Teacher shot dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 14:57 GMT]
Unidentified armed men, following a teacher who was riding on his motorcycle towards Jaffna Railway Station through a small lane near Aariyaku’lam in Jaffna town, gunned him down Wednesday around 1:00 p.m and escaped from the area, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops were present only hundred meters at the main base of SLA 512 Division.
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Journalist slain in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 14:29 GMT]
Jaffna correspondent of Sakthi TV station, Paranirupasingam Thevakumar, 34, was abducted while he was returning to his residence in Vaddukkoaddai and hacked to death in Kaakkaitheevu, a barren land, Wednesday around 4:00 p.m., initial reports from Jaffna said. A friend of him was seriously injured and succumbed to the injuries at Jaffna hospital.
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Ea’raavoor remains paralyzed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 10:53 GMT]
Ea’raavoor remains deserted due to the curfew imposed from Monday, and extended until Wednesday 5:00 a.m, sources in Ea'raavoor said. All business establishments, public and private institutions remain closed following the curfew imposed after the killing of a Muslim woman by Special Task Force (STF) commandos Monday.
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Tamil lodge owner shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 23:14 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead a lodge owner in Kathireasan Road in Pettah, Colombo, Tuesday at 8:30 p.m., sources in Colombo said. The victim was standing in front of the lodge facing the road when the gunmen fired at him.
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2 seek protection with HRC, laborer reported missing in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 18:01 GMT]
A shop assistant from Thenmaraadchi and a family man from Kuppi’laan sought protection with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office Tuesday due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries, HRC Investigation Officer said. Meanwhile, a laborer from Sarasaalai in Thenmaraadchi has been reported missing since Sunday, after having left home for work, according to complaint made by his family members to HRC Jaffna.
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SLA soldier injured in grenade attack in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 14:09 GMT]
Unidentified persons lobbed a hand grenade Monday around 7:00 p.m on a major Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry post located at Hospital Road-Temple Road junction, seriously injuring a SLA soldier.
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Curfew extended in Ea'raavoor

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 12:56 GMT]
The curfew imposed in Ea'raavoor from Monday afternoon till Tuesday morning has been extended further from 10:00 am Tuesday until Wednesday 5:00 a.m. due to the continuing tension in the area, Batticaloa district police said
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Fein: Hold referendum to test support for Tamil Statehood

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 18:15 GMT]
Bruce Fein, Attorney for a US-based Tamil Activist Group, in responding to a statement by Ambassador Robert Blake to Sunday Observer saying that from his discussions with Tamils he knows that "over 95 percent of them [Tamils] support a solution within a framework of a united Sri Lanka," challenged the Ambassador to hold a referendum to prove his assertion of percentage Tamil support, and added that "[i]f statehood prevails, the Ambassador should be the first to concede Prabhakaran’s superiority in discerning the political aspirations of the Tamil people."
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Bomb blast inside train, 9 killed, 70 wounded

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 11:54 GMT]
Nine civilian commuters were killed and more than 70 wounded in a bomb blast around 4:45 p.m. Monday at Dehiwela railway station in Colombo inside a packed compartment of a train bound from Maradana to Panandura. A parcel bomb has went off inside the 5th compartment of the train, according to the police. The attack comes in the wake of the detection and deactivation of powerful bombs in two separate incidents on Saturday.
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Third member of same family abducted in Vadamarraadchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 11:53 GMT]
Unidentified armed men in a white van forcibly abducted Thursday the 19-year-old son of the couple who were abducted 14 May during curfew hours from their house in Karaveddi West in Vadamaraadchi following the large scale cordon and search operation conducted in Vadamaraadchi by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), according to the complaint made Monday by the relatives of the abductees to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office.
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Abductees not released, Ea’raavoor shut down continues

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 10:14 GMT]
The general shut down observed in the Muslim town Ea’ravvor in Batticaloa district demanding the release of the two Muslims abducted Thursday allegedly by TMVP Pillayan paramilitary group continued Monday with all shops, schools, banks, public and private institutions closed, sources in Ea’raavoor said. Though TMVP had promised to release the abductees earlier, they have not been released, Eastern Province Council member and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Eastern Province President, Baseer Seku Dawood, said.
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Trincomalee put on red alert-EPC to meet on June 4

