Sri Lanka Elections: News Brief

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2004, 11:51 GMT]
Key members of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) are likely to join the United National Front, Sri Lanka's Police force's leaves have been suspended, Thamilchelvan returns to Vanni from European trip and Anandasangaree continues to scuttle Tamil National Alliance efforts to formulate a coherent election strategy, according to local media reports.
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Votes only for policies and symbol - TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2004, 15:00 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance leaders in Trincomalee resolved unanimously on Monday to contest the general elections on 2 April 2004, only on the basis of their coalition and its policies instead of their candidates.
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"Foreign nations understand LTTE’s central role to Sri Lanka's progress" –TNA MP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 January 2004, 00:47 GMT]
“Currently, diplomats of foreign countries, ambassadors and representatives of donor nations who visit Sri Lanka and meet those in power in Colombo, are also visiting the Vanni to meet with the Liberation Tigers. This shows a clear understanding by the international community that without the participation of the LTTE, no progress can be made in the country,” said Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, the Tamil National Alliance MP from the Batticaloa district, speaking at the opening of the maternity home in Mandur Saturday.
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"JVP-SLFP alliance before January 31" - Weerawanse

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2004, 16:14 GMT]
"The Memorandum of Understanding between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the JVP forming a political alliance would be signed before January 31," said the Sinhala nationalist, Marxist, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentary group leader Mr.Wimal Weerawanse addressing a public meeting organized by the National Patriotic Movement (NPM) and held at Trincomalee private bus stand in the heart of the town Tuesday evening.


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Fourteenth anniversary of Major Sothia commemorated

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2004, 00:05 GMT]
Celebrations commemorating the Fourteenth death anniversary of Major Sothia and the eighth anniversary of inauguration of Liberation Tigers fighting unit, Sothia Brigade, were held in Vanni Sunday, 11 January, LTTE sources said.


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Pirapaharan felicitates Women artists

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2004, 14:30 GMT]
In a cultural event organized by the Fine Arts and Cultural Division of Women's Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Saturday in Kilinochchi, Leader of LTTE, Pirapaharan praised the contributions of Tamil women artists to Theatre, Drama, Tamil struggle and commended the artists for stimulating cultural awareness among the public, sources from Vanni said.
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2003: The year in review

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2003, 18:58 GMT]
The widespread optimism on peace that greeted the dawn of 2003 has evaporated and the power struggle between Sri Lanka's Prime Minister and President that threatens the peace process now occupies the center stage of politics in Colombo. High Security Zones (HSZ) in Jaffna continue to deny displaced Tamils their fundamental rights. Colombo's unwillingness and inability to disburse funds stalls development and rehabilitation in NorthEast, as international aid remains blocked, awaiting concrete signs of progress in peace.
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"Don't ruin Tamils' future" Jaffna Bishops tells President, PM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 December 2003, 12:03 GMT]
The Bishop of Jaffna Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundranayagam in his Christmas message Thursday appealed to Sri Lanka’s President and Prime Minister not to let the current power struggle between them ruin the opportunity for the Tamil people to achieve a prosperous future. “The leader of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. V. Pirapaharan, made a firm commitment to finding a peaceful resolution to the longstanding Tamil question in his Heroes’ Day speech. We welcome his stand at this critical juncture”, the Bishop of Jaffna said in his message.
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Tamil Eelam Resurgence Federation opens office in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 05:38 GMT]
The Tamil Eelam Resurgence Federation (TERF) opened an office at Potpathy in the Jaffna district Friday. The Head of the TERF, Mr. K. Sanjay, declared open the office, sources said.
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LTTE meets Swiss Foreign Ministry Official in Geneva

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2003, 13:17 GMT]
The Deputy Head of the Political Section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Jaffna District, Mr. S. Ilamparithi, who is currently visiting European cities, met with Swiss Foreign Ministry Director in-charge of Sri Lanka Affairs, Mr. Markus Heiniger, on Wednesday at 1.00 pm for 90 minutes, at the Swiss Foreign Office in Geneva, Switzerland, Tamil expatriate sources in Switzerland said.
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Thenmaradchchi civilians assault EPDP members

