LTTE, STF meet in Amparai

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 December 2003, 16:51 GMT]
Members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam led by Batticaloa-Amparai district Head of Political section, E.Kausalyan, met with a delegation from Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF) led by Senior Police Officer Upul Seneviratne in Akkaraipattu, in Amparai district Monday between 10am and 12noon, security sources in Amparai said.


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Tamils warned to prepare for snap election

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 December 2003, 16:45 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan Sunday said Tamil people should rally round under one banner to increase their parliamentary strength if the current crisis between Sri Lanka's President and the Prime Minister precipitates a snap election. “The LTTE leadership has endorsed this stand,” said Mr.Sampanthan.


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LTTE announces tax relief measures

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 December 2003, 13:36 GMT]
At a press briefing held at the office of the Thamileelam Police at Pallai Sunday morning, Head of the Financial Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr. Thamilenthi, announced that a list of essential materials including books, magazines, agricultural inputs, animal feed, boats, outboard engines, fishing gear, candle and camphor would be exempted from tax with effect from January 1st next year, sources from Pallai said.
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SLMM Chief grounded in Oslo - Paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2003, 22:24 GMT]
For the last one and a half months, since he was declared persona non grata by the Sri Lankan President the chief of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General (ret.) Tryggve Tellefsen (62), is forced to work from Oslo Norway with remaining members of SLMM in Sri Lanka, using telephone and e-mail, writes the Norwegian daily Aftenposten in its Saturday issue. The paper adds that the situation is unsatisfactory that the likelihood of Tellefsen resigning from his post cannot be ruled out.


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Vavuniya Tamils decry Indian objections to ISGA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2003, 06:27 GMT]
Criticizing the comments made by the former Indian foreign secretary, Mr. M.K. Rasgotra, at a conference in Colombo on December 4, saying that India could not accept the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals submitted by the Liberation Tigers, the Federation of Vavuniya Cattle breeders unions said in a statement Friday that the Tamil people would totally reject the opinion of Mr. Rasgotra.
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NorthEast farmers face dire economic future - Adaikalanathan

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 12:13 GMT]
"Farmers in NorthEast have been facing severe hardship for the past several years. Many have to pawn their belongings now to continue to be able to cultivate their lands and earn a living," said Leader of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) and MP Selvam Adaikalanathan during a parliamentary debate on allocation of funds for the Ministry of Agriculture and livestock, sources in Colombo said.


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LTTE Education Council spotlights NE shortcomings

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 00:01 GMT]
" We earnestly request the international agencies and other authorities to take effective measures to remove the Sri Lanka Army from the areas in the northeast province where schools are located in the high security zones and from the vicinity of schools, so that they can function in a favorable and peaceful atmosphere," the LTTE's Education Council of Thamileelam said in a paper presented at the workshop held in Trincomalee Thursday.
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SLA prevents student leader from entering Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 16:44 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army located at Muhamalai sentry Tuesday evening prevented a delegation of the International Students Association of Thamileelam (ISAT), headed by its President, Mr.S.Gajendran, from proceeding to Kilinochchi to meet students of Kilinochchi Technical College, sources said.
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Sri Lanka President, PM talks inconclusive on peace

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 09:07 GMT]
Crucial talks between Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Wednesday failed to reach any consensus on how Colombo is going to restart peace negotiations with the Liberation Tigers, sources said.
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Departing Vanni SLA commander commends LTTE’s cooperation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 06:01 GMT]
“During the last 13 months of my service in Vavuniya, the Sri Lanka Police and the LTTE’s political cadres, who are working in the SLA-controlled areas, cooperated with me. The problems that arose with respect to the LTTE’s peace-related political activities and other issues were solved with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, and we were able to maintain peace and order in Vavuniya,” said Maj. Gen. Susil Chandrapala, the outgoing Vanni commander of the Sri Lanka Army, during a Police farewell given to him in Vavuniya Monday, sources said.
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Thenmaradchchi civilians assault EPDP members

