Thousands from Vanni vote in Omanthai, Uyilankulam, Madhu

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 2004, 07:50 GMT]
Thousands of enthusiastic voters from the Mullaithivu district and the northern parts of the Vavuniya district which are controlled by the Liberation Tigers swarmed to polling stations in Omanthai Friday morning to cast their ballots. More than thirty percent of the fifty two thousand voters in Mullaithivu had cast their votes by 10 a.m. according to the chief returning officer for the district, Ms. Imelda Sukumar. Omanthai, a dilapidated town surrounded by Sri Lankan military garrisons is eighteen kilometres north of Vavuniya town.
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Brisk polling reported in Trincomalee district

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 2004, 07:24 GMT]
Brisk polling is reported from the clustered polling stations, which are located in Kattaiparichchan, and Mahindapura for voters residing the LTTE controlled Muttur east villages and Eachilampathu division in the Trincomalee district. Trincomalee District Returning Officer Mr. Gamini Rodrigo Friday noon said about seventy five percent of the uncleared area voters have exercised their franchise, sources said.
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Voters in LTTE-held Vanni arrive in Puliyankulam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 17:33 GMT]
Twenty thousand voters in remote areas in the Mullaithivu district have been brought to the Liberation Tigers’ checkpoint in Puliyankulam until Thursday evening for voting in the general elections on Friday at the clustered polling stations in Omanthai, about 10 k.m. south of Puliyankulam, said Mr. S. Elilan, the political head of the LTTE in Vavuniya.
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NPC condemns election violence and expulsion of people in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 15:03 GMT]
In a press release Thursday, the National Peace Council has condemned the election-related violence, intimidations and assassinations in the North-East, and the “effort to expel people of Jaffna-origin living in Batticaloa,” saying that “factional rivalries should not be solved at the expense of the people.”
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Omanthai SLA checkpoint gets electricity

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 06:02 GMT]
Transport arrangements for the more than 100,000 voters in the Liberation Tigers controlled areas in the Vanni and Jaffna districts for the elections to be held on Friday are being completed, with a resting place in Puliyankualm and voting booths close to Omanthai and Muhamalai check points of the Sri Lanka Army, officials from the Elections Department said. As part of these arrangements, electricity supply was ceremonially inaugurated to the Omanthai checkpoint complex of the SLA on Wednesday.
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CMEV sends all Sinhala monitors to Jaffna district

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 00:35 GMT]
A thirteen member-team of the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) arrived in Jaffna Wednesday to monitor the April 2nd general election in the Jaffna electoral district. All monitors are from the major community and would be staying in Jaffna until the election is concluded, civil society sources said.


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LTTE requests Jaffna Tamils not to leave Batticaloa, Amparai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 16:29 GMT]
The political secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Wednesday issued a statement appealing to the people who have been living in the districts of Batticaloa and Amparai for generations not to leave their habitats succumbing to the threats and the pressure directly issued by the Karuna group or in the name of any other organizations.
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Karuna cadres arrested with weapons in Batticaloa town

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 10:30 GMT]
The Batticaloa Magistrate Mr.A.J.M.Ajmeer Wednesday ordered remand till April 14 for four persons who are said to be cadres of Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna), renegade commander of the LTTE when they were produced in court on a report that they were taken into custody for possession of dangerous weapons, legal sources said.
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“Depriving franchise would pose serious problems”- Cushnahan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 15:10 GMT]
“The Elections Commissioner has agreed that voters in LTTE held areas in the northeast would be given an opportunity to exercise their franchise. However, preventing them from voting on the polling day would pose serious problems,” said the European Union Election Observation Commission (EU EOM) Chief Observer, Mr.John Cushnahan, addressing a press briefing in the Batticaloa district secretariat Tuesday.
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Tigers condemn TNA candidate’s killing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 07:27 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Tuesday said they strongly condemn the killing of Mr. Rajan Sathiyamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance candidate for Batticaloa. “The people of Batticaloa should not to be perturbed by such incidents of violence in the district that create fear. We call on them to vote for the TNA and show the world the national strength of the Tamil people”, the LTTE said in statement issued in Tamil from their political headquarters in Kilinochchi Tuesday. Mr. Sathiyamoorthy was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his residence Tuesday morning.


