FAC hit in sea battle off Mullaithivu -VoT

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2001, 17:37 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Fast Attack Craft was damaged in heavy fighting with the Sea Tigers in the seas 36 kilometres off the Mullaithivu coast Friday, the Voice of Tigers radio (VoT) said in its night newsbroadcast.
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IDP visiting home in Thenmaradchi knifed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 September 2001, 20:12 GMT]
Mr. Sinnathamby Kandaiah, 53, who went to see his home in Kodikamam in the Thenmaradchi division southeast of Jaffna town Saturday was admitted to the Manthikai hospital with knife wounds. Relatives who brought him to the hospital around 4.30 this afternoon said that he was found lying unconscious and that there were cuts on his body. The man, who regained consciousness later in the day, said he was knifed by Sri Lanka army soldiers in the area. Kandaiah's family was displaced by heavy fighting between the SLA and the LTTE last year.
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‘Don’t resettle in areas mined by SLA’ - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 September 2001, 04:44 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Friday that displaced civilians in Jaffna are being resettled in areas where land mines laid by the Sri Lanka army haven’t been removed. They said that the family of six that was killed in a land mine explosion on 24 September was among the displaced residents who were resettled in Irupalai where no SLA mines fields have been cleared so far. Meanwhile, Jaffna court sources said that residents of Irupalai had complained to Jaffna District Judge T. Vignarajah about the danger they face from land mines left behind in the village by the SLA when he visited the scene of the explosion that killed the family on 24 September. The sources said that the matter would be recorded at the inquest.
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Tigers, SLA fight artillery duels in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 September 2001, 17:02 GMT]
Three soldiers were killed in heavy shelling by the Liberation Tigers on Sri Lanka army positions in Mirusuvil, southeast of Jaffna town Wednesday night. The bodies of the soldiers killed in the attack were taken to the Palaly military hospital in Jaffna.
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Thileepan commemorated in areas under SLA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 September 2001, 16:43 GMT]
The commemoration of Thileepan, a senior member of the Liberation Tigers who fasted unto death on 26 September 1987, was observed Wednesday in many parts of the northeastern province of Sri Lanka which are under the control of the Sri Lankan army.
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LTTE condemns assassination of senior leader

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 September 2001, 13:09 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an official statement issued from its headquarters in Vanni Wednesday, strongly condemned the killing of one of its senior leaders, Colonel Shankar. The statement said the LTTE leadership "shares the Tamil people's outrage and treats the killing of a senior leader with utmost gravity."
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Award for senior Tamil journalists stopped

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 September 2001, 16:46 GMT]
Special awards for two senior Tamil journalists were cancelled on a directive by the Sri government, media sources said Tuesday. The North-eastern Provincial Council (NEPC) announced on 2 September that Mr.Ponnaiah Manikavasagam, the correspondent for the Tamil daily Thinakkural in Vavuniya and a regular contributor to the BBC and other international media, would receive the NEPC Governor's special journalism award for 2001. It also announced that Mr. Aiyathurai Nadesan, senior correspondent and political columnist for the Tamil daily Virakesari, would get an award for his book 'The history of the ethnic contradiction in Sri Lanka' published last year. The awards for the two senior Tamil journalists were stopped for political reasons, an official of the NEPC said.
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TULF to boycott 17th amendment debate

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 September 2001, 18:17 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front has decided to boycott the debate on 17 th amendment to constitution scheduled for Monday in parliament.A decision to this effect was taken Sunday at the central working committee of the TULF. "The TULF is of view that the proposals presented do not ensure the effective representation of the minority nationalities on the constitutional council, so as to guarantee an adequate and genuine participation on behalf of the minority nationalities in the deliberations and decision making processes of the council", said the Secretary General of the TULF Mr.R.Sampanthan in a statement issued at the conclusion of the central working committee of the TULF held Sunday evening.
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Tigers say SLN using civilians as human shield

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 September 2001, 09:36 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers urged civilians in Jaffna to travel only in ships flying the ICRC's flag or the flags of other recognised international humanitarian organisation in a leaflet issued Saturday in the northern peninsula.
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Sinhala nationalists jeer peace supporters

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 September 2001, 11:41 GMT]
Sinhala Nationalist protestors disrupted 'SriLankaFirst', a massive peace campaign organised by Sri Lanka's big businesses and major NGOs near downtown Colombo Wednesday. A procession of Sihala Urumauya (SU) activists and supporters that was on its way to the US Embassy to express solidarity with the American government jeered and insulted people who were holding hands in the 'SriLankaFirst' peace campaign near the city hall in Colombo.
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SLA penetratiom group strikes again in east

