Aid groups protest Sri Lanka’s obstruction of aid

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 11:54 GMT]
Several Western aid groups this week warned of a struggle to conduct humanitarian work in Sri Lanka’s Tamil areas, citing official bureaucracy that has paralysed their work. Speaking to AFP news agency, they protested the Sri Lankan government’s “strategy of preventing the presence of international actors” amid escalating conflict and said aid was being blocked from reaching Tamils in LTTE-controlled areas.
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Mahinda tells Sri Lankans: "choose your side in the war"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 11:53 GMT]
Announcing tough new powers for the Sri Lankan military and the police, SL President Mahinda Rajapakse last issued a warning for citizens: “I ask this of all political parties, all media, and all people’s organizations,” he said Wednesday in a countrywide television broadcast asking the viewers to choose their side in the war between "terrorism" and "democracy" in a 'you're either with us, or against us,' patterned speech.
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LTTE denies shelling school, heavy fighting north of Vaharai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 11:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Thursday morning launched artillery attacks towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Verugal, 14 km northwest of Vaharai and 27 km southeast of SLA captured Sampoor. Meanwhile, SLA troops that moved 5 km inside LTTE territory into Kattumurivu, southwest of Vaharai, have stationed in a school, following stiff LTTE resistance.
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Monks begin fast-to-death demanding proscription of LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 11:24 GMT]
Two Buddhist monks began a fast unto death protest Wednesday evening in front of Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse's residence at Thangala, demanding that either the President or the Prime Minister should hand over to them the official document proscribing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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Engage in peace talks, Thondaman tells Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2006, 11:52 GMT]
"Sri Lanka Government should give up the idea of proscribing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who fight for the rights of the Tamils and engage in peace talks instead," said Arumugam Thondaman, the leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and a minister in the Sri Lanka government (GoSL), in a statement released Tuesday in Colombo.
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Sri Lanka reinstates Prevention of Terrorism Act

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2006, 09:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake, announcing a cabinet decision, Wednesday said the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) would be implemented in full force. The PTA, introduced in 1979 as a temporary measure, and permanently enacted in 1982, was not applied following the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The cabinet decision, viewed as a major breach of the CFA, gives excessive powers of arrest and detention to the Sri Lankan armed forces.
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GoSL considering proscription, reimposition of PTA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2006, 00:36 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is considering seriously to proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) and re- impose the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) again, Ratnasri Wickramanayake, the Premier and Deputy Defense Minister of Sri Lanka, announced in Parliament Tuesday, while addressing allocation of funds to the Ministry of Defense in the new budget for the year of 2007, Parliamentary sources said.
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2 SLA troopers, 1 policeman injured in Chenkalady mortar attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2006, 00:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Batticaloa said two of its troopers including a woman, and a policeman were injured in a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) mortar attack launched Tuesday from 3:45 p.m until 4:15 p.m on its sentry post at the Black Bridge on the Chenkalady-Badula road leading into LTTE held region. Two mortar shells fell and exploded near the sentry post injuring the victims, the source added.
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Tiger Lieutenant Colonel, SLA troopers killed in Vaharai battle

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2006, 16:18 GMT]
Heavy fighting was reported between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers at Kattumurivu for the second day and the SLA attempt to advance further into LTTE territory was halted following heavy casualties, said LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan. Lt. Col. Viduthalai, military coordinator of Vaharai kottam, died in the battle Tuesday. Ilanthirayan claimed that more than 30 SLA troopers were killed in a fierce battle.
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130 billion rupees defence budget approved in Sri Lankan Parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2006, 15:00 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army, Navy and Air Force commanders, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, who narrowly escaped a suicide attack last Frdiay, were present at the Sri Lankan Parliament Tuesday when it approved the defence budget allowing an increased defence spending by 43% to USD 1.3 billion. The Sri Lankan parliament would adopt the budget for 2007 on Wednesday while the Sri Lankan cabinet is expected to decide on re-imposing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that has not been invoked since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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One Vaharai IDP dead, another critical

