“Political solution should be found without delay”-UPFA Dy Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 August 2004, 02:21 GMT]
“Political solution to the ethnic conflict in the country should be found during the regime of President Chandrika Kumaratunge. She is committed to peace in the country. We cannot drag on forever a peaceful solution to the national problem,” said Mr. Dilan Perera, Deputy Minister for Ports and Civil Aviation, addressing a gathering to mark the 25th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) under which the management of all ports in the country comes.
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SLMC dissident to be made Minister in UPFA government

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 August 2004, 11:41 GMT]
Mr. Najeeb Abdul Majeed, Trincomalee district parliamentarian who successfully contested the April 2 general election in the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) ticket is to be made a cabinet minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government shortly, political sources said.
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Jaffna court stopped from inquiring into shooting case

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 August 2004, 23:01 GMT]
The Court of Appeal has instructed the Jaffna Magistrate court to stop all proceedings in a case in which two Sri Lanka Army soldiers have been charged with the attempted murder of an 18 year-old Tamil boy for August 23. The boy was shot at by SLA soldiers when he was selling copies of a Tamil daily ‘Eelanatham’ in Jaffna town in December 2003.
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Passing out parade held for LTTE's special RPG Force units

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 August 2004, 20:24 GMT]
''Liberation Tigers were the first to use Rocket Propelled Grenade launchers (RPG) in the island. Sri Lankan armed forces obtained RPGs after they saw us using the launchers in battles. I created the LTTE's RPG force when I realised that armour was going to be a key component of Op. Jeya Sikurui. Our RPG units were very successful in fighting enemy armour'', said Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, leader of the LTTE, addressing the passing out of Special RPG Force units at the Tigers' Military Training College in the Vanni Friday.
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LTTE returns paddy fields to displaced Muslims

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 August 2004, 09:44 GMT]
Liberation Tigers returned twenty nine paddy fields belonging to Muslims in Thannimurippu in the Mullaithivu District recently, Mr. Sathasivam Kanakaratnam Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni told TamilNet Tuesday. The MP said all Muslims displaced from the district during the war can reclaim their lands as soon as they produce documents to prove ownership.
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Jaffna IDPs woes worsen without relief

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 August 2004, 03:01 GMT]
Lack of employment opportunities, stalled economic growth, and infrastructure development at a virtual standstill continue to affect the lives of people of Jaffna especially the Internally Displaced People (IDPs). Many families, who have suffered loss of lives and loss of property during the two decades of war, face uphill battle to stay above the poverty line.
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UNHCR urged to organize boat service to refugees in India

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 16:54 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian has appealed to the UNHCR Sri Lanka's Representative to take steps to organize boat service between India and Talaimannar to transport Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who are willing to return to their villages. Currently thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are in refugee camps in Tamilnadu in South India.
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Jaffna commemorates "Valvettithurai massacre"

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 10:38 GMT]
People of Jaffna district and residents of Valvettithurai town Monday commemorated the fifteenth anniversary of Valvettithurai massacre of 63 innocent Tamil people the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) which took place on August 2, 1989, civil groups said.


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HR Group meets to finalize Charter

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 August 2004, 12:49 GMT]
Northeast Secretariat of Human Rights (NESOHR), formed on the 9 July to monitor the human rights violations and implement actions to strengthen the human rights in the NorthEast, held its second meeting Sunday with Head of LTTE Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan attending, to finalize NESOHR' charter, LTTE's Peace Secretariat website said.
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Social mobilization workshop held for Kanniya resettlers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 August 2004, 00:56 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), sponsored by the North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) project conducted a five day social mobilization workshop for resettled villagers in Kanniya located about eight km off northeast of Trincomalee town.


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Peace process is a rudderless boat - Kousalyan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 July 2004, 17:25 GMT]
''Sri Lanka's peace process is like a rudderless boat. We can achieve our political aspirations only if we have exceptional military power. We had only 17 female fighters in Batticaloa ten years ago. Anbarasi was one of them. Today we have a regiment in her name that fought tough battles to defeat Op. Jeya Sikurui'', said Mr. E. Kousalyan, head of LTTE's political division for Batticaloa, Thursday, addressing a ceremony to mark the 9th death anniversary of Lt. Col. Anbarasi.
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Mullaithivu fishermen still at risk- MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 July 2004, 16:50 GMT]
''The fishing community of Mullaithivu suffered immensely during the war. But the Sri Lanka Navy continues to terrorise them even after two years of peace'', Mr. Sathasivam Kanakaratnam, Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni, told TamilNet Thursday. He said two Mullaithivu fishermen were dragged around at mid sea in their boats by SLN speed craft last week on 21 July.
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Mannar GA says refugee influx unprecedented

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 15:53 GMT]
''Hundreds of refugees are risking their lives, paying high fares to unscrupulous boatmen, to return from India to their homes in the northeast. The influx of refugees is increasing by the day. It is hence imperative that MPs of the Vanni District should persuade the governments of India and Sri Lanka to let these refugees return legally by ferry or by boats from Mannar,'' said the Government Agent for Mannar Wednesday.
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Trinco sanitary workers demonstrate for land rights

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 15:52 GMT]
Sanitary workers employed by the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC) Wednesday held a five-hour demonstration in front of the UC office demanding that they should be provided with deeds and permits for the lands they are living in for more than half a century. More than five hundred people, men and women including family members of the workers, participated in the protest demonstration, which was organized by the Community Leaders' Consortium (CLC).


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Mannar Thamileelam Court complex opened

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 14:36 GMT]
The court complex of the Thamileelam Mannar District Court was declared open Wednesday morning in Vattakandal in the Liberation Tigers controlled Vanni region by Mr.Pon Thiyagam, Head of the Thamileelam Martyrs Department who cut the ceremonial ribbon at the event, sources said.
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Mannar farmers hit by drought

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 14:19 GMT]
Severe drought has hit the Mannar district affecting several hundreds of farming families and civil authorities are taking steps to provide relief to the affected people, sources said.
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Tamil police officers transferred from Mannar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 2004, 17:12 GMT]
Vanni District Tamil National Parliamentarian Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan Tuesday brought to the notice of the Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police the injustice in transferring four Tamil police officers out of eight without any replacement, sources in Mannar said.


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Usan villagers to picket against SLA occupation

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 2004, 18:12 GMT]
Villagers of Usan area in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district are to launch a picketing campaign from August 5 demanding the return of their houses and school grounds. Currently the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers occupy these houses and school playground since the SLA captured the peninsula in 1996.


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Not a principled apology- Elilan

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 2004, 01:33 GMT]
"We regard Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge's public apology for the 1983 pogrom against the Tamils as a deceptive attempt, driven by political expediency rather than principles, to placate the Tamils," said Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) speaking as the chief guest at a public meeting in Trincomalee Sunday evening held at the Welikada Martyrs Memorial Hall in Trincomalee to remember the 21st anniversary of Black July.
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Tamil conference slams Indo-Lanka defence pact

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 13:11 GMT]
The World Tamils Confederation came out strongly Sunday against any move for a defence pact between India and Sri Lanka, cautioning that New Delhi was being lured into a "trap to use its army to crush" Tamils in the island.
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