Massive JVP rally condemns peace talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 January 2003, 16:10 GMT]
In a massive show of strength against the peace talks between the Sri Lanka’s United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers, the leftist Sinhala party, Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, gathered more than 25 thousand party members and supporters for a march and rally at one of Colombo’s busiest intersections Wednesday. Speakers at the rally denounced the peace talks to settle the island’s ethnic conflict as a western imperialist conspiracy to divide country.
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‘Every child in school programme’ to be inaugurated in NE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 January 2003, 13:22 GMT]
‘Every child in school programme’ sponsored by the UNICEF in the northeast province will be inaugurated in Trincomalee Thursday, 9 January, morning by the Minister of Human Resource Development, Education and Cultural Affairs Dr.Karunasena Kodituwakku.
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Batticaloa journalist's home attacked

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 January 2003, 03:32 GMT]
The home of senior Batticaloa journalist, Mr. Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy, was attacked with grenades around midnight Tuesday. The attackers poured petrol and set fire to the house located in the Sri Lanka army high security zone in Valaichenai, 32 kilometres north of Batticaloa. The fire did not spread due to rains and the efforts of neighbours, his colleagues said. Mr. Jeyanandamoorthy had received several death threats in the past from a suspected Islamic extremist group in the area.


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Peace talks are going well, say Chief Negotiators

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 January 2003, 18:19 GMT]
(News Feature) The Sri Lankan government conceded this week that the resettlement of Tamil refugees and internally displaced people in areas occupied by its military forces could not be made conditional on the disarming of the Liberation Tigers, as demanded by the Army. Following two days of discussion, hailed by both sides as “constructive,” the government also said it would begin to reallocate its troops based amongst civilians in the Jaffna peninsula.
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‘Defunct’ SDN is shut down

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 January 2003, 17:56 GMT]
Following several unsuccessful meetings of the Sub-Committee on De-escalation and Normalisation (SDN), at which the Sri Lanka Army refused to reallocate its troops to pave the way for the resettlement of refugees, the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government Tuesday decided to shut down and discuss the matter in future at the direct talks between the two sides.
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400 more schools to be under BOBLEP project in NE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 January 2003, 17:52 GMT]
Four hundred ninety three more schools are to be brought under the Book Based Language Enrichment Project (BOBLEP) in the New Year 2003 by the ministry of education in the northeast province. The main objective of the BOBLEP is to help pupils improve their reading and language ability in Tamil, English and Sinhala, sources said.
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NE education development action plan underway

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 January 2003, 00:16 GMT]
Three-day workshop to finalize an action plan to implement several educational development projects in the war torn northeast province commenced Monday at Trincomalee. The head of the Educational Development Unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Mr.V.Ilankumaran made the keynote address at the first workshop held in Trincomalee Monday for twelve zonal directors, their deputies and In-Service Advisors in the eastern province.
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JVP praises army, wows to overthrow Ranil govt.

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 January 2003, 23:14 GMT]
The Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sri Lanka’s powerful leftist Sinhala party, Monday praised the stand taken by the Sri Lanka army’s northern command on the question of high security zones in Jaffna and accused Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of conspiring with the Liberation Tigers to divide the island according to a secret pact. The JVP is the second largest opposition party in Sri Lanka’s Parliament.
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Political solution in Sri Lanka said constitutionally impossible

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 January 2003, 23:09 GMT]
“The nationhood of Tamils and their right to self-determination are non-negotiable. Any political solution that might emerge out of the ongoing peace process cannot go below these. The territory of Northeast is part of the identity of the Tamils of this country. We don't need historical proof for this. We don't need anyone's recognition or consent to exercise our right of self-determination. It is the birthright of each and every nation,” said Mr.V.T.Thamilmaran, senior lecturer in law in the University of Colombo, delivering the third Kumar Ponnambalam Memorial Speech in Jaffna Sunday.
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LTTE, SLA discuss Batticaloa incidents

