STF commando injured in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 07:03 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) triggered an explosive device targeting a unit of Special Task Force (STF) commandos engaged in road patrol at Iluppaiyadichcheanai along Chengaladi-Badulla road Tuesday around 11:30 a.m, seriously injuring one of them, sources in Batticaloa said. The injured commando was first rushed to Chengkaladi hospital and then transferred to Pollana’ruvai hospital for further treatment.
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Tamil Nadu leaders condemn derogatory talk of Fonseka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2008, 00:40 GMT]
Political leaders of Tamil Nadu, including Chief Minister Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, condemned Monday Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka for his derogatory comments on Tamil Nadu leaders in an interview to a Sri Lankan state-owned newspaper on Sunday. Vaiko, the General Secretary of the MDMK has announced a protest in front of the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai on December 10 demanding unconditional apology from the Sri Lankan Commander-in-Chief Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Army Chief Sarath Fonseka to the latter's astonishing remarks in the Sunday Observer newspaper.
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German Tamil stabbed outside Sri Lankan Exhibition in Frankfurt

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 17:50 GMT]
A 38-year-old German Tamil, who visited the exhibition conducted by the Sri Lankan consulate in the city of Frankfurt in Germany was stabbed allegedly by Sinhala thugs deployed by the Consulate Sunday evening. The victim, Krishnan Sinnathamby, a father of two, was seriously wounded in his hand and was operated at the City Hospital Frankfurt-Höchst Sunday night. Talking to TamilNet Monday evening, the lonely visitor to the exhibition, said he struggled hard to escape from the knives of a group of Sinhala speaking men who attempted to stab him in his stomach and neck.
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3 civilians killed in DPU Claymore attack in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 16:25 GMT]
Three civilians, including a child, were killed in a Claymore attack by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) on Monday, Tamileelam Police officials said. The attack has taken place in Mu'l'liyava'lai, south of Mullaiththeevu.
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Refugees housed in Kurunakar 'Rehabilitation centre' relocated to Koappaay

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 14:32 GMT]
42 families consisting of 132 persons who had fled to Jaffna peninsula from the ongoing war in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held territories and placed in Kurunakar Refugee Camp were transferred to Koappaay Government Teachers Training College premises. These families were moved from Kurunakar as their camp on the coastal area faced the risk of flooding according to warnings issued, Jaffna Secretariat sources said.
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STF commando killed in Ampaa'rai clash - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 13:36 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commando was killed and two sustained serious injuries Monday morning at 8:50 when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) fighters clashed with the STF in the jungle of Kagnchikudichchaa'ru in Ampaa'rai, the Tigers have claimed.
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Obama receives guidepost on Genocide

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 13:08 GMT]
A task force led by Madeleine K Albright, former Secretary of State, and an advisor to Obama and Clinton, is releasing today a report on world genocide threats which will likely be used by the Obama administration as a guide post to prevent developing genocides, Washington Post reported. President elect Obama, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton come into the office with an unusual track record of statements in tackling mass violence, and the recommendations contained in the report are timely and relevant to the new administration, Washington Post said.
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Sri Lanka's 2009 budget passed

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 10:48 GMT]
The 2009 budget of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa was adopted in the parliament Monday afternoon with a majority of 42 votes. 126 parliamentarian voted for the budget and 84 against. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa tabled the budget on November 6 in parliament in the capacity of Finance Minister.
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Women in protective custody, transferred to SLA detention centre, fear for safety

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2008, 00:40 GMT]
The women and children who faced death threats in Jaffna from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and its paramilitary and placed under protective custody through the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission in Jaffna at Kurunakar Rehabilitation Centre have been suddenly moved to the detention camp run by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) inside its High Security Zone in Thellippazhai. The women and children are being denied the opportunity of meeting their family members besides fear for their safety, according to legal sources in Jaffna. They have appealed to the team of Magistrates who visited the camp to relocate them to a protection facility in Jaffna city.
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Eezham Tamils' development: myths and realities

