Sri Lanka expels MSF from Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 October 2006, 15:56 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) expelled three medical specialists of Médecins Sans Frontiérs (MSF) (France) serving in Point Pedro Manthikai Government hospital in Vadamardchchi Sunday, medical sources said. The hospital fell inside newly extended High Security Zone (HSZ) declared by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) after Aug 11 when clashes erupted in the Jaffna peninsula between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the SLA, said Manthikai hospital sources.
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ICRC hands over bodies of slain LTTE cadres

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 October 2006, 11:49 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Batticaloa District Commander Col. Ramesh, who had taken command recently, attended the funeral of three of the eleven Tiger cadres who were killed in an alleged Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) ambush inside the LTTE territory in Batticaloa. The bodies of the 11 Tiger cadres killed Saturday dawn in the counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) attack, were handed over to the Tigers by the Representatives of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) Sunday around 3.30 p.m, according to Batticaloa District LTTE Deputy Political Head, S. Seeralan.
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Norwegian special envoy meets GoSL

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 October 2006, 09:53 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer who is in Colombo on a four-day visit Monday morning met with Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva who led the government delegation that attended the Geneva peace talks held in February in Geneva under the direction of President Mahinda Rajapakse. The discussion which lasted for half an hour between them centred on taking forward the peace process between the warring parties.
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Five civilians injured in SLA rocket fire in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 October 2006, 00:04 GMT]
Barrage of rockets fired by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from Valaichenai Paper Factory and Murakodanchenai camps between 6:00 p.m and 7:40 p.m. Saturday have seriously injured five civilians including three women in the villages of Thihilivettai, Pondukalchenai, Navalpitty and Tharavai in LTTE-controlled northeast areas of Batticaloa district, sources said. The injured were rushed to the Medical Centre run by the LTTE where they are being treated, residents said.
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Norwegian peace envoy arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 October 2006, 17:43 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Jon Hanssen Bauer arrived in Colombo accompanied by Norwegian foreign ministry officials Sunday afternoon by Sri Lankan Airlines flight, sources in Colombo said.
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Former RAW chief protests India’s ‘ambivalence’ over LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 October 2006, 11:41 GMT]
India’s former spy chief has criticised Delhi for not engaging with the both the Liberation Tigers and Sri Lanka’s government to prevent the slide into conflict. "India's inability to fully comprehend the ground realities in Sri Lanka and, hamstrung by the past, its reluctance to do business with LTTE to help evolve an equitable settlement may prove to be a monumental foreign policy blunder,” J.K. Sinha, former head of India’s external intelligence agency said.
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Sri Lanka sets new conditions for talks - reports

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 September 2006, 22:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s government has imposed new conditions for talks with the Liberation Tigers, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, chief spokesman on defence matters told the Sunday Times. The paper says the conditions are: “a specific time frame should be provided by the LTTE to resume and conclude peace talks; the LTTE should give an assurance to the international community and Donor Co-chairs of the peace process that it will not use sea routes to smuggle into Sri Lanka any military hardware and the LTTE should make a commitment that it would not resort to any violence during the period of the talks.”
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SLA ban on building materials to Vaharai stays- Basil Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 September 2006, 17:00 GMT]
Basil Rajapakse, brother and Senior Advisor to Sri Lanka's President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse, informed a delegation of Batticaloa District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians that no building materials can be transported into LTTE-held Vaharai area north of Batticaloa until further notice, during a meeting held at the office the Srilankan President Friday at 11.00 a.m., sources in Colombo said.
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SLMM visits ambush site in LTTE controlled Pullumalai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 September 2006, 12:18 GMT]
Eleven cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in an ambush carried out by the counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) personnel inside LTTE territory in Pullumalai in Batticaloa district around 5:30 a.m. Saturday, LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said. The bodies of the cadres killed in the STF attack were transferred in military vehicles into STF controlled area, he said charging the Sri Lankan forces for engaging in offensive attacks inside Tiger territory when the LTTE had informed to the facilitators that it ceased all retaliatory attacks following the call by the Co-Chairs to cease all violence.
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SL state shows "complete disregard" for human rights obligations - AHRC

