Centers for Employment, Technology Training open in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 February 2003, 01:46 GMT]
Opening ceremonies for an Information and Technology Training Center and Womens Employment Training Center, established by the Vanni Center for Community Advancement, were held Wednesday 10am, sources in Vanni said.
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No confidence motion against Defence Minister defeated

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 February 2003, 17:21 GMT]
The no confidence motion moved by the opposition against the Defence Minister Mr.Tilak Marapane was defeated by a majority of forty-two votes Tuesday. 84 opposition parliamentarians voted for the motion and 126 parliamentarians against the motion, said parliamentary sources.


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TNA refutes PA MP's charge on Buddhist shrines

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 February 2003, 16:58 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian from Trincomalee Mr.K.Thurairetnasingham participating in the debate on the no confidence motion against the Defence Minister Tuesday Tuesday refuted charges made by a Peoples Alliance (PA) parliamentarian Mr.M.K.A.de.S Gunawardene that Hindu temples have been constructed after destroying Buddhist shrines in the eastern province, parliamentary sources said.
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Defense Minister faces No Confidence Motion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 February 2003, 11:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament Tuesday began debating the no-confidence motion against the Sri Lanka's Defense Minister Mr.Tilak Marapone. Opposition parliamentarian and a leading member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Mr.Nimal Sripala de Silva presented the no confidence motion and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian Mr.Wimal Weerawanse seconded it, parliamentary sources said.


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Mirusuvil massacre inquiry put off

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 February 2003, 18:50 GMT]
The inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case was put off for February 19 as the prison officials reported to the Trial-at-Bar Monday that the fourth accused has fallen ill, legal sources said. The three-member bench of the High Court comprising of Judges Mr.I.M.Imam (President), Mr.Sarath Ambepitya and Mr. Kumar Ekaratne are due to hear the case.
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Jaffna Journalists stage sit-in protest over Manipay attack

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 February 2003, 15:25 GMT]
The Jaffna Journalist Association (JJA) Monday held a protest demonstration outside the office of the District Information Office in the Jaffna district secretariat condemning the attack on two journalists at Manipay by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers last Wednesday. Members of the JJA with black bands and covered their mouths with black clothes participated in the demonstration which commenced Monday morning and concluded in the afternoon, sources said.
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Kilinochchi protesters condemn SLA assault in Manipay

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 February 2003, 19:58 GMT]
Hundreds of residents of Kilinochchi and surrounding areas marched through Kilinochchi Saturday protesting the attack on Wednesday 12 February on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) unarmed female cadres in Manipay, Jaffna, by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and by the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) members. The march was organized by the Tamil National Uprising Front in Vanni, sources said.


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Protest in Vavuniya condemns Manipay SLA assault

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 February 2003, 12:24 GMT]
More than thousand residents of Vavuniya and surrounding areas marched in Vavuniya Saturday wearing black belts in their waists protesting the attack on Wednesday 12 February on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) unarmed female cadres in Manipay, Jaffna, by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers. The marchers handed over a memorandum to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), sources in Vavuniya said.


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US to announce significant assistance in Japan meet - Armitage

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 February 2003, 02:59 GMT]
In a conference on "Srilanka: Prospects for Peace," held at the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C Friday, Richard Armitage, Deputy U.S Secretary of State, in his Keynote address said that, "..it is my intention to return to the follow-on meeting [to Oslo] of donors" in June in Japan and "I will be able to announce significant further assistance to Sri Lanka for both humanitarian and economic aid," sources said.
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'Government troops are not for peace' - Trinco Tamils tell Akashi

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 February 2003, 18:43 GMT]
A Tamil delegation comprising of leading citizens of Trincomalee Friday told the visiting Japanese peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi that Tamils of the east port district have lost confidence on the present peace process as they think the government troops are only preparing for war and not for peace, sources in eastern province said.
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Trincomalee Orr's Hill Vivekananda College celebrates its silver jubilee

