Verugal PS councilors take oaths

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 April 2006, 20:08 GMT]
The only local government institution, Verugal Pradesiya Sabah (PS) in the Liberation Tigers controlled area in the Trincomalee district began functioning with effect from Wednesday when all seven councilors of the PS returned uncontested in the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) ticket took oaths before a Justice of Peace in the presence of Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head. Mr.Puratchi, Trincomalee head of the Thamileelam Students Department hoisted the Thamileelam National Flag, sources said.
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ITAK administration in Trinco UC begins

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 April 2006, 15:09 GMT]
Mr. S.Gowrimuhunthan of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) Thursday took oath as the Chairman of the twelve-member Trincomalee Urban Council and Mr. Kanthasamy Selvarajah Vice-Chairman. Mr.K.Sivapalan, senior attorney-at-law administered oaths to all the twelve members of the Trincomalee UC in Tamil language at an event held in Trincomalee Town Hall in the presence of religious leaders of all the four faiths, sources said.
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Canadian Tamils call for stern action against Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 April 2006, 15:01 GMT]
In a press conference held Tuesday April 18th, at the Delta Toronto East Hotel in Toronto, the Trincomalee Welfare Association (TWA) urged the Government of Canada to condemn the ethnically motivated violence on Tamil civilians in Trincomalee last week, and "to take stern measures against the Sri Lankan government for its continued failure to comply with the Ceasefire Agreement."
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Memorial for civilians killed in war opened in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 April 2006, 11:45 GMT]
"Innocent Tamils are being killed even now by the Sri Lanka armed forces and the paramilitary groups working with them. Erecting a monument in memory of the innocents alone is insufficient. Ending wanton killings is the need of the hour," said S. Thangan unveiling the plaque Wednesday, on the monument erected in remembrance of civilians killed by the Sri Lanka armed forces and the Indian Peace Keeping Force, at Kanthapuram junction in Akkarayan Kilinochchi district.


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"Non-violent struggle will not work," says student leader

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 April 2006, 11:31 GMT]
"Annai Poopathy, reverently remembered today at the eighteenth anniversary of her fasting to death for the liberation of the Tamils, shines like a beacon to all of us, as dark clouds of war gather fast in our skies," said Vijayaroopan, president Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU), Wednesday at the memorial day observance held in the Jaffna University. He was one of several speakers at the Annai Poopathy memorial day observed in the districts of the NorthEast.


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Canada ban on LTTE brings war nearer - paper

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 April 2006, 13:09 GMT]
By emboldening the hardliners in the Sri Lankan regime and the Sinhala nationalists who support it and, by destabilizing the balance of forces underpinning the peace process, proscriptions of the LTTE , such as Canada’s, are making war more, not less, likely, the Tamil Guardian newspaper warned Wednesday. “These forces will undoubtedly feel vindicated by the Canadian decision and take it, not unreasonably, as support for their uncompromising positions on the ethnic questions,” the expatriate fortnightly said.
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Half a century of violence against Tamils still continues, says Nadesan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 16:26 GMT]
"What happens in Trincomalee now is only a continuation of the state terrorism that began fifty years ago. Now it has become customary for the law enforcement arms of the Sri Lankan government to openly assist and join the Sinhala nationalist thugs in the violence against Tamils," said Thamileelam Police Chief Mr. B. Nadesan, participating in a ceremony held Sunday 7. a.m to mark the graduation of a new group of police officers, in an undisclosed venue in Vanni, sources from Kilinochchi said.
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Newly carved out Navithanveli PS office opened

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 April 2006, 14:54 GMT]
Mr.Kanagasabai Pathmanathan, Amparai district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Monday declared open the administrate office of the newly carved out Navithanveli Pradesiya Sabah (PS) in the Amparai district. The election to the Navithanveli PS is to be held on 20 May.
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2000 Tamils seek refuge in Kappalthurai School

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 April 2006, 14:34 GMT]
About two thousand members from four hundred Tamil families of resettled Tamil village Kappalthurai have sought refuge in Kappalthurai government Tamil school. They fled from their houses when soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army assaulted some of them following the claymore mine blast that killed three troopers of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Saturday night, sources said.
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"Upsurging Force" claims responsibility for Mattuvil, Vavuniya attacks

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 April 2006, 15:48 GMT]
Local media in Jaffna received faxed messages Sunday from "Upsurging Peoples' Force," claiming responsibility for the claymore attack near Vavuniya Joseph camp on Saturday where five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and ten wounded. The clandestine force operating in Sri Lanka Army controlled areas, also claimed responsibility for a claymore attack Sunday morning in Mattuvil where one SLA trooper was killed and another injured, media sources in Jaffna said.
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Kalmunaikudi Muslims protest against Athaullah's visit