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2006, 14:00 GMT]
Deaths, caused by the acute shortage of medicine at Vaharai hospital and the continuing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) heavy rocket and artilery fire from Mankerny, Kadjuwathe and Kattumurivu camps on Vaharai in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held territory, are on the increase, according to sources in Vaharai.
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2 SLA troopers killed, 19 injured at Kattumurivu in Vaharai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2006, 11:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Batticaloa said that two of their troopers were killed and 19 injured in a clash between the SLA and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the LTTE held Katumurivu area in Batticaloa district Tuesday between 4:00 a.m and 12:00 noon. The SLA also said that they learnt from LTTE communications that five LTTE cadres were killed in the fight.
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Sri Lanka civil liberties ‘already under strain’ – US Ambassador

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2006, 01:09 GMT]
Asked about the salience of a Patriot Act-style law for Sri Lanka, US Ambassador to Colombo, Robert O' Blake, told the state-owned Daily News: “civil liberties, frankly, are already under strain here (in Sri Lanka). So, I wouldn't want to suggest other things that might further imperil them.” He pointed out that the US Patriot Act was operating in tandem with strong respect for civil liberties there. Mr. Blakes’s comments were published in Tuesday’s edition of the Daily News as the Colombo government says it preparing to revive the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) – breaching the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement.
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Heavy fighting breaks out in Vaharai region

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 December 2006, 15:09 GMT]
Heavy fighting broke out between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Kattumurivu, located 5 km inside the LTTE controlled Vaharai region in Batticaloa district Monday morning around 10:00 a.m. The fighting continued amid heavy artillery and mortar shelling at 5:00 p.m.
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SLA, LTTE clash at Vavuniya FDL

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 December 2006, 15:04 GMT]
Liberation Tigers clashed with Sri Lanka Army troopers who attempted to move beyond the no-go zone towards Puliyankulam at Omanthai Forward Defence Line in Vavuniya district around 2:00 p.m. Monday. The SLA troopers withdrew after facing resistance from the Tigers, according to LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan. Meanwhile, medical sources in Kilinochchi said an ambulance with 7 patients needing advanced treatment at Vavuniya hospital could not proceed to Vavuniya as the Omanthai exit point remained closed following the clash. Artillery and mortar fire was also reported in Northern Front FDL in Muhamalai since Sunday evening.
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Sri Lanka Cabinet to review relationship with LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 December 2006, 13:04 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Cabinet meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday will make crucial decisions regarding the relationship with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) reported Monday in the afternoon news bulletin quoting Mr.Keheliya Rambukwella, defense ministry spokesman and minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government.


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Four killed in STF's failed offensive in Amparai

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 December 2006, 09:28 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) repulsed a major Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) troopers offensive against LTTE held Kanchikudichanaru in Amparai from the Kanchirankuda Special Task Force (STF) camp, backed with heavy artillery fire, Monday around 7:15 a.m, said M. Veeramani, Deputy Head of Amaparai district LTTE political wing. Four Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) troopers were killed and eight seriously injured in the attack, he added.
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CFA, buried

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 December 2006, 15:23 GMT]
Head of Sri Lanka's Peace Secretariat, Palitha Kohona, has told the visiting Norwegian Peace Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer, that the Sri Lankan government was reviewing a proposal of proscribing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and had asked the Peace Envoy not to undertake his scheduled mission to Kilinochchi until a Government decision on Wednesday, according to media reports in Colombo. Analysts view the move as a step to effectively nullify the already defunct Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) that specifically prohibits all military offensives including aerial bombardment, offensive naval operations, assassinations, suicide missions and the activities by deep penetration units.
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Norwegian peace envoy to visit Kilinochchi Tuesday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2006, 18:56 GMT]
Norwegian peace envoy, Mr. Jon Hansen Bauer, who has been staying in Colombo since his arrival last Wednesday, is scheduled to visit to Kilinochchi to hold talks with Senior leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Colombo said.
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SLA trooper killed in Vadmaradchi, woman injured in Kayts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2006, 13:29 GMT]
Unidentified men triggered a claymore device hidden along the Udupiddy-Valvettithurai road Friday around 5:00 a.m killing a trooper of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) unit returning to Valvettithurai SLA camp after constructing sentry posts near Ellankulam Heroes Resting Home, sources in Jaffna said. In a separate incident, a young Kayts woman was injured Friday by a stray bullet fired during the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) combat training at the Kayts SLN base. She was rushed to Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
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