Norwegian FM to visit Sri Lanka next week

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 May 2004, 09:02 GMT]
Norway’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Jan Petersen, will visit Sri Lanka on 10 and 11 May 2004 to explore ways of bringing the peace process forward, said the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press statement issued on Tuesday. Mr. Petersen will be accompanied by Deputy Minister Vidar Helgesen. The Norwegian Foreign Minister will have meetings with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, leader of the LTTE, according to the press release.
Full story >>

Foreign NGOs’ projects in NE do not benefit people – Thooyavan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 May 2004, 03:48 GMT]
“Many foreign NGOs [Non-Governmental Organizations] are claiming in international forums that they are engaged in development work in the North-East, but the reality on the ground is that no development of benefit to the people has been completed,” said Mr. S. K. Thooyavan, the director of the Liberation Tigers’ development secretariat, speaking at a conference at the Jaffna district secretariat Tuesday, according to Uthayan, the Jaffna-based Tamil daily.
Full story >>

Norwegian peace envoy meets TNA delegation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2004, 20:05 GMT]
"Peace talks between the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should be held on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal. The UPFA government should not use the opportunity of holding peace talks as a device to strengthen its position in the parliament and to obtain foreign aid," the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation told the visiting Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim during a discussion held Tuesday evening at the Norwegian embassy in Colombo, TNA sources said.


Full story >>

RSF fears for safety of Tamil journalist

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2004, 16:18 GMT]
The Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) in a letter to Sri Lanka's minister of home affairs, Mr. Amarasiri Dodangoda, on Tuesday expressed its fears for the safety of Tamil journalist Mr. Dharmeratnam Sivaram ("Taraki"), whose home in Colombo was searched by Sri Lanka police Monday.
Full story >>

Balasingham to visit Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2004, 10:36 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers’ theoretician and political strategist, Mr. Anton Balasingham, will travel to Vanni this week to meet the movement’s leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan, to map out its strategy for future peace talks, TamilNet learns.


Full story >>

'Liberation struggle has weathered several crises’ –Kousalyan

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2004, 22:06 GMT]
“In the history of the Tamil liberation struggle, we have faced several crises, and it is as a result of weathering all those crises that the Liberation Tigers are today powerful militarily and politically,” said Mr.E. Kousalyan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa-Amapai, speaking at the May Day organized jointly by the LTTE, trade unions and public organizations in the East and held at the Kaluthavalai public playgrounds Saturday, according to the Tuesday edition of Uthayan, the Tamil newspaper based in Jaffna.
Full story >>

LTTE ready to resume talks based on ISGA- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2004, 09:47 GMT]
Ambassador for Norway in Colombo, Mr. Hans Brattskar, Norway's special peace envoy, Mr. Eric Solheim, and Second Secretary of the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, Ms. Kjersti Thomsdal, met with Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Head of the LTTE Political Wing at the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi. The talks, started at 10.45 a.m. lasted for more than two hours and focused on the resumption of stalled peace talks and about preparing the agenda for the talks between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), sources in Vanni said.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka's bona fides critical to peace talks- TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2004, 19:21 GMT]
“We are militarily and politically strong that no Sri Lanka Government will be able to deceive the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) or the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) with cosmetic gestures or by engaging us in disingenous peace talks. Our future attitude towards having a constructive dialogue with the Sri Lanka Government depends on its next move towards the peace process," said the TNA parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan addressing a large gathering of TNA activists and local leaders held at Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall Sunday morning.


Full story >>

Norwegian facilitators meet Sri Lanka's President

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2004, 17:13 GMT]
Norwegian peace delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Vidar Helgessen Sunday morning met with Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge at the President House in Nuwara Eliya in the Central Province on the latter's invitation. Special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim and Norwegian Ambassador in Colombo Mr. Hans Brattskar also participated in the talks, Sri Lanka government sources said.


