Tactical imperatives drive LTTE's responses - Balakumaran

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 September 2005, 02:22 GMT]
"Liberation Tigers' recent responses to emerging political issues are tactical, reflecting the organization's political maturity and the need to further expose to the international community, Government of Sri Lanka's inability to effectively address the Tamil National question," said Mr. K. V. Balakumaran, a senior LTTE member and former EROS leader, when TamilNet asked for his comment on the recent characterization by the Colombo press of LTTE "climbing down" on previously stated positions on issues.
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Tens of thousands attend Tamil resurgence event in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 September 2005, 12:11 GMT]
Around one hundred thousand people from various parts of Vanni mainland took part in the Tamil national resurgence event held in Kilinochchi on Thursday. The event was held in support of the July 27 Vavuniya Convention and was organised by the Tamil Resurgence Task Force. The entire township was decorated with felicitation arches and yellow and red bi-colour flags with a festive appearance. "This event would inform the world that time is ripe for us to decide our own destiny," Mr. M. Sivabalan, president of the Task Force told TamilNet. The event ceremonially began at 4:00 p.m. in Kilinochchi common playground.
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US hands over sniffer dogs to SLA de-mining unit in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 August 2005, 18:21 GMT]
The USA government Tuesday handed 7 trained sniffer dogs to the De-Mining Unit of the Sri Lanka Army, which is stationed in the Palaly military base in Jaffna district. SLA troops Wednesday morning deployed these sniffer dogs to detect mines in the Avarankal east area.
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LTTE cadres, civilians attacked in Vaharai, one dead, three injured

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 August 2005, 09:03 GMT]
An LTTE cadre, Mr. Reagon, was killed and three persons including two civilians were injured when a group of Sri Lanka Army soldiers and paramilitary cadres, who had moved into the LTTE held area Kirimichchai in Vaharai from the SLA held Panichchankerni, shot at LTTE cadres and civilians, LTTE's Political Head in Batticaloa Mr. Ilanthirayan told TamilNet. The attack took place around 10:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials in Batticaloa refused to provide any detail of their knowlegde of the incident. In the meantime, civilians close to Panichankerni SLA base witnessed a group of attackers with military fatigues enter the SLA base following the attack.
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Trinco Tamil students boycott schools protesting army presence

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 August 2005, 10:12 GMT]
Tamil medium schools in the Trincomalee town did not function Monday when students boycotted their classes in a token protest to the presence of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and the Sri Lanka Police surrounding their institutions in large number, TamilNet sources said.
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Tamil journalist in Colombo assaulted by JVP, arrested under ER

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 16:34 GMT]
Mr.Yathurshan Premachchandran, a photojournalist of Colombo Tamil daily "Sudar Oli" was handed over to the Fort Police in Colombo after being assaulted by a group of JVP activists Tuesday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. The journalist was assisting his senior journalist in covering a JVP demonstration held in front of Fort Railway Station. Mr. Premachandran has complained that he was also attacked by the Police, according to media sources. The Fort Police has handed over the journalist to the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) alleging him to be a member of the Liberation Tigers, sources added.
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Ex-SLA soldiers urged to help solve disappeared cases

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 05:31 GMT]
The North East Secretariat on Human Rights has appealed to ex-Sri Lankan military officials living overseas to come forward to help solve the cases of over 70 Tamil youths who were disappeared in the 1990s in Mandaithivu-Alappiddy-Mankumban areas, according to an interim report obtained by TamilNet's Kilinochchi correspondent.
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SLTMA condemns grenade attack on newspaper office

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 August 2005, 04:07 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) in a news release Saturday said it strongly condemned the grenade attack on the Uthayan newspaper’s office in Wellawatte, Colombo, calling it a “cowardly act,” and urged the Sri Lankan government to take prompt action to stop such attacks.
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Emergency raises spectre of past disappearances - Adaikalanathan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 August 2005, 23:36 GMT]
"The reimposition of Emergency Regulations has raised the spectre of past disappearances, indiscriminate arrests, torture under custody and the impunity enjoyed by the Sri Lanka security forces for human rights violations against the Tamil people," said Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Vanni district, when TamilNet asked for his reaction to the adoption by Sri Lanka's parliament Thursday of the motion to extend the State of Emergency.
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LTTE agrees to participate in talks on Ceasefire Agreement

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 August 2005, 07:39 GMT]
The LTTE leadership has informed the Norwegian Government of its decision to participate in talks with the Sri Lanka government on issues relating to the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement. Mr. Anton Balasingham, the political advisor and the chief peace negotiator of the Liberation Tigers, told TamilNet that the LTTE leadership has accepted the Norwegian invitation to "participate in a review of the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement in order to find practical ways of ensuring full compliance by both parties."
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Two policemen shot, Jaffna tense