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 February 2003, 06:46 GMT]
The silver jubilee celebrations of the Orr's Hill Vivekandanda College, a leading educational institution in Trincomalee town are underway with the swearing ceremony of the prefects of the school and the College Day held at the newly built auditorium named Vivekandanda Kalai Arangam.
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Sole survivor in Mirusuvil massacre identifies army accused

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 February 2003, 21:54 GMT]
The sole survivor in the Mirusuvil massacre, Mr. Ponnuthurai Maheswaran, Thursday identified at the Colombo High Court all five soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) indicted for the murder of eight Tamil civilians when they returned to their Mirusuvil homes to look for belongings on 19th December 2000, legal sources said.
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TNA parliamentarian cautions Tamils about anti-peace forces

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 February 2003, 23:52 GMT]
Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan said Wednesday that Tamil should be careful about forces that are bent on sabotaging the present peace process. "We should thank the government and the LTTE for strengthening the peace environment that dawned with the ceasefire agreement an year ago", said Mr. Adailakalanathan while speaking at the annual inter house athletic meet of the Vavuniya Pandarikulam Vipulananda College held Wednesday.
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'Mirusuvil massacre a crime against humanity' -State Counsel

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 February 2003, 19:54 GMT]
The massacre of eight innocent Tamil civilians, including a five-year-old boy, by the accused soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army, was a crime against humanity, said State Counsel Mr.Sarath Jayamanne, in his opening address at the trial-at-bar inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case Tuesday afternoon. The three-member bench of the trial-at-bar comprised High Court Judges, Mr.I.M. Imam (Chairman), Mr.Sarath Ambepitya and Mr. Kumar Ekaratna, legal sources said.
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Music, Dance, Drama festival to be held in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 February 2003, 17:32 GMT]
A five day North East Tamil music, dance and drama festival is to be held in Trincomalee commencing from March 3rd to March 7th to create awareness among Tamils and to promote peace when the next round of talks takes place between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Japan, according to a decision taken at the discussion held Sunday evening at Trincomalee Town Hall under the auspices of Art and Literature Committee, sources said.
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Jaffna remembers late Tamil leader G.G.Ponnambalam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 February 2003, 16:30 GMT]
The twenty sixth-death anniversary of the late Tamil leader Mr.G.G.Ponnamabalam, the founder president of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) and a popular leader of Tamils in the 50s was observed in Jaffna today, according to sources in Jaffna.
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'Development before peace won't benefit Tamils' - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 February 2003, 17:57 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Saturday said that peace and development in the Tamil dominated northeast province should take place simultaneously. "If development takes place first and the peace comes later then the beneficiaries will not be Tamils but some others," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, Trincomalee district parliamentarian and the parliamentary group leader of the TNA, while addressing families resettled in Kappalthurai, a village located 10km west of Trincomalee town.
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NECORD allocates more money to NE education development

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 February 2003, 19:25 GMT]
The North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) funded by the Asian Development Bank has already spent six hundred million rupees for the educational development of the eight districts in the northeast province and also it is prepared to spend another one thousand million rupees, NECORD Project Director Mr.T.Lankaneson said Thursday.
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Gen. Nambiar visits Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 February 2003, 17:54 GMT]
Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Satish Nambiar, the Indian defense expert invited by the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to report on high security zones (HSZs) in the North-East, visited Batticaloa on Friday morning and held discussions with Sri Lankan military and police officials and Tamil paramilitary groups, sources said.
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Opening of LTTE war memorial delayed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 February 2003, 19:24 GMT]
At a conference held Thursday at the political office of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Nilaveli, sixteen km north of Trincomalee town, a decision was made to delay the opening of the reconstructed war memorial in Gopalapuram in remembrance of twenty-two LTTE cadres who died in a boat mishap in 1990, until the problem is sorted out by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the Tamil parliamentarians of the Trincomalee district, sources said.
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