Sri Lanka determined to continue war - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2000, 22:38 GMT]
(News Feature) The Sri Lankan government's continued silence on Liberation Tigers' offer of unconditional peace talks last week cast doubt on Colombo's commitment to peacefully resolving the conflict, Anton Balasingham, the LTTE's theoretician and political advisor said Saturday. Sri Lanka's President Kumaratunge seemed determined to prosecute the war, he said in his Heroes' Day address in London. Nevertheless, the Liberation Tigers were seriously considering a Norwegian proposal for staggered and gradual de-escalation of the conflict, he said.
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40000 children to benefit from polio immunization

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2000, 14:01 GMT]
"Children are the messengers of peace. They should be safeguarded from diseases and war atrocities," said the Sri Lanka and Maldives' representative of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Mr.Colin Glennie Saturday morning after inaugurating the second round of the National Immunization Program against Poliomeylitis.
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Clashes near Nagarkovil

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 November 2000, 01:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army soldiers and Liberation Tigers clashed in the Vadamaradchi East sector on the north-eastern coast of the Jaffna peninsula in the early hours of Wednesday, security and civilian sources said.
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Tigers call for "unconditional talks in conducive climate"

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 November 2000, 12:57 GMT]
In his annual Heroes Day speech, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Mr.Velupillai Pirapaharan declared Monday that his organisation is prepared for unconditional peace talks with the Sri Lanka government but insisted on a process of de-escalation of war and the creation of a conducive climate of goodwill and normalcy in the Tamil homeland to facilitate such talks. A translation of Mr. Pirapahran's speech released by the LTTE from its London offices quoted him as saying that by normalcy he meant "the restoration of normal civilian life by removing the economic blockade and other restrictions imposed on the Tamil people".
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No ceasefire with LTTE - PM

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 November 2000, 17:28 GMT]
"The People's Alliance (PA) Government is not prepared to enter into any ceasfire agreement with the LTTE. We take this stand based on our past experiences with the LTTE. The war will continue until terrorism is eliminated," said Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, while addressing a public meeting in Kurunagala, this evening.
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10 LTTE casualties - radio

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 November 2000, 13:38 GMT]
Ten members of the Liberation Tigers were killed in an accidental explosion on 15 November in the Manal Aaru region in the north-east of the island, the Voice of Tigers radio said Friday morning.
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Britain seeks peace, more trade

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 November 2000, 17:09 GMT]
Mr.Peter Hain, British Foreign Office Minister Thursday expressed happiness that Sri Lanka's Prime Minister has taken up his offer to look more closely at the initiatives which led to the peace agreement in Northern Ireland "where a final constitutional settlement followed, rather than preceded negotiations." The Minister also called for increased trade between Sri Lanka and Britain, particularly in the field of information technology where he said the UK could "rival the US and Japan."
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World supports self-determination says UK

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 November 2000, 03:11 GMT]
(News Feature) Britain’s Foreign Office Minister, Peter Hain, Wednesday expressed his government’s support for Norway’s efforts to bring about negotiations to end Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict and urged compromise on both sides. "I am convinced that both the [Sri Lankan] government’s insistence upon the territorial sovereignty of the whole island and the LTTE’s objective of autonomy can be secured," he said. "But for that to happen the shooting must stop and the talking must start."
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Three LTTE members killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 November 2000, 07:33 GMT]
Three LIberation Tigers were killed and 3 military policemen were wounded in a fire-fight at Uyilankulam, 14 km. south of Mannar around 10 p.m. Tuesday, security sources said.
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Clash in Mannar sea

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 November 2000, 21:37 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka Navy clashed in the seas of Pallimunai in the northwestern Mannar Monday morning, the Voice of Tigers radio said in its night news broadcast today.
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Hundred thousand displaced by floods

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 November 2000, 19:04 GMT]
Nearly one hundred thousand people have been rendered homeless as heavy rains continue to lash in the eastern Sri Lanka, government officials in Batticaloa said Monday. Many roads are submerged in floods in Batticaloa, Ampara and Polonnaruwa Districts and several rivers have swollen with floods, officials said. Two people have been reported killed in the floods.
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SLA operation in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 November 2000, 10:09 GMT]
Fierce fighting erupted in the Northern Jaffna peninsula as government troops launched a limited operation to advance towards Madduvil-North in the early hours of Sunday. Seven Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and 27 wounded in the fighting, said sources in Jaffna. Madduvil is about 3 km. north-west of chavakachcheri.
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PTA detainee released - confessed under torture

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 November 2000, 19:27 GMT]
The Vavuniya High Court acquitted Balasingham Illakanakanthan, who had been charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), on the basis that the confession of the accused was obtained under duress whilst in Sri Lanka Army custody. The accused had been in remand for about eighteen months.
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Bus services cancellation inconveniences people

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 November 2000, 19:25 GMT]
Passenger bus services run by the Peoplized Transport Board and the Multi Purposes Co-operative Society (MPCS) to LTTE held villages through Vavunathivu from Batticaloa town have been stopped on the instructions of the security forces, officials concerned said.
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Buddhist monks burn effigy of Solheim

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 November 2000, 15:24 GMT]
Hundreds of Sinhala nationalists Thursday evening picketed out side the Royal Norwegian embassy in Colombo and burnt an effigy of Oslo's special envoy to Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim. The majority of the participants were Buddhist monks. Earlier around 4 the far-right Sihala Urumaya party organized a public meeting at Narahenpitiya in Colombo protesting against Norway's involvement in finding a solution to the island's conflict.
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Villagers appeal for bombing to stop

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 November 2000, 18:55 GMT]
An appeal has been made to the President of Sri Lanka to take immediate steps to stop the indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombing on Ralkulai and Navaladi villages in the Mutur division, south of eastern Trincomalee town. Hundreds of villagers have signed this memorandum, TamilNet sources in Mutur said.
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ICRC escort for ships suspended

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 November 2000, 15:26 GMT]
The International Committee of Red Cross has suspended its escort to the passenger vessel City of Trinco and as the well as the voyager 'Jaya Gold' until further notice, said ICRC's spokesman Harasha Gunawardene. The two ships had been transferring seriously ill patients between Jaffna and Trincomalee.
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Fire-fight in Valaichenai

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 November 2000, 07:42 GMT]
Four soldiers were wounded when the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) clashed Sunday night in the Valaichenai area, about 32 kilometers north of Batticaloa, security sources said.
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Court rejects confession, frees PTA detainee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 November 2000, 15:35 GMT]
A Tamil youth who was charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was acquitted by the Eastern High Court on Thursday when it was brought to the notice of the Judge that the confession had not been signed by the accused.
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Justice demanded in Bindunuwewa massacre

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2000, 11:22 GMT]
The Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) has requested the President of Sri Lanka and her government to bring to justice those responsible for planning, instigating and carrying out the Bindunuwewa massacre, including those who were responsible for the poster campaign prior to the event.
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