"Tamil party support needed for stable govt"-UNF minister

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2004, 16:38 GMT]
Senior minister in the United National Front (UNF) government, Dr.Rajitha Senaratne, addressing a meeting in Ratnapura Sunday said that no stable government could be formed after the forthcoming general election without the northeast Tamil parliamentarians and that the United National Party (UNP) is prepared to collaborate with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) after the forthcoming general election, political sources said.


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TNA to meet again to decide on election symbol

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2004, 15:36 GMT]
The leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will meet again on February 18th to take a final decision regarding the election symbol to contest the forthcoming parliamentary general election, which is to be held on April 2, party sources said. TNA leaders took the decision to this effect at a discussion held Sunday evening at the headquarters of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), main constituent of the TNA.


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SLMM new head to visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2004, 12:48 GMT]
The Norwegian head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General (retd) Trond Furuhovde is scheduled to visit Jaffna district Monday. This would be his first visit to Jaffna following his assumption of duties as SLMM head on February 1st for the second time after replacing Major General Triggve Teleffsen, sources said
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Sri Lanka Elections: News Brief

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2004, 11:51 GMT]
Key members of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) are likely to join the United National Front, Sri Lanka's Police force's leaves have been suspended, Thamilchelvan returns to Vanni from European trip and Anandasangaree continues to scuttle Tamil National Alliance efforts to formulate a coherent election strategy, according to local media reports.
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Marxists reject Sri Lanka's truce with Tigers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2004, 19:51 GMT]
The SLFP-JVP Alliance will not abide by the cease fire agreement (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers, instead it would try to negotiate a new CFA, the powerful propaganda secretary of the JVP, Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, told the latest issue of the Sinhala weekly "Lanka". He charged that the CFA Mr. Ranil Wickremesighe signed with the leader of the LTTE in February 2002 poses a clear threat to national security. Informed Sinhala political analysts say "Lanka" is a paper backed by the JVP.


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Polling in LTTE areas to be discussed with truce monitors

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2004, 15:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Commissioner of Elections Saturday told Government Agents and Assistant Elections Commissioners from the Northeast that he would discuss with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the Sri Lankan Government’s Peace Secretariat about arrangements to enable more than two hundred thousand Tamils in regions that are not under Colombo’s control to vote in the general elections on 2 April. Sri Lankan armed forces prevented Tamils in these areas from voting in the Parliamentary elections of December 2001.
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SLMC to go solo in contests for 13 districts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2004, 00:45 GMT]
The politburo of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has decided to contest thirteen districts, including Colombo, Kandy, Gampaha and Amparai, without an alliance with other parties in the forthcoming parliamentary general elections, said SLMC general secretary Mr. Hassanaly, according to a news bulletin carried by the State-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) Friday evening.
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Cushnahan clarifies discussion with Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 February 2004, 00:01 GMT]
Mr. John Walls Cushnahan, Member of the European Parliament, clarified to TamilNet Wednesday details regarding his discussion with Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, political leader of the Liberation Tigers, when he met him on February 6, 2004. “I said that I fully understood the dangers of their [LTTE’s] supporters becoming disillusioned with the peace process if it was not perceived to be delivering improvements to the quality of life in the North East and in this regard I appreciated the difficulties caused by the current political stalemate [in Colombo],” Mr. Cushnahan said in his clarification.
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Tigers hand over underage members to UNICEF

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2004, 13:49 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Thursday handed over to the UNICEF in Kilinochchi 15 youth from their ranks who were found to be under eighteen. The youth, all males, were among those listed as underage members of the Tigers by UNICEF.
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Polling stations considered in no-man zones

