Mannar Bishop writes to LTTE over shooting at sea

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 February 2005, 13:24 GMT]
Mannar Bishop, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph, wrote to the Liberation Tigers Saturday regarding the incident at sea near Vidathaltheevu in which armed persons believed to be Sea Tigers fired on the boats of fishermen from Pallimunai, a coastal suburb of Mannar town, damaging the boats. Angered by the incident, a group fishermen from Pallimunai attacked and damaged the LTTE's political office in Mannar town Friday.
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Physical fitness center opened in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 February 2005, 12:13 GMT]
NorthEast's first physical fitness center for public, built as part of the Kilinochchi Central Sports Ground facilities and named after Vaithiyalingam Sornalingam (nom de guerre Colonel Sankar), was ceremonially opened Saturday 3 pm, sources from Kilinochchi said. Tamil Eelam Sports Wing of the Liberation Tigers built the facility after pledges from the Ministry of Sports of Government of Sri Lanka to build such facility failed to materialize, LTTE sources said.
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UNICEF, GTZ assist to restore education in tsunami hit Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 February 2005, 14:29 GMT]
German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) on behalf of the German Government and UNICEF Thursday inaugurated a project to provide learning and teaching materials to a total of 21,500 students in 95 schools in the Trincomalee district as a part of the joint effort to restore education for children in the tsunami affected areas. The event was held at the Nilaveli Tamil Maha Vidiyalayam, a school that lost 32 students in the tsunami disaster in the Trincomalee district, sources said.
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Thamilchelvan visits tsunami affected Vaakarai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 February 2005, 12:03 GMT]
Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Head of Political Division of the LTTE, on Thursday visited Tsunami affected coastal areas in Vaakarai, the main village south of the Verugal River, 65 km to the north of Batticaloa town, and discussed post-tsunami relief and resettlement efforts with the affected people and relief workers, sources said.
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Coconut frond thatches produce cooler shelters

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 February 2005, 11:51 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), an NGO registered with Government of Sri Lanka and working exclusively in the NorthEast, has introduced shelters made of thatched roofs from coconut fronds in Vaththirayan and other coastal towns affected by Tsunamai much to the relief of the displaced seeking refuge in shelters. The new constructions are cooler and provide natural ventilation suitable for the hot and humid climate in most of Sri Lanka's NorthEast coastal villages.
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Vocational Training Center opened in Muttur

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 February 2005, 02:42 GMT]
The Social Development Centre (SDC) headquartered in Killinochchi, opened the first vocational training centre (VTC) at Navaratnapuram, Sampoor in the Liberation Tigers controlled Muttur east, south of the Trincomalee district with the assistance of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) Wednesday morning. Colonel Sornam, Trincomalee district military commander ceremonially declared open the main building of VTC, sources in Muttur said.
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"Tiger flag is Tamil nation’s flag" – Mannar Bishop

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 February 2005, 11:39 GMT]
"There is nothing wrong in the Tamil nation raising its national flag. The Tamil national flag is not the Tigers’ flag but it is the Tamil people’s flag. Hoisting it is not against peace. Many who shout against it are silent over the recent killings. It is very deplorable that such murders are committed even amidst the great human tragedy caused by the Tsunami. These killings are provocations to war", said Mannar Bishop Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph, addressing a rally in Mannar town Tuesday to condemn the killing of LTTE political leader, Mr. Kousalyan, the bombing of LTTE’s political office and sexual assault of a student by Police.
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Grenade attack on Mannar LTTE political office, one dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2005, 14:54 GMT]
Two civilians and an LTTE political worker were wounded when unidentified persons lobbed a grenade at the Liberation Tigers' political office in Mannar town Saturday night around 7.45 PM. Mannar hospital sources said one civilian identified as M. Callister (32) who was admitted at the Mannar Hospital succumbed to wounds.
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Jaffna, Vavuniya shut down in hartal, protesters clash with SLA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2005, 10:05 GMT]
The entire districts of Jaffna and Vavuniya Saturday came to a standstill following a general shut down, condemning the killings of Mr.Kousalyan, LTTE political head for Batticaloa Amparai district, his colleagues and Mr.Chandra Nehru, former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Amparai district. In several areas civilians blocked roads and burnt tyres. Clashes took place at the junctions of Puttur and Kaithady in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district Saturday afternoon between groups of civilians and soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army when the latter attempted to remove the roadblocks. Soldiers fled from their sentry points when the angered civilians threw stones at them.
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Sri Lanka imposes Duty on Tsunami relief supplies

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2005, 02:30 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka has imposed taxes at current commercial rates on donated relief supplies including water purification tablets arriving in Colombo addressed to Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) including Tamil Rehabilitiation Organization (TRO), civil sources in Colombo said. Only medicine and infant milk formula are exempt from taxes, according to TRO office in Colombo.
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LTTE names Marshall political head for Batti-Amparai

