Ex EPDP cadre shot in Batticaloa cinema

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 April 2005, 10:37 GMT]
An ex EPDP cadre was shot and seriously wounded in a movie theatre in Batticaloa town Tuesday afternoon around 2.40, Police said. A gunman shot Mr. Arumugam Ambikaipahan, 22, at point blank range with a 9 m.m. pistol at Vijaya Theatre, Police said.
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'Tender shoots of Mullaithivu'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 April 2005, 21:01 GMT]
A photographic exhibition highlighting the suffering of survivors in Mullaithivu of the devastation wrought by the December 26 tsunami has opened in London. Internationally renowned photographer Carlos Reyes-Manzo’s exhibition titled ‘Tender Shoots of Mullaithivu’ was formally launched at the famous bookshop, Foyles, last Thursday. The exhibition, which is named after Senthalir orphanage in Mullaithivu, which Mr. Reyes-Manzo visited in January, focuses on the plight of people in areas around Mullaitivu and comprises black and white photographs depicting the destruction wrought on coastal villages and portraits of survivors, all taken in his characteristic style.
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Thousands of Tsunami refugees stranded in rains

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 April 2005, 19:19 GMT]
Thousands of tents in which Tamil and Muslim Tsunami refugees are sheltered in the Batticaloa-Amparai districts were flooded following non-seasonal rains in the region Sunday. Tsunami refugees in several camps on the eastern and southeastern coast said that they have no place to sleep tonight because of the rains. “The tent floors are wet or flooded. Mats and sheets on which refugee children sleep have got soggy with the unexpected rains”, said Mr. A. K Thavarajah, Divisional Secretary for Thirukkovil, speaking about the situation in Mandaanai, the largest Tsunami refugee camp in the Amparai district.
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North Carolina medical relief still held by Lanka customs

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 April 2005, 05:33 GMT]
Officials of the North Carolinians for Peace (NCFP) told TamilNet Thursday that they still await resolution to clearing the 54 boxes of medical supplies held by the Sri Lanka customs. "We had good response from the offices of Congressmen Bob Etheridge and David Price, and Senator Richard Burr. They have contacted the US Embassy in Colombo and the US State Department in Washington DC. Our Chair of NCFP Relief operations has also sent a letter to the Sri Lankan Ambassador in DC," Elias Jeyarajah, President of NCFP, told TamilNet.
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TECH Official departs for European tour

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 March 2005, 12:00 GMT]
Sivalingam Suhunan, Executive Director of the Economic Consultancy House (TECH), a Sri Lanka Government registered NGO which works exclusively in NorthEast, left for a 4-week tour of European Countries Wednesday morning, sources from Kilinochchi said. The iterinery for the privately funded visit includes Norway, Denmark, France and Germany, sources added.
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Coal at Trinco harbor poses health risk, Environmentalists warn

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 March 2005, 03:50 GMT]
Unloaded coal piled up near the Ashraff Jetty of the Trincomalee harbour, before transported for use at Puttalam cement factory is endangering the health of the people of the area, Trincomalee civil leaders complained. The coal is then moved to a private land at Tampalakamam located 22 km off the east port town and then transported to Puttalam cement factory about 200 km off Trincomalee, in the northwestern province, sources said.
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Fizzled tsunami leaves two dead during evacuation

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2005, 20:08 GMT]
So far, there is no indication of unusual wave activity in the sea said TamilNet correspondent for Batticaloa who visited a coastal part of the eastern town around 3 AM Tuesday. A boy was killed in a an accident involving a lorry in Mavadippalli and an old women died while fleeing in Kalmunai, according to initial casuality reports from Amparai. First "Tsunami" wave reached Colombo at about 1am (local time) and is less than one foot (10") in height according to information received by US NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency) measured at location with coordinates 6-59N 79-51E in Colombo.
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Evacuation underway in NorthEast coastal areas

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2005, 18:49 GMT]
As a precautionary measure to avoid a possible tsunami from a 8.2 richter scale aftershock near Sumatra, LTTE units are evacuating coastal village residents and refugees in transit camps to higher grounds, sources said. FM radio and TV stations continued to provide updates on the quake that hit Sumatra Monday at 16.10 hrs GMT. Temple bells in almost all villages were rung alerting people to evacuate.
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Tsunami warning issued: Earth quake in Sumatra with 8.5 magnitude

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2005, 16:58 GMT]
An earthquake near Sumatra at nearly 240km SE of the previous quake with a magnitude of 8.5 with the "potential to generate a widely destructive tsuami in the ocean or seas near the earthquake is reported by the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC). Authorities in those regions should be aware of this possibility and take immediate action. This action should include evacuation of coasts within a thousand kilometers of the epicenter and close monitoring to determine the need for evacuation further away," according to PTWC's alert message. If a tsunami is generated it is likely to hit Sri Lanka around 12.30 am according to TamilNet's calculations.
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Sri Lanka’s referendum blues

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 March 2005, 12:23 GMT]
Opposition fears that President Chandrika Kumaratunga is making serious moves to hold on to the reins of power were further exacerbated when thousands of posters calling for the immediate abolition the country’s executive Presidential system appeared in many part of the island’s capital and suburbs this week. The purple coloured posters were in the name of a nebulous organization called ‘People’s Movement for Democracy’. Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) says President Kumaratunga is planning to change the constitution to illegally perpetuate herself in power.
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Tension in Akkaraipattu over Police shooting

