(Photographs) Tigers release 10 POWs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2002, 08:59 GMT]

Ms. Vishaka Dharmadasa, the leader of the organisation for women affected by the war, speaking to one of the released men at the LTTE's political wing office. (Photo:TamilNet)

The Liberation Tigers released 10 prisoners of war as a good will gesture towards strengthening the peace process with the United National Front government on Monday in the northern town of Kilinochchi.
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Norway works on permanent ceasefire draft

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2002, 15:08 GMT]
A delegation of the Norwegian government Tuesday met the Liberation Tigersí chief negotiator and political advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham, for another round of discussions regarding the formulation of a structured, mutually acceptable ceasefire between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces, sources close to the LTTE told TamilNet.
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Vanni ban relaxed, rules limit flow

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 January 2002, 14:47 GMT]
Six hundred civilians would be permitted to travel from the LTTE held Vanni region through the Sri Lanka armyís entry point at Piramanaalankulam from Monday to Friday under new regulations by the Sri Lankan government which came into effect Tuesday as part of a move to ease the 12 year old embargo and travel restrictions in the war torn northern parts of the island.
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TNA said standing on Thimpu foundation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 January 2002, 20:53 GMT]
“The Thimpu principles were upheld by Kumar Ponnambalam. His stand was called preposterous by some (Tamil politicians) at the time. But the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) now stands on the firm foundation of the Thimpu principles. His struggle was not in vain”, said Mr. Nallaiah Kumarakurparan, the general secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, a constituent of the Tamil National Alliance, addressing a meeting in Trincomalee town Sunday to mark the second death anniversary of Mr. Ponnambalam who was assassinated in Colombo in January 2000. An independent English language paper reproduced a Police report last week alleging that Mr. Ponnambalam was killed on the orders of the former Deputy Defence Minister, Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte’s son.
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LTTE refutes reports Nepal is talks venue

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 January 2002, 13:30 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers’ chief negotiator and political advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham, Saturday dismissed press reports suggesting that the LTTE and the government were looking at Nepal as a suitable venue for negotiations. Contacted by TamilNet over comments attributed by Indian satellite channels to an ‘LTTE spokesman in Paris,’ Mr. Balasingham said the Himalayan kingdom was logistically “completely unsuitable” as a venue for peace talks.
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TNA outlines its policy to Norwegian delegation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2002, 13:35 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday reiterated its stand to the Norwegian government delegation that the ban imposed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka should be lifted immediately to facilitate the commencement of peace negotiations. "No parallel talks should take place with any other Tamil political formation when negotiating with the LTTE", stressed the TNA delegation led by its parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan.
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SLTMA slams military harassment of Thinakathir

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 December 2001, 09:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Media Alliance Saturday protested to the Ministry of Mass Communication over the attack on Dharmaratnam Sivaram, a well known defence analyst and journalist, by "persons connected with the security forces." Mr. Sivaram, a Colombo-based contributor to TamilNet, suffered extensive injuries in the attack which occurred at the office of the Thinakathir newspapers in Batticaloa town late on Wednesday night.
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Ranil urged to disarm EPDP

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 December 2001, 19:57 GMT]
The Jaffna University Students' Union (JUSU) Friday requested the Prime Minister to take immediate steps to disarm all para military Tamil groups including the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in areas held by government troops. "The retention of arms by such para military groups, including EPDP constitutes imminent danger to Tamil civilians and journalists in the Jaffna district," the JUSU said in a memorandum sent Friday to the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe.
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LTTE official visits SLA held areas in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 December 2001, 13:05 GMT]
An official of the Liberation Tigers visited areas held by the Sri Lankan security forces in Batticaloa south Wednesday. 'Thurai', the official in charge of the LTTE's dissemination division for the Batticaloa and Ampara districts had discussions with an officer of the Special Task Force (STF) at the Paddiruppu Bridge, a main entry point 24 kilometres south of the eastern town, around 10 a.m. Wednesday morning before proceeding to visit Kaluwanchikudy town and the villages to its north with a group of fighters.
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PTA prisoners suffer prolonged detention in east

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 December 2001, 10:16 GMT]
Forty-one Tamil political prisoners have been languishing in the Batticaloa prison for many years with no solution in sight under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Mr. ‘Vellimalai’ Kirushnapillai, Tamil National Alliance MP for Batticaloa, told Tamilnet Wednesday. Their detention is unduly prolonged because the Batticaloa District Medical Officer is refusing to issue them medical legal certificates required by the courts to proceed with their cases, according to Mr. Vellimalai who visited the prisoners in the Batticaloa jail Tuesday.
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TNA Vadamaradchi office attacked

