India opposes NE de-merger, wants truce, talks - report

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 21:21 GMT]
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday told Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse that only negotiations can resolve the island dragging ethnic conflict. “A political, and not military, solution is what Sri Lanka should aim at - this was India's message,” IANS reported from the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Cuba. The Indian leadership had also pressed that the island's Tamil-majority Northeastern province should not be de-merged without a referendum and that such a referendum would only be possible when there was a 'conducive atmosphere,' IANS reported.
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Civilian killings soaring under Rajapakse - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 19:26 GMT]
Pointing out that the killings of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan security forces and Army-backed paramilitary groups have shot up since President Mahinda Rajapakse assumed power last year, the Liberation Tigers said this week that in keeping with the agenda of Sinhala extremist forces, Rajapakse is determined to pursue the military option to the ethnic conflict. “All attempts by the LTTE to value, abide by and protect the CFA have been undermined by the military option pursued by the Rajapakse regime,” the LTTE said in a statement Monday.
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SLA, LTTE exchange rocket fire in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 19:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army soldiers and Liberation Tigers exchanged rocket fire in the eastern Batticaloa in the early hours of Monday. Fighting broke out when Sri Lankan government troops attempted to move from ‘Karuthapaalam’ (Black Bridge) in Chenkalady, through Badulla road in to areas held by the Liberation Tigers, around 2:30 a.m., Monday.
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Uncertainty haunts Vaharai IDPs, two children die of diarrhea

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 15:54 GMT]
A one-year-old baby girl and a 7-year-old girl, both children of Internally Displaced families from Muthur East, have died of diarrhea at Vaharai hospital. A displaced medical doctor from Eachilampattu, M. Varathan, working at Vaharai hospital says the IDPs in Vaharai are facing health hazards. A displaced person, Thangarajah, says that the IDPs were however not prepared to return home, "at least until a situation that prevailed prior to April 25, is returned to our areas."


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Muslims want STF out of Pottuvil

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 15:03 GMT]
Blaming the elite Special Task Force (STF) for the killings of 10 young Muslim men, the Muslim community in Pottuvil is demanding the unit be transferred out, the BBC reported. Earlier angry protestors stoned STF and police vehicles, rejecting Sri Lankan government accusations the Tamil Tigers were responsible for the killings near the Yala game reserve. Sri Lanka's police chief, Inspector-General Chandra Fernando is now in the eastern Amparai district for talks with senior Muslim politicians, the BBC also reported.
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Tigers blame Sri Lanka for Pottuvil killings

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 07:22 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Amparai District Political Head, Mr. Jeya, has blamed Sri Lankan military for "indulging in sabotage activities." In a statement issued in Tamil Monday, the Tigers charged that the Sri Lankan counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) was behind the slayings and "sabotage activities" aimed at creating tension between the Tamil and Muslim communities in Amparai district. Conveying condolences to the Muslim victims in Pottuvil and expressing sympathies to their families, Mr. Jeya, urged the civilians "not to fall prey to the calculated propaganda of the Sri Lankan military till the truth behind the slayings is uncovered."
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Rajapakse: LTTE is a ‘dictatorial terrorist group’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 September 2006, 16:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse, under pressure from the international community to negotiate peace with the Liberation Tigers, launched a blistering attack on the movement during his address to Summit of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana, Cuba. Without referring to his adversary by name, he described the LTTE as “a dictatorial terrorist group” and said that “all efforts that have been taken by successive governments, including mine, to enter into dialogue with this group, have so far failed.”
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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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Humanitarian supplies through land routes crucial - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 11:40 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan met Friday with the new Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, retired Maj. Gen. Lars Johan Sølvberg. Mr. Thamilchelvan, talking to press, after the meeting, said that the Tigers discussed the humanitarian crisis as the top priority issue. The closure of A9 is "not a mere violation of the Ceasefire Agreement, but an offence against humanity, denying basic supplies to hundreds of thousands of people," Mr. Thamilchelvan said.
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Sri Lanka spells out conditions for talks to Norway- reports

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 01:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s government (GoSL) is demanding a written assurance from LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan that the LTTE would end its violence before GoSL will agree to hold talks with the Tigers, newspapers reported Friday. The GoSL demand was spelled out to Norwegian facilitators by Sri Lankan officials who met Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar on Thursday, they said. Meanwhile the government’s Defence Spokesman, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, told the Daily Mirror that Norway was informed that “a single bullet fired by the LTTE after agreeing for talks would compel the government to withdraw from the Ceasefire.”


