Protest march held in Killinochchi condemning SL government

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 21:59 GMT]
Hindu and Christian religious dignitaries of the Vanni district organised a peaceful protest march Thursday around 3.30 p.m condemning the Sri Lanka Government's (GoSL) for the closure of the A-9 route to Jaffna peninsula pushing its people to the brink of starvation and calling for the release of Rev. Jim Brown, catholic priest and his assistant who were reported disappeared after last being seen at the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) check point at Allaipiddy one month ago, said sources from Killinochchi.
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One killed, another injured in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 September 2006, 16:26 GMT]
Two unidentified armed men riding a motor cycle shot and killed a young man in Atchuvely town, around 7 a.m., Tuesday.
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Massacre survivor dies, Amparai shuts down

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 September 2006, 03:46 GMT]
Muslim community leaders were summoned in Pottuvil Tuesday morning as the only survivor and the eyewitness to the massacre was reported dead Monday night. The eyewitness, M. Meeramohideen, 55, was blocked by the Sri Lankan armed forces at a checkpost and redirected elsewhere "on orders from Colombo," from being transferred to Kalmunai Ashraf Memorial Hospital for treatment by Muslim doctors, the community leaders charged. Meanwhile, Tamil speaking people in Amparai district were observing a shut down protest over the massacre where 10 Muslim youths were butchered to death Monday early morning.
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Tamil Councillors to stage peace vigils across London boroughs

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 September 2006, 06:58 GMT]
British Tamil Councillors and Associates (BTCA) will be holding peace vigils across 32 London boroughs on the Inernational Day of Peace on Thursday, September 21, urging for "Peace with Dignity" for the Tamils of Sri Lanka, the cross-party Council members from Greater London region said in a Press Release. The organisation has called for a "peaceful resolution that recognizes the Tamil people's right to self-determination and fulfills the legitimate aspirations."
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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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Mannar fishermen woes spotlighted

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 13:17 GMT]
Fishermen of Mannar district are finding difficult to market their produce to Colombo due to stringent checks carried out by the Sri Lanka Army at every checkpoint along the route. Checks are carried out first in Mannar town before being loaded in lorries and there after boxes of fish are unloaded again in check points in Madawachchi and others along the route.
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Vanni patients stranded in Jaffna hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 06:03 GMT]
Nearly 150 patients from Vanni who had completed their treatment at Jaffna Teaching Hospital have been stranded in Jaffna town, unable return to their homes for more than a month due to the closure of A- 9 highway since August 11 .Patients include mothers who had just delivered their babies. Hospital sources said the young mothers and their infants are in good health.
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Rupavahini in ‘cultural censorship’ - FMM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 September 2006, 18:38 GMT]
A local media watchdog Wednesday slammed Sri Lanka’s government for abruptly ending a television series after altering the dialogue in the last episode that was broadcast. The Free Media Movement (FMM) said it “condemns this cultural censorship” and asked Sri Lanka Rupavahini Cooperation (SLRC) to resume broadcasting the ‘Sudu Kapuru Pethi’ programme, whose story line, written in 2003, is set in island’s ethnic conflict. According to a BBC Sinhala service report, the SLRC says the teledrama ‘disgraced’ the Sri Lankan security forces at a time of war.
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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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"UNP will be in power in 90 days"-Wickremasinghe

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2006, 16:47 GMT]
"The United National Party (UNP) will be in power within ninety days," declared Ranil Wickremasinghe, Leader of the Opposition and the main opposition UNP Tuesday when addressing the sixtieth anniversary of the party held at Sri Kotha, party headquarters in Colombo.


