Jaffna leaflet warns of war

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2004, 13:55 GMT]
"War would be inevitable if Sri Lankan leaders insidiously reject the LTTE's Interim Self Governing Authority(ISGA) proposal and if they consider this peace period as a time to cheat," warned a leaflet issued in Jaffna Sunday by an organisation called Tamil National Awareness Movement.
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Buddhist monks mind their language

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2004, 19:18 GMT]
A leading Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, Ven.Ellawala Methananda, slammed Norway Saturday for funding a program to teach English to Buddhist clergy.
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Defective CFA undermines Peace Process - Prof. Peiris

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2004, 15:25 GMT]
The Sri Lanka government media spokesperson, Minister Professor G.L.Peiris, said Friday that Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has decided to withdraw from the current peace process as the ceasefire agreement (CFA) has become defective with Ms.Kumaratunge's take over of the defense ministry, political sources in Colombo said.
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JVP calls for Wickremesinghe' s resignation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2004, 13:30 GMT]
The Sinhala Nationalist and Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Thursday called for the resignation of Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe from the post of Prime Minister and from the current parliament if the Prime Minister wanted to withdraw from the two year-old ceasefire agreement (CFA) he signed with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), media sources said.


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Sri Lanka’s peace bid takes another nosedive

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2004, 09:58 GMT]
The Sri Lanka’s stalled efforts to end two decades of war with the Liberation Tigers took another nosedive Wednesday when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he wanted to pull out of the ceasefire agreement he signed in February 2002. His stand has thrown President Chandrika Kumaratunga on the horns of a perilous dilemma. Picking up the gauntlet Mr. Wickremesinghe has thrown is fraught with grave risks for her. She has to either re-negotiate a new ceasefire agreement with the Tigers herself or hand back the three ministries she took over from Prime Minister in November last year.
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Sri Lanka's PM tells Kumaratunga to handle truce with Tigers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2004, 07:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Wednesday that President Chandrika Kumaratunga should negotiate with the Liberation Tigers to renew the ceasefire agreement with them if she does not return the key ministries she took away from him in November last year. There was no immediate reaction from the Tigers to Mr. Wickremesinghe's statement Wednesday.
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Leftist parties urge PM to sign MoU with President

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2004, 14:06 GMT]
The Nava Lanka Sama Samaja Party (NLSSP), Democratic Left Front (DLF), Sri Lanka Communist Party (SLCP) and Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) Tuesday said they had informed Sri Lanka's Prime Minister to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the President on three points to bring about a conducive environment to restart the peace process.


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Services of Jaffna NGOs’ consortium commended

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 January 2004, 22:38 GMT]
“Some Non Governmental Organizations in Jaffna are only interested in self-promotion. But a few NGOs have been serving the people quiestly, despite facing several difficulties since 1995 [when the Sri Lanka Army wrested control of Jaffna], and we have to commend their service. We will join you in serving the people,” said Mr. Iniyavan, the coordinator of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization in Jaffna, speaking at the meeting to elect new office bearers of the Consortium of Jaffna NGOs Monday.
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Sri Lanka President’s ally slams Armitage

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2004, 16:25 GMT]
The Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the main political ally of President Kumaratunga, slammed US Assistant Secretary of State Mr. Richard Armitage for interfering in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs in a strongly worded statement Friday. The Sinhala nationalist party was reacting to Mr. Armitage’s comment Monday that “the current political impasse in Sri Lanka cannot be allowed to continue”. The JVP said that Mr. Armitage’s statement was made in a threatening manner.
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2003: The year in review

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2003, 18:58 GMT]
The widespread optimism on peace that greeted the dawn of 2003 has evaporated and the power struggle between Sri Lanka's Prime Minister and President that threatens the peace process now occupies the center stage of politics in Colombo. High Security Zones (HSZ) in Jaffna continue to deny displaced Tamils their fundamental rights. Colombo's unwillingness and inability to disburse funds stalls development and rehabilitation in NorthEast, as international aid remains blocked, awaiting concrete signs of progress in peace.
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Teacher shortage imperils NorthEast education - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 December 2003, 19:21 GMT]
"The quality of education in Tamil medium schools in the North East province is very adversely affected from the level of primary education through the level of secondary education as a result of the severe shortage of Tamil medium teachers," and dismal student performance at the GCE (advanced level) examination is a direct result of this shortage, said the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance Mr.R.Sampanthan in a six page letter sent to the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Monday.


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Rejection of ISGA reflects sad pattern of Sri Lankan conflict - Prof.Oberst

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 December 2003, 15:07 GMT]
In a 'written extended version' of a talk presented at the International Center for Ethnic Studies (ICES), Colombo, a full text of which was sent to TamilNet, Prof.Oberst of Nebraska Wesleyan University says that rejection of LTTE's Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal by a number of political parties reflects "a sad pattern of Sri Lankan conflict." He adds that several issues raised in ISGA are "relatively easy to resolve," and other serious issues need to be resolved during negotiations between the two sides.
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Ministry of Internal Security declared in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 December 2003, 21:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga haspromulgated a Ministry of Internal Security from Saturday, sources at the Presidential secretariat in Colombo said Friday night. The special gazette notification establishing the new ministry was signed and formally promulgated by the President at midnight Friday.


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Education Conference urges speedy resolution of political crisis

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 13:20 GMT]
9 million member Asia Pacific Region branch of Education International (EI), in a resolution adopted at the Fourth Asia Pacific Regional Conference held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan from 10th to 12 th December, urged the Sri Lankan President and Prime Minister to bring the current political impasse to an end without further delay and to invite the Norwegian facilitators to carry forward the peace process and to restore normalcy in the northeast province by handing over schools located in the high security zones in the Jaffna district, attendees to the conference said.
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Conference to identify Jaffna development projects

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2003, 13:14 GMT]
Members of a committee appointed by Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will attend a conference at Jaffna Secretariat on December 29 to review and prioritize development projects to be carried out in Jaffna district for the year 2004, secretariat sources said.
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Sinhala Nationalists demand arrest of Sri Lanka’s PM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2003, 16:20 GMT]
The Patriotic National Movement (PNM) of Sri Lanka, an alliance of Sinhala nationalists and hardline Buddhist monks, Tuesday held a demonstration in Colombo and handed over a letter to Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, saying that the Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, and all persons responsible for the police raid on the Millennium City military safe house should be arrested immediately and punished.
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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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"UNP ready to seek fresh mandate from people" - Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2003, 14:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Saturday said the Presdient has no power to take over the defense ministry according to the constitution and her action in this regard should be considered a violation of the peoples’ mandate at the last general election. “The President should work in close co-operation with the political party having a majority in the parliament,” said Mr.Wickremasinghe addressing the 49th National Convention of the United National Party, Saturday at Sugathathasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo.
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Supreme Court directs AG to enlighten on Jaffna HSZ legality

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 18:20 GMT]
The Supreme Court Thursday directed the Attorney General to take immediate measures to enlighten the court on the legality of the high security zones in the Jaffna peninsula in response to the fundamental rights applications filed by three persons including Jaffna district parliamentarian Mr. Mavai Senathirajah. The inquiry into the applications would be taken up for inquiry on December 19, legal 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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