Tamil women's Confluence Event held in Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 November 2004, 03:32 GMT]
Tamil women associations in Varothiar Nagar- Puthukuddiyiurpu, a suburb three km off north of Trincomalee town held a "Women's Confluence (Sangamam)" Monday evening at Varothiar Nagar Barathi Tamil Vidiyalayam and handed over a birthday greeting card to Ms Kaaronja, Liberation Tigers' Trincomalee district women political wing to be forwarded to the LTTE leader Mr.V.Pirapaharan on his fiftieth birthday, sources attending the event said.
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LTTE wants UPFA to state its unified stand on peace talks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 November 2004, 12:58 GMT]
''The Sri Lankan government and all its coalition partners should convey to us their unified stand, their consensus in support of the peace process. The Sri Lankan government's coalition partner, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and others are opposing the peace process. Therefore we cannot depend on the Sri Lankan President alone to take forward the peace process. This is what our leader conveyed to the Sri Lankan President through the Norwegian Foreign Minister'', said Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan speaking to the press Tuesday after a conference with MPs of the Tamil National Alliance in Kilinochchi.
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'Sinhala consensus is a perfidious mirage'- MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 November 2004, 15:46 GMT]
"Sinhala parties will never come to a consensus on a political settlement to the ethnic conflict. It won't happen even if we Tamils wait patiently for another fifty years in deference to the wishes of the international community. The so called 'Sinhala Consensus' is a perfidious mirage. It is now time for the Tamil people to call the bluff and prepare to forge ahead on their own", said Mr. Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy, TNA MP for Batticaloa, speaking to TamilNet Monday about Colombo's reaction to the latest proposal by the LTTE to restart the long stalled peace talks in Sri Lanka.
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Sinhala leaders didn't understand power sharing -Rupasinghe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 November 2004, 18:49 GMT]
"Sinhala leaders have no understanding of the Tamil question. They did not understand how to share power since 1948 (when the island was granted independence by the British). Power has been Sinhala. Sri Lankan armed forces are 99 percent Sinhala. Tamil is not implemented as an official language. How can we transform a Sinhala hegemonic state into a federal one? This is the challenge before us" said Mr. Kumar Rupasinghe, a leading peace activist in Sri Lanka.
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SLN bans fishing in Chullipuram Sea

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 November 2004, 13:52 GMT]
Jaffna District Fisheries Societies Federation (JDFSF) Saturday said hundreds of fishermen residing in coastal areas of Chullipuram would lose their profession following the construction of training centre along shore by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) violating the ceasefire agreement signed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources said.


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TNA MPs, LTTE activist attend Ifthar in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 November 2004, 05:42 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan and Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians from the Trincomalee district, Mr.M.S.Thowfeek, former parliamentarian and a leading member of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Mr.Puratchi, head of the Trincomalee District Thamileelam Students Unit of the Liberation Tigers participated at the 'Ifthar' function held Friday evening at the Trincomalee Mohaideen Andavar Mosque, sources said.
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Tigers, SLA discuss security of LTTE political workers

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 November 2004, 13:37 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers met Sri Lankan armed forces representatives Friday at the truce monitoring mission office in Batticaloa for discussions on the security of their political activists who are working in the eastern town. At the meeting, the Tigers pointed out that LTTE members are, contrary to the spirit of the cease fire agreement, harassed by Sri Lankan armed forces when they show their official identity cards. This hinders the LTTE's political work in areas controlled by the Sri Lankan government in Batticaloa, the Liberation Tigers told Sri Lankan armed forces delegation.
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Media should promote ISGA- paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 November 2004, 11:48 GMT]
Pointing out the declaration by South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) that said "ISGA proposal could serve as useful basis for the commencement of talks to map out an interim structure," and to the statement made by Prof Uyangoda that there is "imperative need for the Sinhala leadership to abandon its mindset vis-à-vis the State structure based on majoritarian hegemony," Tamil daily Thinakural in its Wednesday editorial said that the "regional and the national media organizations which have taken hardline positions on ISGA should adopt a positive, flexible attitude."
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Paramilitary operative arrested for claymore attack in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 November 2004, 11:36 GMT]
Batticaloa Magistrate Friday remanded a ‘Karuna Group’, cadre accused of attempting to murder two civilians by exploding a claymore mine and lobbing a grenade at them on Thursday around 2.30 p.m. near Kaluwankerni Junction on the main coastal artery of the district. Mr. Dharmasena Ratnayaka, Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Eravur Police said the Karuna Group cadre was operating from the EPDP camp in neighbouring Chenkalady.
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LTTE sends condolence message to Palestinian People

