STF soldiers fire into LTTE held area in East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2005, 12:03 GMT]
Around fifty soldiers of the Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF) Thursday morning 11:00 a.m. opened fire at random into paddy fields located inside the LTTE held area, dispersing more than a hundred farmers working in the fields. Only minor injuries were sustained by a few farmers in the gunfire, LTTE's Udumpankulam area Co-ordinator Mr. Veeramani told TamilNet.
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Youth shot, seriously wounded in Akkaraipattu

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 December 2005, 13:02 GMT]
A 24-years-old Tamil youth, Mr. Satheeskumar, was shot and seriously wounded by unindentified gunmen Monday evening around 5:30 pm. at Pisthar Road in Akkaraipattu, 58 km south of Batticaloa town.
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NESOHR mourns killing of Pararajasingham

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 December 2005, 14:59 GMT]
Praising Joseph Pararajasingham as a human rights activist ready to take up human rights violations against his community in Batticoloa disregarding risks to his life, the Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) in a press release issued Sunday said, " A land where human rights defenders’ life can be taken away so cheaply is a damned land. It is also a damning indictment on those who are charged with the responsibility of protecting them."
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Veteran NorthEast sportsman dies

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 December 2005, 00:00 GMT]
Mr.A.S.Gunaratnam, retired Assistant Director of Sports in the North East Provincial Education, Cultural, Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry and currently Assistant Director of the North East Youth Affairs Ministry passed away Friday in Colombo after a brief illness. He had been a colorful personality in the field of sports not only in the North East but also at the national level. He had been fluent in all three languages, Tamil, Sinhala and English. He was 68 at the time of his death, family sources said.
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Norway best venue for truce talks - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 December 2005, 09:57 GMT]
Reiterating that they wished to engage in talks on the effective implementation of the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement with Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers suggested Saturday that Norway would be the ideal venue to host such talks as Oslo was not only the facilitator of the peace process, but leading the monitoring mission supervising the truce. “Based on a mutual consent, a suitable venue for peace negotiations could be selected following the successful conclusion of the CFA talks,” he said pointing out that Norway has earlier extended invitation to the parties to hold talks on the implementation of the CFA.
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SLAF Helicopter comes under fire in Arugambay

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 December 2005, 13:56 GMT]
An MI-17 Military helicopter of the Sri Lanka Airforce (SLAF) came under gunfire and made an emergency landing in Kumana, Amparai district, around 3.15 p.m. Wednesday, Sri Lanka Air Force spokesman Ajantha de Silva told media in Colombo. The incident took place 10 air-miles off Arugambay. The gunfire did not cause any damage except puncturing a few holes in the frame and the helicopter took off after a brief inspection, SLAF sources said.
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"STF, SL Ministers complicit in paramilitary operations, Karuna in India"

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 December 2005, 17:12 GMT]
The two paramilitary cadres who surrendered to the Tigers in Amparai disclosed that Karuna operates from India and that Pillayan was leading the Karuna group operating in the east. They also revealed that Sri Lankan Government Ministers A L M Athaullah, Douglas Devananda and Maithripala Sirisena are complicit in helping paramilitaries operating in the east, during a press conference held at Thenakam guest house in LTTE controlled Karadiyanaru Monday. The cadres also said that the paramilitaries were involved in violence against Muslims to create dissension between Tamil and Muslim communities.
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LTTE confers "National Patriot" title on murdered sisters

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 December 2005, 22:14 GMT]
Liberation Tigers conferred "Tamil National Patriot" titles to the two sisters, Mrs. Yogarasa Yogeswary, 26, and Thurairasa Vathany, 17, who were victims of a revenge killing, Wednesday night, by suspected paramilitaries, at Palacholai in Batticaloa. Their bodies were kept for viewing at Illupadicheni Tamil School and were cremated with full military honors at the LTTE Cemetary for Patriots Saturday, daily Batticaloa Eelanaatham reported.
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Akashi visits Amparai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 December 2005, 17:56 GMT]
Mr. Yasushi Akashi, representative of the Government of Japan for Peace-building, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka, arrived Saturday morning in Amparai and held separate meetings with Muslim, Sinhala and Tamil delegations comprising of civil society members, sources in Amparai said.
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Revenge killing by suspected paramilitaries

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 December 2005, 10:06 GMT]
Two sisters of Puhalventhan, Mrs. Yogarasa Yogeswary, 26, and Thurairasa Vathany, 17, were shot dead, Wednesday night, by suspected paramilitaries, at Palacholai in Batticaloa. Puhalventhan, a renegade paramilitary cadre from Karuna Group, had surrendered along with Gnanatheepan, his colleague, to the LTTE in Amparai, Tuesday. The sisters were shot as they emerged from their door to greet two callers who had entered the compound around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. A two years old child was seriously wounded.
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Two paramilitary cadres surrender, say Karuna group responsible for attacks against Muslims