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 16:14 GMT]
Members of the public Tuesday evening assaulted a group of members of the paramilitary Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), which works closely with the Sri Lanka Army, when they were engaged in distributing handbills with the assistance of soldiers of the SLA at the common market in Kodikamam in the Thenmaradchchi division of the Jaffna district. The EPDP cadres later complained to the SLA officials that some persons had assaulted them, police said.
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Great Heroes Day celebrations conclude in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 2003, 15:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers' Trincomalee regional military commander Colonel Pathuman lit the flame of sacrifice at the main event of the Great Heroes Day celebrations at the Alankulam Heroes' cemetary in the Muttur east in the Trincomalee district amid heavy shower and large gathering of people soon after the address to the Tamil people by LTTE leader Mr.V.Pirapaharan Thursday evening.


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Thousands attend Heroes’ Day events in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 2003, 22:01 GMT]
Thousands of people participated at the Great Heroes Day celebrations held at the Tharavai ‘Maveerar Thuyilum Illam’ (The martyr's cemetery where Great Heroes rest) in the Batticaloa district, despite heavy rains Thursday evening, and the Senior Commander of the LTTE for the eastern flank, Col. V. Karuna, attended the celebrations, sources said.
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Pirapaharan's Heroes' day address

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 2003, 12:22 GMT]
Mr Vellupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in his annual statement commemorating the Heroes’ Day rejected accusations made by President Chandrika Kumaratunga that his organisation was strengthening its military power and preparing for war, and pointed to the power struggle between Sri Lanka's President and Prime Minister as historical repetitive pattern of "political drama [which] has been continuing for the last fifty years aggravating the plight of the Tamil people.”
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Positive response from Pirapaharan - Patten

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 17:34 GMT]
The European Union(EU)'s External Relations Commissioner, Mr. Chris Patten, said Wednesday that the international community has welcomed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for eschewing violence and entering political negotiations to find a solution to the conflict. Mr. Patten said that he had told the LTTE leader that a political solution to the conflict should be found under a federal political system as declared in the Oslo conference.
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Pirapaharan discusses Colombo crisis, CFA with Patten

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 07:09 GMT]
"Our leader Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan told Mr. Patten it is not at all in the hands of the Liberation Tigers to ensure that there is no return to violence and that it is completely up to the Sinhala polity to see there is no return to war. Mr. Pirapaharan very clearly explained to Mr. Patten that we remain committed to resolving the conflict peacefully," said Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, speaking to media following the meeting between the leader of the Liberation Tigers and the European Union’s Commissioner for External Relations Wednesday in Kilinochchi.


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Great Heroes' Day celebrations begin in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 00:01 GMT]
The Great Heroes Day celebrations began in Trincomalee town Tuesday morning with paying homage to LTTE martyrs of Trincomalee whose photographs have been kept in the gaily decorated Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall, which is located along the Inner Harbour Road facing the harbour. TEEDOR Trincomalee district head Mr.S.Tharman declared open the event by cutting the ribbon.
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Sinhala nationalists burn EU commissioner’s effigy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 2003, 06:19 GMT]
Sinhala nationalist protestors burnt an effigy of European’s Union Commissioner for External Affairs, Mr. Chris Patten in the busy business hub of downtown Colombo Tuesday moring. Mr. Patten arrived in Sri Lanka’s capital Tuesday for meetings with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, President Kumaratunga and the leader of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Veluppillai Pirapaharan.
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LTTE honors parents of martyrs in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 2003, 04:30 GMT]
The practice of honoring fighters who sacrifice their lives for their homeland even during periods of war, and honoring the parents of the fighters on-going now in the NorthEast, is not seen in other parts of the world and is unique to the Tamil homeland, said Mr. S. Ezhilan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vavuniya, speaking at an event held at Sastrikoolankulam in the Vavuniya district to honor parents of LTTE martyrs Saturday, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Heroes day memorial exhibition opened in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2003, 18:30 GMT]
A memorial exhibition displaying framed pictures of more than 3500 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) martyrs in a well lit memorial hall of Batticaloa Mahajana College was opened for public Saturday, sources in Batticaloa said.
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