SLA photographs residents in Trincomalee suburb

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 October 2008, 10:16 GMT]
Residents of Orr's Hill, a suburb of Trincomalee city with predominantly Tamils, are being photographed by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). Members of each family are being photographed as a group to ensure that no strangers live with them, SLA officials said. Trincomalee Brigade headquarters of the SLA is located at the tail end of Orr's Hill facing Trincomalee Harbour.
Full story >>

Diaspora Tamils seek solidarity with British Public

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2008, 19:57 GMT]
British Tamils, including a large group of second generation Tamils, took to the streets of London Saturday in a 'walking and talking' campaign, promoting awareness among people, wearing prominent yellow 'aprons' which read 'Stop Genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka on the front side and 'Free Tamil Eelam', with the map of Tamil Eelam on the back, sources in London said.
Full story >>

Indian Express survey shows Tamil Nadu support for LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2008, 09:42 GMT]
A survey undertaken in 10 cities in Tamil Nadu by the best-selling daily newspaper The New Indian Express and the research agency C fore has reported that one-third of the respondents favoured the ruling DMK Government to snap ties with the Union Government for arming and training the Sri Lankan military. A clear majority of the respondents wanted India to lift the ban on the proscribed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and 66% of the respondents said the LTTE is either freedom fighters and/or the sole and genuine representatives of Tamil voice.
Full story >>

68 civilians killed, 38 disappeared, 454 arrested in September, says NESoHR

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2008, 08:45 GMT]
The human toll for Tamils across the island for September, dominated by the Government of Sri Lanka's offensives to wrest control of Ki'linochchi, is 68 killed, 38 disappeared, 87 injured, 454 arrested and 36,000 newly displaced, a monthly report released by the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR) Friday said. The total number of displaced since the military offensives by Rajapakse Government started in August 2006 is 190541 the report added.
Full story >>

3 Tamils reported missing after arrest by SLA in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 October 2008, 19:45 GMT]
Three Tamil civilians, residents of Chaavakachcheri in Jaffna district and staying in Wellawatte, are reported missing after being taken in for questioning by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Thursday evening, according to complaints lodged with the police and human rights groups in Colombo by their relatives.
Full story >>

Diaspora Tamils in Germany exhibit humanitarian aid

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 October 2008, 08:54 GMT]
More than 3,000 Eelam Diaspora Tamils in Germany, organised by 16 Tamil organisations, demonstrated on Friday through a central part of Berlin, exhibiting humanitarian supplies that they have collected to be sent to their kith and kin in Vanni, urging the International Community to facilitate transport from Colombo to Vanni.
Full story >>

Vaiko courts arrest with thousands of cadres on Eelam Tamil issue

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 October 2008, 22:58 GMT]
Tamil leader Vaiko, General Secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and a staunch supporter of the cause of Eezham Tamils, was arrested Friday along with thousands of his cadres in Chennai while staging a demonstration to condemn Indian involvement in the Sri Lankan military. He called upon the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu, headed by Kalaignar Karunanidhi, an important ally of the Central Government in India, to take the blame for every Tamil being killed in Eelam. "In the name of safe-guarding Sri Lanka's sovereignty, don't lose India's sovereignty and national integration," warned Mr. Vaiko in an emotional, vociferous speech, said media sources in Chennai.
Full story >>

30 Tamils arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 October 2008, 20:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police conducted cordon and search operations in Grandpass, Kotahena and Mutuwal in Colombo district from Wednesday night till Thursday and took several civilians, majority of them are Tamil, for interrogation. All were released later except 30 Tamil youths who are being detained in police stations for further investigation, civil sources said.
Full story >>

18 Tamils arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 October 2008, 19:28 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police, with the assistance of home guards, conducted a cordon and search operation in Gampaha town Wednesday morning till evening searching lodges, business establishments and buildings detaining several Tamils for questioning.
Full story >>

Jayalalithaa recognises Eelam Tamils Right to Self-Determination

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 October 2008, 18:33 GMT]
Ms. Jayalalithaa, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of the state's major opposition party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), said in a press release, clarifying AIDMK stand Thursday that her party fully recognized Eelam Tamils right to Self-Determination. She also said that her party accepted the demand for Tamil homeland with self-governance within a united framework of a Sri Lankan constitution.
Full story >>

4 Tamils arrested in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 October 2008, 09:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army and police Wednesday morning from 6:00 a.m. till 9:00 a.m. conducted a cordon and search operation in the Orr's Hill area in Trincomalee town where the brigade headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army is located. Sri Lanken armed forces took masked men with them to identify the strangers in the area during the operation, civil sources said.
Full story >>