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 December 2001, 13:01 GMT]
A grenade was lobbed on the Tamil National Alliance office for the Vadamaradchi division of Jaffna Sunday night around 8.30. The office was damaged in the attack. The TNA’s chief organiser for the Vadamaradchi division, Mr. S. Aravindan told Tamilnet that he was the target of the grenade attack. He said that gunmen from the Eelam People’s Demoratic Party, a key coalition partner of the President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s defeated People’s Alliance, had lobbed the grenade. The TNA’s Vadamaradchi regional office is located in the Nelliyadi town.
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PTA regulations not conducive for talks - Selvam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 December 2001, 14:14 GMT]
“The United National Front government should take steps remove the Prevention of Terrorism Act and to release Tamil political prisoners if it wants to positively and constructively respond to the ceasefire unilaterally declared by the Liberation Tigers and restore normalcy in the north and east”, Selvam Adaikalanathan MP in a statement Thursday welcoming the LTTE’s truce announcement. “We see the PTA as a serious obstacle to the peace process because the armed forces would remain empowered under its provisions to arrest and detain members of the LTTE even during the period of mutual truce”, he told Tamilnet. The Liberation Tigers were banned under the PTA after the Emergency lapsed in October when the People’s Alliance lost its majority in Parliament.
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Tamils to shun next Parliament if no solution -TNA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 December 2001, 18:13 GMT]
"No self respecting Tamil would enter the next parliament if a just and permanent solution is not found to the Tamil national question by this parliament," declared Mr. R. Sampanthan, MP, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 12th parliament Wednesday.
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UNF’s stand on Jaffna fishing ban questioned

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 December 2001, 11:29 GMT]
The federation of Vadamaradchi fishermen’s co-operative societies said that it intends to begin demonstrations and sit in protests soon if the new government does not take meaningful steps to lift the total ban on fishing in the seas off coast between Thikkam and Thondmanar and the five-hour restriction along the Katkovalam coast in Pt. Pedro. A spokesman for the federation said that Sri Lanka army soldiers assaulted the secretary and treasurer of the Munai Fishermen’s Cooperative Society Sunday for setting out to sea before the stipulated time.
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Wickremesinghe appoints cabinet of 25

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 December 2001, 11:57 GMT]
The cabinet of ministers of the United National Front government was sworn in Wednesday afternoon in Colombo. The Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe kept only the Ministry of Policy Planning to himself contrary to the practice of former heads of Sri Lankan governments to hold key several portfolios such as defence. The UNP MP for Jaffna was appointed a Minister for Hindu Affairs sans cabinet rank. The Minister of Defence is former attorney general Mr. Tilak Marapone. The leader of the Ceylon Workers' Congress Mr. Arumugam Thondaman was appointed Housing and Plantation Infrastructure.
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Defence portfolio to end war eludes UNP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 December 2001, 04:44 GMT]
The state run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, quoting a communique from the Presidential Secretariat, Sunday denied a report that the leader of the United National Party, Mr. Ranil Wickrmesinghe, who is to be sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister this afternoon, would be appointed the Minister of Defense. The UNP cannot satisfactorily fulfill its pledge to end the war unless it has the Ministry of Defence, particularly because the President is the Commander of the Sri Lankan armed forces, party sources in Colombo said. The Ministry of Finance, however, has been offered to the UNP, according to them. The Tamil National Alliance says that it will give the UNP six months to bring about a cessation of hostilities and lift the embargo on the Vanni. The UNP, however, should have the Ministry of Defence if it were to meet these demands without hindrance, analysts say.
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Sampanthan, Selvam, Mavai among TNA elected

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 December 2001, 16:41 GMT]
Mr. R. Sampanthan the chief candidate of the Tamil National Alliance for Trincomalee scored the highest preference votes among the alliance candidates who contested the general election for Sri Lanka’s 12th Parliament. He got 40110 votes out of the 56,119 the TNA garnered in Trincomalee, elections officials said.
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Sinhala populism said driving PA, UNP agendas

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 December 2001, 16:53 GMT]
The persistent propaganda by President Chandrika Kumaratunga and senior ministers of her People's Alliance government that the opposition United National Party is conspiring with Liberation Tigers to undermine the Sinhala nation and the opposition's efforts to deny the charge are inexorably transforming the question of ending the war into a taboo, a spokesman for the Tamil National Alliance said Tuesday.
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Rigging feared in 'clustered' polling centres

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 December 2001, 13:24 GMT]
Journalists, civil society leaders and politicians in the north and eastern regions of Sri Lanka island told independent and European Union polls observers to pay special attention to 'clustered' polling booths where thousands of Tamil voters in areas held by the Liberation Tigers will have to cast their ballots Wednesday.
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EPDP on rampage in southeastern village

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 December 2001, 08:31 GMT]
Two Tamil National Alliance campaign offices were set on fire and three TNA supporters' houses were damaged by a group of heavily armed cadres of the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a major coalition partner of Sri Lanka's ruling People's Alliance regime, in Komari, about 96 kilometres south of Batticaloa, Sunday night, Police sources in Ampara said.
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