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 November 2004, 04:36 GMT]
"The LTTE on behalf of the Tamil people wishes to take this opportunity to send its condolences to the Palestinian people for the untimely loss of their leader Yasser Arafat and also expresses solidarity with them in their liberation struggle," said the Liberation Tigers in the LTTE Peace Secretariat website, following the meeting between the LTTE leaders and Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson Thursday.
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No new message from Sri Lanka President - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 November 2004, 08:57 GMT]
"President Kumaratunga has sent no new message through the Norwegian Foreign Minister. She has only reiterated her stand that there should be talks on a permanent political solution. We have conveyed a message to her on how to take the peace process forward. But the Norwegians have requested us not to speak about it to the press until they discuss it with the Sri Lankan President", said Mr. Anton Balasingham, political advisor of the Liberation Tigers speaking to journalists Thursday in Kilinochchi after the meeting between the leader of the LTTE and Norway’s Foreign Minister.


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Norwegian Foreign Minister begins talks with Pirapaharan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 November 2004, 07:20 GMT]
Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jan Peterson, began discussions with leader of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, late on Thursday morning in Kilinochchi. The talks are expected to cover the current state of Sri Lanka’s peace process and efforts to further stabilize the ceasefire between the LTTE and Colombo. The LTTE leader was assisted by Mr. Balasingham at the discussions with the Norwegian Foreign Minister.


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Norwegian FM meets Sri Lanka's President

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 November 2004, 03:31 GMT]
Norwegian Foreign Minister Mr. Jan Petersen met with Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, Wednesday night, and discussed the resumption of peace process between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources said.
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Soccer tournament to celebrate Hero's day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 12:01 GMT]
A soccer tournament is underway in Jaffna district to mark the Thamileelam Maveerar (Heros) day under the sponsorship of the Jaffna district unit of the Thamileelam Sports Division. The tournament was inaugurated last weekend in Nelliyady Madhya Maha Vidiyalayam grounds located 25km northwest of Jaffna town, sources said.
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GAs, LTTE, Harim Peiris meet to discuss North rehabilitation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 11:52 GMT]
Mr.Harim Peiris, Advisor to Sri Lanka's President on the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and Reconciliation of the North East, Wednesday held a conference in the circuit bungalow of the Vavuniya district secretariat with the Government Agents of the districts of Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Killinochchi, Mannar and Vavuniya and political activists of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the proposed rehabilitation and reconstruction activities to be undertaken in the northern province, sources said.
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"Tamils have right to make their own constitution" – Mavai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 08:52 GMT]
“The objective before us is to make our own constitution on the basis of our sovereignty, which is inalienable. We have the right to do it. The signing of the ceasefire agreement between the leader of the Tamil nation and the Prime Minister of the Sinhala nation proved that there are two states on this island”, said Mr. Mavai Senathirajah, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna, speaking at the opening of the new building of the Thamil Eelam Law College in Kilinochchi Wednesday. The Thamil Eelam Law College was declared open by Ms. Adele Balasingham.
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Norwegian FM to meet Sri Lanka's President Wednesday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 02:03 GMT]
Norwegian Foreign Minister Mr.Jan Peterson accompanied by his deputy Mr.Vidar Helgessen and special envoy Mr.Erik Solheim is due to hold talks with Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Wednesday evening regarding the resumption of peace talks with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Liberation (LTTE), Presidential secretariat sources said.
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NPC expresses peace hopes amid pessimism

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 11:47 GMT]
Warning that "mismatch between the goals and expectations of the government and LTTE with regard to peace talks" is a major obstacle to peace, the National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo based Sri Lankan peace group, in a media release issued in Colombo Tuesday, said, "Norwegian facilitators could make a valuable contribution," by reorienting the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE "to approach the peace process in a manner that would ensure that both parties gain."
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Balasingham arrives in Kilinochchi for consultations

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 05:53 GMT]
Political advisor of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Anton Balasingham, arrived in Kilinochchi Tuesday morning around 11 in a Sri Lankan Air Force Helicopter. He was accompanied by his wife Ms. Adele Balasingham. Mr. Balasingham was welcomed by Col. Soosai, Commander of the Sea Tigers and Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, head of the LTTE’s political division. He will hold consultations with the leader of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan regarding the current state of the peace process in Sri Lanka, LTTE officials said.
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Balasingham, Solheim arrive in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 01:44 GMT]
Mr.Anton Balasingham, political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) arrived in Colombo Tuesday morning around 5 a.m. Mr.Erik Solheim, Norwegian special peace envoy arrived in Colombo after midnight Tuesday, political and diplomatic sources said.


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