Paper seller had no grenade say Jaffna Police

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2003, 17:06 GMT]
The paper seller who was shot at by a Sri Lankan army soldier in Jaffna town on 9 December pointed out his assailant at an identification parade in the Jaffna district court Tuesday. The Officer in Charge (OIC) of Sri Lanka Police station in northern town states in his First Information Report (FIR) submitted to the court that he found neither evidence of a hand grenade nor any trace of an explosion at the scene of the shooting. The SLA alleged that the paper seller had tried to lob a grenade at the soldier.
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LTTE says Pullumalai bunker in area under its control

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2003, 16:08 GMT]
The bunker of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Pullumalai in the Batticaloa district, about which the Sri Lanka Army has complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, lies within the LTTE-controlled area, the LTTE has told the SLMM, according to a spokesman at the SLMM’s Batticaloa office.
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Tigers to open more hours for X’mas , New year

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2003, 10:51 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers will keep their entry points to the Vanni open until 9.30 p.m. for Christmas and New Year for the convenience of the people during the festive season, Mr. Daya Master, the LTTE spokesman told TamilNet Tuesday. The entry points are normally open from 7 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. The LTTE’s entry points at Muhamalai, Puliyankulam and in Mannar would be open to the public until 9.30 p.m. on 24 and 25 of and 31 December and on 1 January 2004.


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SLA charges LTTE of building bunker in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 14:18 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) charged the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) of building a new bunker in Pullumalai in Batticaloa district in violation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and registered a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), security sources in Batticaloa said.
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Japanese Ambassador meets Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 13:47 GMT]
Mr.Akio Suda, the new Ambassador for Japan in Sri Lanka met with Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the LTTE Peace Secretariat building in Kilinochchi Monday morning for discussions on current political situation and on support of the Japanese Government to the people of Vanni through United Nations agencies, LTTE peace secretariat website reported.
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LTTE opposes land ministry mobile service in Kantalai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 18:29 GMT]
The Trincomalee political secretariat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Saturday condemned the decision of the Land Minister to hold a mobile service to resolve disputes related to State land matters of the Seruvila electorate of the Trincomalee district. “ Holding of such mobile service would seriously damage the progress of the peace negotiations,” said the LTTE Trincomalee political secretariat in a statement issued Saturday.


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Thamilchelvan outlines condition for future talks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 16:31 GMT]
“We are ready to negotiate with anyone who comes to power at a general election in Sri Lanka as long as he or she is a person ready to work towards an agreement on the political aspirations and expectations of the people living in the unified northeast region with commitment and sincerity,” said Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, the head of the political division of the Liberation Tigers, during wide ranging discussions with a group of Muslim and Tamil journalists from the eastern province on Friday night.
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Police suspects in Mannar torture, rape to be indicted

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 15:57 GMT]
The Attorney General has decided to indict four of the six suspects in the Mannar torture and rape of two married Tamil women S.Sivamani and Vijikala by several police officials and soldiers in March 2001 while the women were being held by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Mannar Police, legal sources said.


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"We understand the political aspirations of Muslims" - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 13:58 GMT]
"It is not a problem for us to understand the political aspirations of the Muslim and to reach a solution guaranteeing their security and future interests. But this will not be possible when the Muslims are encompassed by Sri Lankan state power and seek to fulfil their aspirations having them centered within that power", said Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan, Head of the Political Wing when the Muslim Press Association of the Eastern Sri Lanka met him at the LTTE political headquarters in Kilinochchi yesterday, 19th December 2003, the LTTE peace secreatariat website said.
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Tamil Eelam Resurgence Federation opens office in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 05:38 GMT]
The Tamil Eelam Resurgence Federation (TERF) opened an office at Potpathy in the Jaffna district Friday. The Head of the TERF, Mr. K. Sanjay, declared open the office, sources said.
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Tamil owners under pressure to sell their homes to STF

