Eight fishermen remanded in Mannar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2001, 04:07 GMT]
Eight fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy in the sea off Pesalai in the Mannar Island Thursday. Meanwhile in Jaffna, three Sri Lanka Army soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack in Allaarai in the Thenmaradchi division Thursday night. A woman soldier at the SLA’s Nagar Kovil garrison in Jaffna committed suicide Thursday by taking an overdose of sleeping pills, military sources in the north said. The soldier had been depressed, they added.
Full story >>

UNP protests, Tamil campaign begins in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 November 2001, 21:16 GMT]
United National Party candidates and supporters Sunday staged a protest against election violence in Vavuniya town while the Tamil National Alliance opened a campaign office on Vairavar Kovil Road in the town centre and held a joint propaganda meeting in Mudaliyakulam in the Cheddikulam division later in the day. The UNP demonstrated against the attack on the party's chief candidate for the district on Friday night in which gunmen suspected to be members of a Tamil Para-military group operating with the Sri Lanka army opened fire on the vehicle in which he was travelling.
Full story >>

Embargo, war caused 13, 379 civilian deaths - report

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 November 2001, 03:05 GMT]
Thirteen thousand three hundred and seventy nine civilians died in the Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu districts due to the war and the economic embargo imposed by the Sri Lankan government from 1990 to 1999, according to a press report in the Vanni published this weekend. Most of the deaths, destruction of civilian property and mass displacement tool place after the People's Alliance came to power in 1994, the report said. Four thousand eight hundred and seventy nine civilians died in the Mullaithivu district between 1994 and 1999 due to the direct impact of the economic embargo on the Vanni, particularly due to the severe restrictions on medical supplies.
Full story >>

Two PLOTE cadres killed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 November 2001, 11:24 GMT]
Two armed cadres of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Poonthoddam in Vavuniya around 10.30 p.m. Friday, police sources said.
Full story >>

Tamil Alliance files nominations in East and Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 October 2001, 16:42 GMT]
The Tamil national alliance filed nominations for the electoral districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara and the Vanni Friday. The Alliance could not file nominations in Jaffna because its list of candidates for the northern electorate has not been finalised, Tamil party sources said.
Full story >>

Major parties start submitting nomination lists

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 October 2001, 21:42 GMT]
Major political parties have started submitting their lists of candidates for the forthcoming parliamentary elections from Thursday. The ruling People's Alliance Thursday submitted its list of candidates contesting the Hambantota electoral district. The main opposition United National Party submitted its lists of candidates for the Gampaha and Moneragala electoral districts.
Full story >>

'Lift ban or let us go to Vanni'- Jaffna fishermen

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 October 2001, 13:40 GMT]
More than three thousand fishermen and women demonstrated in Pt. Pedro town Tuesday against Sri Lanka Army restrictions on fishing in the seas off the Jaffna peninsula's Vadamaradchi coast. The fishermen demanded that the SLA should either lift the restrictions and ban or allow them to leave Jaffna and to settle in the LTTE controlled Vanni region.
Full story >>

UNP to contest as UNF with elephant symbol

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 October 2001, 21:51 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) will contest the forthcoming general election scheduled to be held on 5 December under the name of the United National Front (UNF). However the election symbol will be 'elephant'. A motion to this effect was unanimously approved at the special convention of the UNP held Sunday at Colombo Town Hall.
Full story >>

Self-determination is 'might is right'-Thamilmaran

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 October 2001, 14:20 GMT]
"A people's right of self determination is not always recognised by the international community because it is inherently just. It is more often the case that it is accepted only when a people succeed in their armed struggle to secede. When a people lose the war to gain independence the international community rejects their right of self-determination. This was the experience of Biafra. It lost the war for independence from Nigeria and its people's right of self determination was not recognised," said Mr. V.T Thamilmaran, senior lecturer in law in the University of Colombo delivering the Mylvaganam Nimalarajan commemoration lecture in Batticaloa Sunday. The lecture 'The challenges to the State in the 21st Century' was organised by the East Lanka Journalists' Association and the International Broadcasting Corporation (Tamil).
Full story >>

Sellasamy goes back to CWC

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 October 2001, 14:13 GMT]
Mr. M.S Sellasamy, a veteran trade unionist joined the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) Friday amid moves to bring the main Tamil parties and unions in the island’s plantation sector under one umbrella to contest the general elections on 5 December. The CWC and the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF) are holding talks on forming a broad front to contest in districts outside the island’s northeast, particularly in the central province where there are substantial numbers of Tamils. “We are exploring the possibility of strengthening our position in the hill country by coming to an arrangement with the United National Party,” a CWC leader said.
Full story >>

Jaffna NGOs call for common election programme

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 October 2001, 16:54 GMT]
Non-governmental organisations in Jaffna Thursday called on all politicians and parties intending to contest the general elections in the northern peninsula to come under one umbrella based on a common programme. The statement issued jointly by 47 NGOs operating in Jaffna, urged political parties to formulate the common agenda on the basis of the Tamil people’s right of self determination, the lifting of the ban on the Liberation Tigers and the resumption of the peace talks with third party mediation.
Full story >>