Eezham Tamils not abandoned by Tamil Nadu, says LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 October 2008, 13:55 GMT]
Expressing gratitude on behalf of the Eelam Tamils for the solidarity shown by the leaders and the masses of Tamil Nadu, the Political Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), in a statement on Wednesday said that Tamils, who are facing an onslaught by the indiscriminate shelling and bombardment by the Sri Lankan forces, are inspired by the expression of solidarity from Tamil Nadu.
Full story >>

Tamils in UK rally, demand direct British aid to IDPs in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 October 2008, 16:46 GMT]
Several thousands, largely British Tamils, assembled outside the British Parliament Monday between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to demand action against indiscriminate aerial bombardment of Tamils by Government of Sri Lanka (G0SL), and to urge the British Government to urgently take direct action to help save lives in Vanni. More than six thousand attended the rally, according to an estimate by the organizers, the British Tamil Forum (BTF).
Full story >>

Tamil Nadu exerts pressure on New Delhi against Sri Lanka's war

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 October 2008, 09:36 GMT]
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu state in Southern India, Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, on Monday indirectly declared that his government would no longer tolerate Indian Central government aiding the Sri Lankan government against the Eezham Tamils, even if it aided Colombo "unwittingly". The move comes after the veteran DMK leader urged his party members to telegram New Delhi to convey their displeasure with the attitude of the Central government. He has issued a veiled threat to New Delhi implying that he would not hesitate to withdraw his support to the ruling UPA alliance, if Sri Lanka continued its war against Eezham Tamils, media reports in Tamil Nadu said.
Full story >>

Janaka Perera assassinated, blast kills 28 in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 October 2008, 03:58 GMT]
Opposition Leader of the United National Party in North Central Province, Maj. Gen (retd.) Janaka Perera and his wife, a former Sri Lanka Army officer, were killed in a bomb blast in Anuradhapura Monday morning around 8:45. Around 28 persons were killed and 80 wounded in the blast, Police said. An attacker, strapped with hidden explosives, embraced the former commander killing himself and several others, initial reports said. Janaka Perera was the UNP candidate for the Chief Minister post in 2008 Provincial Elections in North Central Province, which was marred by violence.
Full story >>

Compulsory registration of Tamils, another act of oppression - TNA MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 October 2008, 13:14 GMT]
Compelling all Tamils from North and East currently residing in Western province to register with police is another act of oppression, and has caused fear and apprehension, stated K.Thurairatnasingham, Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian in a media communique released Thursday.
Full story >>

SLAF attacks Tamileelam Police HQ, artillery barrage on Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 October 2008, 04:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force Kfir bombers attacked the Headquarters complex of the Tamileelam Police, located along the A9 Road at the heart of Ki'linochchi town Friday around 9:30 a.m. Three bunker-busting bombs hit the premises of the Tamileelam Police, destroying a hall behind the Police HQ.The main building escaped destruction as Ratha Anti-Aircraft Unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileealm (LTTE) fired at the bombers. Two of the bombs hit the nearby store of the Tamils Rehabilitation Orgsniation (TRO) causing damage to it. The attack comes after continuous barrage of artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire from 7:00 p.m. on Thursday to 4:30 a.m. on Friday, targeting the destruction of the township.
Full story >>

7 Tamils arrested over Malwatte bomb blast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2008, 19:11 GMT]
Seven Tamils were taken into custody by the police in cordon and search operations conducted following the bomb blast that took place along Malwatte Road in Fort, Colombo, police sources said. The arrested are now being detained in police stations located in Fort and Slave Island for further interrogation.
Full story >>

CPI-led hunger strike draws thousands in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2008, 11:14 GMT]
Thousands of people Thursday took to the venues in Tamil Nadu's capital city Chennai and other district capitals in the southern state of India to participate in a fasting campaign on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday demanding New Delhi to withdraw military assistance to Sri Lanka. Several Tamil leaders, including Panruti S. Ramachandran, who was actively engaged in the Sri Lankan process under the late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) in the mid-80's addressed the participants at Seappaakkam. CPI National Secretary D. Raja, in his address, charged that New Delhi was clandestinely assisting Sri Lanka in its war against Tamils and questioned what the Indian personnel who came under attack in the North of Sri Lanka were doing there.
Full story >>

Norwegian politicians express concern on humanitarian access, media coverage

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 October 2008, 15:08 GMT]
Norwegian politicians and activists who addressed the participants of a Eelam Tamil diaspora organised rally and a fasting awareness campaign on Monday and Tuesday in front of the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, criticized the expulsion of International NGOs from Vanni and urged the International Community, including the Norwegian Government, to do their maximum to enable the International humanitarian agencies to be present with civilians in need of humanitarian assistance, and to enable access to media to visit the affected areas.
Full story >>