Youth shot dead in vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 May 2004, 00:01 GMT]
Mr. Kalimuthu Santhakumar, 28, in Marambaikulam, Vavuniya, was shot dead on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. by a group of unidentified men. The attackers escaped after stabbing another villager, Sabaratnam Jayanthan (24), who went out to check after hearing the gunshot, police said.
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Kadirgamar: "ISGA, blue print for a future separate state"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 May 2004, 01:25 GMT]
Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal is a blue print for a future separate State and it will be difficult for a sovereign government to accept the proposal, said Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, during a talk he gave at the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C Wednesday afternoon. Mr.Kadirgamar is on an official visit to the United States where he met with U.S Secretary of State, Colin Powell and other U.S Government officials.
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Snag over TNA MP's resignation removed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 May 2004, 15:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Parliament Secretary General, Ms Priyani Wijesekara, said Wednesday she had forwarded the resignation letter of Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Mr. Kingsely Rasanayakam, to the Commissioner of Elections for necessary action, after Mr. Rasanayakam tendered his resignation letter direct to her, parliamentary sources said.
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NECORD funds new school building in Kanniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 May 2004, 10:14 GMT]
Students of resettled families of Kanniya, a traditional Tamil village which is located along Trincomalee-Anuradhapura highway, about eight km off northwest of east port town Tuesday moved into a new school building constructed at a cost of 1.3 million rupees by the North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), sources said.


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Balasingham's book to be released in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 May 2004, 17:18 GMT]
"Viduthalai (Liberation)," a collection of articles authored by the theoretician and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers, Mr.Anton Balasingham, is to be released at an event scheduled to be held on May 16 at the Jaffna University Kailasapathy Auditorium, sources said.
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"ISGA needed as confidence building measure for final solution" - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 May 2004, 17:09 GMT]
"The establishment of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) in the northeast province is urgently needed as a confidence building measure to take forward the peace process to achieve a final and lasting political solution to the Tamil national question," said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader and Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan addressing a public meeting attended by Tamil people of Kanthalai.
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Elilan meets Sri Lanka Security Forces Commanders

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 May 2004, 14:43 GMT]
Mr.C. Elilan, new Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sunday morning held discussion with the Trincomalee heads of Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Police in the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee, security sources said.


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LTTE Trincomalee new political head assumes duties

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 May 2004, 17:26 GMT]
Mr.C. Elilan, new Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Saturday night met with the Tamil media personnel in the Trincomalee district, sources in Trincomalee said. Elilan was introduced to media persons by the outgoing district political head Mr.S.Thilak.


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Security strengthened for Batticaloa TNA parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 May 2004, 10:39 GMT]
More than ten Police officers and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are providing security to Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Ms.Thangeswary Kathirgaman, at her Nalliah Road residence in Batticaloa, security sources said.
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India should lift ban on LTTE-TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2004, 13:39 GMT]
"The Indian government should lift the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a first step to win the hearts of Tamils in northeast province and to facilitate the peace process brokered by Norway," the Tamil National Alliance Jaffna district parliamentarian, Mr.N.Raviraj, told TamilNet Friday
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Magazine prison Tamil detainees allege murder plot

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2004, 11:24 GMT]
Tamil political detainees from the high security Magazine prison in Colombo have written a letter to Vanni Parliamentarian, Mr. Sivanathan Kishore, that there are secret plans to murder them and that Tamil parliamentarians should take immediate action to urge the prison authorities to transfer the Tamil detainees to Welikada prison, sources said.


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Sri Lanka parliament to debate Kandapola shooting

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2004, 00:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Parliament Speaker, Mr.W.J.M.Lokkubandara, Thursday agreed to allocate time for a debate in the parliament on the Kandapola incident last week in which two Tamil youths were killed when the police opened fire on a group of upcountry Tamils, political sources in Colombo said.


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EU urged to suspend aid until ISGA is established

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2004, 00:24 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday appealed to the member countries of the European Union to release their aid to the Sri Lanka government only after the establishment of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) in the northeast province, sources said.


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CWDR celebrates second year of women’s training

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 May 2004, 03:05 GMT]
The women’s training centre, sponsored by the Centre for Women’s Development and Rehabilitation (CWDR) has completed its second year of training, and a function to mark the event and distribute certificates was held in Kilinochchi Wednesday, sources in the Vanni said.
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Solheim briefs Wickremasinghe

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 May 2004, 14:13 GMT]
Mr. Erik Solheim, the Norwegian peace envoy, Wednesday met with the Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka's parliament, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, and briefed him on the outcome of the talks he has had with the President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, political leadership of the Liberation Tigers, leaders of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Tamil National Alliance since he arrived in Colombo Saturday, political sources said.
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Norwegian peace envoy meets TNA delegation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2004, 20:05 GMT]
"Peace talks between the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should be held on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal. The UPFA government should not use the opportunity of holding peace talks as a device to strengthen its position in the parliament and to obtain foreign aid," the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation told the visiting Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim during a discussion held Tuesday evening at the Norwegian embassy in Colombo, TNA sources said.


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RSF fears for safety of Tamil journalist

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2004, 16:18 GMT]
The Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) in a letter to Sri Lanka's minister of home affairs, Mr. Amarasiri Dodangoda, on Tuesday expressed its fears for the safety of Tamil journalist Mr. Dharmeratnam Sivaram ("Taraki"), whose home in Colombo was searched by Sri Lanka police Monday.
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Tamil media Alliance slams raid on journalist's home

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2004, 13:07 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) said Tuesday it strongly condemns the Police raid on journalist Sivaram Dharmeratnam’s home in Colombo on World Press Freedom Day. “The Sri Lankan government and its armed forces have long attempted to portray Tamil journalists as supporters of armed violence with a view to destroying their professional credibility. We consider the raid on Mr. Sivaram’s home as a continuation of this policy," the SLTMA said in a statement Tuesday.
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Police raid Tamil journalist’s home on Press Freedom Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2004, 01:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police raided a Tamil journalist’s home in Colombo Monday night. During the raid by a large group of Police personnel, the journalist, Mr. Sivaram Dharmeratnam (‘Taraki’), a political affairs columnist for English and Tamil papers published from Colombo and a member of TamilNet's editorial board, was away in Batticaloa in connection with the World Press Freedom Day on Monday, 3 May. The journalist’s family said that the raid was intimidating. Mr. Dharmeratnam was threatened and intimidated several times in the past for his comments and reporting on Tamil issues.
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'Liberation struggle has weathered several crises’ –Kousalyan

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2004, 22:06 GMT]
“In the history of the Tamil liberation struggle, we have faced several crises, and it is as a result of weathering all those crises that the Liberation Tigers are today powerful militarily and politically,” said Mr.E. Kousalyan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa-Amapai, speaking at the May Day organized jointly by the LTTE, trade unions and public organizations in the East and held at the Kaluthavalai public playgrounds Saturday, according to the Tuesday edition of Uthayan, the Tamil newspaper based in Jaffna.
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