Vanni farmers file FR case in Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 October 2001, 15:45 GMT]
The Supreme Court Wednesday entertained a fundamental rights violation application filed by six Tamils against the imposition of control in transporting kerosene and fuel to Vanni region which is now not under the control of state armed forces.
Full story >>

Tamil unity talks continue, Joseph, Vinayagamoorthy stall

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 October 2001, 12:34 GMT]
Negotiations between the main opposition Tamil political parties to form a common front to contest the general elections to the Sri Lankan Parliament which commenced Thursday are still inconclusive, despite appeals and memoranda sent by supporters and general interest groups urging unity, political sources said. Mr. Appapillai Vinayagamoorthy, the leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress announced as soon as the Parliament was dissolved that his party would go it alone. However, following deliberations late last night, Mr. Vinayagamoorthy said that the ACTC would refrain from dividing the Tamil vote outside the Jaffna electoral district. Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham ex- MP for Batticaloa said he was not in favour of his party forming an alliance with the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO).
Full story >>

"Will oppose any govt. if no solution to Tamil problem" -Selvam

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2001, 21:04 GMT]
"This government has been waging a relentless war on my people without solving their problem. We have therefore been trying to bring this government down. Today the time is ripe for it. We would take the same stand against any government in Sri Lanka that tries to wage war on our people", said 'Selvam' Adaikalanathan, MP, the leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, commenting on the current political crisis in the island, Wednesday evening.
Full story >>

Tigers overrun Velvery airforce camp in Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2001, 04:10 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers overran the Sri Lanka Air Force camp at Velvery, about 12 km northwest of Trincomalee town off the high way to Anuradhapura, Tuesday night around 11.30 p.m. Four SLAF men were killed and 17 are reported missing in the attack, military sources in the eastern port town said. The SLAF and the Sri Lanka army shelled the overrun camp till the early hours of the morning Wednesday. The Liberation Tigers withdrew from the overrun camp before the crack of dawn. SLAF jets were also called to bomb the area, sources said.
Full story >>

Tamils nominate lawyer, express reservations on council

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2001, 07:25 GMT]
The three opposition Tamil parties in the Sri Lankan Parliament Thursday night unanimously elected Mr. R. I. Thambiratnam, a leading lawyer, to represent the Tamil people of northeast province in the constitutional council. However, Mr. 'Selvam' Adaikalanathan, MP for the Vanni and the leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) said, "The constitutional council and the independent commissions on Police, elections, judicial services and public service are clearly aimed at clipping the powers of the executive presidency. They are intended to make the unitary state machine run more efficaciously. But the unitary state is the root cause of Tamil grievances. The council and the commissions would ensure more democracy for the Sinhala people but not the Tamils. One would have no illusions about this when one considers how these Sinhala parties which united to pass the 17th amendment dumped the equal opportunities bill."
Full story >>

Soldier robs jewels, two troopers die

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 October 2001, 17:06 GMT]
A soldier was killed when the Liberation Tigers attacked the Sri Lanka army’s Forward Defence Lines in Omanthai, north of Vavuniya town Tuesday morning. Another soldier who was seriously wounded in an ambush by the Tigers in the Parayanaalankulam area west of Vavuniya Monday night succumbed to his injuries this afternoon, military sources in the northern border town said.
Full story >>

Fears for displaced children

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 October 2001, 19:13 GMT]
Several key officials of the North East Provincial Council (NEPC) Monday said that future of children of displaced people and refugees in welfare centers and orphanages in the Tamil dominated province is still uncertain due to the ongoing conflict. "The war is continuing resulting in the increase of refugees, displaced people and orphans," said Mr.S.M.Croos, Provincial Director of the Department of Social Welfare, presiding over the International Children's Day celebrations held Monday evening at Trincomalee Town Hall.
Full story >>

LTTE condemns assassination of senior leader

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 September 2001, 13:09 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an official statement issued from its headquarters in Vanni Wednesday, strongly condemned the killing of one of its senior leaders, Colonel Shankar. The statement said the LTTE leadership "shares the Tamil people's outrage and treats the killing of a senior leader with utmost gravity."
Full story >>

Tamil MPs walk out in protest

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 September 2001, 08:53 GMT]
The MPs of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) walked out in protest when the bill on the 17th amendment to Sri Lanka's constitution was presented by the Prime Minister in the Parliament Monday morning. Tamil parties are protesting that the government is rushing the 17th amendment according to the dictates of the Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna by ditching the effort to find a solution to the ethnic problem. "For more than fifty years you did not take any interest in solving the Tamil question. If you continue to ignore our problem in this manner, a united Sri Lanka would soon be a thing of the past," said Selvam A. Adaikalanathan, MP for Vanni, addressing the house before walking out with other Tamil MPs.
Full story >>