Relatives blame SLA for aid workers’ executions

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 11:36 GMT]
Relatives of some of the aid workers shot dead execution-style in Muttur town blamed Sri Lankan security forces Tuesday whilst diplomats were skeptical of government claims the Tamil Tigers were responsible. Correspondents with Reuters news agency interviewed relatives of some of the seventeen staff of international aid group Action Contre La Faim (ACF). The father of one aid worker said another son was amongst five Tamil students shot, also execution-style in Trincomalee earlier this year.
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Thousands flee amid new Sri Lankan bombardment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 11:20 GMT]
Six hundred Tamil families fled an intense bombardment of villages in LTTE held Eachchilampathu division Tuesday and sought refuge in Vaharai division in Batticaloa district. Continuous artillery fire from Sri Lankan military installations in Trincomalee and its suburbs and from Kallaru Army (SLA) camp drove the four thousand people from their homes. Sri Lankan troops at Kallaru are blocking international and local aid workers from reaching the displaced.
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Bodies of 17 NGO workers brought to Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 09:01 GMT]
The bodies of 17 persons, 16 Tamils and a Muslim, were brought to the mortuary of the Trincomalee general hospital Tuesday in a lorry from Muthur via Allai-Kantalai road. On the orders of the Sri Lankan authorities, a Sinhalese Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) was brought from Anuradhapura to conduct the post-mortem examinations. One of the victims, Y.Kodeeswaran, was the eldest brother of Y.Hemachchandran, another victim of an execution-style massacre by the Special Task Force (STF), the Sri Lankan counter-insurgency elite force in January this year along the Trincomalee sea beach. A father who was a driver, and his daughter, a hygience promoter, were also among the ACF victims.
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ACF workers, 14 Tamils and a Muslim, lined up and shot - Fact Finding Mission

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 07:26 GMT]
"The bodies [of Muthur massacre victims] were all face downwards on the front lawn [of ACF office], seemingly lined up and shot at very close range. The sight was too much to handle," said a Fact Finding Mission of the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) that visited Muthur town Sunday where 14 Tamil and a Muslim worker of Action Against Hunger (Action Contre la Faim, ACF) were allegedly massacred by Sri Lanka Army (SLA). The CHA report further verified that most of the deceased were wearing ACF agency T-shirts. Meanwhile, reports from Trincomalee on Tuesday said 17 bodies of ACF workers, 16 Tamils and a Muslim, were brought to Trincomalee hospital.
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TRO assists IDPs in Muttur east, Eachchilampathu division, Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 August 2006, 17:29 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), only non-governmental organization in the district has been engaged in providing cooked meals, dry rations, milk food and other related humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of Tamil people in the LTTE held villages in Muthur east, Eachchilampathu divisions who have been displaced due to artillery and aerial attack by the Sri Lankan armed forces and sheltered in school and public buildings since April this year. TRO has been distributing food materials with available stock in LTTE held areas amid continuing artillery fire by the Sri Lanka armed forces and destroyed road network and bridges, sources said.
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Two houses set ablaze by paramilitaries in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 August 2006, 17:08 GMT]
Two houses located along Batticaloa-Kaluwankerni main road were burnt down by a paramilitary group working with Sri Lanka State security forces around 6.30 a.m., Monday. One house belonged to Mylvaganam Arumugam who is the sister of Gnanatheepan, the paramilitary Karuna group cadre who surrendered to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after killing five Karuna group members, including Iniyabarathy, last year.
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ACF workers demand handover of massacred NGO workers' bodies

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 August 2006, 11:39 GMT]
The humanitarian workers of the French NGO, Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger, ACF) have urged the support of all NGO workers to exert pressure to release the bodies of the massacred Tamil workers in Muthur, NGO sources said. Fifteen Tamil NGO workers were allegedly massacred by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers who entered Muthur town after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters returned to their original positions Friday midnight after launching a 3-day-long counter offensive against SLA advance towards Maavilaru.
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Abrogate CFA, ally with Asia to defeat LTTE, JVP tells Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 August 2006, 11:31 GMT]
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Sinhala extremist party and a political ally of Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse, said at a press conference Sunday that as conditions for the JVP to formally join the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, the Government should ally with Asian countries, abrogate the Norwegian facilitated Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), and strengthen Sri Lankan military to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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GoSL paying "scant regard" to Norway's peace efforts - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 August 2006, 06:39 GMT]
"It is the plea of the Tamil people to the international community that it understands the stark truth behind these actions of the GoSL," the Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said Monday as Norwegian Special Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer was scheduled to visit Trincomalee to meet Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Major General Ulf Henricsson in his final efforts to avert the outbreak of war. The Tigers on Sunday said they considered Sri Lankan forces continued attacks towards the LTTE controlled territory as Declaration of War by Colombo.
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Pon Ganeshamoorthy: a Tamil Nationalist