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 April 2006, 17:02 GMT]
Several hundred residents of Kalmunaikudi in the east, from 6 p.m. Saturday, held a sit-in-protest in front of the stage erected close to Jumma Mosque for a meeting to be addressed by Mr.A.L.M.Athaullah, Minister and the Leader of the National Congress shouting slogans against his visit to the area. Protestors carried placards asking Mr.Athaullah not to disturb the unity of Kalmunai and the unity of Muslims and Tamils in the area, and also not to obstruct a Muslim becoming mayor of the Kalmunai Municipal Council, which will go to poll on May 20.
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Karaitivu Pradesiya Sabah office opened

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 April 2006, 16:58 GMT]
The administrative office of the newly created Karaitivu Pradesiya Sabah (PS) in the Amparai district was declared open Saturday by Mr.C.Pathmanathan, Amparai district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian. Parliamentarians of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Mr.Hasan Ali and Mr.S.Nijamudeen, also participated in the event, sources said.
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State orchestrated violence raises spectre of 1983 pogrom- TNA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 April 2006, 01:26 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group in a scathing press release issued Friday accused the Sri Lanka Government of unleashing "State Terror" on Tamil speaking people with the intention of "ethnically cleansing" the Tamil dominated Trincomalee town
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LTTE warns forces engaged in "genocidal attacks" in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 April 2006, 15:16 GMT]
"If the genocide attacks by State armed forces with the connivance of Sinhalese hoodlums continue in the Trincomalee district we would be forced to take steps to safeguard the lives and properties of innocent Tamil people in the district and that would lead to undesirable serious consequence on the current peace process," warned Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE district political head in a statement on the afresh violence against Tamil people in the suburbs of Trincomalee town since Friday afternoon.
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Colombo attempts to force LTTE withdrawal from Peace Talks - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 April 2006, 14:08 GMT]
Accusing the Sri Lanka Government of imposing impractical conditions as part of a deliberate attempt to force LTTE to withdraw from talks, Head of LTTE’s Political Division, S.P.Thamilchelvan said that recent one-sided actions by some members of the International community have encouraged Sri Lankan state to adopt a hardline stance and Sinhala extremists to unleash violence against Tamil community.
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Death toll in Trinco violence rises to 19, fifteen identified

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 April 2006, 12:18 GMT]
15 of 19 civilians killed in Trincomalee violence on Wednesday were identified Thursday. 7 victims were Sinhalese civilians, 6 were Tamils and 2 Muslims. The bodies of another three Tamil persons, burnt alive inside a three-wheeler in Linganagar, were not in identifiable state, medical sources said. Another dead body is yet to be identified.
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Trinco Tamils seek refuge in public, religious institutions

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 April 2006, 18:13 GMT]
Several Tamil families Wednesday night sought refuge in public buildings and religious institutions following violence in Trincomalee town and its outskirts, civil sources said. Burnt down shops and other business establishments along the Central Road and North Coast Road are still smoldering, sources added. The Trincomalee town had been under complete dark Wednesday night as the workers of the Urban Council failed to switch on the street lights due to fear after evening violence, sources said.
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Trinco violence pre-meditated, Elilan tells SLMM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 April 2006, 16:03 GMT]
Trincomalee district Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Wednesday night lodged a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee that the attack on Tamil business establishments and Tamil civilians by hooligans brought down in a lorry immediately following an explosion in Trincomalee town Wednesday evening was a preplanned one and had been carried with the support of the Sri Lanka armed forces, LTTE sources said.
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19 killed, 45 wounded, 20 shops burned in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 April 2006, 10:41 GMT]
The death toll in the Trincomalee town violence has risen to 19 with more than 45 wounded. Around 15 persons with serious wounds were being treated at Trincomalee hospital. Around 20 Tamil and 2 Muslim shops have been burnt down by thugs armed with incendiary devices assisted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) troopers, said Trincomalee District TNA parliamentarian Thurairatnasingam. Widespread attacks on Tamils were reported after a bomb explosion in the town around 4:00 p.m where a Sri Lanka Army soldier was reportedly killed. Looting continued in the east port town where an indefinite curfew was clamped down by the Police.
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TNA MPs, LTTE leaders pay respect to Vigneswaran in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 April 2006, 00:56 GMT]
"Tamil human rights activist Mr. V. Vigneswaran's assassination and those of 17 other Tamils in the period from November 2005 to January 2006 clearly shows that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) will never protect the human rights of the Tamils. Therefore we ourselves have to strive to protect our rights," said Rev. Fr. Kanagaratnam, Director North East Human Rights Secretariet (NEOSHR), paying homage to slain Mr. Vigneswaran whose body was kept for viewing at the Cultural Hall in Kilinochchi Monday, said sources.


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