Ganesan assails Sri Lanka's rights record

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 14:08 GMT]
Mano Ganesan, Leader of Western People’s Front and Convener of Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC), in a meeting with visiting officials of the European Union, pointing to the culture of impunity prevailing in Sri Lanka, rejected Colombo's proposal to appoint a SAARC commission to monitor rights in Sri Lanka as a "ploy to buy time," and flayed Judge Tilakaratne's investigation into disappearances as an exercise to "deceive the nation and the international community." Judge Tilakaratne had earlier commented that most people listed as disappeared and abducted have either "returned home or gone abroad," the press release issued by Ganeson Saturday said.
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STF commando killed, 3 injured in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 11:14 GMT]
One Special Task Force (STF) commando was killed and three injured seriously when Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants engaged the STF commandos in an exchange of gunfire Friday around 12:15 a.m outside the STF camp located in Rottikku’lam in Ampaa’rai, LTTE Ampaa’rai Operations Command said.
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15 SLA soldiers killed in Ma'nalaa'ru

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 07:23 GMT]
At least 15 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and 18 wounded when the Liberation Tigers counter attacked and repulsed an SLA offensive in the Ma'nalaa'ru sector, Friday, Liberation Tigers operations command in Ma'nalaa'ru said Saturday morning.
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LTTE: 3 SLA attempts thwarted, weapons seized

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 07:01 GMT]
22 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed Friday when Tigers confronted 3 different SLA attempts to advance into Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) territory in Vanni, the Tigers said. The LTTE Ma'nalaa'ru Operations Command said that the Tigers have seized two AK LMGs, two Law rockets, two T-56 assault rifles, communication equipment and ammunitions after defeating the SLA in Kokkuththoduvaay in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) region where 15 SLA soldiers were killed. Meanwhile, Mannaar Operations Command of the Tigers claimed 7 SLA soldiers were killed and 18 wounded when the Tigers thwarted SLA attempt to break into LTTE territory on two fronts Friday morning.
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SLA Major succumbs to wounds from Tiger booby trap in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 March 2008, 16:58 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander in the 58 division, Major Keerthi Ranawaka, who hit a booby trap set by the Tigers 3-days ago and seriously wounded in the explosion when he went to inspect the Forward Defence Line of the fighting formations of the SLA in Mannaar, succumbed to his wounds Friday, informed military sources said. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
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Colombo irked by US Rights report

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 March 2008, 14:53 GMT]
The 2007 Country Report of Human Rights Practices in Sri Lanka released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. State Department has created shockwaves within the Rajapakse Government according to Media reports in Colombo Friday. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama had called on the US Ambassador in Colombo, Robert O Blake, to register “Sri Lanka’s serious concerns” on the report, Colombo media reported.
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8 days, 35 explosions, SLA suffers casualties in Mannaar: LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 16:03 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Operations Command Mannaar on Wednesday said that 35 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops have been either wounded or killed in booby trap explosions in no-go zones between the LTTE and SLA FDLs in Mannaar from 02 March to 10 March in 35 separate incidents. Members of SLA Deep Penetration Units (DPU) and troops deployed in attempts to break into LTTE FDLs are the ones who were caught in Tiger booby traps according to the LTTE.
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SLA unloads ammunition consignments in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 11:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) vessels carrying large consignments of weapons to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are reported being unloaded Tuesday and Wednesday in Kaangkeasanththu'rai (KKS) harobour, informed sources in Colombo said. Meanwhile, convoys of covered SLA heavy vehicles were seen going from KKS harobour to the Northern Front Defence Line (FDL) areas in Mukamaalai and Naakarkoayil in Vadamaraadchi east day and night on both days.
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US must rethink its narrow focus on terrorism - Armitage

