TNA "reassured" by India’s thinking on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 September 2006, 09:50 GMT]
Following its first official visit to India last week, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is "reassured" by Delhi’s thinking on the Tamil question in Sri Lanka, party sources said Sunday. A delegation led Parliamentary Group leader R. Sampanthan held "cordial, comprehensive and productive" meetings with top Indian officials, including National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed and Foreign Secretary-designate Shivshankar Menon, the sources said. The TNA leadership hoped to meet with India’s Premier in future, but was pleased Dr. Manmohan Singh "is taking a personal interest in the Tamil question," a member of the TNA delegation said.
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"White van" squad kills TNA MP's bodyguard

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 September 2006, 09:21 GMT]
Amparai District Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian K. Pathmanathan's security official was shot and killed Sunday morning by gunmen riding in a white van at Vinayagapuram in Thirukkovil in Amparai District, Police said. Sri Lankan counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) checkpost is located 100 meters from the site where the bodyguard was slain, according to civilian sources at Vinayakapuaram.
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Jaffna terrorized, held hostage by fear- TNA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 September 2006, 18:22 GMT]
150,000 school children, 7,000 University students and 3,000 Technical College students remain unable to attend schools, campuses for more than 40 days in the Jaffna peninsula where the residents are "terrorized and held hostage by fear," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian of Jaffna District, N. Raviraj, at a press conference held in Renuka Hotel Colombo at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. TNA MPs from five districts addressed the press.
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TNA parliamentarian protests against human rights violations by SLA

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 21:06 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian and the M P for Vavuniya, Sivanathan Kishore registered strong protest with the Vanni Military Commanding Officer Major. Gen. Edrisinge on Friday for not issuing ‘arrest receipts’ for persons arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vavuniya, said sources. He added in his protest that the SLA which conducted massive cordon and search operations in Vavuniya in the recent past, has failed to notify the relatives of the persons arrested by them during these search operations and condemned the practice of releasing abducted residents, blind folded on to the streets, as serious violations of human rights, added the sources.
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12 young men arrested in Jaffna, 3 reported "missing"

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 18:12 GMT]
Twelve young men were arrested when Sri Lanka Army soldiers cordoned off St.Patrics College and St. Charles Maha Vidyalam in Jaffna town in the early hours of Friday and thorughly searched civilians who were staying overnight in the schools for security reasons, according to complaints with Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission in Jaffna.
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TNA MP condemns Pottuvil massacre

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 September 2006, 12:31 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian K. Pathmanathan, Wednesday condemned the massacre of 10 Muslim youths alleged to have been carried out by the counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) stationed close to the site of massacre at Rattal Kulam.
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SLFP, UNP hold second round of talks on common agenda

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 September 2006, 12:01 GMT]
The second round of talks between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) were held Tuesday in the parliamentary complex. It began around 9:30 a.m. The objective of the talks is to formulate a common agenda giving top priority to reach a consensus to resolve ethnic conflict.
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Rajapakse wants protests postponed, Tamil doctor abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 September 2006, 01:49 GMT]
A protest shut-down, scheduled to be held Tuesday against the recent abductions of Tamil civilians and businessmen in Colombo, organised by representatives from seven political parties, was called off Monday following Rajapakse government's "requests", during the weekend, urging the organisors to postpone the shut-down, informed political circles in Colomb said. Meanwhile, a Tamil medical doctor and owner of three medical businesses in Colombo, was allegedly abducted in his car in Maradana in Colombo Monday.
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Death toll increases to four in Anpuvallipuram shooting