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 August 2006, 00:12 GMT]
Pon. Ganeshamoorthy who was killed Friday was a well known literary figure, author, long time freedom activist and ardent campaigner for the independence of Tamil Eelam. He was the General Manager of Peoples Bank, Kankesanturai Branch and was on his way to work when he was killed. His killers are alleged to be Intelligence operatives of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
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Sri Lanka’s shelling ‘declaration of war’ - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 17:26 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Sunday that the Sri Lankan government’s artillery bombardment of LTTE-controlled territory as amounting to “declaration of war.” The LTTE has not said if it is going to retaliate. Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer is undertaking hectic diplomatic efforts from Kilinochchi where he had been meeting LTTE officials.
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SLA shelling kills 15 civilians, injures 20

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 16:15 GMT]
At least 15 Tamil civilians were killed and 20 others were seriously injured when artillery shells fired by the Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Navy Sunday hit Nallur and Upooral villages in the Muttur east and Eachchilampathu division in the south of Trincomalee district. This incident took place Sunday night around 7.15 p.m., sources in Muthur said.
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STF infiltration repulsed, one Batticaloa Rural Force Member killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 14:23 GMT]
A member of the LTTE's Rural Force of Kovil Porathivu was killed at 12:20 a.m., Sunday, when the LTTE confronted members of Special Task Force(STF) attempting to infiltrate LTTE Forward Defense Lines (FDL) in Paddiruppu, Batticaloa, P.Thayamohan, the political head of the LTTE, Batticaloa District, said. The LTTE repulsed the attack by the STF. Sangarapillai Rajmohan, 18, died in the confrontation.
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ICRC urged to ensure relief supply reaches IDPs in Muttur east, Eachchilampathu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 13:32 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance has appealed to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to ensure humanitarian relief supply reaches the internally displaced Tamil people numbering more than 30000 in the LTTE held areas in the Muttur east and Eachchilampathu division due to indiscriminate aerial strike and artillery attack since April in the Trincomalee district on par with displaced in the government controlled territory. Meanwhile, the ICRC said Sunday in a press release that it has launched a relief operation in Muthur area in co-ordination with the Red Cross Movement (RCM), local authorities and other humanitarian organizations.
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Norway, Iceland to continue Monitoring Mission - Bauer

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 12:08 GMT]
"Norway and Iceland are prepared to continue to secure the existence of SLMM after the 1st of September," said Norwegian Special Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer, addressing media in Kilinochchi, after meeting the Liberation Tigers Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan Sunday. Mr. Jon-Hanssen Bauer expressed appreciation to the Liberation Tigers for accepting Norwegian call for re-opening the sluice gate tp de-escalate hostilities. "We hope that the violence will be stopped as soon as absolutely possible. It is paramount now to restore the situation and to try to get out of this violence and escalation of the situation," he told reporters in Kilinochchi after his meeting with the LTTE political head.
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SLA soldier killed in Mannar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 11:11 GMT]
One soldier of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was killed in a fight between SLA and LTTE around midnight on Saturday at Parapankandal in Mannar district. He was identified as Serath Mudiansalage Sisira Premlal aged 39 of Avissawella and military sergeant in rank. His body was handed over to the Mannar general hospital, Murunkan Police said.
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Facilitators to ensure GoSL reciprocate - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 10:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Peace Secretariat, in a press release issued after the meeting with the Norwegian facilitators, said that the LTTE wished to reinforce its commitment to the CFA and the peace process while at the same time expecting the GoSL to fulfill its CFA obligations relating to military occupation of a people denying them access to their habitats, farm lands and fishing. "The Special Peace Envoy and the Norwegian Ambassador have fully comprehended the situation from the perspective of the Mavilaru villagers and assured that they would proceed with the arrangement of a committee to look into the grievances of the Mavilaru villagers," the press release said.
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Colombo bombards Maavilaru, SLMM Head narrowly escapes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 09:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials, Liberation Tigers Political Head S. Elilan and civilian representatives who went to Maavilaru site to re-open the closed sluice gates came under Sri Lanka Army artillery attack, initial reports said. Dozens of artillery shells were fired. Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer is in direct contact with Royal Norwegian Government and Colombo discussing the latest hostile attacks. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera had ealier assured Norwegian Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer that attacks would be ceased. The re-opening of sluice gates is blocked by the new escalation of attacks.
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Facilitator to ensure humanitarian action, sluice gates to be opened

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 06:15 GMT]
Norwegian Special Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer has assured the LTTE leadership that the facilitators would act, within three weeks, to ensure equitable humanitarian assistance as the Tiger leadership told the facilitator that the LTTE would convince the Maavilaru Tamils to re-open the closed sluice gates. The Tigers also said that the Sri Lanka's direct military actions such as air-strikes, artillery attacks and "socalled limited operations" would be regarded as Declaration of War.
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UNP accuses Rajapakse Govt for acting on JHU, JVP advice

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 17:38 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) in a statement issued Friday accused the Rajapakse government in Colombo for acting on the advice of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in ordering a military operation to capture LTTE controlled Maavil Aaru area "within 24 hours," disregarding the views of veteran military officers. After six days of fighting and suffering heavy casualties, the army has not yet reached the area, the UNP said. The UNP did not participate in the 6th All Parties Conference (APC) held Friday evening. Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse also holds the military portfolio as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of Sri Lanka.
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