SLA shelling continues on 'safety zone', Colombo refuses international call for ceasefire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 08:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued artillery shelling Saturday on civilian targets in Chuthanthirapuram. Eight wounded civilians have been rushed to Udaiyaarkaddu hospital and a mother has succumbed to injuries, according to initial reports from the medical sources. The shelling continues as Colombo refused International call for ceasefire. On Friday, the shelling destroyed Vanni head office of the Human Development Centre (HUDEC) of Caritas Jaffna, the social arm of the Catholic Church in the Jaffna Diocese.
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Muththukumar hailed as hero, tension escalates across Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 05:13 GMT]
Protests and strikes spread across Tamil Nadu, snarling traffic at major important roads particularly in Chennai, demonstrators held vigils in Coimbatore, Thiruvannaamalai and Salem paying homage to Muththukumar who self-immolated to show solidarity with Eezham Tamils, and Madras High Court Advocates Association boycotted courts on Friday, while mainstream media said the prevailing tension in Tamil Nadu can snowball into a potentially explosive situation.
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Sri Lanka crisis reveals India not ready for global security role

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 20:41 GMT]
The present humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, which has been completely transparent to international scrutiny for several years, is proving the limits of India's ability to move decisively on 'transnational' security issues, despite its ambitions for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, writes a reader from Tamil Nadu. Delhi's inability to prevail on Sri Lanka's Sinhala government has long been recognised by the region, the reader writes.
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SLA separates relatives of seriously wounded, sends them to internment camp

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 19:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vavuniyaa, inhumanely separated 122 immediate family members accompanying the seriously wounded 226 civilians transported by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), and sent them to an internment camp in Nelukku'lam, Vavuniyaa, medical sources in Vavuniyaa told TamilNet. Mothers of number of injured children, between ages 8 and 10 years, were also not allowed to remain with their children, and were transferred to the internment camp.
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Shut down observed in East despite SLA threats

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 17:07 GMT]
A shut down in the North and East Friday called by the Tamil National Alliance to condemn the killing of Tamils in Vanni was totally observed in the East in a peaceful manner despite harassment and threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) of severe consequences for those taking part in the shut down, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Tamils held in prisonlike SLA detention centres - CJPCD

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 16:23 GMT]
“Considering the plight of the 2000 Tamils who had fled war and are detained in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres, a justifiable fear arises as to what would happen to those who come to these detention centres which are like prisons; youths detained in these centres are said to have gone missing,” Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) said in its appeal sent on its third day of the protest fast observed in Jaffna, against the killing of Tamils in the Vanni, sources in Jaffna said.
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TNA salutes Muthukumar’s sacrifice of life to the cause of Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 13:02 GMT]
“Tamil National Alliance (TNA) wishes to express its deepest grief and condolence to Muthukumar’s family and the people of Tamil Nadu along with the entire Tamils of the world for having laid his live in supreme sacrifice in support of the Eelam Tamils,” the message of condolence released by TNA said.
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Maya tells of Sri Lanka Genocide to U.S., world fans

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 13:00 GMT]
Oscar and Grammy award nominee, Eezham born music phenom, Maya Arulpragasam, in the PBS interview on Tavis Smiley show Thursday told the U.S. listeners and fans worldwide that "there's been a systematic genocide which has quiet thing because no one knows where Sri Lanka is. And now it's just escalated to the point there's 350,000 people who are stuck in a battle zone and can't get out, and aid's banned and humanitarian organizations are banned, journalists are banned from telling the story."
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Only international-sponsored ceasefire can lead to the end of conflict - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 09:14 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan Friday blamed Colombo for stepped up genocidal artillery attacks on civilian targets Friday after committing a war crime of issuing ultimatum to civilians to move against their will into the hands of the genocidal military. Most of the civilians are continuously forced to live inside the bunkers and civilian casualties were mounting in Udaiyaarkaddu, Thearaavil and other areas, Mr. Nadesan charged. Only a permanent ceasefire mooted by the International Community and negotiations followed by it would resolve the conflict as envisaged by the Tamil people and the LTTE, Mr. Nadesan said.
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Last statement of Muthukumar