Full story >>

Norwegian Tamils hold May Day in major cities of Norway

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2004, 14:50 GMT]
About two thousand Tamils in Oslo gathered on saturday in their biggest May Day gathering in Oslo ever, carrying Tamil Eelam national flags and banners urging the international community to recognize the Tamil people's right to self-determination. Hundreds of Tamils in other major cities like Bergen and Stavanger also gathered for May Day, sources in Oslo said.
Full story >>

LTTE fighter killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2004, 11:58 GMT]
A Liberation Tigers fighter was killed in Batticaloa in a claymore mine blast Saturday around 11.30 a.m, sources said.
Full story >>

Norwegian peace delegation arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 May 2004, 10:38 GMT]
A high level Norwegian peace delegation led by Norways's Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgessen, arrived in Colombo Saturday early morning in a bid to resume the peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on an invitation extended by Sri Lanka’s President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, sources said.


Full story >>

Assault, detention of LTTE cadres sparks protest

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 April 2004, 18:36 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Police severely assaulted and detained two members of the Liberation Tigers’ sports division Friday at Puthur Junction in Jaffna. Several civilians and a journalist were also assaulted and manhandled by the Police when the two Tigers were taken away in a truck. Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Atchuvely Police station where the two LTTE cadres were detained Friday night, protesting against the assault and demanding their immediate release.
Full story >>

NPC holds workshop on de-mining in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 April 2004, 14:16 GMT]
"De-mining work in the northeast province has been severely hampered as the international aid agencies show reluctance to provide funds for such work due to the failure to sign the Ottawa convention that prohibits the use of landmines and other related explosives by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)," said a Director of the National Peace Council (NPC), Mr.S. Balakrishnan, addressing a de-mining workshop in Jaffna Friday.
Full story >>

SLA restricts night traffic through entry points in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 April 2004, 02:38 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army on Thursday introduced new rules to restrict traffic at night between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. through the eight entry points in the Batticaloa district through which the public can pass between the Liberation Tigers-controlled areas and the SLA-controlled areas in the district, Tamil media sources in the East said Thursday.


Full story >>

LTTE, trade unions to hold May Day in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 April 2004, 20:37 GMT]
Trade unions, public organizations and the Liberation Tigers in the Batticaloa district will jointly hold the May Day at 4:00 p.m. Saturday at the Kaluthavalai public sports grounds, 22 km south of Batticaloa town, sources said.
Full story >>

‘Need to know Colombo’s stand on resuming talks’ – Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 April 2004, 09:20 GMT]
Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, the head of the LTTE’ political division, said Thursday that the Tigers would state their stand on for resuming the island’s stalled peace process only after Norwegians peace facilitators first find out and apprise them of Colombo’s position regarding the basis for restarting negotiations. He was speaking to the local press after meeting head of Sri Lanka’s truce monitoring mission, Maj. Gen. (ret) Trond Furuhovde in Kilinochchi.
Full story >>

UNHCR IG calls for renewed focus on Sri Lanka's IDPs

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 April 2004, 08:17 GMT]
UNHCR Inspector General Dennis McNamara Thursday called for renewed attention to the plight of Sri Lanka's hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. "It also requires greater investment to ensure that conditions in return areas are conducive to a safe and dignified return – that families are able to earn a living, send their children to school, access health facilities and live in safety”, he said in Colombo Thursday.
Full story >>

SLA's complicity claimed in Batticaloa murders

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2004, 10:50 GMT]
Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), S.P.Thamilchelvan, in a letter to the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General (retd.) Trond Furuhovde, said that the murder of seven LTTE cadres including four disabled Sunday night was a violation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) and that the LTTE had "credible evidence that the attackers came from the Vavunathivu SLA [Sri Lanka Army] camp direction," according to the LTTE's Peace Secretariat website.
Full story >>

Batticaloa youth shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2004, 09:51 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a youth and wounded another in Maligawatte, a congested suburb near downtown Colombo, Monday night around 10 p.m. Police said. The youth are from Batticaloa, according to Police sources. The gunmen who shot the youth while they were negotiating an apartment for rent in Maligawatte got away. No arrests have been made in connection with the killing, the sources said.


Full story >>