Two LTTE cadres killed in claymore attack in East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 June 2005, 13:10 GMT]
Two LTTE cadres, Mr. Niveharan (22) and Mr. Sutharanjan (23), were killed in a claymore landmine attack in no-man zone at Sangamankandy, between Pottuvil and Komari at 12.35 PM Wednesday, sources said. The attack took place at Sangamankandy 2 km from Thandiyadi Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoint while the cadres were walking with their punctured motorbike from Kanjirankuda LTTE base towards LTTE political office in Komari, Mr. Daya Mohan, Deputy Head of LTTE's Batticaloa-Amparai Political Division told TamilNet. Mr. Daya Mohan blamed Special Task Force (STF) soldiers and paramilitary cadres working with the STF for the attack.
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Memorial meetings for Sivaram held in US

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 June 2005, 10:09 GMT]
Memorial meetings for Dharmeratnam Sivaram, senior TamilNet editor and military analyst abducted and killed on 28 April, were held in Washington D.C and in Rutgers University Center Hall New Jersey, Saturday and Sunday respectively, sources said.
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Police blame political party for Sivaram murder - paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 June 2005, 14:17 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police have cracked the murder of journalist Sivaram Dharmaratnam but are keeping it under wraps until all suspects are arrested, The Sunday Leader newspaper claimed this week, adding a political party supportive of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's ruling coalition is to blame. The claim was echoed in by the Sunday Times’ defence column.
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SLA troopers attempt to enter LTTE office in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 June 2005, 18:32 GMT]
Around hundred Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers together with paramilitary cadres from Razeek Group entered the premises of the LTTE administrative office at Thamaraikerni in Batticaloa town Saturday night around 11.30 PM. However, LTTE officials did not allow the soldiers to enter the office building till the arrival of truce monitors, Deputy Head of Batticaloa-Amparai Political Wing of the LTTE, Mr. Daya Mohan, told TamilNet. The sudden siege by the SLA soldiers with the presence of paramilitary cadres, "in contradiction to the terms of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) was aimed at provoking the Tigers", he charged.
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STF lays siege to LTTE's Thirukovil political office

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 June 2005, 13:27 GMT]
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) soldiers were stopped from forcibly entering the Political office of the Liberation Tigers in Thirukkovil, Amparai at 12.00 PM Friday, by Political Head of LTTE Veeramunai Koddam Mr. Atheeswaran Master who demanded the presence of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials, LTTE officials said. STF soldiers kept the LTTE office under siege till 18.20 PM till SLMM officials arrived at the scene. Mr. Aleeswaran Master told TamilNet that harrassment by Security Forces to provoke the LTTE cadres is escalating in Batticaloa, Amparai districts and the situation is rapidly deteriorating.
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Minibus carrying students escapes landmine blast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2005, 12:18 GMT]
A minibus carrying more than 70 students travelling to participate in Tamileelam Students Uprising Day in Kaludavalai from LTTE controlled Pankudaveli in Batticaloa narrowly escaped a Claymore landmine attack at 8.30 AM on Thursday. The incident took place 100 meters from a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoint at Koduvamadu in Chenkallady-Badulla Road.
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Conference decries escalating threat to freedom of expression

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2005, 00:10 GMT]
Representatives of media organizations and Trade Unions, Civil society leaders, artists and members of leftist parties held a conference labelled "Living against murder," protesting against murders of journalists and the rising threat to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. The conference was held at the Jayawardana Center in Colombo Town Hall.
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UNICEF says underage recruitment "very low"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 May 2005, 13:43 GMT]
Saying UNICEF had seen a "very low level" of underage recruitment by the Liberation Tigers in recent months, the organisation’s outgoing top official in Sri Lanka, Ted Chaiban, Sunday welcomed the development and urged the continuation of "this positive trend." Mr. Chaiban met Sunday LTTE's Head of Political Division, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, his deputy, Mr. S. Thangan and the Director General of the Peace Secretariat, Mr. S. Pulidevan at LTTE's Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi and discussed the improvement of the lives of people, particularly children, in Sri Lanka's former warzones.
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Media colleagues pay tribute to Sivaram

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 May 2005, 02:02 GMT]
Several colleagues from Colombo media, friends and relatives attended the memorial service held Saturday in honor of Dharmeratnam Sivaram, popular military analyst and senior member of TamilNet editorial board who was abducted and killed 28 April. The event was held at the St. Andrew's Scots Kirk Church in Colpetty, Colombo.
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Clinton expresses support for Joint Mechanism

