UNP, LSSP oppose referendum move to scrap CFA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 16:49 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) and Chairman of the All Party Representatives Council (APRC) Tissa Vitarane have voiced their opposition for the proposal to hold a referendum to nullify the ceasefire agreement (CFA) signed by Ranil Wickremasinghe, the then Prime Minister and Velupillai Pirapaharan, Leader of the LTTE on 22 February 2002, media sources said.


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SLA troopers loot houses, shops IDPs left behind

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 16:32 GMT]
"Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers, paramilitary members and other local Sinhalese persons have looted the houses, shops, temples and co-operative stores in areas invaded by SLA in the Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held territories in Paduvankarai and Kokadicholai," S. Seeralan, Batticaloa district LTTE Political Wing Deputy head said Saturday. The SLA troopers are routinely stealing the live stocks left behind by the people and killing them for meat, he said.
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Speaker to give ruling on "Secret deal" motion

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 16:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament Speaker W.J.M.Lokkubandara is expected to give a ruling this week whether to include the motion submitted by Sripathi Sooriyarachchi in the parliament order book, parliamentary sources said. Mr. Sooriyarachchi has called the Speaker to appoint a parliamentary select committee to probe the alleged secret deal between some leaders of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the last presidential election period.
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Rajapakse wants referendum on abolishing CFA – state media

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 13:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse plans to hold a referendum to decide whether the Sri Lankan government should continue to abide by the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), state media reported Sunday, quoting “a high ranking official of the Presidential Secretariat.” The official was quoted by the Sunday Observer as saying “President Rajapaksa is keen to obtain a fresh mandate from the people on the CFA. The President is interested in looking at the proposed abolition of the CFA in a 'democratic manner', enabling the voters to decide on the fate of the CFA.”
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UNP to hold first rally against HR violations in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 11:57 GMT]
The first rally in a series of protest demonstrations to be organized by the main opposition United National Party (UNP) against human rights violations, will be held on April 3 at Grandpass Junction in Colombo, said Mr. Ravi Karunanayake, parliamentarian and UNP Colombo district organizer.


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SLAF attacks civilian lorries at LTTE entry point

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 04:18 GMT]
Fighter helicopters of the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) Saturday night around 11:30 p.m. attacked a Multi Purpose Co-Operative Society (MPCS) lorry and two other lorries belonging to private traders parked near puliyangkulam LTTE checkpoint on A9 road, north of Omanthai Sri Lanka Army entry point in Vavuniya district.
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Katunayake airstrike: human capital, gathered against the odds

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 03:23 GMT]
Asserting that Monday’s airstrike on Katunayake “indicates a quantum leap in the LTTE’s technological base,” Professor Kumar David, an engineering specialist, argues Sunday that “the LTTE’s aviation technology is far behind that of the Sri Lanka Air force..that it has taken the first step is quite telling.” In a op-ed in The Island, he cautions Colombo that the human capital gathered against massive odds by the LTTE renders a military solution unviable. Meanwhile, a columnist in the Tamil Guardian points out the LTTE acquired the know-how and materials for an air force in the harshest international climate for armed movements.
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JVP boycott of APRC helps LTTE- Vitarane

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 April 2007, 00:19 GMT]
Science and Technology Minister Tissa Vitarane, chairman of the All Party Representatives' Committee (APRC) appointed by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse in June 2006 to work out a political package to find a lasting political solution, said Saturday that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is helping the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by not participating and submitting its political proposals to the APRC to solve the ethnic conflict.


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LTTE confers Maamanithar award to Jeyakumar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 11:31 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers, Velupillai Pirapaharan, conferred Maamaniathar (Great Humanbeing) award to Thillainadarajah Jeyakumar, 54, who died suddenly in Melbourne Australia on 29 March. Praised as the leading force behind the Australian Tamils Co-ordinating Committee for the last two decades, Jeyakumar is credited with uniting Australian Tamils towards supporting Tamil Eelam struggle and for his unwavering committment to help the Tamil people. Jeyakumar is from Vannarpannai in Jaffna, is married, and has one son.
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Eleven Tamil civilians arrested in Kohuwela

