Military harassment continues in east

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 June 2002, 11:30 GMT]
Police personnel manning the checkpoint in Kaddaiparicchhan, Muttur in the Trincomalee district have again started harassing Tamil youths, local press reports said. People traveling from Muttur East are stopped and questioned at the checkpoint and those not carrying sufficient identification are barred from crossing, the Uthayan reported last week.
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Displaced find others in their homes

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 June 2002, 11:22 GMT]
People displaced from Manpity in Navanthurai are unable to return to their homes because the Ministry of Rehabilitation has settled other people into their homes, which were originally constructed by the Housing Authority as a housing scheme for fishermen.
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SLA occupies more Jaffna homes

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 June 2002, 11:13 GMT]
The Sri Lankan armed forces are expanding and bolstering a chain of sentry posts along the Jaffna coastline, the largest circulating daily in the peninsula, the Uthayan, reported Thursday. Meanwhile, in Nunavil East, the SLA has taken over more than ten homes for their camp, and is constructing bunkers, residents told TamilNet.
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Navy builds Karampon base

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 June 2002, 10:27 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Navy is constructing a new base in Karampon, Kayts, near the Kannaki Amman landing point, a central location from where boat services are conducted for people traveling to Analaitivu, Eluvaitivu, Nainativu and other islands, the Jaffna based daily Uthayan reported on Tuesday.
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‘LTTE committed to ceasefire’

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 June 2002, 22:20 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers will fully implement the ceasefire agreement between themselves and the Sri Lankan government and are determined to ensure the truce does not fail, a senior member of the LTTE’s political division in Jaffna told a protest rally by students in the northern peninsula Wednesday , according to local press reports.
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New Army base in Columbuthurai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 June 2002, 20:50 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army is constructing a new base near the Maternity Home in Nedunkulam, Columbuthurai in the outskirts of Jaffna town, local press reports said Tuesday. The Army is bulldozing the walls, fences and trees on both sides of the Nedunkulam Road in preparation, the Uthayan newspaper reported.
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Four returning refugees drown

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 June 2002, 12:21 GMT]
Four Tamil refugees coming home from India drowned in the seas off Mannar on 23 May when the boat up to seventeen people were travelling in capsized in strong winds, press reports said. The dead included a five-month-old baby and her mother. Two other women also drowned.
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Jaffna drive against ‘kassipu’ trade

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 June 2002, 11:36 GMT]
A new drive by local residents to stamp out the illicit liquor trade is underway in Urumpirai, Urelu and Karanthan areas of Jaffna with the support of the police, participants said last week. Meanwhile, in a statement released in Trincomalee, the Liberation Tigers banned the production and sale of illicit liquor, press reports said last week.
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‘Help Vanni demining’ plea to UN agencies

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 June 2002, 12:06 GMT]
The demining effort in the Vanni is suffering from limited resources and is in desperate need of international assistance, a meeting of local and international non-governmental organisations, including UN agencies, was told by the coordinator of efforts in the region last week .
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Sri Lankan troops ‘enter LTTE territory’

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 May 2002, 20:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers crossed into territory held by the Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa on May 24, violating the terms of the permanent ceasefire, press reports said Thursday. LTTE officials have lodged a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) the reports added.
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Police assault protest youths

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 May 2002, 11:50 GMT]
Nine youths were assaulted by Sri Lanka police for participating in a general strike observed in Batticaloa last Friday to protest at the police's arrest and assault of a Liberation Tiger cadre earlier in the week, press reports said.
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Jaffna forces expand positions

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 May 2002, 00:04 GMT]
The Sri Lankan armed forces in the Jaffna peninsula are building new camps and bases close to homes and schools, press reports said this week. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has begun constructing a new artillery base in Idaikurichchi, Varani, the Thinakural newspaper reported. The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) set up a new camp Suruvil, Kayts, the Uthayan reported. Meanwhile the military has declared new areas in Chavacachcheri as ‘military zones’ the Virakesari reported.
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Navy assaults fishermen at sea

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 May 2002, 10:13 GMT]
Sri Lankan gunboats surrounded Tamil fishing boats far from shore and forced the occupants to jump into the sea in continuing harrasment by the Navy, press reports said Monday. Thirty five fishermen were assaulted and ordered to jump overboard 15km from the Mullaitivu shore on May 9, the Jaffna based Tamil daily Uthayan reported.
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Islet residents protest military zone to SLMM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 May 2002, 15:26 GMT]
A community group representing residents in the islets off Jaffna has appealed to the ceasefire monitors to allow Tamil Tiger cadres there and to put an end to harassment by the Sri Lanka Navy stationed into the area. The Jaffna based Tamil daily Uthayan said the residents’ two demands are detailed in a report the islanders were to hand present to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in a meeting Tuesday.
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Tamil journalists still face danger - RSF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 May 2002, 19:02 GMT]
The Reporters Sans Frontiers, the French media watchdog, said in its annual report on press freedom released Wednesday that working conditions for Tamil journalists remain very dangerous in Sri Lanka, especially when they report on human rights violations. "They are easily accused of supporting the Tamil Tigers guerrilla movement. The 1998 Emergency Law allows security forces to arrest anyone suspected of maintaining relations with this banned separatist organisation. But how can anyone work in the north and east of the country without having contacts with the Tamil Tigers, who are everywhere?" the RSF report said.
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Jaffna SLMM discusses complaints over military action

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 April 2002, 13:26 GMT]
The head of the international peace-monitoring mission promised Wednesday to bring the tension prevailing in the islets around Jaffna to the attention of the Sri Lankan government, press reports in the northern peninsula said Thursday. Norwegian General (Retd) Trond Fuhrhovde made his comments at a meeting of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials in Jaffna, the Uthayan reported.
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Tumultuous welcome in Jaffna for Tigers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 April 2002, 11:58 GMT]
(News Feature) Residents in Jaffna gave the Liberation Tigers who entered the northern town Monday a tumultuous welcome, press reports in the northern peninsula said Tuesday. Over fifty thousand people thronged the Sri Lanka Army held northern side of the Muhamalai crossing point to meet the fifteen cadres from the LTTE’s political section, the Uthayan reported. Violence broke out as troops blocked the crowds from reaching the crossing point, the paper, Jaffna’s largest circulating daily said in a front page report Tuesday.
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Ranil visits A9 entry point to mark MoU signing

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 February 2002, 11:30 GMT]
(Photos) Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the main entry point on the A9 highway to the LTTE held Vanni region Friday afternoon to mark the historic signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a permanent cease-fire between the Liberation Tigers and Colombo. The Prime Minister was accorded a reception at the last SLA point on the edge of the no man's land supervised by the ICRC.
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Covert moves to scuttle peace in east – Karikalan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2002, 21:51 GMT]
“Corrupts elements in the Sri Lanka army and paramilitary groups operating with it are making covert attempts in the east to scuttle the peace negotiations between the Tigers and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe’s government”, said the deputy leader of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Karikalan, addressing a press conference Sunday in Kokkaddicholai, 14 kilometres southwest of Batticaloa.
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‘Basket of humanitarian issues remain’ - PM

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 February 2002, 21:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister last week acknowledged that more needed to be done to alleviate the considerable difficulties of the Tamils living in areas not controlled by the Sri Lanka Army, the state press reported Saturday. Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday that while food and essential items were reaching the people of Wanni there was yet “a basket of humanitarian issues that needs to be addressed by the government to alleviate the conditions of the Northern citizens,” the Daily News reported.
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