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 March 2005, 11:14 GMT]
Tension prevailed in Akkaraipattu Wednesday after a Muslim youth was shot by Sri Lanka Police in the town around 2 in the afternoon. The youth was riding a motorbike with a colleague when Police opened fire on him at Fiscal Junction in Akkaraipattu town, 64 kilometres south of Batticaloa. A large number of Special Task Force commandos and Police were deployed as tension mounted in the town over the shooting. A Police officer in the town told TamilNet that his men had stopped the youth at a checkpoint and were compelled to open fire as he did not heed them.
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Refugee woman, children stranded on Adam’s Bridge

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 March 2005, 12:06 GMT]
A refugee woman abandoned on a sandbank in the seas off Mannar with her two children was reported missing Tuesday. Fishermen from Thalaimannar who had given food to the woman and her children informed the parish priest of the area about her plight. “They told me that the woman and her daughters were stranded without food or water since Saturday morning. Sri Lanka navy searched the sandbanks in the area when I brought it to their notice”, Fr. Antonydas Christopher Daleema, parish priest for Thalaimannar told TamilNet Tuesday. Local fishermen do not rescue refugees from mid sea, fearing arrest.
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Media report of British pressure false -Balasingham

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 March 2005, 10:52 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers' Chief Negotiator and Political Advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham Tuesday dismissed claims in a Sri Lankan newspaper that British authorities had pressured him to secure the release of a Tamil resident of the UK which the paper also claimed had been detained by the LTTE in northern Sri Lanka. A columnist in The Sunday Leader claimed this week that British intelligence officials had threatened Mr. Balasingham on behalf of Mr. Rajasingham Jeyadevan after the latter was detained by the LTTE.
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Lanka customs confiscates relief medical supplies

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2005, 10:37 GMT]
After delaying two weeks in providing clearance to a container sent from North Carolina, the Sri Lanka customs confiscated 54 boxes of medical supplies and transferred the items for delivery through their own Social Services Ministry, and charged $1000 for the rest of the 168 boxes of other relief supplies, officals of the North Carolinians for Peace (NCFP) told TamilNet. The Clearing agent, Capitol Area Lions Club has been instructed to deliver the cleared relief material to "cleared areas," (Government controlled areas) only, NCFP officials added.
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All Sinhala relief team to assist TAFOR in East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 March 2005, 19:31 GMT]
None of the forty four relief co-ordinators hired by the Commissioner of General Essential Services and Chairman of the Task Force for Relief (TAFOR), Mr Tilak Ranaviraja, is Tamil speaking, attendees to a meeting called by the Commissioner held at the Ministry of Defense 14 March, said. Relief co-ordinators are recent graduates selected to assist TAFOR in finding land for transitional housing for the tsunami displaced, sources said.
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US Senator's office exposes Lanka customs clearance fraud

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 March 2005, 13:10 GMT]
An over-charge of nearly US$4000 on an NGO during clearance of relief supplies was discovered due to the intervention of Maryland Senator Paul Sarbanes office, sources said. The fraud was discovered when officials of a Baltimore Church and Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), approached the Congressman for help to pressure Sri Lanka Government to waive the nearly $7000 US taxes it imposed on five water purifiers sent by the Baltimore church to NorthEast victims of recent tsunami.
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LTTE delegation meets Norwegian facilitators in Oslo

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 March 2005, 16:45 GMT]
"We told the Norwegians that Sri Lanka Government should without delay extend co-operation to finalize the joint mechanism for aid distribution and should take immediate steps to end the targetting of LTTE political officials and cadres working in the East by paramilitary operatives operating with the backing of the Sri Lanka Army," said Head of LTTE Political Wing, S.P Thamilchelvan in Oslo Friday during a brief press conference held at the Hotel Continental in Norway's capital Oslo at 3 pm.
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Norway ‘optimistic on joint mechanism’

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 March 2005, 15:38 GMT]
Norwegian Peace Envoy, Mr. Erik Solheim, told the Liberation Tigers’ Political Strategist and Chief Negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, whom he met Wednesday that Oslo was optimistic that a joint mechanism for aid distribution could be agreed “soon” between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. Mr. Solheim also conveyed Colombo’s concerns over the LTTE’s airstrip in Vanni to Mr. Balasingham.
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Thamilchelvan, Nadesan bound for Europe

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 March 2005, 13:52 GMT]
A high level delegation of Liberation Tigers will begin an official visit to several European capitals from Friday. “Our meetings will focus on delivering aid to Tsunami affected people in northeast directly and efficiently”, Mr. S. Puleedevan, Secretary General of the LTTE peace secretariat in Kilinochchi, told TamilNet. The delegation led by Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, head of LTTE’s political division, leaves Colombo Thursday and will travel to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and Switzerland. The Tigers will also visit the European Union headquarters in Brussels, Puleedevan said.


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Protesting Muslims cook on highway in Maruthamunai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 March 2005, 14:26 GMT]
Thousands Muslims who lost their homes when the Tsunami hit Maruthamunai, 35 kilometres south of Batticaloa, blocked the main highway to Kalmunai Tuesday protesting against the Government of Sri Lanka for not helping them rebuild their houses. Entire coastal suburbs of this densely populated Muslim town were flattened by the surging sea. The protestors erected tents and cooked on the road. Only the JVP and three Islamic groups had put up some temporary shelters for them, the protestors said. Streets were deserted and the usually busy town was shut down.
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