U.S. regrets loss of innocent life in Sri Lankan military attack in Vakarai

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 12:05 GMT]
The U.S. Department of State in a media note issued on Thursday said the U.S "strongly regrets" the loss of innocent life caused by the shelling by the Sri Lankan military in Vakarai region Wednesday. The U.S. urged both the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to honor their commitment to abide by the cease fire, end all hostilities immediately, and return to negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. "We are also disturbed that the Head of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission and his delegation came under fire in Pooneryn in the north of Sri Lanka the same day," the statement said.
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Stop genocide against Tamils - TNA appeals to UN

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 01:20 GMT]
19 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians led by Mr. R. Sampanthan, Leader of the TNA Parliamentary group and Member of Parliament for Trincomalee district, protested Thursday at 11:00 a.m in front of United Nations office in Colombo condemning the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bombing of Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Vaharai and Kathiravelli, killing 53 civilians and seriously injuring 127, sources in Colombo said. The protesters urged the United Nations to urgently intervene to stop the "genocide against Tamils let loose by the Sri Lanka government."
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SLMM head visits Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2006, 11:26 GMT]
The head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General Lars Johan Solvberg, Thursday afternoon around 12:30 p.m. arrived in Mannar by land and held discussions with SLMM monitors in Mannar district office. The discussion centred on the ground situation prevailing in the district. He left Mannar to Colombo around 1:30 p.m. the same day, sources said.
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UN envoy arrives to study plight of children

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 15:55 GMT]
Ambassador Allan Rock, special representative of United Nations arrived in Colombo on the invitation of Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) on Tuesday morning, Office of the United Nations in Colombo said. Ambassador Rock represents Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Under Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, and will study the plight of children affected by war in Sri Lanka, the UN officials added.
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Sonobo Children’s Home in Vaharai attacked, 12 children injured - TRO

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 11:07 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), engaged in emergency rescue work at the IDP camp in Kathiraveli school Wednesday evening, said TRO’s Sonobo Children’s Home located close to the school was also attacked by SLA artillery. 12 children were wounded. Forty bodies have been recovered including 6 babies between the ages of 3 and 6 months, the TRO statement said. 76 persons have been admitted to the hospital.
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TNA calls on Sri Lanka to uphold 1987 merger

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 November 2006, 15:20 GMT]
Saying that the Sri Lankan state’s recognition of the Tamils’ historical existence as a people living in the Northeast of the island was realised in the establishment of the Northeast province in 1987, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), charged Tuesday that it was the duty of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government to uphold the merger as it constituted a recognition of Tamil grievances. The TNA is expected to pass a resolution as Sri Lankan Prime Minister is reported to have told the Parliament Tuesday that a "future merger" would be dependent on a referendum in the East.
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SLA censors Heroes' Day coverage

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2006, 21:25 GMT]
"It is an outright violation of the freedom of press by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 512nd Division high officials to threaten the Editors of the Jaffna peninsula Tamil dailies not to publish any news related to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and not to publish LTTE leader Pirabakaran's photo or his annual November Heroes' Day message," S. Gajendran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Jaffna district, told TamilNet Monday.
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Braving sea of perils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 November 2006, 01:11 GMT]
The abundance of fish stock in Mullaitivu seas has provided a life line to fisher families from littoral villages dotting 70km Mullaitivu coast stretching from Kokkilai in the south to Iranaipalai in the north. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has occupied 13km of this coastline from Kokkilai to Nayaaru from 1985. Although fall of SLA's Mullaitivu garrison to Liberation Tigers in 1996 brought relief to fisher families, continued harassment by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and threats from the SLA camps in the southern coast of the district continue to plague fisher families who brave the seas to earn a living.
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560 displaced families face starvation in Vadamaradchy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 November 2006, 12:54 GMT]
Consortium of non Governmental Organizations in Jaffna expressed concern over severe food shortage and harsh living conditions of more than 560 families displaced from their villages behind the Thenmaradchy Forward Defence Line (FDL) border strip along Muhamalai-Nagarkovil and living in temporary accomodation in Vadamaradchy schools, during a press conference held Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at the NGO premises in Temple Road Nallur, Jaffna, civil society sources said.


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Kilinochchi raid violates International Humanitarian Law- TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 November 2006, 15:58 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a press release issued in Colombo Friday condemned the Thursday bombing raid by SLAF near Kilinochchi hospital as "serious violation of International Humanitarian Law," and said the bombing was "conducted with callous disregard for the safety and the security of Tamil civilian life and property." TNA also expressed disappointment that despite repeated attacks by GoSL against civilian life and property, "the International Community is unable to bring such attacks of the GOSL to an end."
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GoSL will attack Northeast over land, sea, air- Wickremenayake

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 November 2006, 10:31 GMT]
The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, said that his government has planned to launch offensives on the Tamil north and east provinces by land, sea and air, while speaking at a function held Friday at 11:00 a.m at the Prime Minister's office to announce financial assistance to the children of soldiers affected by the war, sources in Colombo said.