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 16:14 GMT]
Members of the public Tuesday evening assaulted a group of members of the paramilitary Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), which works closely with the Sri Lanka Army, when they were engaged in distributing handbills with the assistance of soldiers of the SLA at the common market in Kodikamam in the Thenmaradchchi division of the Jaffna district. The EPDP cadres later complained to the SLA officials that some persons had assaulted them, police said.
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TNA, LTTE urge end to southern instability

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 15:37 GMT]
The political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, responding to a question at the press briefing he held Tuesday afternoon in Kilinochchi, said that if the current political crisis in the South were to continue indefinitely, it would seriously impact the peace process and the LTTE would carefully study its options, the Voice of Tigers radio said Tuesday.
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TNA parliamentarians meet LTTE political leadership

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 09:08 GMT]
Talks between Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians and the political leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began Tuesday morning around 11 a.m. at the Killinochchi LTTE political secretariat, Vanni sources said.
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Displaced Kinniya Tamils want permanent solution

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2003, 15:12 GMT]
Hundreds of displaced Tamil families from Kadaloor and Upparu in Kinniya division in Trincomalee district, who have been staying as refugees at the Eechantivu Vipulananda Tamil Vidiyalayam, Sunday complained to the Trincomalee district parliamentarians, Messrs R.Sampanthan and K.Thurairetnasingham, that they should find a permanent solution to their problems as they had been displaced due to threat and violence thrice since 1990.
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Youth Forum to explain ISGA proposals

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2003, 02:35 GMT]
“The Interim Self Governing Authority proposal of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has several good aspects, but some people who have only a cursory glance at the proposal are conducting a malicious campaign against it. It is our duty to explain the proposals to the youths of this country,” said Mr. Wimal Dharmasiri, the deputy commissioner of the National Youth Service Forum (NYSF), speaking at a conference in Batticaloa Sunday, sources said.
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SLA lays new minefield near Jaffna village

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 2003, 14:29 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army is planting landmines in the vicinity of Manalkaadu, a village on the southeastern coast of Jaffna, residents told TamilNet Sunday. Three cattle from the village were killed in newly laid minefield on Saturday and another was blown up Sunday morning, according to them.
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SLMC to submit administration proposals

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 2003, 11:14 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a constituent of the ruling United National Front government Saturday announced that it would submit its response to the government’s proposal for an interim administrative structure for the Northeast by the end of December.
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Balasingham: LTTE seeks ‘new, creative’ relationship with India

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 2003, 10:09 GMT]
Asserting the importance of the role of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in bringing about peace and stability to Sri Lanka, the movement’s theoretician, Mr Anton Balasingham, Saturday urged the Indian government to rethink and re-orientate its approach towards the organisation. Speaking at the Remembrance Day event in London, Mr Balasingham said the LTTE welcomed the international community’s efforts towards promoting peace in Sri Lanka, but would not accept the terms of a political solution being dictated to the Tamil people.
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Lt.Col.Jeevan's second anniversary commemorated

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2003, 13:05 GMT]
The second anniversary of the death of Lt.Col.Jeevan and seven Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters who were killed during a battle with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) near Batticaloa-Colombo road in Vakneri on 6 December 2001 was celebrated in three locations in LTTE controlled areas in Batticaloa district Saturday.
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Asylum seeker says EPDP recruiting in India

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2003, 07:22 GMT]
The EPDP cadre who sought asylum from the Liberation Tigers in Kilinochchi, Mr. Iyampillai Yogarajah, 33, told mediapersons in Kilinochchi Saturday that the paramilitary group recruited him from a refugee camp in India eight months ago. He said the EPDP is recruiting many Tamil youth like him from refugee camps in India promising good pay and perks. The paramilitary group works closely with the Sri Lankan armed forces in psychological operations, intelligence and counter insurgency.
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