Two arrested for transporting bomb

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two persons were arrested at a police checkpoint in Siyambalanduwa in the Amparai District, 45 km west of Amparai town, transporting a bomb strapped to their motorbike, said police sources in Batticaloa.
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Indian parties said urging pressure

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Douglas Devananda said yesterday political leaders in Tamil Nadu have told him that the opposition and the Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka press the Sri Lankan government at this juncture when the renewed support for the Sri Lankan Tamils in Tamil Nadu has helped them (the Tamil Nadu leaders) to bring pressure on Colombo through the Indian government.
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Demonstrators criticize calls for peace

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
An organisation calling itself "Peace Loving Citizens of Sri Lanka" marched in the capital Colombo today and handed over memorandums to the British and the Norwegian High Commissions, demanding that their governments ban the Liberation Tigers. The demonstrators also called on the Sri Lankan government to punish those who called for negotiations with the LTTE.
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Attempt to disfranchise Hill country Tamils?

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Voters in Sri Lanka's hill country, home to a large Tamil population working in the tea industry, will be asked to produce their national identity cards to qualify for voting at the forthcoming provincial council elections, said sources in Colombo. Sri Lanka's Commissioner of Elections Mr.Dayananda Dissanayaka, who will be meeting the secretaries of political parties on Wednesday, is expected to advise them to pass a bill in Parliament to enable the elections department to demand national identity cards from hill country voters.
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Tributes to Charles Abeysekera

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
An array of notable individuals, including political leaders, intellectuals, aesthetes and human rights activists hailed the work of the late Charles Abeysekera (1926-1998), at a commemoration ceremony held in Colombo yesterday evening.
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Jaffna Dep. Mayor resigns

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Deputy Mayor for the Jaffna Municipal council(JMC), Mr. Thambapillai Thirunavukkarasu resigned from his position today. He sent a copy of his resignation letter to the Uthayan, the only Tamil daily in Jaffna, around 9 p.m.
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NGO condemns military pressure

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Organisation for Social and Economic Development, a non governmental organinsation (NGO) working in the Vadamaradchi region of the Jaffna peninsula, issued a statement yesterday condemning the Sri Lankan Army's (SLA) frequent house-to-house searches conducted during the night.
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Mayor's body sent to Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The body of Sarojini Yogeswaran, covered with TULF flag was kept at the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) office this morning for local people to pay their respect. About one thousand people paid their respects this morning, said sources in Jaffna. Among the mourners who filed past the Mayor's bier today, were many Sri Lanka Government (SLG) officials and members of the local bodies, the sources said.
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Translation of LTTE Leader's speech (13 May 98)

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirabhakaran delivered a speech in Tamil on 13 May 1998, the first anniversary of the launch of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Operation, 'Jaya Sikirui'('Victory Assured' in Sinhala). The following is TamilNet's translation of the speech.
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Protests after policeman's killing

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Activity in Akkaraipattu town, 50 km south of Batticaloa, drew to a halt as Muslims in the area organised a two day hartal today, in protest of the killing of police constable Bahurdeen in a mosque around 10:00 p.m. yesterday, said sources.
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EPDP may withdraw support

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Douglas Devananda, Leader of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) told family members of missing persons in Jaffna, that his party will refrain from supporting the Sri Lanka Government (SLG) in Parliament, if the problems of these families are not resolved in six weeks, said sources in Jaffna.
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Till the other side cracks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military's widespread and indiscriminate use of artillery and air power is arguably the major cause of civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka. In the past few years, the Sri Lankan military has repeatedly up-gunned its forces with ever larger caliber field guns, with more numerous aircraft that are capable of carrying heavier payloads and more heavily armed naval craft.
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Sinhala race 'being destroyed'

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
"None of the resources in this country can be preserved until the Sri Lankan Government declares the country as Buddhist", said Professor Nalin De Silva, while speaking at a meeting in Colombo, which was titled, "We will protect our race and resources," said sources.
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Spotters mark eight for arrest

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Around 700 persons from the villages of Vandaramoolai and Kaluvankerni, 15 km north of Batticaloa, were rounded up and marched to the Vishnu temple at Vandaramoolai during a cordon and search operation by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), which lasted from 5:00 a.m. till noon, said sources in Valaichenai.
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UN official calls for end to war

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The UN Special Representative on Children in Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, and the other speakers at the auditorium of the Medical Faculty of the University of Jaffna, all said that both sides of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka had to come together to find a solution to the war, said sources in Jaffna.
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May Day celebrations muted

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
News Feature"There were so many cops about the place watching your every movement, that you were scared to bend down and pick upsomething you dropped," said a man who had ventured out on to the streets of Colombo on May Day.
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No detainees held in Mannar - SLA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan Military and Police officers informed Mannar magistrate today that no detainees are being held in the four detention camps in Mannar, in the north-western part of the island, said a court official today.
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Doyen of Sinhala nationalism passes away

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Gamani Jayasuriya, an ardent Sinhala nationalist and controversial politician died today. He was 74. He was Minister of Agriculture in J R Jayewardena's 1977 Cabinet from which he resigned in 1987, protesting against the Indo-Lanka Accord. Gamani Jayasuriya was also a stout champion of Buddhism and associated with many organisations such as the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress.
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Closed hospital awaits opening

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Siththa-Ayurveda Hospital (Siththa-Ayurvda is a system of indigenous medicine popular among the Tamils) at Mamunai 36 km north-east of Jaffna in an LTTE controlled area, has not been reopened after it was closed when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied the Jaffna peninsula, said sources in Jaffna.
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Tamper proof cards for Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Reading out the PA government's position at today's adjournment debate in the Sri Lankan Parliament moved by the TULF on the indiscriminate mass arrests of Tamils in Colombo and other parts of the island, Deputy Minister for Finance Prof. G.L Pieris said that Tamils who are not permanent residents of Colombo will be issued with special tamper proof identity cards to prevent problems.
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