Thamilchelvan meets Solheim in Colombo, returns to Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 April 2005, 09:04 GMT]
Visiting Norwegian Special Peace Envoy, Mr. Erik Solheim, on Wednesday met Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who was returning to Kilinochchi concluding an almost 40 days long diplomatic mission to Europe and to South Africa. Mr. Thamilchelvan during his mission to Europe had held discussions with government leaders of more than twelve countries regarding the current state of the stalled peace process and the hindrance on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka in establishing a Joint Mechanism to implement a tsunami relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction programme in the northeast.
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Joint Mechanism means end of UPFA, warns JVP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 April 2005, 05:02 GMT]
At a time when the Norwegian facilitators indicated that the Government and the LTTE are coming close to enter into an agreement on the proposed Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami aid distribution in the North-East, the marxist extreme Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a major ally of the ruling UPFA coalition, warned on Tuesday that such a deal would mean the end of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government.
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Annai Poopathi death anniversary observed in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 April 2005, 14:20 GMT]
Seventeenth death anniversary of Annai Poopathi, who fasted unto death on 19 April 1988 after placing five demands to the Government of India, was observed in the NorthEast province Tuesday. Several hundreds of students, men and women participated in token fast held separately in the five divisions of the Jaffna district Tuesday, organizers said.


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Rocca to meet Solheim in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 April 2005, 12:33 GMT]
Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State, Christina Rocca, is scheduled to meet visiting Norwegian special peace envoy, Erik Soheim, in Colombo on Wednesday to discuss issues concerning Sri Lanka's stalled peace process and the proposed Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami relief effort, diplomatic sources in Colombo said.
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"Can trust only when Joint Mechanism comes" - Col. Bhanu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 April 2005, 08:39 GMT]
“We can talk about having faith in this process only when the Joint Mechanism for Tsunami Reconstruction is implemented. The suffering of Tamils and Muslims who were affected by the Tsunami in Batticaloa/Amparai is immense. Some of them say they should have died in the Tsunami than face the privations to which they are subjected today as refugees. We explained to the Norwegians the urgent need for a joint mechanism to help these people”, said Col. Bhanu, special commander of LTTE’s armed forces in Batticaloa/Amparai, speaking to journalists after meeting Mr. Eric Solheim, special Norwegian peace envoy who visited Batticaloa Tuesday.
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Christina Rocca arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 April 2005, 05:18 GMT]
Ms Christina Rocca, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State arrived in Colombo Monday night on a two day visit to survey United States-funded tsunami reconstruction efforts and meet with Sri Lankan government officials. She is scheduled to tour the tsunami devastated coastal areas in the districts of Amparai and Batticaloa.
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Joint-mechanism with LTTE only way out, says Kumar Rupasinghe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 April 2005, 05:09 GMT]
Dr. Kumar Rupasinghe, a leading peace activist in Sri Lanka, said Tuesday that the proposed joint-mechanism between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE is the only way out in the decision making process to carryout the much-needed rebuilding and resettlement program for tsunami-affected people in the worst-hit North-East region.
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Tamil Women Confluence held in Thampalakamam

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 April 2005, 17:47 GMT]
About eight hundred Tamil women participated in a Women Confluence ('Penngal Sangamam') Monday held at Thampalakamam, a traditional Tamil village in the Trincomalee district Monday in connection with the seventeenth death anniversary of Annai Poopathi, which falls on Tuesday (April 19), sources said.
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Solheim meets Govt. Peace Secretariat head

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 April 2005, 17:24 GMT]
Mr.Erik Solheim, Norwegian special peace envoy Monday met with the Head of the Government Peace Secretariat, Dr Jayantha Dhanapala, and discussed in detail about resolving issues confronting the formation of the joint mechanism between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The joint mechanism is proposed to take forward the tsunami relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction programme in the northeast province, sources said.
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LTTE sentry in Muttur attacked by SLA- Elilan

