Trinco education project launched for resettled students

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 February 2004, 22:43 GMT]
The Trincomalee Children Welfare Fund (TCWF), with the financial assistance from a group of Trincomalee Tamils domiciled in Canada, has launched a special education development project for students of displaced Tamil families who have been resettled in Tamil villages in the district.
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LTTE official criticizes child rights double standards

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 February 2004, 15:51 GMT]
"More than twenty five thousand Tamil children, from a three month old infant to eighteen years old youth, were killed in massacres and murders during the two decades of war against our people. No one raised their voice against it then. But today the Sri Lankan state and representatives of some foreign organizations are accusing us of violating children’s rights. You should understand the politics behind this crass hypocrisy," said Mr. S. Elilan, the head of the LTTE’s political division in Vavuniya addressing a function Sunday to gift equipment to the school in Othiyamalai in Mullaithivu.
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Objection against TNA using HOUSE symbol rejected

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2004, 13:38 GMT]
The Commissioner of Elections Mr Dayananda Dissanayake Friday rejected the objection made against the Tamil National Alliance contesting in the name of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and its election symbol "HOUSE," as the challenge was made after the closure of the nomination for the April 2nd general election, sources said.


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Vavuniya refugee camp on fire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2004, 08:31 GMT]
One of the main refugee camps in Vavuniya caught fire and is burning, Police in the northern border town said Saturday afternoon. The camp in the outer suburb of Poonthottam houses more than five hundred families that were displaced from villages north of Vavuniya due to Sri Lanka army operations.
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Vanni franchise issue awaits resolution

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 February 2004, 02:20 GMT]
91,864 Tamil voters residing in Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu adminstrative divisions comprising the Vanni electoral district live in areas controlled by Liberation Tigers (LTTE) and face the prospect of being denied their franchise if the Election Commisioner fails to provide a suitable arrangement to locate the polling booths in accessible areas, political sources said.
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Tigers will campaign for TNA- Elilan

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 February 2004, 00:02 GMT]
"The Liberation Tigers decided today to campaign for the victory of the Tamil National Alliance. We felt that the 2004 election is a unique opportunity for the Tamil speaking people to express their political aspirations," said Mr. S. Elilan, the head of LTTE's political divison for Vavuniya, addressing the first campaign meeting of the TNA in the northern border town Thursday.
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Jaffna Muslims express solidarity with LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 February 2004, 15:48 GMT]
"We accept the leader of Libertion Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Pirapaharan, as our leader. We are not in a position to accept the leadership of Rauf Hakeem from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress," said Al Aleem Marleen, President of the Jaffna Muslims Peace Consortium speaking to reporters in Jaffna.
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171 candidates vie for six Vanni seats

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2004, 11:28 GMT]
Ten different registered parties and nine independent groups are presenting 171 candidates for the forthcoming elections in the Vanni district for six seats. In the last elections held in 2001, 207 candidates from 23 groups competed in Vanni, according to Vanni election offiicials.
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Ten groups compete in elections for Vanni district

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2004, 10:26 GMT]
Vavuniya Government Agent (GA) and Vavuniya election officer, K.Ganesh, accepted nominations papers from three independent groups and seven different political parties for the Vanni electoral district comprising Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu districts, sources in Vavuniya said.
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TNA submits nomination lists for NE electoral districts

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 February 2004, 08:42 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Monday noon submitted its nominations for the five electoral districts, Jaffna, Vanni, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, in the Tamil dominated northeast province. TNA fielded its candidates in the name of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and its election symbol "HOUSE". The ITAK last contested in the 1970 elections under the leadership of late Tamil leader Mr.S.J.V.Chelvanayakam ("Thanthai Chelva"), political sources said.
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"Ceasefire has failed to bring normalcy to Jaffna residents"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 19:22 GMT]
The Jaffna District Humanitarian Agencies Consortium (JDHAC) Sunday handed over a memorandum to the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna stating that normalcy has not returned to the lives of several thousand Tamil people including internally displaced in the peninsula even after two years of ceasefire, civil society sources said.
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Wickremesinghe appeals for renewed mandate for peace

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 14:39 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe Sunday addressing the special convention of the United National Party (UNP) held at Colombo New Town hall appealed to the voters to give his coalition a fresh mandate with absolute majority that will enable him to take the peace process forward and to build a new nation in the next six years, political sources in Colombo said.


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Sri Lanka Elections: News Brief

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 12:06 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) plans to submit nomination papers in the districts of NorthEast at the same time Monday noon, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is to compete in Jaffna alone, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission is exploring ways to help people in LTTE controlled areas to exercise their right to vote, EPDP and EPRLF (Varather faction) to contest jointly in Jaffna, and in Nuwara Eliya district Hill country Tamils to fight the elections in four fronts, popular Jaffna dailies Uthayan and Veerakesari reported in their Sunday Edition.
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Call for united vote to TNA in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 February 2004, 00:05 GMT]
The Federation of People’s Organizations (FPO) in Vavuniya, in a statement last week, has asked the public to vote for the policies of the Tamil National Alliance in order to gain maximum parliamentary representation for the Tamil people, to show the international community that the people are behind the TNA’s policies, and ultimately to find a lasting solution to the Tamil national question.
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LTTE's Special Motorbike Brigade completes training

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2004, 16:39 GMT]
In an undisclosed location in Vanni, Pirapaharan, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, participated in the passing out ceremony of a crack Motorbike brigade which completed its special training today, sources in Vanni said.
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SLMC Athaullah faction joins SLFP-JVP alliance

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2004, 13:08 GMT]
A key breakaway faction of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the main partner of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's government said Friday that it is joining the SLFP-JVP alliance to contest the April elections to Sri Lanka's Parliament in Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Digamadulla and Vanni. The announcement by this powerful faction of the SLMC, led by former minister of highways Mr. A.L.M Athaullah is seen as a setback for Mr. Wickremesinghe's coalition.
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Chandrasekaran meets Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 February 2004, 12:53 GMT]
Upcountry People's Front (UPF) leader and Minister in the United National Front (UNF) government, Mr.P.Chandrasekaran, met with Head of LTTE's Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, in Kilinochchi Wednesday morning and had discussions on ways UPF can forge a common agenda with the NorthEast Tamil parties at the forthcoming elections, sources in Kilinochchi said.


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TNA leaders meet to finalize election strategy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 February 2004, 20:22 GMT]
The central working committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and the nomination board of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are planning to meet Wednesday (February 18) morning at the headquarters of the TULF in Colombo, party sources said.


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Sri Lanka Elections: News Brief

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2004, 11:51 GMT]
Key members of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) are likely to join the United National Front, Sri Lanka's Police force's leaves have been suspended, Thamilchelvan returns to Vanni from European trip and Anandasangaree continues to scuttle Tamil National Alliance efforts to formulate a coherent election strategy, according to local media reports.
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Polling in LTTE areas to be discussed with truce monitors

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2004, 15:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Commissioner of Elections Saturday told Government Agents and Assistant Elections Commissioners from the Northeast that he would discuss with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the Sri Lankan Government’s Peace Secretariat about arrangements to enable more than two hundred thousand Tamils in regions that are not under Colombo’s control to vote in the general elections on 2 April. Sri Lankan armed forces prevented Tamils in these areas from voting in the Parliamentary elections of December 2001.
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