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 09:30 GMT]
Trincomalee town and its suburb have been put on red alert with the announcement of the augural session of the newly elected East Provincial Council (EPC) which is scheduled to be held on June 4 morning. Police and SLA soldiers in large numbers have been guarding all roads lead to the area surrounding the East Chief Secretariat complex where the Assembly Hall of the EPC is located along the Inner Harbour Road which leads to the Sri Lanka Naval Headquarters, sources from east port town said. The East Chief Secretariat complex was used earlier as the North East Chief Secretariat before the de-merger of two provinces.
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14 civilians arrested in Katunayake HSZ

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 09:25 GMT]
Fourteen civilians including eight women, majority of them Tamils, were taken into custody in a joint cordon and search conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) and police on Sunday in the high security zone of Katunayake.
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SLAF takes control of Ki'n'niyaa security

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 02:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) airmen are setting up new camps in Ki'n'niyaa town as the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) hands over control of security to SLAF, civil society sources in Trincomalee said. Ki'n'niyaa is the second largest town in the Trincomalee district.
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Pillayan group supporters attack Muslim traders in Thaazhangkudaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 May 2008, 07:40 GMT]
Supporters of Shanthan, the key TMVP Pillayan group operative killed Thursday in Kaaththankudi, attacked Saturday around 1:00 p.m Muslim traders from Kaththaankudi at Thazhalngkuda area in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said. Meanwhile, Ea’raavoor police had chased a group of Muslim youths who tried to attack the Tamils who had gone to Ea’ravvoor for purchase provisions Saturday, the sources added. Tension prevails both in Batticaloa and Ea’raavoor following these incidents.
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Consecration of Deputy Bishop held in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 May 2008, 00:46 GMT]
The Episcopal Ordination of the Bishop-elect Msgr. Joseph Ponniah was held Saturday afternoon at St. Mary's Co-Cathedral, Batticaloa by His Lordship Most Rev. Dr. Kinglsey Swampillai, the Bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa, sources in Batticaloa said.
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DPU attack victims laid to rest in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 May 2008, 21:00 GMT]
The bodies of 16 civilians including 5 children, three girls and two boys, killed Friday afternoon in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Vanni during the claymore attack by the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were laid to rest Saturday afternoon 5:20 p.m. in Baarathypuram General Cemetery.
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SLA compels students, public to attend Jaffna tamasha

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 May 2008, 17:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities summoned government officials and departmental heads to SLA Palaali Military Head Quarters, prior to the SLA organized three-day Veasak Carnival that began Friday in Jaffna Duraippaah Stadium, and directed them to compel students, traders and the public attend the above carnival, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. Students from schools in Jaffna peninsula were transported in buses to attend the carnival where all entrants were subjected to rigorous body check before entering the heavily guarded carnival grounds, sources in Jaffna said.
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Shifts in world order alters dynamics of Sri Lanka’s conflict - paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 May 2008, 12:14 GMT]
Whether Sri Lanka is or isn’t on the UN Human Rights Council is an irrelevancy as far as international dimensions of the island’s conflict are concerned, the Tamil Guardian newspaper argued this week. “Rather than a ‘universal’ principle, the concept of ‘human rights’ has, in actuality, served mainly as a tool for the West-led international community to (re)order the world,” the paper said. Meanwhile, the rise of new poles in the international system is proving a challenge for the West’s post-Cold War efforts to construct a liberal order, the newspaper said in another recent editorial.
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Two Muslim youths abducted in Kalladi, tension prevails in Kaaththaankudi, Aaraiyampathi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 May 2008, 00:19 GMT]
Paramilitary personnel of Pillayan group abducted two Muslim youths Thursday afternoon 1:00 p.m. in Kalladi area, within Batticaloa police division. The victims, residents of Ea’raavoor had gone to Kalladi to pay electricity bills when they were abducted.
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