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 07:37 GMT]
The death toll in the Anpuvallipuram shooting incident that took place Sunday afternoon has risen to four. Two more persons succumbed to injuries in the Trincomalee general hospital Sunday night. A Tamil youth and a two year old girl died on the spot when unidentified armed men came in a van fired at them while they were in a house located along Ambal Road in Anpuvallipuram, a suburb in Trincomalee town.
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IDPs cannot be resettled against their wishes - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 September 2006, 13:01 GMT]
Internally displaced people (IDP) should not resettled in the government controlled territory against their wishes and to do so would be violating their human rights, stated P.Ariyaneththran, Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian at a conference held Saturday morning in the Batticaloa district secretariat which discussed the urgent need of providing relief assistance to those families who fled from the government controlled area and sought refuge Vaharai division in Batticaloa district.
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UN Rights rulings ‘not binding’ on Sri Lanka – Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 September 2006, 11:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court says rulings by the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Geneva can be ignored if they go against the country’s constitution or the legal framework, the BBC reported Friday. The UNHRC had pointed out that as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Sri Lanka has accepted the UN body’s authority to rule on breaches of the Covenant. Chief Justice (CJ) Sarath Nanda Silva also observed that Sri Lanka’s leaders “should be more responsible in signing international treaties affecting the country’s sovereignty,” the BBC Sinhala service reported.
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SL Prime Minister lays conditions for peace talks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 September 2006, 00:18 GMT]
Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Prime Minister and acting Minister of Defence, laid conditions for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to take part in future peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). "LTTE must first lay down their arms if they want to start peace negotiation with our government. There will not be any place for peace talks in our agenda if this condition is not met," said Mr. Wickremanayake addressing the 25th anniversary of the Land Reform and Development Organization held at Sethsiripaya in Colombo Thursday, political sources in Colombo said.
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Apollo exits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 19:37 GMT]
India's Apollo Hospitals has decided to exit its operations in Sri Lanka after failing to stave off a hostile takeover bid by a local business tycoon, press agency reports said Thursday. The Indian parent has been engaged in a bitter row recently to retain ownership and had Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao intervene on behalf of the company to secure their holding, PTI reported.
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Six civilians killed in 24-hours, fear grips Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 16:00 GMT]
"White van" squad allegedly operated by Sri Lanka Army, abducted a 19-year-old female, beat the victim to death and hung her Thursday night in Uduvil, Jaffna. The victim was the fiancee of a 23-year-old male who was abducted, shot into eyes and dumped in Innuvil Monday. Meanwhile, an eyewitness from the bar on Manipay Road in Jaffna, said Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were behind the killings at the bar where two youths from Punguduthivu were gunned down in execution style Thursday night. Another youth was killed in Anaikoddai, shot into his eyes. The other victims to die were a 28-year-old employee at a fuel station Thursday night in Kalviyankadu and a 25-year-old fisherman, Friday morning.
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SLFP, UNP committees meet to work out common agenda

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 12:56 GMT]
The first meeting of the two committees appointed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) was held Friday morning at the parliamentary complex located in Jayawardhanapura in Colombo to work out a common national agenda on seven prioritized areas with the ethnic conflict being the most important, political sources said.
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Education of 20,000 displaced students in east affected - TNA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 02:55 GMT]
"The education of at least 20 thousand displaced Tamil students, temporarily staying in the LTTE controlled area in the districts of Batticaloa and Trincomalee, has been affected very badly. These students had fled from their homes with their parents in the aftermath of indiscriminate aerial bombings and artillery fire by the Sri Lankan Forces”, said P.Ariyaneththiran, the Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament for Batticaloa District Monday.


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2 fishermen reported "missing"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 19:28 GMT]
Two fishermen have been reported "missing" in the Vadamaradchi, according to compalints made with the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna. The fishermen were last seen while they were being interrogated by Sri Lanka Army soldiers at a check post, according to eyewitnesses.
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TNA parliamentarians boycott Mannar development meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 13:10 GMT]
Five Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians boycotted the Mannar District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) meeting held Saturday in the Mannar district secretariat with Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, North East Provincial Governor in the chair. "Development is not an immediate priority at this time when hundreds of Tamil civilians fleeing to South India to save their lives from abduction, killing and harassment from Sri Lanka armed forces," said TNA parliamentarians, sources said.
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Jaffna killings continue

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 09:22 GMT]
Six civilians were killed by unidentified persons in Jaffna peninsula in separate incidents during the 24 hours ending at 6 p.m., Saturday, accoring to hospital sources in the peninsula. Meanwhile, the body of Sivalingam Suthaharan,23, who was abducted Saturday from his home in Sankaanai, was found Sunday morning at Vaddukoddai, civilian sources said.
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Bishop raises concern over education in East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 September 2006, 20:53 GMT]
Rt.Rev.Dr.Kingsley Swampillai, the Bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa diocese, and Thurairatnasingham, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parlimentarian for Trincomalee, brought to the urgent attention of Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Minister for Diaster Management and Human Rights, the dire state of education of children in several villages in the East, and the difficulties faced by people relocated by war.
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