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 September 2006, 11:23 GMT]
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in a press release issued Friday noted that the "consistent failure" by the Sri Lankan government to respect or to take any measures to implement the view expressed by the Human Rights Committee, has caused the "bewildering absence of protection to the citizens and the total absence of effective mechanisms to investigate, monitor or prosecute gross human rights abuses.
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SLAF resumes air raids on Vaharai

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 September 2006, 13:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force Kfir jets bombed Kandalady village in Vaharai Friday around 10:00 a.m. No casualties were reported although the bombers targeted an area where displaced families from Trincomalee had taken refuge, sources in Vaharai said.
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Medicines to LTTE areas in Mannar reach through Uyilankulam

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 September 2006, 12:24 GMT]
A consignment of drugs and other medical items allocated for the third quarter of the year to government dispensaries and hospitals in the villages held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Mannar district was dispatched Friday around noon in two lorries through Uyilankulam checkpoint of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources said.
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SLA, LTTE exchange artillery fire in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 September 2006, 11:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers exchanged artillery fire from Thursday midnight until early morning Friday, shells falling within High Security Zones (HSZs) in Jaffna, and LTTE controlled Pallai and Pooneryn areas, sources in Jaffna said.
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TNA parliamentarians continue sit-in-protest third day

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 September 2006, 08:10 GMT]
The sit-in-protest by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians continued for the third day Friday in the Sri Lanka's parliament demanding the immediate re-opening of the A9 landroute connecting the Jaffna district with the rest of the country and the lifting of economic embargo on the Jaffna population since the fresh fight broke out between the government troops and the LTTE on August 11, parliamentary sources said.
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Colombo said considering alternate land route to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 September 2006, 19:56 GMT]
Anura Priyadharsana Yapa, Minister of Media and Information, said Thursday the Sri Lanka Government is considering an alternate land route for Jaffna district instead of re-opening the A9 highway which is closed after fighting broke out in August between the government troops and the LTTE. However Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday announced that its parliamentarians would continue their sit-in-protest in Sri Lanka's parliament until the government re-opens the A9 highway and lifts the economic embargo on Northeast.
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TNA parliamentarians continue sit-in-protest

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 September 2006, 11:43 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians continued their sit-in-protest second day Thursday in Sri Lanka's parliament demanding the re-opening of A9 landroute and lifting the economic embargo imposed on the Jaffna population after the fighting between the Sri Lankan troops and the LTTE broke out on August 11. They wore black bands when they entered the well of the house to continue their protest, parliamentary sources said.
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US Congressman advocates autonomy for Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 September 2006, 11:35 GMT]
New Jersey Congressman, Frank Pallone, speaking to the House Wednesday night, supported Norway, Co-chairs' call for unconditional talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers, advocated autonomy for Tamils, and endorsed U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher's statement "though we reject the methods that the Tamil Tigers have used, there are legitimate issues raised by the Tamil community and they have a legitimate desire to control their own lives, to rule their own destinies, and to govern themselves in their homeland.''
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JVP launches new front to defeat LTTE, stop foreign intervention

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 September 2006, 09:34 GMT]
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sinhala national Marxist political party Wednesday launched a new organization "Joint Front to Protect the Nation" (JFPN) to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and to work for the abrogation of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed with the LTTE in the year 2002
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Colombo's refusal to open A9, serious Humanitarian violation - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 September 2006, 12:23 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S.P. Thamilchelvan Wednesday held discussions with the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General Lars Johan Sølvberg, urging the Head of Mission to clarify the stand of Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) after the refusal by Sri Lanka Army in allowing the truce monitors access the Muhamalai area. Mr. Thamilchelvan questioned the HoM on the cooperation extended by GoSL in restoring normalcy in re-opening the land route and relieve the humanitarian sufferings of 500,000 civilians entrapped in economic embargo and GoSL refusal to open the Jaffna Kandy A9 route. Also other access routes to LTTE controlled areas in the East remain blocked.
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"Lift embargo, re-open land routes," - TNA in sit-in-protest

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 September 2006, 05:38 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians launched a sit-in protest in the Sri Lankan Parliament Wednesday morning demanding the re-opening of land routes to Jaffna and the East and urged the Government of Sri Lanka to lift the economic embargo. However, the peaceful protest, which did not disturb the proceedings of the parliament, has been ignored by the house, parliamentary sources said.
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