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Thennamaravadi residents to vote after 17 years

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 03:10 GMT]
Nearly six hundred displaced voters of Thennamaravadi, a traditional Tamil village on the northern border of the Trincomalee district located about 73 km from the east port town wiil be voting for the first time after they fled from the village in 1987 due to military operation by the Sri Lanka Army, civil sources said.


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Pro-Karuna TNA candidate shot

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 02:40 GMT]
Batticaloa Tamil National Alliance candidate, Mr. Rajan Sathiyamoorthy, a close confidante of renegade LTTE commander Mr. V. Muraleetharan, was shot by unidentified gunmen at his residence in the eastern town Tuesday morning. The injured candidate was rushed to Batticaloa hospital, Police said. The Hospital director said that Mr.Sathiyamoorthy succumbed to his wounds after he was admitted to the hospital.
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Six EU observers to monitor polling in Trinco

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 2004, 00:22 GMT]
Six observers of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) have been posted to Trincomalee electoral district to monitor the election activities on the polling day, said EU Chief Observer Chief Observer, Mr.John Cushnahan, Monday, addressing a press briefing in the Trincomalee district secretariat.


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Sampanthan urges countries to remove ban on LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 2004, 17:05 GMT]
"The ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is still in force in some countries. The verdict of the Tamil people in the northeast province in the April 2nd poll should tell these countries that time has come for them to lift the ban on the LTTE as they have been fully backing the LTTE and its Interim Self-Governing Authority proposal," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the lead candidate of the TNA in the Trincomalee district, ddressing a series of election meeting from morning till late in the night on Sunday.
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"April election to create new leaf in freedom struggle"-Ilamparithi

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 2004, 16:57 GMT]
"Tamils in the northeast should rally around the Tamil National Alliance in the forthcoming April 2 general election to create a new leaf in the Tamil freedom struggle," said the Jaffna district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr.C. Ilamparithi, addressing a press conference held Monday evening at the office of the Jaffna district political secretariat located in Kokuvil.
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Posters, leaflets against Karuna Group in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 2004, 15:33 GMT]
Posters criticising the Karuna Group appeared in many parts of Batticaloa Monday. Several leaflets urging people in the troubled eastern district not to provide any form of assistance to the group led by renegade LTTE commander, Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, were also distributed in Batticaloa town and its outskirts Sunday night.
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SLN denies involvement in intimidating LTTE cadres

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 2004, 14:32 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy Monday denied its involvement in the intimidation of LTTE political activists recently in the Puliyankoodal area in Kayts division in the Jaffna district. The SLN's denial came in a response to a complaint by the LTTE's Jaffna district political secretariat with the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), sources said
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Thampalakamam residents march in support of TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 2004, 01:11 GMT]
Hundreds of villagers including women and children participated in a four km procession in Thampalakamam, Sunday afternoon carrying photographs of the LTTE national leader Mr.Velupillai Pirapaharan and shouting slogans in support of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidates, sources said.
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"Election will be a turning point in Tamil struggle"- LTTE official

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 2004, 00:51 GMT]
Kumburupiddy area political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr.M.Sivakumar, Sunday addressing an election seminar in support of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the Trincomalee district said that the forthcoming general election would be a turning point in the Tamil freedom struggle.


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CTTU asks members to vote for TNA, anti-war party in South

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 March 2004, 19:12 GMT]
The General Secretary of Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU), Mr.T.Mahasivam, Sunday addressing an election seminar held for CTTU Trincomalee zonal branch teachers Sunday told its members to cast one of their preferential votes to the lead candidate of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in every district in the northeast province in the forthcoming general election.


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