Vanni citizens committee slams block on reconstruction

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 January 2002, 05:11 GMT]
(News Feature) The Chairman of the Vanni Citizens’ Committee, Rev M X Karunaratnam, last week said the Sri Lankan government’s much publicized easing of its economic embargo on the region was “mere eyewash.” He said the Vanni region’s infrastructure was devastated and it was impossible to improve it by rebuilding, as the requisite materials were not being permitted.
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Vanni flooding misery continues without relief

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2002, 20:22 GMT]
(News Feature) The effects of heavy flooding two weeks ago in the Mullaitivu and Kilinocchi districts of the Vanni are still being felt across the regions, with roads rendered impassable, schools and settlements flooded out and residents suffering a lack of support from the government and Non Government Organisations (NGOs) based in the area, Tamil press reports this week said. Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected, with many being displaced from their homes and refugee camps as a result of the deluge. Vital supply routes have been cut, aid workers said.
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"Elections in the NE a referendum on TNA policies" -Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 November 2001, 20:13 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan, Secretary General of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), Wednesday appealed to the Tamil people to consider the forthcoming general election in the Northeast province as a referendum in support of the policy of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that any future peace negotiations should be held with the Liberation Tigers only and no parallel talks should be held with any other Tamil groups.
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EPDP demands 50 million from Batticaloa daily

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 October 2001, 15:53 GMT]
Mr. Douglas Devenanda, the leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a major partner of the People's Alliance, has demanded 50 million rupees in damages from Thinakathir, the Tamil daily newspaper published in Batticaloa.
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Tigers say recruitment rising

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 September 2001, 23:27 GMT]
(NEWS FEATURE) The Liberation Tigers' Batticaloa and Amparai district political leader, Mr. Karikalan, said this week that his organisation was drawing large numbers of new volunteers and denied press reports of forcible recruitment. In an interview with Tamil language Uthayan newspaper published Tuesday, Mr.Karikalan said many recruits were coming forward with the support and encouragement of their parents amid active participation from many villages in the LTTE's recruitment drive. "There is a firm belief amongst the people that the struggle will succeed. This has given us a fresh impetus."
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Arrested student leader said being tortured

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 July 2001, 02:06 GMT]
(News Feature) Krishnasamy Thivyan, the former secretary of the Jaffna University Students Union who was arrested by the Sri Lanka Army has been tortured in military custody, fellow students said Wednesday. In a statement published in Jaffna's Tamil Daily, the Uthayan, the students also said that Thivyan, who is being held by the SLA at its Kankesanthurai, had survived earlier attempts on his life by the security forces.
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Douglas berates Jaffna press

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 May 2001, 13:05 GMT]
“I do not trust the press in Jaffna”, said Mr. Douglas Devananda, MP, Minister for Development Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the North and Tamil Affairs (North and East), addressing a press conference Thursday afternoon at his office on Stanley Road in the northern town. The road, in the busy heart of Jaffna town, was blocked off to the public from Thursday morning 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the afternoon by Sri Lanka army soldiers, Policemen and armed cadres of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP). The press briefing was called after the conclusion of the Jaffna electorate development meeting, which was boycotted by five Jaffna MPs who are protesting that it is not safe for them to be present in Mr. Devananda’s office cum camp on Stanley Road.
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Uthayan journalist interrogated

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2001, 11:21 GMT]
Sri Lankan police on Saturday interrogated sub-editor of the Jaffna based Tamil daily 'Uthayan' regarding an interview with the LTTE's chief negotiator and political advisor Mr.Anton Balasingham which appeared on Friday. The journalist, Mr.Vithyatharan was interrogated for nearly two hours at his office said sources.
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LTTE "will not extend cease-fire amid Army offensive"

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 11:19 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will not extend its unilateral month long cease-fire, due to expire next week, if the Sri Lankan government continues the current offensive operation in the southern sector of the Jaffna peninsula, the organisation's chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, said Friday in a special interview to the popular Jaffna daily, the Uthayan. The LTTE's cease-fire deadline expires on January 24.
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Norway "committed" to peace process