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2003, 01:49 GMT]
Tamil owners of 18 houses in Oorani, Poththuvil division, currently occupied by the Special Task Force (STF) and used as their camps, are being pressured to sell the houses to the STF, the LTTE peace secretariat web site reported. The STF are refusing to pay rent to the home owners as part of their pressure tactic, the website added.
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LTTE urges Tamil-Muslim harmony in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2003, 18:12 GMT]
“Tamils and Muslims live peacefully in this region. But some evil forces are bent on disrupting the peace between the two communities. Our commander, Col. Karuna, is firm that nothing should be allowed to harm the amity that prevails between the Tamils and Muslims here” said Mr. S. Senathirajah, the head of the LTTE’s political office in Batticaloa town, addressing a meeting of Tamil and Muslim civil society leaders convened Friday to resolve friction over the stoning of passenger buses in the Muslim town of Kattaankudy on Thursday.
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LTTE meets Swiss Foreign Ministry Official in Geneva

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2003, 13:17 GMT]
The Deputy Head of the Political Section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Jaffna District, Mr. S. Ilamparithi, who is currently visiting European cities, met with Swiss Foreign Ministry Director in-charge of Sri Lanka Affairs, Mr. Markus Heiniger, on Wednesday at 1.00 pm for 90 minutes, at the Swiss Foreign Office in Geneva, Switzerland, Tamil expatriate sources in Switzerland said.
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Islamic group shuts down Muslim towns in Batti-Amparai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2003, 15:41 GMT]
Shops and businesses were closed and few people were on the roads in several Muslim towns in the Batticaloa and Amparai districts Thursday in response to a call by a shadowy Islamic militant body in the east calling itself ‘Muslim Resurgence Group’. The Islamic militants called the shut down in protest against the inaction of Muslim politicians whom they described as “venal opportunists”. Unidentified members of the group stoned and damaged four long distance buses that were passing Kattaankudy, a large Muslim town 5 kilometres south of Batticaloa.
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PA media spokesman meets Jaffna journalists

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2003, 16:44 GMT]
The media spokesman of the main opposition People's Alliance, Dr.Sarath Amunugama, Wednesday met with a group of Jaffna-based journalists at the parliamentary complex and answered several questions posed to him on the current political situation.
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"Don't miss this opportunity for peace" - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2003, 12:35 GMT]
"We call upon the Sri Lankan State to put its house in order and the bring the current constitutional impasse to an end and commence negotiations on the interim self-governing authority on the basis of proposals submitted by the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam," the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance Mr.Rajavarothayam Sampanthan said participating in the committee stage debate on the Votes of Defense Ministry in Parliament Wednesday afternoon.


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Court issues temporary order against TULF meetings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2003, 11:25 GMT]
Colombo district court today issued an interim injunction against the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) holding Central Committee meetings until the 31 December, legal sources in Colombo said.
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ADB funds new project for North-East rehabilitation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2003, 18:18 GMT]
A new four-year development project called Conflict Affected Area Rehabilitation Project (CAARP), funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), is to be launched in the North and East with effect from January 1st 2004. The objective of the project is to support rehabilitatation of essential infrastructure and restoration of community livelihoods in the most severely conflict-affected areas of the North and East, predominantly in the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, CAARP sources said.
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SLA recruits, readying for closer ties with India

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2003, 14:09 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army has begun another recruitment drive for its commando regiment in the Sinhala majority districts of the island, promising good pay and attractive perks, sources in Colombo said Tuesday. The recruitment drive comes amidst indications that India would provide greater training facilities for Sri Lankan armed forces under a defence cooperation treaty which Colombo and New Delhi are expected to sign soon.
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Medical equipment donated to Batticaloa hospital

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2003, 00:10 GMT]
Terre Des Hommes (TDH), the International Volunteer Organization, donated medical equipment to the Baby care unit of the Maternity Section at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital Monday, sources said.
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