Capturing Trinco UC, key to scuttle de-merger rhetoric- TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 March 2006, 18:47 GMT]
"Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) must capture the administration of the Trincomalee Urban Council in the local poll to scuttle the campaign by chauvinist elements for a de-merger of the NorthEast province. Tamil speaking people in Trincomalee district must unequivocally demonstrate that they will not allow any moves of de-merger to materialize," said Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham, Trincomalee district ITAK parliamentarian addressing an election meeting Sunday evening at Anpuvallipuram, a suburb that comes within the Trincomalee urban council boundary, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Provocations and smear campaign cast peace doubts - paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 March 2006, 12:36 GMT]
The vitriolic language increasingly being used by the Rajapakse administration against the LTTE and the concerted smear campaign it has launched against the Tigers casts doubts on Sri Lanka’s commitment to the peace process, the Tamil Guardian argues in its latest editorial. “Protagonists who wish to strike peace deals seek to deescalate tensions, build mutual trust and demonstrate goodwill so as to make securing an agreement more likely. But the Rajapakse administration is doing the exact reverse of that,” the expatriate fortnightly said.
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TECH donates mini-lathe to self-taught craftsman

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 March 2006, 02:04 GMT]
The Economic Consultancy House (TECH) donated a mini-lathe and other accessories costing about Rs 50K to a self-taught entrepreneur in Muthaiyankattu near Mullaitivu to encourage his inventive spirit amid poverty, and to reward technical astuteness despite his bringingup in an technologically deprived environment, officials at TECH told TamilNet.
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LTTE's military strength key to Tamils' future- Theepan

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 March 2006, 11:38 GMT]
Speaking at a sports event commemorating the martyrs of the Special Reconnaissance Wing of the Liberation Tigers Wednesday, in an undisclosed location in Vanni, Northern Region Military Commander, Col.Theepan said, "Tamil peoples' future and victory in the struggle for self-determination are critically dependent on our military strength. Our continued transformation to engage and beat the enemy in all types of warfare is fundamental to our security and to live as a free nation," sources in Vanni said.
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Sinhala nationalist extremists obstacle to peace – Balasingham

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 20:21 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers will view any further attacks by military-backed paramilitaries as an act of war and may postpone next month’s talks in Geneva unless the state fulfils the Ceasefire Agreement and disarms them, the LTTE’s Political Strategist and Chief Negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham said Tuesday. In an interview to Reuters at his London home, Mr. Balasingham also said President Mahinda Rajapakse should dump his Sinhala nationalist allies and seek support from the main opposition UNP party which led a government that held six rounds of talks with the LTTE in 2002-3.
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SLA troops threaten students at Annai Poopathy celebrations

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 12:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops threatened students at the Jaffna Technical College where celebrations marking Annai Poopathi's anniversary are taking place. More than 300 SLA soldiers who arrived at the Technical College premises at 3 p.m. Wednesday demanded taking down of the Tamileelam National flag which the students hoisted in the morning as part of the celebrations, sources said. Tension prevailed for more than an hour while the students refused to comply with the SLA demands.
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MIOT helps Trincomalee rural children

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 March 2006, 01:43 GMT]
Mother and Child Care Centre, and a Hall to provide daily free meals to children constructed by the All Ceylon Hindu Development Society (ACHDS) at a cost of 1.3 million rupees in Deva Nagar, a suburb in Trincomalee was declared open by Srimath Swami Tandredeva Maharaj Sunday, sources said. Medical Institute Of Tamils (MIOT) in United Kingdom provided funding for the project, ACHDS officials said.


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TNA, LTTE discuss local elections at Kilinochchi meet

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 March 2006, 12:19 GMT]
Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Vanni district addressing media in Kilinochchi after a meeting between the Liberation Tigers and the TNA parliamentarians Sunday morning, accused Colombo for delaying making decision on holding local elections in the NorthEast
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Human Rights Watch backtracks on extortion charge