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 January 2001, 11:55 GMT]
Norwegian officials Monday denied reports that Oslo would withdraw from efforts to bring about peace talks to end the Sri Lankan conflict. The officials were responding to reports in the Jaffna-based Tamil daily, Uthayan.
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University students assault 'Uthayan' journalist

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2001, 15:30 GMT]
A journalist working for a Tamil daily in Jaffna, the 'Uthayan', was assaulted by Jaffna University students Thursday morning when he went to the campus to gather information about the ragging of new students at the Science Faculty. The paper published a news report on Thursday about students boycotting lectures protesting against the one-year suspension of four senior students involved in ragging.
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10 LTTE casualties - radio

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 November 2000, 13:38 GMT]
Ten members of the Liberation Tigers were killed in an accidental explosion on 15 November in the Manal Aaru region in the north-east of the island, the Voice of Tigers radio said Friday morning.
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Jaffna journalist killed for his reporting

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 October 2000, 06:43 GMT]
The killing of senior Jaffna journalist, Mylvaganam Nimalrajan, 38 Thursday night by gunmen suspected to be members of a pro-government Tamil group, was widely condemned by Tamil media organisations and political parties. Mr.Nimalrajan, fearlessly reported the intimidation, thuggery and election malpractice during the October 10 elections in Jaffna to the Sri Lankan Parliament.
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Grenade attacks in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 October 2000, 09:23 GMT]
Three members of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a pro-government ex-militant group were seriously wounded in a grenade attack in Jaffna. The attack took place between Nachchimarakoviladi and Poonarimarathady on the Jaffna-Kankesanthurai road, about 4 km. off north of Jaffna town around 12.30 p.m. Thursday.
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SLA weighs Colombuthurai losses

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2000, 05:40 GMT]
"It cannot be denied that the loss of lives was greater than what was achieved" Jaffna Sri Lanka army spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratna told the Jaffna daily Uthayan published Wednesday, referring to the heavy losses sustained by the SLA when it attempted to take a section of Colombuthurai, the southeastern coastal suburb of Jaffna town. "There is no point in capturing mere territory " the brigadier told the paper, adding that the Liberation Tigers are continuing to vehemently block the army from constructing new defence lines in Colombuthurai. The SLA's forward defences here were damaged and destroyed in a fierce counter attack by the Tigers on Monday.
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EPDP regrets 'grave' blunder

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 August 2000, 10:30 GMT]
The pro-government Tamil group, Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Monday said it regretted a major blunder in an election ad it published yesterday in the Jaffna dailies Uthayan and Valampuri which may have cost it the patronage of the Sri Lankan President. "Chemmani exposed the Lady" ('Ammaniyai ambalappaduthiathu Chemmani) ran the EPDP's election ad in the Sunday edition of the papers, implicating the Sri Lankan President in the massacre of more than 600 Jaffna civilians arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces in 1996.
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Another two skeletons in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 August 2000, 15:30 GMT]
Two more human skeletons were recovered in Kilinochchi this week bringing the total number of skeletons recovered in this area recently to 55, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said Thursday evening.
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Key witness in Batticaloa massacre threatened

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 July 2000, 12:28 GMT]
Father Joseph Ignatius Chandra, the key witness in the massacre of civilians in Batticaloa town by a section of the Sri Lanka army on May 17 has been threatened by armed persons suspected to be members of the Sri Lankan security forces and cadres of Tamil para-military groups operating with the Sri Lanka army in the east.
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Ban on Jaffna paper lifted

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 July 2000, 21:25 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government lifted the ban on the Jaffna Tamil daily Uthayan Monday, a spokesman for the newspaper told TamilNet. The paper was sealed by the Sri Lankan army on 19 May under the emergency regulations. The Uthayan will resume publication tomorrow the spokesman said.
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Tear gas breaks demonstration

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2000, 09:15 GMT]
Sri Lankan police fired teargas and used water cannon Thursday to disperse demonstrators protesting against the government's emergency regulations which civic rights activists say are draconian. A large number of people gathered outside the Colombo town hall in the afternoon, defying the government's ban on demonstrations, sources said.
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