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 18:15 GMT]
Former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage this week urged sweeping changes to current U.S. foreign policy, arguing that the superpower needs to replace its almost exclusive focus on fighting terrorism with a broader agenda. “If your foreign policy is just organized around the global war on terror, you’re missing the bet. I think a new paradigm will emerge. I don’t know what it will be, but in the interim we need to engage with friends and frankly engage with our enemies. Actually, it might be more important to engage with our enemies,” he told The Washington Diplomat journal.
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Dinamani: Tamil Nadu should shape Center’s policy towards Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 15:02 GMT]
Referring to Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s letter to the Indian Prime Minister which protested Sri Lanka Navy (SLN’s) hostile actions including regular incidents of firing against Tamil Naadu fishermen fishing near Kachchatheevu, Dinamani, a mainstream Tamil Nadu daily, in an editorial on Tuesday assailed India’s insensitivity and Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s meek response to the serious violations of the SLN.
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SLA, LTTE clash in Pa'ndivirichchaan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 12:26 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) confronted Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that attempted to advance from Periya Pa'ndivirichchaan Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. The SLA movement was thwarted following an intensive fighting that lasted for 30 minutes, according to the LTTE Operations Command in Mannaar.
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LTTE ending use of child soldiers - US

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 04:22 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) “is eliminating the recruitment and use of child soldiers,” the US State Department said this week in its annual human rights report. The LTTE had not complied with its promise to end the practice by end of 2007, but its policy of recruiting one person from each family targeted those 18 years or older, the report said. Sri Lankan government forces were complicit in conscripting children for the TMVP (Karuna Group), “which used coercion, extortion, rape, and murder to force children and adults to join their ranks,” the report said.
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Koaralaippattu North residents not issued NICs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 02:45 GMT]
More than sixty percent of the people residing in the area belonging to 16 Grama Sevaka (GS) divisions under the administration of District Secretariat of Koararalippattu North, Batticaloa, have not received their National Identity Cards (NIC), according to statistics released by the Secretariat. Without the NICs, youths are targets for arrest by Sri Lanka security forces, civil society sources said.
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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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CPI responds to LTTE statement

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 23:53 GMT]
The government of India should not provide any military help to Sri Lanka, said T. Pandian, the secretary of Tamil Nadu branch of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in an interview to the BBC Thamizhoasai on Tuesday. "The Sri Lankan government is engaging its armed forces against the Tamils in an uncivilised way. In such a situation, receiving the Sri Lankan military chief in India or Indian military officials visiting Sri Lanka to advice them should be avoided. The Sri Lankan government is unjust in every respect. Instead of condemning, it is despicable for Indian government to have any relations with it. Even if there was any before, that should be terminated now."
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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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2 civilians seek protection with HRC Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 04:20 GMT]
Two civilians from Puththoor Navakkiri and Chaavakachcheari areas sought protection Monday with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna due to death threats by Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, 44 persons placed in protective custody of Jaffna Prison have been taken to the SLA Special Rehabilitation Centre in the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Thellippa’lai, the sources added.
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India risks indictment in war crimes, cautions LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 March 2008, 20:05 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) from its Head Quarters in Vanni on Monday released a statement condemning the Indian 'State welcome' extended to Sri Lanka Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and the statements made by Indian military chiefs in this context. "The Indian State must take the responsibility for the ethnic genocide of the Tamils that will be carried out by the Sinhala military, re-invigorated by such moves of the Indian State," the statement said. "LTTE wishes to point out to the Indian State that by this historic blunder, it will continue to subject the Eelam Tamils to misery and put them in the dangerous situation of having to face ethnic genocide on a massive scale."
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20 SLA killed, 62 wounded in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2008, 17:17 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar on Sunday said 20 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed Saturday in heavy fighting that lasted for 8 hours from 9:50 a.m. in Cheaththukku'lam in Mannaar. 62 SLA soldiers were wounded, the Tigers said.
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Artillery duel in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2008, 11:05 GMT]
An intense artillery duel was reported across Mukamaalai and Naakarkoayil in the Northern Front Sunday from 1:00 p.m. till 3:00 p.m., sources in Thenmaraadchi said. LTTE fired artillery shells had hit Sri Lanka Army (SLA) positions in Thenmaraadchi.
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