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 May 2005, 11:05 GMT]
Expressing shock at the scale of damage caused by tsunami devastation, visiting UN's Special Envoy on tsunami relief, former US President Bill Clinton expressed support for the urgent need for a Joint Mechanism on Saturday when he met with North East Provincial Governor Mr.Tyronne Fernando, Ministers, Government officials and the representatives from local and foreign NGOs at Carmel Fatima College in Kalmunai. Security measures were tightened in Kalmunai. Dialog Cellphone links were cut off in Kalmunai from 19.00 PM Friday till 2 PM Saturday in Kalmunai, Police sources told TamilNet.
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Memorial service for Sivaram to be held in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 May 2005, 09:48 GMT]
A thanksgiving service for late Dharmeratnam Sivaram (11 August 1959 - 28 April 2005), popular military analyst and senior member of TamilNet editorial board, who was abducted and killed on 28 April, is to be held on Saturday at St.Andrews Scots Kirk (church) located in Colpetty, Colombo, family members said.
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HRW laments Tamil killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2005, 04:57 GMT]
Saying that ongoing killings and abductions throughout Sri Lanka have created “a climate of fear among Tamils across the country,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday called for “the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the killings and abductions in order to identify those responsible and recommend measures to end the abuses.”
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BBC South Asia services disrupted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 May 2005, 11:00 GMT]
The BBC’s South Asia services were amongst those hit as staff at the Corporation, protesting job cuts and privatisation plans, went on strike Monday severely disrupting several TV and radio networks. The BBC’s Tamil service provided almost normal service despite employees joining the protest as senior staff crossed the picket lines of what was described as the “most successful strike in BBC history,” sources said.


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New Navy base on Jaffna coast

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 May 2005, 17:58 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) has started preliminary work on a new naval base at Thiruvadinilai beach in Chulipuram, on the Jaffna peninsula’s western coast, reports said this week.


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‘No-war, no-peace’ film scoops Cannes award

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 May 2005, 14:05 GMT]
A Sinhala director’s film has been selected for an award at the Cannes film festival. Vimukthi Jayasundara’s ‘Sulanga Enu Pinisa’ (The Forsaken Land), the joint winner of the Caméra d'Or award on Saturday, explores the difficulties of people’s lives in a ‘no-war-no peace’ climate.
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CPJ alarmed at death threats to Sri Lanka journalists

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 May 2005, 18:03 GMT]
"We are alarmed by the rising threats against our colleagues, and call on authorities to find those responsible for these crimes. All sides of this conflict must respect the rights of journalists and help safeguard the free flow of information in Sri Lanka," Executive Director of Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Ann Cooper said in a news alert issued at CPJ's website Thursday.
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Convincing donors, Kumaratunge's goal- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 May 2005, 00:45 GMT]
Accusing Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge for not taking constructive steps to establish the Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction of NorthEast, Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers (LTTE), S.P Thamilchelvan, in a recent interview with TamilNet, dismissed Ms Kumaratunge's positive statements on the Joint Mechanism as a mere tactic to influence the donors in the forthcoming aid conference to take decisions in her favor, and to attract international assistance.
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Tamil scepticism mounts as aid deal drifts

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 May 2005, 18:20 GMT]
As the proposed joint mechanism for aid distribution urged by international donors between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers remains mired in Sinhala political manoeuvring, deep scepticism has replaced early optimism amongst the Tamils. More ominously, a belief is rapidly taking root that Colombo is playing for time and keeping the Northeast in the economic and social doldrums whilst developing the Sri Lankan military for a new war.
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Trinco Children's Home receives 100 beds

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 May 2005, 14:58 GMT]
The Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) in Sri Lanka supported by the American Refugee Committee (ARC) International has donated 100 beds for children affected by tsunami.
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SLA embargo on cement, fuel to Muttur east still continues -Elilan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 May 2005, 14:45 GMT]
"It is meaningless to speak of a negotiated political solution and the proposed joint mechanism at a time when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is still continuing the embargo on the transportation of cement, fuel and building materials to the LTTE held Muttur east in the Trincomalee district to rebuild tsunami destroyed coastal villages," said Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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