the Sri Lanka Government "categorically denies" and dismisses as "outrageous," accusation by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that security forces were involved in extra- judicial killings in the North-East. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, said State's attempt to accuse foreign media of bias is a precursor to enforcing self-censorship. The State wants to deter foreign press from exposing military excesses of Sri Lanka armed forces, he added.
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Tiger Commandos attack paramilitary camps, 18 killed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 April 2006, 03:08 GMT]
18 paramilitary operatives of Karuna group were killed in an attack launched by an Elite Commando unit of the Liberation Tigers on three paramilitary camps in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled Kasankulam close to Thibulana, located 7 km east of Welikande in Batticaloa - Polannaruwa border Sunday. Arms were seized and ammunitions at the paramilitary camps in Kasankulam were fully destroyed by the LTTE commandos in the surprise attack that was planned and supervised by Special Commander Col. Bhanu, an LTTE official from Kokkaddicholai in Batticaloa district told TamilNet. 10 paramilitary cadres sustained serious wounds, 5 were captured by the Tigers. An abducted Vavuniya trader was saved.
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Sivaram memorial held at Colombo Tamil Sangam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 April 2006, 15:05 GMT]
Speaking at the one year memorial event held at the Colombo Tamil Sangam by the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance Friday evening, C.A. Jothilingam, a popular political analyst, called for making Sivram's death anniversary, a Day for remembering all journalists slain for their writings in Sri Lanka.
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Jaffna journalists pay tribute to Sivaram on first death anniversary

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 April 2006, 01:18 GMT]
"Sri Lanka Government (GoSL) has failed in its attempt to stifle the voice of the entire Tamils by killing Sivaram. Many young Tamil journalists are in the forefront, continuing his mission, informing the international community of the perils faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka. This is the greatest tribute we journalists can pay Sivaram," said Mr. S. Kathirgamathamby, president North Ceylon Journalists Association (NCJA) in his address at the first annual memorial day Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki), a senior editor of TamilNet, held at the Media Research and Training Center in Jaffna University Friday evening at 4 p.m.


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TamilNet editor's murder still unpunished, impunity prevails in Sri Lanka- RSF

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 April 2006, 11:35 GMT]
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Sri Lanka Free Media Movement (FMM) all voiced outrage on the lack of progress in the investigation into the murder of Dharmaretnam Sivaram and and said "the current serious crisis in Sri Lanka - the result of unacceptable terrorism - in no way justifies the impunity prevailing in the murders of journalists and human rights activists," in a press release issued Friday.
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Sivaram remembered in Batticaloa and Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 April 2006, 07:19 GMT]
The first death anniversary of reputed journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki), a Senior Editor of TamilNet, who was assassinated a year ago in Colombo was held in Batticaloa on Thursday and Friday morning in Jaffna. Batticaloa Rural Development Organization in collaboration with Thamileelam Education Development Board organized the event held at Ramakrishna Mission School in Kokkadichcholai. Jaffna District Media Association (JDMA) organized the Jaffna event.
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Air strike, artillery fire, acts of provocation- LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 12:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka security forces began air attacks and artillery fire without any provacation from the Liberation Tigers, Mr. S.Puleedevan, Secretary General of the LTTE’s peace secretariat in Kilinochchi told TamilNet. He accused the Sri Lanka Government of carrying out the attacks after blocking the Muttur east area, and issuing false reports. "Colombo is issuing false reports accusing the Tigers of an attack on a Sri Lanka Navy vessel. There was no such attack, the accusations are baseless," he said.
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