Greater inclusivity can revive peace process- NPC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 August 2004, 09:16 GMT]
The National Peace Council, in a press release issued in Colombo Tuesday said that killings during ceasefire are "totally unacceptable," and that a bipartisan approach is necessary to take the peace process forward to arrive at a "mutually agreed negotiated political solution."
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Time for stock taking of truce - SLMM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 August 2004, 08:05 GMT]
It is time for a 'stock taking' of the cease fire between the Liberation Tigers and the Government, of how it has fared since it was signed in February 2002, Head of the Nordic mission monitoring the truce in Sri Lanka, said when he met the LTTE in Kilinochchi Wednesday. LTTE would not resume meeting with the Sri Lankan armed forces in the east until the killings of their cadres in the region are stopped, Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, head of Tigers' political division, told Major General (ret) Trond Furhovde, chief of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.
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Remanded LTTE cadres protest on jail roof

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 August 2004, 11:13 GMT]
Ten cadres of the Liberation Tigers Tuesday afternoon climbed on the Batticaloa jail roof demanding that their case be expedited for their early release, Police said. The LTTE cadres, six males and four females, were arrested in July 2003 after Police found some ammunition in the vehicles in which they were traveling. The protesting LTTE cadres complained that others who were arrested with weapons were released because of their connections with army intelligence.
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Karuna associate shot dead in Akkaraipattu court

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 August 2004, 05:52 GMT]
An associate of the renegade LTTE commander Karuna was shot dead inside courts in Akkaraipattu, 64 kilometres south of Batticaloa, Tuesday around 10.40 a.m. An Unidentified gunman shot the man, identified as Mr. Perinpam Jeyakumar, when his name was called in courts to appear before the judge. Special Task Force (STF) arrested Mr. Jeyakumar with a grenade and a pistol on 19 May while he was traveling with a colleague from Akkaraipattu to Kalmunai. A jailer and courts worker were injured in the shoot out.
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UPFA urged to adopt consistent stand on ISGA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 August 2004, 00:41 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) in an 8-page statement issued Monday said that UNP is "saddened by the steadfast refusal of the present UPFA government to adopt a coherent and internally consistent stand in respect of their attitude to the current ISGA proposals," and accused the UPFA government for making confusing and contradictory statements leading to the current impasse, jeopardizing the ceasefire agreement.
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Ex LTTE cadre shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 17:12 GMT]
An ex cadre of the Liberation Tigers who had been working with the Sri Lanka military intelligence was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in a Hindu Ashramam in Wellawatte, a largely Tamil suburb of Colombo, Monday night around 10, Police said. Police identified the ex LTTE cadre as R. Kugananthan, 47.
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SLA support to paramilitaries endangers integrity of the CFA - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 09:03 GMT]
In a letter to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) regarding the recent killings of two LTTE members in Batticaloa, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan accused the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) of accommodating and encouraging the activities of armed groups and warned that it is a serious threat to normalcy and maintaining the integrity of the CFA.
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SLA trooper injured in attack in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 08:45 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army soldier was injured Monday noon when unidentified gunmen fired on a foot patrol on the A 15 coastal road in Kayankerni, 46 kilometres north of Batticaloa. The soldier, Private Saman Kumara, was wounded below the knee, SLA sources in Batticaloa said.
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Colombo said considering alternative to Nordic truce mission

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 06:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka' Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, said Monday that his government is thinking of either enhancing the powers of the Nordic truce monitoring mission in the island or finding a more effective alternative to it.
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Muslim towns shut down to mourn slain Tiger

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 04:17 GMT]
Muslim towns and villages in the Amparai district observed a total shut down Monday in mourning for 'Bawa', the senior Liberation Tiger who was killed in an ambush north of Batticaloa last Friday. Traffic on the coastal main road of the district was completely blocked beyond Kalmunai for the shut down (Hartal). Large crowds of Muslims thronged to pay their last respects to 'Bawa' when his body lay at the LTTE's political office in Kalmunai and later at the Ramakrishna Mission in Akkaraipattu on Sunday.
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South African Tamil activist dies