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Jaffna Bishop calls for urgent help to avert humanitarian disaster

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 November 2006, 00:30 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Savundara- nayagam, has sent an urgent telegram Thursday to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse requesting him to immediately open a landroute to Jaffna peninsula to allow the flow of desperately needed food and other essential materials to Jaffna residents, civil society sources in Jaffna said Thursday.
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Aerial attack near Hospital, a message of terror, says Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 November 2006, 11:59 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) that promised to halt the military offensives at the negotiating table, in front of the International Community in Geneva, has sent a "message of terror" within 24 hours of LTTE delegation's arrival in Kilinochchi by conducting a "gruesome" aerial attack killing an innocent family and terrorising the patients at the General Hopital premises, said Political Head of the Liberation Tigers, S. P. Thamilchelvan, following the Sri Lankan aerial attack in the heart of Kilinochchi town Thursday. Hospitals which serve the most humanitarian need and deserve utmost protection from any acts of violence, have now become targets to GoSL's campaign of terror, he added.
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Co-Chair envoys in Colombo meet GOSL peace delegation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 November 2006, 09:47 GMT]
Envoys of Co-Chairs to the Tokyo Donor Conference in Colombo Thursday met with representatives of peace delegation of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) that attended the Geneva talks 2 last week. The discussion was held at the office of the Government Peace Secretariat in Colombo.
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UN Special Rapporteur on torture to visit Sri Lanka in January

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 November 2006, 13:57 GMT]
Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Raporteur on Torture, will visit Sri Lanka from 27 January to 2 February 2007 and submit a report to United Nations Human Rights Council, after meeting with Sri Lankan Government officials, the judiciary, Human Rights Commission, parliamentarians, NGO representatives and visit the detention centres. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur covers all countries, irrespective of whether a State has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
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TNA condemns killing of PS member, attack on MP's House

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2006, 12:19 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a press release issued Tuesday, accused two Sinhala Homeguards for killing the elected TNA member Seruwila Pradesiya Sabha, and condemned the grenade attack on the private residence of TNA Vanni parliamentarian, Sivanathan Kishore.
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Norwegian MP criticizes closure of A9

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2006, 10:33 GMT]
Jan Bøhler, Labour Party parliamentarian and leader of the Oslo Labour Party, expressed concern about the failure of the week-end talks between the Sri Lanka Government (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and commended the efforts of the Norwegian Tamils supporting peace, Monday around 7:00 p.m in front of the Norway Parliament, source in Norway said. The GoSL blockade of the A9 landroute to Jaffna should be criticized by all who care about humanitarian issues, said Jan Bøhler in his address.
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Statement by the Norwegian Facilitator

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 October 2006, 07:23 GMT]
At the conclusion of the 2-day meeting in Geneva between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers, the Norwegian Facilitator issued a statement urging “both parties to allow themselves some time to reflect on the situation and not to draw hasty conclusions or take actions that could increase the suffering of civilians in Sri Lanka.” “Norway will be in ongoing dialogue with the parties to discuss all possible ideas on how to move the peace process forward,” the statement further said.
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No agreement in Geneva on Humanitarian crisis, Tigers respond on pluralism and democracy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 October 2006, 16:57 GMT]
The talks in Geneva ended Sunday without any agreement between the Parties, the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the Humanitarian crisis and the re-opening of closed gateways. Responding on Democracy the Tigers said they were "more committed to the democratic principles" than the GoSL and challenged the GoSL to repeal the sixth amendment to the SL constitution as a token of its commitment to democracy and pluralism. The LTTE also challenged the GoSL to remove its armed forces from the Tamil homeland and allow the holding of a referendum under international supervision to ascertain the aspirations of the people in the homeland.
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SLA intensifies deployment in Northern Front, curfew imposed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 October 2006, 05:59 GMT]
Amid reports of deployment of additional troops and military hardware in Northern Front, Sri Lanka Army, from Palaly military base, Sunday morning announced curfew in villages near Northern Front Forward Defence Line (FDLs). Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troopers engaged in a major training exercise throughout Saturday night in Palaly, Thondamanarau lagoon and Valalai area in Vadamaradchy sector of the Jaffna district. The SLA rehearsal comes following a sudden visit by Sri Lanka Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka to Palaly Saturday as Parties, the GoSL and LTTE delegations were engaged in talks in Geneva, Switzerland.


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