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SLA bars civilian travel through Uyilankulam checkpoint

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 16:08 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Thursday refused passage for stranded Tamil civilians in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mannar territories and in areas controlled by the Sri Lanka government to cross over through Uyilankulam SLA check point, civil sources said.
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Terrorised Tamil traders flee to India - report

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 12:20 GMT]
Several Tamil traders and businessmen have fled Sri Lanka following a spate of killings and abductions, IANS reported Thursday quoting officials and refugees. Sinhalese gangs in Trincomalee are targeting prominent Tamils and many ordinary Tamils in the capital were gripped by a "fear psychosis" the agency reported, quoting activists as saying the recent violence has led to one of the most traumatic periods for the island's Tamil community.
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Unidentified men shot and injured EPDP members in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 10:26 GMT]
Two members of a paramilitary group Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) were shot and injured at Kurumankadu area in Vavuniya by unidentified persons. The injured cadres were first admitted to the Vavuniya general hospital and later transferred to Anuradhapura hospital. The shooting had taken place close to the EPDP office in Kurumankadu, Vavuniya Police said.
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Youth shot by SLA, dies after swallowing cyanide

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 05:30 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers on a foot patrol shot a youth who allegedly attempted to run away having thrown a hand grenade on them in Vinayagapuram in the Valaichchenai Police area in Batticaloa district, around 1.30 p.m. Wednesday, Valaichchenai Police said.
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Education of students in LTTE held Mannar villages affected

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 05:23 GMT]
About 4850 students studying in 26 Tamil schools in villages located in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held areas have been badly affected. The second term examination for these students scheduled to be held in August was not held as the education authorities were unable to transport question papers and related learning materials due to the closure of the Uyilankulam checkpoint by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) since August 11.
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International community must ensure Sri Lanka honours CFA and paves way for talks- LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 00:03 GMT]
Welcoming the call by the Co-Chairs of Sri Lanka’s donor community for the Colombo government to abide by the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) and implement the pledges it made in Geneva, the Liberation Tigers said Wednesday it is the responsibility of the Norwegian facilitators and international community to ensure the Rajapakse government adheres to the territorial demarcations, terms and conditions of the CFA and thereby creates a conducive atmosphere for talks.
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Mutilated body found in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 September 2006, 16:24 GMT]
Body of a young man with stab injuries was found in Samankulam in Vavuniya, Wednesday morning. The victim's head had been burnt beyond recognition, police in Vavuniya said.
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Uthayan ‘worst hit’ of Sri Lanka’s media - RSF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 September 2006, 05:10 GMT]
The leading Jaffna daily, the Uthayan, is the “worst hit media” in Sri Lanka’s conflict, said Tuesday, voicing outrage about new armed attacks on the paper, in which gunmen burst into its offices in the Army-controlled town and threatened the journalists present twice in the space of three days.
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Two women take cyanide in Jaffna, one dies

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 September 2006, 04:26 GMT]
Two women took cyanide capsules when a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on routine patrol during curfew hours in Vakaravaththai-Avarankal area in Valikamam East in Jaffna district had attempted to search them on Monday midnight. One woman died instantaneously and the other was admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital in a critical condition, Police informed Mallakam District Judge quoting SLA report.
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GoSL, LTTE should cease violence, resume talks - Co-chairs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 23:46 GMT]
The Co-Chairs are particularly concerned that even major cases of human rights’ abuses are not successfully investigated or prosecuted. "As in any modern state, the culture of impunity must stop," the Co-chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference on Sri Lanka said Tuesday. "There should be no change to the specific arrangements for the north and east which could endanger the achievement of peace," the statement alluded in response to the moves in the South aimed at de-merging the NorthEast.
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