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 September 2001, 15:38 GMT]
A member of the communications wing of the Liberation Tigers was killed in a claymore blast set off by a deep penetration team of the Sri Lanka army in the hinterland west of the Batticaloa town Monday around 4.30 p.m. paramilitary sources in the eastern town said. Since June this year, SLA deep penetration teams have killed two members of the Liberation Tigers inside the western hinterland of the Batticaloa district. The LTTE controls 90 percent of the district’s western sector. The Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa say that they have recovered 37 claymore mines set up by the SLA inside areas under their control since 15 June.
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Two Dvoras sunk, two damaged in clash

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 September 2001, 19:53 GMT]
Two Dvora gunboats of the Sri Lanka Navy were sunk and another two heavily damaged in day long fighting off the seas of Point Pedro, official LTTE sources told TamilNet Sunday. The Dvoras were protecting a Sri Lankan troop ship which was also damaged in the attack, the sources said. Ten Sea Tigers, including four Black Tigers were killed along with at least fifteen Sri Lankan sailors, the sources said.
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LTTE condemns attack on US

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 September 2001, 14:58 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) categorically denied reports Saturday in Sri Lanka’s state media that the organization had distributed a message to the people of Jaffna with reference to Tuesday’s attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s chief spokesman and political advisor, when contacted by TamilNet condemned the Sri Lankan government for exploiting the “colossal human tragedy” to gain political advantage. He also condemned the attack as a “brutal crime.”
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Dialogue with LTTE vital for humanitarian ops. -ICRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 September 2001, 16:51 GMT]
"The LTTE is a major party to the conflict. As such the present dialogue with the LTTE is vital for the continuance of the ICRC's humanitarian services to the people in Vanni and the rest of the country," said Mr.Harasha Gunawardene, the ICRC's press officer, addressing a press conference held Wednesday morning at Trincomalee Seven Islands Hotel.
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Tigers counter attack SLA ambush

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 September 2001, 13:20 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army soldier was killed and another was seriously wounded when a group of Liberation Tigers counter attacked a SLA ambush party at Adampan junction, eight kilometres south east of Mannar, Wednesday morning. A firefight erupted as the LTTE group walked into an ambush by three teams from the nearby SLA camp in Maanthai around 9 a.m. sources said. The Tigers had then taken up position to counter attack the SLA ambush teams, killing one and seriously injuring another.
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PA - JVP pact is a serious blow to peace - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 September 2001, 06:50 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Monday that the formation of a probationary government with an alliance between the People's Alliance (PA) regime and the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) effected a serious blow to the peace process in Sri Lanka. Commenting on the current political developments in Colombo, Mr. Anton Balasingham, the LTTE's chief negotiator and political advisor told the Tamil Guardian newspaper that one of the clauses of the 'Memorandum of Understanding' reached between the PA and the JVP strictly forbids any discussions on proposals relating to the solution to the Tamil national question.
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Two killed in Vavuniya FDL skirmishes

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 September 2001, 10:08 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka army soldiers were killed and three were wounded in attacks by the Liberation Tigers in the Forward Defence Localities north of Vavuniya Thursday and Friday, military sources in Vavuniya said. The SLA shelled a forward defence locality in Pampaimadu Thursday morning, having observed a group of Tigers in the area. Three soldiers were wounded when the Tigers ambushed an SLA unit that was sent to clear the locality subsequently.
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Tigers say recruitment rising

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 September 2001, 23:27 GMT]
(NEWS FEATURE) The Liberation Tigers' Batticaloa and Amparai district political leader, Mr. Karikalan, said this week that his organisation was drawing large numbers of new volunteers and denied press reports of forcible recruitment. In an interview with Tamil language Uthayan newspaper published Tuesday, Mr.Karikalan said many recruits were coming forward with the support and encouragement of their parents amid active participation from many villages in the LTTE's recruitment drive. "There is a firm belief amongst the people that the struggle will succeed. This has given us a fresh impetus."
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TULF says ceasefire offer a "ploy"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 August 2001, 14:26 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front Thursday said that the Sri Lankan Government's offer of a truce with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is a ploy to deceive the Tamil people. Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham, TULF parliamentarian Thursday said the ceasefire offer made by the Sri Lankan Government soon after the breakdown of the talks between two main parties is an attempt to hoodwink Tamil political parties and the Tamil people.
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UNP for General Election

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 August 2001, 14:24 GMT]
"Following the failure of talks between PA and UNP, now it seems the only way to get out from the present political crisis is to hold a general election to elect a new parliament," said Sri Lanka's opposition leader Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing a gathering of business magnates, politicians and academics at Hotel Taj Samudra in Colombo, Wednesday night.
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