Prime Minister leaves to US

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 September 2002, 20:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Friday left for United States of America on an official visit. "The main purpose of his visit is to brief world leaders on the ongoing peace process and seek more foreign investment," said Cabinet spokesman Minister Mr. G.L.Peiris at press briefing Friday.
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SLA meets LTTE’s Northern Forces Commander

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 September 2002, 17:08 GMT]
(Adds: Photo) The commander of the Northern Front Forces of the Liberation Tigers, Col. Theepan, had discussions with the commander of the Sri Lankan security forces in Jaffna, Major. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, Thursday evening to discuss the opening of the Pt. Pedro – Maruthankerni Road on Jaffna’s east coast and the positioning of Forward Defence Localities in the Nagar Kovil sector.
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TNA urges PM to put off NE local polls

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 September 2002, 16:00 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance Wednesday urged Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to postpone elections to local government bodies in the northeast scheduled to be held on 25 September. The polls were postponed in March this year upon a request by the TNA that the situation was not conducive at the time. The Elections Commission said last week that the polls to the local authorities will have to be held as scheduled unless the law is amended.
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Tigers mourn death of senior commander

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 18:36 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers in Jaffna Tuesday mourned the death of one of their most senior commanders. The northern town was lined with red and yellow pennants as the dead LTTE commander’s remains were taken to the Jaffna Hindu College where a meeting in homage was held Tuesday afternoon. Col. Raju (Kuyilan), who had served as the special commander of the LTTE’s elite Leopard Commandos and had played a key role in developing the Tigers’ artillery division, died on 25 August due to a terminal ailment, Tiger officials in Jaffna said.
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SLA arrests two civilians in Point Pedro

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 18:08 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka army Tuesday arrested the president of a fisheries co-operative society in Pt. Pedro and a local fisherman for allegedly causing damage to properties belonging to the military during a protest last week by students and parents in the northern town . “The arrests are in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government and hence a very alarming development”, a lawyer in Pt. Pedro said.
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Confrontational politics bane of Sri Lanka – Ranil

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 September 2002, 19:17 GMT]
"The main reason for the present crisis in Sri Lanka is due to the confrontational politics between the two major political groups in the south," said Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe addressing a mammoth rally held Monday evening at Colombo Town Hall. "Both parties to the conflict should participate in the peace talks scheduled to begin in Thailand next week between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with full confidence," said the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe.
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Saththurukkondaan massacre remembered

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 September 2002, 16:59 GMT]
The twelfth annual remembrance of the Saththurukkondaan massacre was observed Monday at Panichchaiyadi junction near Batticaloa town Monday. Sri Lanka army soldiers and Muslim home guards murdered 186 Tamils, mostly women and children, in the villages of Saththurukkondaan, Panichchaiyadi, Kokkuvil and Pillaiyaradi on the northern outskirts of Batticaloa town on 9 September 1990. A memorial for the victims was unveiled near the scene of the massacre.
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Help displaced obtain documents, government told

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 September 2002, 20:20 GMT]
The government should take immediate steps to address the needs of the displaced people of the northeast, a conference was told Saturday. Displaced people in the Northeast face several problems in obtaining government assistance as they do not possess vital documents, said Mr. Mr. C.V.Vigneswaran, Supreme Court Judge, speaking at the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Legal Aid Foundation. The authorities should take immediate steps to attend these shortcomings and make life of the displaced similar to that of others who enjoy the benefits provided by the State, he added.
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Point Pedro high security zone to remain

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 September 2002, 22:58 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary said Saturday that Point Pedro Hartley College and Methodist Girls High School in Jaffna district are within in the high security zone, which encompasses the harbour, courthouse, rest house and some other public offices. The roads leading to these schools will not be opened to the public, he said.
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Sixth Amendment threat looms over peace talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 September 2002, 19:08 GMT]
(Newsfeature) President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance and the Sinhala nationalist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) vowed Friday to fight the United National Front government for lifting of the ban on the Liberation Tigers. The spokesman for the People’s Alliance Dr. Sarath Amunugama said the party will take legal action and start mass protests against the de-proscription. He was addressing a press conference at the opposition leader’s office in Colombo Friday.
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Mines, apathy balk temple zone re-settlers

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 September 2002, 19:02 GMT]
Hundreds of families that were driven out of the environs of the historic Thiruketheeswaram temple in Mannar twelve years ago by Sri Lanka army operations are unable to go back to their villages because their paddy fields are mined and homes have been razed to the ground, rehabilitation officials in the district said.
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TNA tells Chandrika to shun JVP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 19:28 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance Thursday said that President Chandrika Kumaratunge should not take any decisions regarding the peace process on the guidance of the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).”Instead it is essential for her to take decisions in the interests of the country and of finding a permanent and just solution to the ethnic conflict,” said Mr.R.Sampanthan, leader of the TNA parliamentary group in a statement issued Thursday, welcoming the de-proscription of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
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Sri Lanka's Defence Minister de-proscribes LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 06:49 GMT]
The ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam imposed in Sri Lanka has been lifted with effect from Wednesday midnight, the State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) reported in its news bulletin Thursday morning. The Defence Minister, however, has the power to re-impose the ban, the radio said.
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Govt. to announce de-proscription

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 September 2002, 16:23 GMT]
A Gazette notification regarding removal of ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka will be issued tonight, government sources said. The de-proscription comes 10 days ahead of the commencement of peace talks between the government and the LTTE in Thailand.
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Hakeem and Balasingham meet in London

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 15:40 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers' chief negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, and the leader of the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress, Minister Rauf Hakeem, met Tuesday for two hours in London, a press release by the Norwegian government said. It was agreed that Mr. Hakeem will join the Sri Lankan government delegation in the first round of peace talks, the statement said. The "constructive and cordial" meeting, which Norwegian facilitator Erik Solheim also attended, was held at the residence of Oslo's ambassador to UK.
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Gazette notification on 19th amendment postponed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 15:26 GMT]
The United National Front government Tuesday decided to postpone the gazette notification on the nineteenth constitutional amendment until Friday to give time for President Chandrika Kumaratunge to submit her response, Prime Minister office sources said.
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Sinhala nationalists protest in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 14:27 GMT]
Thousands of Sinhla nationalists, including hundreds of Buddhist monks took to streets in Capital Colombo, Tuesday, protesting against the government's decision to lift the ban on Liberation Tigers. The protestors were blocked by police as they attempted to march towards the Prime Minister's office.
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UNF said to have power to de-proscribe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 09:52 GMT]
A leading legal luminary has said that the Defence Minister in the United National Front (UNF) government has the authority to issue gazette notification announcing the de-proscription of the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. "Once the ban on LTTE is lifted the President absolutely has no right to change that decision," said President Counsel Mr. Desmond Fernando referring to the constitutional conflict that has arisen following the President's remarks that she would oppose de-proscription.
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Monks urge President to block de-proscription

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 September 2002, 09:48 GMT]
A deputation of the National Bhikku Front (Jathika Maha Sangha Sammelanaya) Monday night requested President Chandrika Kumaratunge to take control of the Defence Ministry and to use her executive powers to prevent the de-proscription of the LTTE and setting up of an interim administration in the Northeast Province.
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PA parliamentarian for ban removal before talks

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 September 2002, 18:11 GMT]
A leading People’s Alliance parliamentarian Monday openly said that the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam should be lifted before the commencement of Thailand peace talks on September 16. " All peace efforts taken by the United National Front government will be ruined if the ban on the LTTE is not removed before the commencement of Thailand talks," said Mr.A.H.M.Fowzie, a senior minister in the then PA government and a leading member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
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