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 08:01 GMT]
Two Sri Lankan policemen were shot and injured at Kaladdy in Kokkuvil, a suburb of Jaffna, Wednesday around 11:30 a.m, Police said. One of the two wounded policemen, in critical condition, was airlifted to Colombo Hospital. The Sri Lanka army in Jaffna deployed additional troops in Jaffna town, the areas surrounding the University of Jaffna and Jaffna Teaching Hospital following the incident, sources said.
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Buddhist rituals mark Kadirgamar's State Funeral

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 August 2005, 15:55 GMT]
The funeral of slain Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was held with full state honours at the Independence Square at 6 p.m. Monday. Late Kadirgamer's son Ravi lit the funeral pyre after sunset according to Buddhist tradition. Several thousand people paid their last respects as the remains of kadirgamar was taken in procession to the Independence Square from his official residence at the Wijerama Mawatha. From the beginning of the drive of the Independence square to the venue where the funeral orations were made by the religious leaders and the Prime minister on behalf of the Sri Lanka government, the military parade accompanied the cortage.
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STF soldiers storm Karaithivu LTTE office, arrest four

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 August 2005, 09:01 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) soldiers who stormed the Karaithivu political office of the Liberation Tigers in Kalmunai arrested Mr. Uthayamenan, a political cadre of the LTTE and three civilians in the office around 8:00 a.m. Sunday, Police said. Later, the STF soldiers handed over the persons to Sammanthurai Police. The arrests were made to investigate the recent attacks on police and security posts in Amparai district, the STF soldiers had told the Police.
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UNP, JVP react to Kadirgamar slaying

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 20:44 GMT]
In the wake of the assassination Friday of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party, whilst condemning the killing, accused the government of being lax in providing him with security, particularly amid reports he was close to the renegade LTTE commander who defected to the Army, Karuna. And in its vehement reaction, the ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) mourned Mr. Kadirgamar as one of their own and launched a bitter tirade against the LTTE.
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LTTE denies involvement in Kadirgamar killing

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 06:15 GMT]
Denying any involvement in the assassination of Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, LTTE's Political Head, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan Saturday condemned Colombo for hastily blaming the Liberation Tigers for the killing. Thamilchelvan said that there are several forces opposed to the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) in the South. "We also know that there are sections within the Sri Lankan Armed forces operating with a hidden agenda to sabotage the CFA," he said and urged Colombo to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the assassins.
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Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 00:29 GMT]
Mr Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close confidante of Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, was shot Friday night by a sniper near his residence and later succumbed to his injuries. During his 1994-2001 tenure as foreign minister in People's Alliance (PA) government, he was widely credited for his relentless campaign in foreign capitals to brand the Liberation Tigers as a terrorist organization and to ban the LTTE. Mr Kadirgamar was held in high esteem by most of the South for his vehement opposition to separatism and for his passionate defense of the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Mr Kadirgamar never held an elected office.
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Youths on Fast-to-death campaign against Dam project

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 August 2005, 11:02 GMT]
Six youths from the HillCountry Youth Front (HYF) has launched a fast unto death campaign at the Talawakelle bus stand in protest of the proposed Upper Kotmale hydro electricity project Thursday, sources from Talawakelle said.
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"A dirty War of Attrition in the East" - LTTE blames Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 August 2005, 10:29 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday blamed the Government of Sri Lanka for "covertly supporting a dirty war of attrition" against the Liberation Tigers in the Eastern Province in collusion with Tamil para-militaries that is gravely endangering the ceasefire. Criticising the SL Government’s armed forces, particularly the military intelligence, for the fast deteriorating security situation in the eastern province, Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political advisor of the LTTE, warned that the increasing tension has the potential of exploding into a full-fledged armed confrontation, if the government failed in its truce obligation to disarm the para-militaries.
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Two LTTE cadres shot and killed in Thirukkovil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 04:38 GMT]
Two political cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen who were riding in a blue colour van Wednesday around 7:30 a.m. The incident took place at Kanjirankuda junction on Akkaraipattu-Pottuvil Main Road, around 300 meters away from the Special Task Force (STF) base in Kanjirankuda, which is located 3 km south of Thirukkovil in Amparai district. Two of the gunmen, wearing military fatigues, were seen entering the STF base by the residents of the area.
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Kaluwanchikudy LTTE political office attacked

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 August 2005, 06:10 GMT]
Unidentified men attacked Kaluwanchikudy political office of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Friday early morning. At least five hand grenades were lobbed inside the office premises, Kaluwanchikudy police said. Neighbouring residents said that the attackers, fleeing the scene after the attack, entered the Special Task Force (STF) camp located around 100 meters from the scene around 6:00 a.m. Five LTTE political cadres who were in the office narrowly escaped from the attack, LTTE sources said. Doors and windows in the front side of the building and the roof were damaged in the attack, Kaluwanchikudy Police conducting investigations said.
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