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2005, 14:39 GMT]
Liberation Tigers said Friday that Mr. Irasaiah Marshall has been appointed as the head of their political division for Batticaoa-Amparai District. Mr. Marshall who takes Mr. Kousalyan's place, was in charge of the Headquarters Secretariat of the LTTE for Batticaloa-Amparai. He was also in charge of project planning for post Tsunami reconstruction in the region.
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NorthEast Governor visits Kokkilai

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2005, 11:27 GMT]
Governor of NorthEast Province, Mr Tyronne Fernando arrived Thursday morning in Kokkilai, a village resettled with Sinhala families from Negombo, to see the devastation caused by the tsunami, security sources said.
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Emergency is prelude to war - Vanni MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2005, 06:07 GMT]
“You are reintroducing Emergency Regulations (ER) to wage on the Tamil people so that you can cling on to power. The emergency is not for the south. It is for oppressing the Tamil people in the northeast with an iron fist as you did in the past. You need war to stay in power. It is the only way for you to deal with the political and economic crisis in which you are engulfed today. You killed Kousalyan to provoke the Tigers to war. You expect the Tigers to rise to the bait”, said Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni, addressing President Kumaratunga’s government during the debate on Emergency in Parliament Friday.
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LTTE leaders visit Kousalyan's wife, mother

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2005, 16:54 GMT]
Head of LTTE Political Wing, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, LTTE's Special Commander for Batticaloa, Col. Banu, Head of LTTE's Finance Division, Mr. S. Thamilenthi, LTTE Senior Member Mr. K. V. Balakumaran, and LTTE military commander Mr. S. Nagesh arrived in Karadiyanaru Maha Vithiyalam grounds in Batticaloa 5 PM Wednesday in a SLAF Helicopter facilitated by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). LTTE leaders visited Mr. Kousalyan's wife Pushpa in Ampilanthurai, Kokkadicholai and Kousalyan's mother and three sisters in Pandariyaveli in LTTE controlled area, LTTE sources said. Kousalyan was married in 22 March 2004, and Pushpa is 7 months pregnant, sources said.
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Kousalyan killed in ambush

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 February 2005, 16:08 GMT]
Mr. E. Kousalyan, head of the Liberation Tigers' political division for Batticaloa-Amparai district was killed in an ambush on the highway to Batticaloa Monday night around 7.45, Sri Lanka military sources said. Three persons who were travelling with him were killed and four were injured including two policemen in the attack which took place between Sri Lanka army garrisons at Welikanda and Punanai, northwest of Battialoa, according to the SLA. Mr. Kousalyan was traveling with Mr. Ariyanayagam Chandra Nehru, former TNA MP for Amparai district, who was seriously injured in the ambush.
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Country Reps of WB, ADB, JBIC, UN to meet LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 February 2005, 11:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Country Representatives of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) and the United Nations (UN) are visiting to Kilinochchi on Tuesday to meet LTTE's Head of Political Wing, Mr. S.P. Thamilselvan to discuss the post-tsunami rebuilding process. This was revealed at a joint press briefing held at the Trans Asia Hotel in Colombo on Monday.
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A question of land

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 February 2005, 03:04 GMT]
“We appealed to the President, we appealed to the Special Task Force, we wrote to the Government Agent and we wrote to several ministers in the government. We pleaded with all of them to find us suitable land to restart our lives. We explained to them why we wanted to leave the camp for Tsunami refugees in Akkaraipattu. But no one responded. That’s why we packed our belongings and came here when we heard of this opportunity”, Ms. Pathmanathan Seetha, told TamilNet, explaining her decision to move to Kavudaapuddi, a mound overlooking the lagoon behind her Tsunami destroyed village on Sri Lanka’s remote southeast coast.
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Independence day massacre in Killinochchi remembered

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 February 2005, 11:09 GMT]
14th death anniversary of nine innocent Tamil civilians who died in aerial bombing by the Sri Lanka Air Force on 4th February, 1991 at Koolavadi, Uruththirapuram in Killinochchi district was observed Friday, Vanni sources said.
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Sri Lanka needs USD 1.5 billion for tsunami recovery, say Donor Agencies

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2005, 01:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka's three key international donor agencies, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the World Bank said Wednesday that preliminary need assessment survey indicates that the tsunami-devastated Sri Lanka would need not less than USD 1.5 billion to rebuild the country.
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SLA-LTTE delegations meet in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 February 2005, 14:22 GMT]
Delegations of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Wednesday morning met at the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and discussed several issues including restoring normalcy in the lives of tsunami affected people and the fishing industry, sources said.
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