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 August 2004, 18:00 GMT]
The Tamil Co-ordinating Committee and International Centre for Performing Arts Sunday jointly hosted a memorial tribute to Mr. Seeniappah Padmanathan, who passed away on 27th June in South Africa. Mr. S. Padmanathan was the Director of the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee, a promoter of Carnatic Music and a Social & Welfare Worker, according to sources in South Africa.
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Garbage dump sparks protest in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 August 2004, 13:12 GMT]
Hundreds of people Saturday from four villages affected by a dump for disposing garbage from Vavuniya protested against the disposal of waste to near Rasenthirakulam eight kilometres west of the large northern border town. Protestors blocked tractors carrying garbage to the dump. Residents of these farming villages complain that the garbage dump used by the Vavuniya Urban Council (UC) has become a major health hazard in the area and its foul smell is unbearable. Protestors also blocked vehicle of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) that was carrying waste to dispose at the dump.
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Soldier injured in grenade attack in Batticaloa north

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 August 2004, 08:57 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army soldier was injured in a grenade attack in Mankerni, about 47 kilometres north of Batticaloa Saturday morning around 6.30 p.m. Police in the eastern town said. The soldier was riding a motorbike with another trooper when unidentified assailants lobbed a grenade at them. The second soldier was unhurt, Police said. Residents of the area, however, said that an army captain was also injured in the attack. He was identified as Captain Wijeratna of Sri Lanka army's 55-2 Brigade in Valaichenai. The trooper is private Tennekoon.
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Two Tigers killed in ambush north of Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 August 2004, 11:13 GMT]
Mr. Bawa, a senior member of the Liberation Tigers from the Amparai District and an LTTE rehabilitation affairs official were killed in an ambush near a Sri Lanka army camp at Kayankerni, 36 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Friday around 2.15 p.m. Mr. Bawa was riding a motorbike with Mr. Yoga, an LTTE official in charge of rehabilitation work, when gunmen ambushed them triggering a claymore mine and opening fire at Pullaavi junction in Kayankerni, an area controlled by the Sri Lankan military. A female cadre travelling with them was seriously injured. She was earlier believed dead.
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US calls on Colombo, LTTE to rebuild trust

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 August 2004, 07:11 GMT]
United States of America Thursday urged the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers to “take steps to work to rebuild trust and schedule the promised talks as soon as possible”. The US embassy issued a press release regarding the current state of the peace process in Sri Lanka after US Deputy Secretary of state Mr. Richard Armitage reviewed the situation in Sri Lanka with U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Mr. Jeffrey Lunstead, according to the statement.
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Murder convict said organizer of Sri Lanka conference in Oslo

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 August 2004, 05:20 GMT]
A man convicted of murder is the joint organiser of a conference on Sri Lanka in Oslo, the Norwegian multicultural newspaper Utrop said in its online edition Friday. The conference, which begins Friday, brings together Sinhala nationalist hardliners and Sinhala Buddhist extremists from around the world. The Norwegian, the joint organizer of the Sinhala nationalist conference, was convicted for murdering an immigrant restaurant owner in Oslo and sentenced to preventive detention for ten years in 1997, according to Utrop.
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JVP intensifies its campaign against ISGA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 August 2004, 13:48 GMT]
The Sinhala nationalist cum Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), major constituent of the ruling minority United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government has been actively engaged in a campaign in the south of the country against the Interim Self Governing Authority proposals of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the topic " Who is the real enemy of peace?" It launched its campaign on August 11
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"Tamil national patriot" Selliah Ratnam passes away

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 August 2004, 07:40 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conferred the title "Tamil national patriot" on Mr. Selliah Ratnam, retired Assistant Government Agent and the Jaffna district co-ordinator of SIHRN who passed away Sunday in Colombo Apollo Hospital after a brief illness. The remains draped by the Tiger flag were kept first at SIHRN office in Killinochchi district secretariat and later at Thooyavan Political Science College of the LTTE Tuesday for the public to pay homage.
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SLA, police in Jaffna against hoisting of LTTE flag

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 August 2004, 02:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army and Police in Jaffna district have been exerting pressure on the organizers of public and sports events in the Vadamarachchi division not to hoist the Tamil Eelam national flag, which is also the flag of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). During the weekend, the LTTE flag was hoisted at four sports events in the Vadamaradchchi division. The SLA and police rushed to the sites and ordered the organizers to remove the flags. But the people gathered at the events refused, sources said.
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SLA, Police cordorn, search Valaichenai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 August 2004, 14:10 GMT]
Hundreds of Sri Lanka army soldiers and Policemen cordoned off and searched Valaichenai town and environs, 32 kilometres north of Batticaloa, from early morning Wendnesday. Soldiers and Policemen questioned residents about their contacts with the Liberation Tigers and paramilitaries opposed to the LTTE, sources in the town said. Some Muslim homes in the area were also searched, according to the sources.
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