LTTE denies Moragoda gave assurance over Washington conference

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 April 2003, 19:33 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers denied Monday that Sri Lanka’s Economics Reform Minister, Milinda Moragoda, had given them an assurance they would be able to attend the international aid conference in Washington on April 14 as quoted in weekend press reports. The LTTE’s Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham told TamilNet Monday the organisation was unable to attend the meeting as it is proscribed in the United States and reports suggesting Mr. Moragoda had given assurances otherwise were incorrect.
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Thanthai Chelva’s 26th death anniversary observed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2003, 13:59 GMT]
The twenty sixth-death anniversary of late Tamil leader "THANTHAI” Mr.S.J.V.Chelvanayakam (1898-1977) was observed through the northeast province Saturday. He was the acknowledged leader of Tamil people for the last 20 years of his life and presided over the 1976 TULF national convention that ratified the goals for a separate state for Tamils in the landmark 'Vaddukoddai resolution.'


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LTTE responds to US Ambassador

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2003, 16:25 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Friday denied they had walked away from negotiations with the Sri Lankan government and said they were temporarily suspending talks “to provide time and space for the government to implement crucial decisions.” Responding to comments by the United States Ambassador, Mr. Ashley Wills, the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and Political Advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham told TamilNet Friday “As the representatives of our people we reserve the right to express our displeasure if decisions at the talks are not implemented and bi-lateral agreements are not fulfilled.”


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Persisting pass control spoils Jaffna fisheries growth

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2003, 14:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka army sentries on Jaffna’s Vadamaradchi coast are still insisting that fishermen in the region should possess the special identification passes it has issued them despite agreeing last February to accept identity cards issued by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (MFAR) in Colombo, a spokesman for the region’s federation of fishermen’s societies told TamilNet Monday.
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Mosques step in to keep peace in Batti-Amparai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2003, 12:50 GMT]
Mosque trustee board officials Sunday foiled attempts to spread unrest in several Muslim towns in the Batticaloa and Amparai districts. Anonymous Islamic groups issued inflammatory leaflets Saturday in the two districts urging Muslims to protest against recent incidents in Mutur. “It caused concern that attempts were afoot to instigate violence in these parts too”, a Mosque official said.
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Church farm helps dispossessed, poor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2003, 03:30 GMT]
The Methodist Church’s Jeevothayam Farm in Pariyaarikkandal, 28 kilometres southeast of Mannar town, has been a refuge for the dispossessed and the meek for more than quarter of a century. Tamils driven out of their homes in the island’s tea producing hills by Sinhala Buddhist nationalists in 1977, 81 and 83 found succour here before they went forth to settle and multiply in the inhospitable jungles of the Vanni.
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Poverty, oblivion dog rape victim

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2003, 00:30 GMT]
Two years since she was brutally raped and tortured in custody, Ms. Sivamani Weerakoon, lives in abject poverty and uncertainty. The mother of three said that she was never offered counselling to help her cope with the trauma of her ordeal. Sri Lankan law is yet to bring the perpetrators of the violence committed on her to book. Ms. Sivamani said that no women’s rights group has ever contacted her in connection with her rape and torture by Sri Lankan armed forces personnel.
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SLA-TNA garrison talks fail to reach consensus

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 April 2003, 19:00 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance’s talks with the defense ministry officials at the Jaffna district secretariat Wednesday afternoon failed to arrive at a consensus on the question of finding an alternative site for the SLA’s Jaffna town brigade headquarters, and the TNA is to hold further discussions with the Prime Minister Thursday morning in Colombo, TNA parliamentary group leader, Mr.R.Sampanthan, told TamilNet on his return to Colombo Wednesday.
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A9 opens for traffic on Sundays

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 April 2003, 11:58 GMT]
The A9 highway to Jaffna will be open for public traffic on Sundays, starting today, Sri Lanka military sources said. The road was opened last year following the cease fire agreement between the LTTE and Colombo. But it remained closed on Sundays despite pleas by the Tigers to keep it open 7 days of the week. The road to the Vanni in Mannar through the Uyilankulam entry point was also opened to public traffic on Sundays from today.
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Indian boatmen ferrying refugees arrested