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2004, 00:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Commissioner of Elections, Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake, has summoned all District Returning Officers and District Assistant Commissioners of Elections for a top level conference on Saturday at his office in Colombo to finalize locating polling booths for voters in Liberation Tigers-held areas in the Northeast province and also other related matters, authoritative sources said.
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"Will talk to any government with clear authority" – Col. Karuna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 14:17 GMT]
"We are prepared to talk to any government that comes to power in Sri Lanka with clear authority and power. We are ready to negotiate with them to settle the conflict by peaceful means. We are also firmly committed to observing the ceasefire agreement. We urge the Sinhala people to reject obscurantism and chauvinism and to choose political forces that are forward looking for the sake of peace and progress," said Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers Tuesday.
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Sports activities in Muttur given a boost

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 02:31 GMT]
One hundred and fifty thousand worth of sports gear and other related equipment were distributed to forty one youth service and sports clubs in the Liberation Tigers-held villages in the Muttur east in Trincomalee district during the past weekend. "The supply of sports gear would certainly give a boost to the development of sports activities in rural areas in the Trincomalee and to produce sport persons achieving national level," a sports official said.
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New SLMM head begins Northeast evaluation tour

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2004, 17:37 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission head, Major General (retd.) Trond Furuhovde, began his tour of the Northeast province Monday, having assumed office for the second time on February 1st. He arrived in Trincomalee Monday. The aim of his visit is to evaluate the implementation and the functions of the SLMM, sources said.
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Votes only for policies and symbol - TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2004, 15:00 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance leaders in Trincomalee resolved unanimously on Monday to contest the general elections on 2 April 2004, only on the basis of their coalition and its policies instead of their candidates.
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Muttur remote schools get computers, band equipment

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2004, 00:08 GMT]
Four computers with accessories at a cost of about 300,000 rupees were handed over to four schools in Muttur east, Pallikudiruppu Kalaimagal Hindu College, Killiveddy Maha Vidiyalayam, Kattaiparichchan Vipulananda Vidiyalayam and Sampoor Maha Vidiyalayam, at an event held at Pallikudiruppu Kalaimagal Hindu College in the Liberation Tigers-held Muttur east Saturday afternoon. A set of band music equipment valued at about 150,000 rupees was handed over to Kanguveli Agathiyar Vidiyalayam.
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LTTE blames sinhala leaders for lack of political will and vision

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2004, 19:24 GMT]
“The dissolution of the Sri Lankan parliament and the call for a snap election constitutes a grave set-back to the peace process. The decision to seek another mandate from the people clearly demonstrates the fact that the Sinhala political leadership lacks the political will and vision to resolve the country’s burning issue - the Tamil national question,” said Mr Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s political advisor and theoretician commenting on the current political developments in Colombo.
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LTTE comments on Sri Lanka Parliament dissolution

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2004, 16:17 GMT]
''The Tamil people and the Liberation Tigers wish a change of government in Sri Lanka that would provide a permanent political solution to the problems of the Tamils'', said Mr S Elilan, the head of the LTTE's Political divison in Vavuniya Sunday. His comment is the LTTE's first official reaction to the dissolution of the Sri Lankan Parliament Saturday.
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General elections would create more confusion - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2004, 04:27 GMT]
Commenting on the dissolution of parliament and the scheduled general elections in April, the parliamentary leader of the Tamil National Alliance, Mr. R. Sampanthan, said Sunday that the general elections would lead to more confusion in the country as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which clamored for the elections "to salvage the country from the current political uncertainty," have no clear-cut policies to solve the Tamil national question.
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EU assures support to North-East development

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2004, 15:22 GMT]
Mr. John Cushnahan, Member of the European Parliament, Friday assured the visiting delegation of the Liberation Tigers’ political division in Brussels, Belgium, that the European Union would provide support for the rehabilitation and development of the North-East, LTTE sources said.
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Jaffna schools said lacking basic facilities

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 February 2004, 00:44 GMT]
Educational International consultant Mr. Iyathurai Rajaguru, who is on a visit to Sri Lanka, described at a discussion held with representatives of the Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union and education officials in Trincomalee, Thursday evening, that he was shocked to see students studying in a school in Chavakachcheri sitting on broken furniture and without a blackboard.
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