Helgesen, Solheim arrive in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 03:45 GMT]
Norwegian deputy foreign minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, and special peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Mr. Erik Solheim, arrived in Colombo Monday night in an attempt to revive the stalled peace talks between the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and on Tuesday morning conferred with the members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, sources said Tuesday.
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"Give priority to peace process"- Trinco DCC

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 16:30 GMT]
The Trincomalee District Chamber of Commerce (DCC) Monday appealed in a statement to the governing parties of Sri Lanka to eschew party politics and give top priority to the peace process.
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'Take control of peace process or return ministries' - UNF

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 14:39 GMT]
The United National Front government spokesman and Constitutional Affairs Minister, Professor G.L.Peiris, Monday said in a statement that if Sri Lanka’s President was not willing to assume control of the peace process, the UNF government must be “invested with responsibility for all aspects of the process, as was the case prior to the events of November 4th.”


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Political impasse widens in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 11:25 GMT]
The political gap between UNF and PA widened today as Prime Minister earlier today said he is prepared to face an immediate election while the President in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister has demanded to form a "Grand Alliance of all national and patriotic forces" with the objective of forming a "Government of National Reconstruction and Reconciliation".
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UNF prepared to face snap elections - Peiris

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 09:37 GMT]
The UNF spokesman and Minister of Constitutional Affairs Mr. G.L.Peiris said Monday that the Prime Minister Mr. Wickremsinghe and his government are prepared to face a snap election, media sources said. It is logical to assume that we have to resolve the "threshold issue" before anything else, Mr. Peiris is reported to have told the media. The Prime Minister's office denied earlier reports on the talks being postponed. The decision is to be taken after the LTTE's views are received through the Norwegian Foreign Deputy Mr.Helgesen, who is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka today.
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Getting tough on the Tigers

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 00:31 GMT]
President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s strategy for holding fast to the reins of power in Colombo is fundamentally in conflict with sustaining the peace process in Sri Lanka, Tamil politicians and commentators say. The President and her allies assert that the Sri Lankan state should get tough on the Liberation Tigers to safeguard Sinhala national interests. As her standoff with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took a new turn Sunday, it appeared inevitable that she might match her words with deeds in tune with the sentiments of her increasingly hawkish Sinhala constituency.
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Book on "Ceasefire 2001-Lessons for the present” released

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2003, 17:17 GMT]
"The time has come for all the lovers of peace to engage in a serious dialogue by contributing their share in solving this vexed [ethnic] problem by studying the [LTTE's] proposal and arriving at a consensus to implement it,” said Professor S.K.Sitrampalam, Professor of History and Dean for Graduate Studies at the University of Jaffna, addressing the introductory event of the book “ Ceasefire 2001-Lessons for the present” held at the Colombo Sri Lanka Foundation Institute Friday evening, sources said.
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NorthEast Trade Union criticises SL President's actions

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2003, 14:56 GMT]
North East Trade Unions Federation (NETUF) at a special meeting held Sunday condemned the recent actions by the President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge as a step to derail the peace talks between the United National Front (UNF) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)," sources said.


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UNF to bow out of Peace Process?

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2003, 12:53 GMT]
"The government believes it is not possible to deal with the peace process unless only one party is in charge. Full control over the peace process by one party is necessary if the peace process is to be effectively managed," said Prof. G. L. Peiris, the Leader of the Sri Lanka Government delegation to the Peace Negotiations with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in press briefing Sunday.
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ISGA proposals discussed at Colombo seminar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 2003, 00:02 GMT]
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) in Colombo held a one-day seminar on the “Interim Self Governing Authority “ (ISGA) proposals submitted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as its response to the government of Sri Lanka’s interim administrative structure proposals for the NorthEast, Friday afternoon at the Colombo Jai Hilton Hotel, sources said
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I shall take the defense of the country - SL president

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2003, 16:46 GMT]
"The Ceasefire Agreement between the UNF government and the LTTE will continue and the Norwegian monitors will be allowed to function with clear instructions. The Sri Lanka Army will be instructed to strictly abide by the ceasefire agreement. The Prime Minister can continue with the peace process. I shall take the defense of the country," said Sri Lanka's President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, in her televised address to the country Friday night at about 9:45 p.m.
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Committee for advancement of education formed in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2003, 16:23 GMT]
The importance of forming a committee for the advancement of education in the Vanni district was stressed by the Liberation Tigers’ educational and political divisions' leaders, at a meeting of education officials held at the Saiva Prakasa Ladies College in Vavuniya Thursday, sources said.
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"We are strong, we will be patient" – Col. Karuna

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2003, 02:23 GMT]
“We have to observe the political turmoil in Colombo quite soberly. As you all know our leader has made no comment on the situation– he remains judiciously silent. We can remain patient as long as we are strong. Selfish gain and self-aggrandizement motivate and guide the politics of Sri Lankan leaders. Sri Lanka’s President has scuttled the peace process at a time when things were headed in the right direction," said Col. V. Karuna, addressing a function in Batticaloa Thursday night to release a music CD created by two military formations under his command.
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"No solution other than the devolution of power is possible" - Batty Weerakoon

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2003, 00:01 GMT]
"LSSP shares the realist approach that given the nature of constitutional amendment no solution other than the devolution of power is possible. As to how comprehensive it can be is subject to negotiation," said Batty Weerakoon, General Secretary of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), in a wide ranging interview with TamilNet when TamilNet caught up with him on his private visit to the United States before the LTTE submitted its proposals for the Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the NorthEast.
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LTTE cadre strangled to death in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 15:37 GMT]
The body of a youth found at the Trincomalee beach Tuesday morning close to Fort Frederick had been identified as that of an LTTE cadre, Mr. Nanthan, who was on leave from the Vanni recently. The postmortem examination held at the Trincomalee general hospital revealed that he had been strangled to death, medical sources said.
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No return to hostilities - PA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 14:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge, is committed to the continuity of the ceasefire agreement and to keeping open the channel of communication with the LTTE with the objective of arriving at a negotiated settlement within a united country, the Presidential Secretariat said in a press release issued Thursday evening. "The President wishes to assure the people of the country that there will be no return to hositilities," said the press release.


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Parties should look for common ground - Schaffer

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 11:31 GMT]
Teresita Schaffer, former Ambassador of the United States to Sri Lanka and currently Director for South Asia, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC, told TamilNet Wednesday that it was "important for the government [of Sri Lanka] and the LTTE to start looking for common ground" and that she hoped "the current political crisis in Sri Lanka does not disrupt this vital task."


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Coconut trees in 20,000 acres destroyed in Trinco district

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 04:25 GMT]
The Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB) Tuesday inaugurated its seedling distribution to coconut growers in the Trincomalee district from its nursery after about twenty years. "Since 1983, coconut trees in more than twenty thousand acres of land have been destroyed in the two-decade-old war in the Trincomalee district," said the CCB’s Chairman, Mr. Lincoln Fernando, addressing the inaugural event held Tuesday in the premises of the CCB office at Kumburupiddy.
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Sri Lanka crisis draws global media attention

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 00:10 GMT]
Tuesday’s sacking of key ministers of defense, interior and information by Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, and her prorogation of parliament and subsequent declaration of emergency have elicited concerns from several Western governments and prompted global coverage in leading newspapers.
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Unwanted and badly timed political crisis - NPC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 14:49 GMT]
Noting that the present alarming crisis in Sri Lanka is an end result of joint failure by both the opposition (PA) and the government (UNF), the National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo based Sri Lankan peace group, in a media release issued in Colombo today warned that the "situation of political turmoil will prevent progress being made in the peace process."
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