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 April 2005, 17:19 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday lodged a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in Trincomalee that one of their sentry points in the LTTE-controlled Muttur east had been attacked by a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army Sunday night around 7.10 p.m.
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Solheim arrives in Colombo, visits Puttalam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 April 2005, 14:37 GMT]
Mr.Erik Solheim, Norwegian special peace envoy arrived in Colombo Sunday on a five day visit to Sri Lanka amid expectation that he would seal an agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that would establish a joint mechanism to take forward the post-tsunami relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation programme in the northeast province, sources said.
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Canada rejects Sri Lanka's diplomatic nominee- paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 April 2005, 21:41 GMT]
"Canadian Government has signalled the Sri Lanka Government that it will not be able to accept Mr. [Chandrananda] de Silva as Sri Lanka's next High Commissioner to Ottawa because under the provisions of the Immigration Act of that country, Mr. de Silva as the one-time holder of office as Secretary of Defence is a person, in respect of whom, if there are any allegations of human rights abuses whether proved or not, would be regarded as an inadmissible person to that country," the weekend Sunday Times said quoting diplomatic sources.
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LTTE meets with MEP in Dublin

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 April 2005, 11:06 GMT]
Current LTTE mission to Europe is to communicate to the international community ground realities of the humanitarian crisis created by the tsunami and to expose the lack of progress towards establishing a Joint Mechanism to undertake post-tsunami reconstruction in an equitable manner, Head of LTTE Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, told the Mr.Eoin Ryan, Member of European Parliament (MEP) and Committee on Economic & Monetary Affairs, Committee on Development when the LTTE delegation met him in the Irish Parliamentary complex Saturday, LTTE sources said.
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"All Mullaitivu tsunami affected are in transit camps"- Maaran

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 April 2005, 01:12 GMT]
"Of the 5905 families displaced by tsunami in Mullaitivu district, all 2124 families which needed a place to live have been transferred to transit camps [from welfare centers] and the rest are living with friends and relatives in a temporary setting. We are waiting for funds to start our third phase of resettling the families in permanent state land," said Mr Maaran, Head of Mullaitivu district Emergency Task Force (ETF), when TamilNet spoke to him recently in his offices in Mullaitivu.
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Thirukkovil Divisional Secretary shot dead

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 April 2005, 16:17 GMT]
Divisional Secretary for Thirukkovil, Mr. A. K Thavarajah, was shot dead Friday night around 6.45 p.m. He was riding a motorbike near the Special Task Force camp in Thirukkovil when a gunman opened fire on him, residents said. He was shot four times at close range, according to Police in Thirukkovil, 76 kilometres south of Batticaloa. Mr. Thavarajah figured in a controversy recently over a portrait of the LTTE leader which was hung in his office.
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Erik Solheim to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 April 2005, 12:17 GMT]
Mr. Erik Solheim, the Norwegian Special Envoy will visit Sri Lanka 17th - 21st April, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in a press release said Friday. Mr. Solheim will discuss the "possible joint-mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction" with the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka, the press release said.
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Nine killed in attack on paramilitary camp

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 April 2005, 02:22 GMT]
At least nine were killed in an attack on the camps of a paramilitary group in Sorivil in the Welikanda area, 80 kilometres northwest of Batticaloa Thursday morning, civilians in the area said. "We can neither confirm nor deny the reports of the attack", a senior military officer in the east said. The bodies of nine paramilitary cadres who were killed in the assault were lying near a river in Sorivil (Soruwila in Sinhala), an interior village in the Polannaruwa district. The ENDLF/Karuna Group set up five camps in the area recently, according to civilians in the area. Three paramilitary camps in Vannathuraiyadi near Sorivil were attacked. The other camps had supplies, according to villagers.
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LTTE delegation in Dublin: Thamilchelvan meets Irish Minister Conor Lenihan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 April 2005, 23:24 GMT]
Lack of consensus in Colombo, even in sharing resources to meet a natural disaster, has confounded the already existing humanitarian crisis, Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan told Mr. Conor Lenihan T.D, Minister of State in Ireland with Special Responsibility for Overseas Development & Human Rights. Colombo is yet to respond to the Joint Mechanism proposals.
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LTTE conducted clearing operation in its area-Elilan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 April 2005, 17:04 GMT]
Responding to a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that LTTE cadres had fired towards the SLA Mahindapura army camp which is located down south of Muttur area in the Trincomalee district Wednesday night, Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head said " Our cadres conducted a clearing operation on receipt of information that armed cadres of an unidentified group had entered from the side of army camp into the no-man zone".


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IDPs, tsunami victims celebrate New Year in camps, tents

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 April 2005, 10:59 GMT]
Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Tamil families affected by tsnunami and two decade old war Thursday celebrated another New Year in camps, welfare centres and make-shift structures as their own houses and agricultural lands in the Jaffna district are occupied by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), civil society sources said.


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