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 2008, 23:03 GMT]
A development-oriented analysis originated from the West and often exploited by the Sri Lankan state to justify its ethnic chauvinism is that the Tamils were far advanced in ‘development’ under the British and the crisis was a result of independent Sri Lanka equalizing development to all people. One can understand Sri Lankan state and its intellectuals harping on the theme. But it is utter ignorance of history, lack of serious research and wrong application of analytical tools in judging development on the part of the intelligentsia outside, in creating a misleading picture of the crisis in Sri Lanka through their 'model-based' approaches, writes Opinion Columnist Chivanadi in the second part of the article, 'Development, Multiculturalism and Ethnonationalism in Sri Lanka.'
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Crucial voting on UPFA budget to be held Monday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 2008, 16:44 GMT]
The final voting on the third reading of the Sri Lankan budget for 2009 presented by the government led by Mahinda Rajapakse is to take place Monday amid speculation that some of the UNP dissident parliamentarians led by its leader Karu Jayasuriya would rejoin the UNP. However, the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) said the budget would be passed with a comfortable majority.
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Senior Tamil Journalist Joe Ariyanayagam passes away in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 15:30 GMT]
“Joseph Gnanapragasam Ariyaratnam, popularly known as Joe, was a senior English journalist in Jaffna peninsula who did an excellent service to the people of the peninsula in conveying their true situation to the international community and his death is a great loss to the Tamil people as well as the media,” North Ceylon Journalist Association (NCJA) said in its tribute message Saturday. Joe Ariyaratnam passed away in a private hospital in Colombo Friday where he was being treated for his illness. Free Media Movement (FMM) is making arrangements to have Joe’s remains flown to his residence in Chu’ndikkuzhi Wednesday.
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'They went, saw and returned'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 07:58 GMT]
The meeting of the representation from Tamil Nadu led by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi with the Prime Minister of India on Thursday failed to achieve its basic objective of convincing the Indian government to take a stand against Colombo’s war on Tamils, revealed journalistic circles in Chennai. The silent listening of the Indian Establishment may have several meanings. Perhaps Dr. Manmohan Singh is not the authority to respond on this particular matter. But the message to Eezham Tamils is clear: either they ought to fight back the war thrust upon them, or face genocide, and probably they knew it long back, commented the circles.
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CID-grilled TNA parliamentarians asked to appear in courts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 06:31 GMT]
Colombo Chief Magistrate, Nishantha Happuarachchi on Friday ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to seek the legal opinion regarding a complaint made by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) alleging the three Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians that they have made speeches in a Pongku Thamizh ceremony held in Germany in 2006, violating the Sri Lankan Constitution and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
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Ethnic filtering, registration at SLA checkpost in Mannampiddi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 05:44 GMT]
Sri Lankan soldiers manning the checkpost at Mannampiddi in Batticaloa have introduced a new scheme to register all Tamil and Muslim passengers who travel from eastern province into other provinces. Only Tamil and Muslim passengers are ordered to get down at Mannampiddi from buses and private vehicles for checking and registration, but not the Sinhalese, civil sources said.
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White van armed men abduct Tamil female in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 05:35 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons, who arrived in a white van abducted a 25-year-old Tamil female from her residence located in Uppukku'lam in Vavuniyaa Tuesday night, according to complaints lodged with the police and human rights groups by her relatives.
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Colombo’s 'gala war' countered in Germany

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 04:03 GMT]
"A huge amount of Colombo’s war money is lavishly spent in foreign countries in fixing collaborators, capturing or coercing diaspora Tamils and in organizing gala programmes to shield its sins of inhuman war at home," said an activist of a vigilant group of German Tamils called 'Committee for People’s Uprising (CPU),' Friday. "The latest is a festive season’s grand dinner inviting German dignitaries and an exhibition of its 'contemporary civilization' to hoodwink the German public. The Eezham Tamils in Germany effectively neutralized Colombo’s devises on Friday through creative undertakings, right in front of Sri Lanka’s propaganda stall," the activist told TamilNet.
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SLAF, SLA bombardment targets Ki'linochchi suburbs

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 01:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Friday launched artillery fire towards Ki'linochchi town, its suburbs, Paranthan and Vaddakkachchi as Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers targeted Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) defence lines along the suburbs of Ki'linochchi, according to the sources in Vanni.
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The ploy of ‘development’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 00:07 GMT]
What is perhaps needed as a prerequisite for development in the context of the island of Sri Lanka is only a bold solution providing outlets to the national questions of the Tamils and the Sinhalese. But in their arrogance and greed, the international development enthusiasts are in such a hurry that they think of thrusting upon ‘development’ from the above, bulldozing the national question militarily. In the process they invite unwanted deep antagonism of a people who in fact are prepared in all other respects to welcome the development ventures of them, writes opinion columnist Chivanadi, in the first part of an article, Development, Multiculturalism and Ethnonationalism in Sri Lanka.
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2 STF killed in Batticaloa ambush - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 December 2008, 12:13 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) officer and a commando were killed at Karadiyanaa'ru in Batticaloa district Thursday around 12:30 p.m. when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) fighters clashed with the STF engaged in a search operation, the Tigers have claimed from Batticaloa.
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