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 March 2006, 12:14 GMT]
Stung by criticism by expatriate Tamils of its report last week claiming the Diaspora was gripped by ‘a culture of fear’ regarding LTTE extortion, Human Rights Watch this weekend issued a statement that stepped back from its earlier sensational claims. Acknowledging that accusations of extortion were only being made about “a small number of individuals” who were “claiming to represent the LTTE or groups linked to the LTTE,” HRW said: “we do not suggest that significant numbers of Tamils are engaging in extortion or other unlawful activity. We also note that many Tamils actively and willingly support the LTTE.”
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Three hundred police trainees begin training in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 March 2006, 00:31 GMT]
Three hundred officers newly recruited for Thamileelam Police started training on Saturday in Vanni. The recruits, under the coaching of Police Trainer S. Thamilarasan, were the second unit to be trained in 2006, said T. Kanahan, the head of administration of the Police.
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Kattankudy Muslims protest against violence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 March 2006, 10:58 GMT]
Kattankudy Muslims Saturday observed a shut down in protest against the escalating violence in their area where on Friday four motorbikes belonging to Muslim individuals, were hijacked, allegedly by paramilitary cadres. There is a concerted attempt to create communal violence between Tamils and Muslims, protesters said. Saturday's protest paralysed the entire Kattankudy. Transport on Batticaloa - Kalmunai road remained blocked and tension prevails in Batticaloa - Kattankudy Tamil, Muslim border areas. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers were seen deployed in the streets.
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Thamichelvan meets Brattskar in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 March 2006, 11:31 GMT]
Head of LTTE's Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, met with Norway's Ambassador Mr Hans Brattskar at the LTTE Peace Secretariat building in Kilinochchi at 9.30 a.m. Thursday, LTTE sources in Kilinochchi said. Acting Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Brigadier Hagrup Haukland, also accompanied Mr Brattskar on his Kilinochchi visit, sources added.
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TRO donates permanent houses to tsunami victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 March 2006, 10:43 GMT]
"We have plans to build 250 houses in the Mullaitivu district. Houses we have constructed in Kallappad are expensive, structurally strong and are better than many similar houses donated as part of tsunami relief across Sri Lanka," said K.P. Regi, Executive Director, Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), speaking at the handing over ceremony held Tuesday morning in Kallappadu village in the Mulaitivu district.
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Canadian Tamils protest against HRW charges

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 March 2006, 11:00 GMT]
Expatriate Tamils in Canada reacted Wednesday against a report by Human Rights Watch alleging extortion by the Tamil Tigers, saying the report had characterized their entire community as one moribund by fear and questioned its integration into Canadian society. Pointing out there has not been a single prosecution for extortion in Canada amongst the Tamil community, they said anecdotal evidence and assumptions, not sound social science research, formed the basis for HRW’s allegations.
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"Accusations, not negotiations" in Geneva - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 22:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s delegation to the Geneva talks had no understanding of negotiation and set about hurling accusations at the Liberation Tigers rather than contributing to a constructive discussion that could lead to a resolution of the prevailing problems, Thamileelam Police Chief B. Nadesan said Tuesday in an extensive interview with TamilNet. He also discussed the multi-functionary expansion of the Thamileelam Police, including the use of DNA forensics. The Tamil Eelam Police Chief also said that the detention of three Sri Lankan police had been deliberately portrayed as arbitrary arrests by the LTTE but was based on specific intelligence on the individuals.
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Trinco Inner Wheel Club assists widows

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 09:43 GMT]
Trincomalee Inner Wheel Club has provided livelihood assistance to nine widows in the suburbs of Trincomalee town. Of them four lost their husbands in violence and others due to natural causes. Last year a group of widows in Muttur and Mallikaitivu received the assistance under this project, sources said. The Medical Institute of Tamils located in South Thames Region in London funded this project for the third year.
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Geneva peace talks in grave danger – Balasingham

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 March 2006, 11:16 GMT]
"The Geneva peace talks will face grave danger if the Sri Lanka government refuses to disarm Tamil paramilitary organisations and continues allowing them to launch offensive military operations against our military positions in Batticaloa district," warned Mr Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Commenting on the current situation Mr Balasingham told TamilNet that the LTTE leadership would be compelled to review its decision to participate in the next round of talks, to be held in Geneva on 19 April, if Colombo fails to fulfil the pledges agreed in the joint statement issued after the first session of talks in Geneva.
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Sea Tigers launch Deep-Sea Ops training to Auxiliary Flotilla

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 March 2006, 12:33 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Special Commander of Sea Tigers, Col. Soosai, on Friday launched Deep-Sea Operations training for selected naval auxiliarists from the recently trained flotillas of Thamileelam Naval Auxiliary Force, Sea Tiger sources in Mullaithivu said. The auxiliary naval flotilla, named after Lt. Col. Oscar of the Sea Tigers, is the first auxiliary flotilla to be trained in assisting the Tigers in offensive operations in the sea, sources added.
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Amnesty fears for safety of disappeared TRO staffers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 March 2006, 12:28 GMT]
Amnesty International in an Urgent Action release issued Friday expressed "grave concern" for the safety of the seven Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) staffers who were abducted on 29-30 January and are still missing. Amnesty urged all concerned to write to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence, Inspector General of Police and Sri Lanka's President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse to "undertake and complete as a matter of urgency thorough investigations into the fate and whereabouts of the seven," and to ensure safety of all TRO workers and the families of the missing.
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Trinco remembers Tamil scholar Akilesapillai

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 March 2006, 17:39 GMT]
The 153rd birthday of Tamil scholar Poet and writer V.Akilesapillai was observed in Trincomalee town where he was born on 7th March 1853. He wrote a book in the year 1889 on the history of historic Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee under the title 'Thirukonasala Vaipavam' which is still considered a valuable document among intellectuals and historians who research on the Koneswaram history and history of Tamils in the east port district, sources said.
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