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 April 2003, 16:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police produced in the Mannar courts Saturday 23 refugees who had come by boat from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sources said that the Sri Lanka Navy had arrested them Friday morning and had assaulted the men in the group after allegedly finding gelignite in the possession of one of them.
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IOM opens branch in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 April 2003, 12:20 GMT]
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) opened a branch office in Jaffna Friday. The IOM is involved in research and prevention of migrant trafficking, assists voluntary return of rejected asylum seekers, trafficked migrants, stranded students and refugees referred by the UNHCR.
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LTTE opposed to referendum

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 April 2003, 10:04 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Friday dismissed as “illogical, impractical and unnecessary” Sri Lankan government suggestions for an island-wide referendum on the ongoing peace initiative. Pointing out that the government had already got a resounding mandate from the people of Sri Lanka for peace, the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, said that his movement was totally opposed to a plebiscite at this stage to reaffirm public endorsement.
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Jaffna town’s redesign discussed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 April 2003, 18:31 GMT]
A senior official of Sri Lanka’s Urban Development Authority (UDA) held a consultative meeting at the Jaffna District Secretariat Thursday on re-designing and rebuilding the Jaffna town. The head of the consortium of civil society organisations in Jaffna, Mr. S. Cyril, who took part in the consultation suggested that war damaged buildings should be demolished and that the new plan should do away with unplanned constructions which are causing congestion in the town.
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Tamil MPs object to new Jaffna garrison

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 April 2003, 10:31 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) raised strong objections to the construction of a new Sri Lanka Army (SLA) garrison on Jaffna Municipal Council grounds when it met Prime Minister Ranil Wicremesinghe at his office in Parliament Tuesday morning. The 12 TNA MPs who met the Prime Minister told him that the military has begun work on permanent structures for the garrison.


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HSZs, scant funds slow resettlement in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 March 2003, 15:09 GMT]
The flow of refugees returning from the Vanni to resettle in Jaffna has slowed down because the fate of their villages and towns occupied by the Sri Lanka army (SLA) inside High Security Zones in the northern peninsula still remains uncertain, a senior government official said Monday.


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SLA garrison work on track amid Tamil concerns

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 March 2003, 18:39 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) began preparations for building a garrison on the southern sector of the Jaffna town this weekend amid growing concerns in the Tamil press and political circles about its implications for the northern peninsula.
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Opening of Pooneryn causeway urged

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 March 2003, 13:28 GMT]
“The Sri Lankan government should take steps to re-open the Kerathivu- Sangupiddy causeway to ease the burden of the civilians living in western parts of Vanni region," said that the President of the Kilinochchi branch of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRC), Mr. P. Karthigesu, speaking to Tamilnet about recent moves to further improve transport facilities between Jaffna and the mainland.


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Sinhala settlements in Batticaloa Tamil villages

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 March 2003, 16:22 GMT]
Tamil people from Mayilankarachchi and Thiyavaddavan, near Ottamavadi in the Batticaloa district, who lost their belongings and their lands in past riots between Muslims and Tamils, have complained of attempts to create Sinhalese settlements in their village, and the construction of a Buddhist temple (Vihare) while they were displaced.
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Farmers’ protest brings civil admin to standstill in Mannar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 March 2003, 13:38 GMT]
More than 1500 farmers in Mannar demanding fair prices for their rice harvest and the removal of Sri Lankan armed forces units which continue to occupy fields and buildings in the region blockaded the District Secretariat Wednesday and brought all government administration in the Northwestern island town to a standstill.
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Sea Tigers deny involvement in trawler sinking

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 March 2003, 11:09 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Friday denied accusations by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) that they were involved in the sinking of a Taiwanese trawler about 40km off the Mullaitivu coast. International monitors were investigating the incident in which seventeen Taiwanese sailors are said to have died. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said information was sketchy and investigations were continuing.
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