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 January 2003, 18:32 GMT]
"The Sri Lanka army should supervise the activities of the paramilitary groups and keep them under control. Recent incidents in Batticaloa appear to be aimed at casting aspersions on us and confounding the peace process. Agent provocateurs have been attempting to derail the peace process in the east by instigating violence against communities in Valaichenai, Mutur and Akkaraipattu and by staging abduction dramas," said T.Ramesh, LTTE’s special commander for the Batticaloa-Amparai region, at the conclusion of a discussion with the Sri Lankan armed forces near the eastern town.
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Fourth round of talks begin

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 January 2003, 10:31 GMT]
The fourth round of direct talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government began Monday at the Rose Garden hotel, 32km west of Bangkok, Thailand. The LTTE and Sri Lankan delegations were led by Chief Negotiators, Mr. Anton Balasingham and Prof. G. L Peiris respectively. The Norwegian facilitators were led by Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helegesen.
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LTTE leaflets alert residents, invite ex-militants

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 January 2003, 18:56 GMT]
The Batticaloa-Ampara political section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) distributed two leaflets, one alerting residents of Batticaloa to be aware of nefarious elements who are trying to sabotage the peace process, and the other appealing to ex-militants collaborating with the Sri Lanka security forces and working with anti-LTTE groups to join the LTTE and participate in building peace, sources in Batticaloa said.
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'Sri Lanka is at a crucial stage' - PM

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 January 2003, 17:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Sunday in his evening address to people of Sri Lanka said, "arguments over security matters should not be allowed to derail the momentum of the peace negotiation. The country has entered a stage that would decide the future of Sri Lanka."
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LTTE criticises SLA over search in political office

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 January 2003, 17:45 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers (LTTE) in Batticaloa Saturday protested against a search operation by the Sri Lanka army (SLA) in the premises of their political office in Kallady, an outer suburb of the eastern town. A stand-off developed when LTTE officials refused to allow heavily armed SLA troops that had surrounded the political office around 8 p.m. Friday night to enter and search the premises, VoT nightly broadcast said today.
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LTTE slams SLA Commander, says "decommissioning is non-negotiable"

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 January 2003, 14:28 GMT]
Responding to the Sri Lanka Army's reiterated demand that the Liberation Tigers must decommission their heavy weapons before Tamil civilians would be permitted to resettle in their villages now within High Security Zones, the LTTE Friday said the issue was non-negotiable and expressed "deep disappointment" over the Army's "confrontational" position.
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Hakeem slammed for 'political grandstanding at its worst'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 January 2003, 08:36 GMT]
(News Feature) As the crisis gripping Sri Lanka's largest Muslim party deepened this week, its leader came under heavy criticism for seeking to enhance his domestic political standing through the Norwegian peace process. Fending off a challenge to his leadership of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) from two factions within the party, Mr. Rauf Hakeem, was lambasted by the Tamil press for undermining efforts to resolve the island's protracted ethnic conflict by claiming the peace process was inimical to Muslim interests.
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VoT expands broadcast to mark Kittu memorial day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 January 2003, 20:07 GMT]
Voice of Tigers (VoT) announced in its daily nightly broadcast today that it will increase its broadcast time and distance from 16 January marking the tenth memorial anniversary of Colonel Kittu, said sources in Vanni.
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Sinhala National Front seeks cancellation of LTTE radio license

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 January 2003, 16:51 GMT]
The Sinhala Jathika Sangamaya (Sinhala National Front) Tuesday filed a writ application in the Colombo Court of Appeal seeking the nullification of the license granted to the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) to operate a radio station in Killinochchi, which is under the control of the LTTE, legal sources said.
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HSZ seriously affects displaced Tamils - Bishop

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 January 2003, 00:05 GMT]
The Bishop of Jaffna Tuesday told a government delegation led by a senior minister that the continuance of the high security zones (HSZ) in Jaffna peninsula will not affect the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) but would seriously affect the large number of displaced families living elsewhere under difficult conditions, sources said.
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Film release celebrates Sea Tigers' tenth anniversary

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 December 2002, 17:43 GMT]
“Nitharsanam” TV unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday released the film “ Kadaloorakatru” (A wind along the coast) produced after the ceasefire agreement between the government and LTTE came into force, simultaneously in six districts in the northeast province celebrating the tenth anniversary of Sea Tigers, sources said.
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