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 10:55 GMT]
The Dehiwala Police took eleven Tamil civilians including two women into custody in a sudden cordon and search operation conducted Friday night at Kohuwela area, a suburb of Colombo. All of the arrested are natives of NorthEast, and had been staying with relatives and friends, sources said.
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Launch all-out war on LTTE, PNM tells Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 02:59 GMT]
The National Patriotic Movement (NPM) urged the President Mahinda Rajapakse to conduct an all-out war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Colombo said. before it l "We should attack before the LTTE launches an air strike on Temple Trees residence in Colombo. No country has condemned the air strike by LTTE on country's main military air base in Katunayake," said NPM leader Venerable Dambara Amila Thera addressing a press briefing held Thursday in Sri Lanka Foundation Institute hall.
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Air-strike, a warning to SLAF- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 March 2007, 13:25 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S.P. Thamilchelvan, stating that the air strike by the Tigers on the nerve centre of the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) in Katunayake was "a one hundred percent successful mission," Thursday told media in Kilinochchi that the "precision air strike" by the Tigers on the SLAF was a "clear message" to the Sri Lankan state, to end the sustained bombardment of the Tamil homeland. "Within the last 6 months alone, the Sri Lankan Air Force has carried out at least 2 sorties every other day for more than 90 days. Hundreds of Tamil civilians have been killed, many wounded, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced due to the repeated bombardment," he added
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Kilinochchi residents condemn DPU attacks on civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 March 2007, 10:34 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) demonstrated in Kilinochchi Thursday condemning the indiscriminate penetrative attacks on humanitarian organizations working in the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) of Tamil Eelam administrated areas by the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of Sri Lankan armed forces, and demanding the international community take steps to stop the attacks. civil society sources in Kilinochchi said. The demonstration, presided by the President of TRO, M. Sivanadiyan, started around 10:30 a.m. in front of the TRO Head Office in Kilinochchi and ended around 12:00 noon at the Office of the Kilinochchi Government Agent.
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9 civilians killed in SLA mortar attack in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 March 2007, 04:12 GMT]
Eight civilians, including four children, were killed Thursday 7:30 p.m. when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired mortars from Murakkoddaanchaenai SLA camp towards Siththaandi 3rd division, located 800 m southwest of the SLA camp. One of the wounded succumbed to injuries at Batticaloa hospital. Two 2-year-old girls and 2 boys under 18 years were among the victims. Three of the children were from a single family, initial reports said. Sri Lankan police or SLA troopers in the area were yet to visit the site, civilians from the area said.
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SL Govt rejects UNP request to summon parliament

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 March 2007, 02:59 GMT]
The Sri Lanka government has rejected the request made by Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), to summon the parliament to debate the current security situation of the island in the wake of the air strike carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the Katunayake air base, parliamentary sources said.
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Speaker urged to ensure protection to parliament complex

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 March 2007, 02:55 GMT]
Anura Bandaranaike, Minister for National Heritage, Thursday requested the Speaker W.J.M.Lokkubandara to summon leaders of all political parties represented in parliament to an emergency meeting to decide on precautionary methods to ensure protection of the parliament complex, sources said.


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HRW slams Sri Lanka’s support for Karuna Group

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 March 2007, 11:38 GMT]
Despite promises to investigate abductions of children by the pro-government Karuna group, Sri Lankan authorities have taken no effective action and abductions continue, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday. “The Karuna group’s use of child soldiers with state complicity is more blatant today than ever before, ” Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW said in a statement. HRW also accused the LTTE of recruiting child soldiers. “The Karuna group is doing the government’s dirty work,” Adams said. “It’s time for authorities in Colombo to stop this group from using children in its forces.”
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SLA MBRL fire paralyses Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 March 2007, 22:38 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Batticaloa launched Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire from their camps towards Liberation Tigers Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held territories in Baticaloa district, Wednesday from 6:00 a.m til 10:30 a.m, sources in Batticaloa said. Government offices and schools were closed.
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India sidesteps LTTE air strike

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 March 2007, 19:07 GMT]
India treaded with caution and reserve Wednesday while reacting to the Tamil Tigers' air strike on the Sri Lankan Air Force base at Katunayake airport on Sunday, Indian press reports said. Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon was quoted as saying India was concerned general escalation of violence in which the airstrike was one incident.
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SLA attempt to enter Batticaloa LTTE territory beaten

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 March 2007, 11:30 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forces thwartted a pre-dawn attempt by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers and paramilitary cadres of Karuna group from Chenkalady Black Bridge SLA camp in Batticaloa district Wednesday around 3:30 a.m, to advance into Koduvamadu area in LTTE held territory in Batticaloa, sources in Batticaloa said.


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