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 09:04 GMT]
Journalist Muthukumar distributed a 4-page statement in Tamil before his self-immolation Thursday in Tamil Nadu. TamilNet provides a translation for the English readership to grasp the significance, without taking responsibility for the accuracy of facts. "The sacrifice of young and idealistic Muthukumar is lamentable beyond words and thoughts of re-enactment should never become a necessity to anyone. It is a reminiscence of the Vietnam of 1960's when self-immolation of monks protesting brutal atrocities as a consequence of US military campaign was common. Such acts occur as a last resort of public frustration when governments suppress democratic space and don't respect overwhelming public opinion of emotional importance," said a diaspora Tamil academic.
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India's devastating 'play with fire' in the island of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 07:11 GMT]
The Indian game that doesn't enjoy any popular support from any quarter concerned, can only be autocratic and will prove to be devastative to the entire island. The present Indian Establishment is incapable of doing anything constructively new, other than destroying Tamil safeguards. India is not only heading for maintaining perpetual trouble in Sri Lanka, but also is inviting turmoil to a part of its own country. The Co-chair countries need to immediately neutralize the disastrous Indian adventure that is totally bereft of public support, by stopping the war, by not insisting on a solution based on a united Sri Lanka and by de-proscribing the LTTE, which is looked upon as the vanguard by most of the Eezham Tamils, writes a political analyst in Vanni.
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4 Indian military experts wounded in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 07:01 GMT]
Four Indian military experts, assisting the Sri Lankan military, were wounded this week in Vanni and are undergoing treatment in Colombo, reliable sources told TamilNet Friday. The story, first broke by the Australia based Global Tamil Vision (GTV) on Thursday, had said the wounded were Indian soldiers who were undergoing treatment at a military hospital in Colombo. Although TamilNet was able to confirm through reliable sources on Friday that there are at least 4 Indian military experts undergoing treatment, specific details were not obtainable due to the prevailing threat on the right to know information in the island.
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4 SLA soldiers killed in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 06:41 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants killed 4 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers Thursday around 9:45 a.m, in an attack on the SLA road patrol team at Nilaave’li in Trincomalee district, LTTE sources in Trincomalee said.
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ANC urges immediate ceasefire between GoSL, LTTE, citing genocide

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 18:11 GMT]
The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday called on the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to halt the war and immediately institute a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to be brought to civilians caught in the conflict who are in dire need of assistance. "The continued conflict in Sri Lanka has been cited on the human rights watch international monitoring mechanisms as a conflict now reaching genocidal proportions," the statement said.
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British Foreign Office calls for 'Humanitarian Ceasefire'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 17:24 GMT]
The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday urged the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to agree on immediate 'Humanitarian Ceasefire'. Mr. Miliband said in his statement that "military advances by the Sri Lankan Government against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have come at a severe humanitarian cost." Humanitarian corridors must now be set up and respected by both sides so that civilians have the opportunity to move away from the conflict area and humanitarian assistance can be safely delivered, he said.
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Pull back Indian military help to Lanka: Thirumavalavan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 16:06 GMT]
Taking part in a students' demonstration of the Murpokku Maanavar Kazhagam (Progressive Students Organization) held opposite Memorial Hall in Chennai Thursday, VCK President Thol. Thirumavalavan demanded the Indian Government to immediately take back all military help extended to Sri Lanka and blamed New Delhi for supplying sophisticated weaponry to exterminate the Tamil people in Vanni.
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Artillery barrage kills 44 civilians, 178 wounded in 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 15:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stepped up indiscriminate artillery barrage towards the heart of 'safety zone' since Thursday noon killing at least 44 civilians and causing injuries to 178, initial reports from Vanni said. The shelling has targeted Chuthanthirapuram 100-housing scheme, where at least 7 civilians were reported killed. 16 civilians were reportedly killed and scores wounded near St. Antony's Church in Chuthanthirapuram.
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LTTE not opposed to individual right of a civilian to flee combat zone - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 11:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan said Thursday that the Tigers have been urging the UN, ICRC and other international actors through all available offices to facilitate transportation for the wounded civilians in need of medical treatment to the Vavuniyaa Hospital. Blaming that there were elements seeking to feed false reports to tarnish the image of the Tigers, Mr. Nadesan revealed that, a UN 'security officer' who accompanied the WFP humanitarian convoy, had attemptd to pressure the Tigers on "completely wrong moral grounds," to organise an "exodus of the family members of the local staff of the UN," leaving behind the remaining civilians in the 'safety zone' to be subjected to "genocidal attack" by the Sri Lankan military.
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Tamil Nadu parties launch Eezham Tamils Protection Movement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 06:13 GMT]
Concerned by New Delhi's inaction and driven by the need to bring about change in the prevailing tragic scenario in Vanni, five leaders of prominent Tamil Nadu parties, Vaiko, Dr. S. Ramadoss, Nedumaran, Thirumavalavan and D. Pandian, jointly launched the Eezham Tamils Protection Movement (ETPM) following a consultative meeting in Chennai Wednesday. Top leaders of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Communist Party of India, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Tamil Nationalist Movement held closeted discussions on how to save the Eelam Tamils.
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15 Tamil youths arrested at Katunayake airport

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 20:30 GMT]
Fifteen Tamil youths were arrested by the police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during cordon and search operations conducted in the Katunayake international airport on Monday and Tuesday. They have been handed over to the Prevention of Terrorism Unit of the Police for further interrogation, police sources said.
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