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Humanitarian crisis precipitated by twin-track strategy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 September 2006, 22:03 GMT]
An estimated 60,000 Tamils displaced by Sri Lankan military attacks in the eastern province are caught in a humanitarian crisis which aid workers say is being deliberately deepened by the Colombo government. The most recent displacements in the east join tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes by military attacks in Wanni and the northern Jaffna.
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STF bans vehicles over Paddiruppu entry point in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 September 2006, 19:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan counter insurgency Special Task Force (STF) personnel, manning the Kaluwanchikudy-Paddiruppu Bridge, a gateway to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled territory in Batticaloa district, on Tuesday, did not allow transport of vehicles through the entry point that was partly re-opened Saturday after 3 weeks.
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3 killed, 9 injured, multi-barrel rockets hit Kathiraveli

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 September 2006, 15:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army fired Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher shells hit Kathiraveli, 10 km north of Vaharai, where Internally Displaced People from Muthur East and Eacchilampatru have sought refuge. 3 civilians were killed, 9 wounded, according to LTTE officials in Kathiraveli. Medical sources in Batticaloa reported that ICRC personnel transported at least 2 wounded civlians to Valaichenai hospital. The MBRL attack on Tuesday on Kathiramalai in Batticaloa district's north, comes amid speculation by analysts in Colombo that Sri Lankan military was planning another offensive towards southern Trincomalee and northern Batticaloa areas where thousands of IDP's have taken refuge.
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3 civilians killed, 2 children, mother wounded in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2006, 19:57 GMT]
Motorbike riding Sri Lanka Army (SLA) men in civil clothes shot and killed three civilians in three separate shootings in Jaffna Monday. An owner of a garage 100 meters away from an SLA sentry point in Stanley Road in Jaffna, a devotee returning home from Thurkai Amman Temple festival was gunned down at Maruthanarmadam Junction and a painter was shot dead in Uduppidy in Vadamaradchi. Two 8-year-old children and a mother wounded in the shootings were admitted to Jaffna hospital.
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Rajapakse, Wikremasinghe expected to discuss common agenda

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2006, 12:20 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), are expected to meet coming weekend to hold discussions on Rajapakse's invitation to UNP to join the ruling alliance. The meeting between the two leaders would take place after the conclusion of the annual conventions of the two main political parties Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and UNP, political sources in Colombo said.
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Rajapakse hails Sampoor ‘capture’

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2006, 08:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops have advanced into Sampur village in the LTTE-controlled part of the eastern Trincomalee district and are consolidating their positions, the government said Monday in Colombo. LTTE political officials in Trincomalee said fighting was ongoing in the Sampoor region. “This is a severe breach of the ceasefire agreement with the Sri Lankan military taking LTTE-controlled areas,” S. Puleedevan, head of the LTTE peace secretariat, told Reuters. “They are not honoring the ceasefire agreement. They are forcing it to the brink of collapse,” he added. “On our side we are fully committed to it.”
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NGO official, mother gunned down in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 September 2006, 08:18 GMT]
Planning officer attached to Tsunami reconctruction project of the Sewalanka, a non governmental organization, was shot dead at his home in Karaveddy in Jaffna, around 8:45 p.m., Friday. His 55 year-old mother, who attempted to block the killers, was also killed by the armed men. The NGO officer's wife and his brother have been admitted at the Manthikai hospital with injuries, sources said.
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Sri Lanka defiant over aid massacre charge

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 September 2006, 13:59 GMT]
Accused by international ceasefire monitors of being responsible for the massacre of 17 aid workers, Sri Lanka reacted with indignation, rejecting the findings and launching a blistering personal attack the outgoing head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Swedish Maj. Gen. Ulf Henricson. And whilst its senior representatives lambasted the SLMM, the Sri Lankan government slapped new restrictions on other international aid workers. Meanwhile, reflecting international reaction to the SLMM’s findings, the United Nations threatened to stop its agencies’ activities in the country, a warning it subsequently toned down.
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One hundred Tamil civilians arrested in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 September 2006, 08:19 GMT]
About one hundred Tamil civilians were arrested Thursday in Vavuniya town in a combined cordon and search operation by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police. They were brought to Vavuniya Police Station and subjected to severe interrogation.
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One soldier injured in Vadamaradchchi, Tamil youth shot dead in Kopay

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 August 2006, 23:43 GMT]
Following a claymore explosion at Idaikkadu in Nelliyadi in Jaffna-Point Pedro Road Thursday soldiers manning the gateways to Vadamaradchchi, Vallai, Mulli in Kodikamam, and Aayam in Chavakachcheri road prevented the movement of about one thousand civilians for about three hours. SLA did not allow the movement of about hundred vehicles. One SLA sodleir was injured in the explosion.
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