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 December 2005, 11:28 GMT]
Two paramilitary cadres, Mr. Gnanatheepan and Mr. Puhalventhan, have surrendered to the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) in Amparai following the counter-attack on Karuna Group cadres where four paramilitary cadres were killed Tuesday, Mr. Daya Mohan, political head of the LTTE in Amparai told TamilNet. The surrendered cadres have confirmed the death of the key operative Iniyabarathy, and have revealed that the paramilitary cadres led by Iniyabarathy were behind the recent attacks against Muslims in Amparai district, including the grenade attack on Akkaraipattu Mosque where four Muslim worshippers were killed, said Daya Mohan.
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Key Karuna Group operative, 3 paramilitary cadres killed in East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 December 2005, 02:56 GMT]
A key operative of the paramilitary Karuna Group, Iniyabarathy alias Barathy, was killed Monday night when the Liberation Tigers launched a counter attack on a group of paramilitary cadres who were on an ambush mission towards Kanjikudichcha Aaru forward defence post of the Tigers, Mr. Daya Mohan, LTTE's political head in Amparai told TamilNet Tuesday. Iniyabarathy was killed with three other paramilitary cadres in the no-man zone between the Sri Lanka Army held Manthoddam and the LTTE held Kanjikudichcha Aaru, located 5 km east of Siyambalanduwa near the border of the Moneragala and Amparai Districts.
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HRCSL to formulate Rights education policy for Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 December 2005, 16:52 GMT]
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has been conducting a series of seminars with the aim of formulating a national level human rights education policy. The first seminar was held in Vavuniya Thursday, the second in Trincomalee Friday and the third in Batticaloa Saturday, HRCSL sources said.
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Military strength, vigilance key to our freedom - Pottu Amman

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 November 2005, 16:36 GMT]
"The Tamil people, having dissociated themselves from the political choice of Sri Lankan nationalism, have unequivocally demonstrated their trust in their own leadership. They have categorically told the Sinhala people to take care of their own nationalism. Even this development is a manifestation of the might of the Tamil people," said LTTE senior commander and Intelligence Chief Pottu Amman, in a homage ceremony held at Elephant Pass (EPS), Thursday.
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Muslim couple shot dead in Valaichenai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 November 2005, 09:26 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Mr. Meerasaivu Ahammed Lebbe, 44, and his wife Fowziya Lebbaithamby, 43, Sunday morning at 1:30 a.m. in Miravodai, a Muslim village 28 km nortwest of Batticaloa. Mr. Ahammad Lebbe, a Middle-East employement agent and a supporter of the United National Party, died on the spot at his house. The reason behind the killings is not known, Police said. Liberation Tigers allege that the post-poll violence in the district was caused by paramilitary cadres targeting to disrupt peace and understanding between Tamils and Muslims in the district.
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LTTE slams Mosque attack, urges calm

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 November 2005, 10:20 GMT]
A communiqué issued by the LTTE Political Division, Amparai District, Friday, has condemned the attack on innocent Muslim civilians congregated for prayers at the Grand Mosque, Akkaraippattu, during early hours, Friday. The communiqué said that "the LTTE expressed its deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims of the atrocious grenade attack." The LTTE message has pointed out that the grenade attack was aimed at disrupting peace and understanding between Tamils and Muslims and creating "division and animosity" among them. Appealing for calm and patience, the LTTE has vowed to help expose soon, the "surrogate paramilitary elements of the crime".
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Rajapakse wins Sri Lankan Presidency

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 November 2005, 07:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s hardline Prime Minister has been elected as country’s fifth President. Results released Friday by the election commission indicated Premier Mahinda Rajapakse had received almost 50.3% of the vote, with his main rival, opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, taking 48.4% in a hard fought race that has long been described as too close to call.
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Muslim worshippers killed in grenade attack on Akkaraipattu Mosque

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 November 2005, 04:15 GMT]
Unidentifed assailants lobbed two grenades into the Akkaraipattu Jummah Mosque killing four Muslim worshippers Friday early morning at 5:45 a.m. At least eighteen worshippers were wounded. Two victims died on the spot and the other two succumbed to their wounds at Akkaraipattu and Amparai Hospitals, medical sources said. Tension prevails in Akkaraipattu, 64 km south of Batticaloa town. The assailants hurled grenades on the floor of the moque crowded with devotees attending Jummah prayers Friday morning.
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SL Presidential Polls: Near Fizzle-Out in North East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 November 2005, 10:14 GMT]
Very low attendance of voters was reported at the cluster-polling booths in the North-East as the voting in Sri Lanka to elect the fifth executive president began at 7:00 a.m Thursday. Situation in Jaffna remained calm in complete contrast to the polls eve marred with grenade attack incidents in the peninsula. At least six grenade incidents were reported in Batticaloa-Amparai. Two Tamil civilians were killed in Kalmunai. The voting continued till 4:00 p.m. Security was tightened throughout the country.


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Grenade attacks escalate in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 November 2005, 17:25 GMT]
A grenade attack was reported in Batticaloa at Koolavady junction on Boundary Road Wednesday night around 8:15 p.m. A Sri Lanka Army soldier and a policman were wounded in the incident, police said. Another blast was reported in Chenkalady, Eravur around 9:15 p.m. Casualty details from Eravur incident were not available at the moment. Tension prevailed in Batticaloa and Amparai districts.
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