Sri Lankan forces arrest 60 Tamils in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 June 2008, 15:46 GMT]
Sri Lankan forces Monday evening arrested around 60 Tamils, most of them who had their place of birth or residence address from Jaffna in their identity cards. Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian from Vanni, Selvam Adaikkalanathan said he had taken up the concerns of the relatives with the authorities.
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Media organizations demonstrate against detention of journalist Tissanayagam

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 June 2008, 15:26 GMT]
Members of five media organizations staged a peaceful demonstration Monday around 10.30 a.m demanding the release of senior journalist J. S. Tissanayagam who is held in the custody of Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of Sri Lanka police for the last 115 days, in front of Colombo District Court. The Court extended the detention order served on Tissanayagam and two other Tamils, V. Jasikaran and Ms. V. Valarmathy until September 5 on request made by TID.
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Two Tamil youths reported missing in Kotahena

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 June 2008, 18:53 GMT]
A 37-year old Tamil flower-vendor and his assistant are missing from Kochchikade in Colombo since June 26, according to complaints lodged with the Kotahena Police and Rajagiriya Police by their relatives, sources in Colombo said.
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DPU Claymore explodes claiming the life of attacker

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 June 2008, 13:35 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier was killed while he was engaged in setting up a Claymore mine in Vannearikku'lam in Karaichchi division of Ki'linochchi, Sunday morning around 9:30, Tamileelam police officials in Ki'linochchi said. The SLA DPU team that hurriedly withdrew from the area, had left behind the dead body of the SLA soldier, 2 km away from the site of the blast. Police said a bus carrying civilians was approaching the area when the explosion took place.
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Thu'nukkaay DS killed in DPU attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 June 2008, 13:06 GMT]
The Divisional Secretary (AGA) of Thu'nukkaay division of Mullaiththeevu district was killed in a Claymore attack carried out by the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Tamileelam Police officials in Mullaiththeevu told media. The DS, Mr. N. Nanthakumar, 36, father of three-month-old baby girl, was killed on the spot in the attack which was reported at 4:50 p.m. Sunday.
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Australian socialist conference highlights Tamil rights

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 June 2008, 12:20 GMT]
Tamil youth activists addressed a packed audience, who attended 'Resistance 2008', an annual conference of Australia's largest socialist youth organisation, held at the University of Technology in Sydney this weekend. At a workshop on Saturday the Tamil presenters urged the socialist activists in Australia to voice support for the right to self determination of the Eezham Tamils.
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SIM card details registered during search operation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 June 2008, 09:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army and the Police, while conducting a joint search operation in Wellawatte, a Tamil suburb of Colombo, on Saturday registered details of mobile phone numbers and the serial number of the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards. Meanwhile, many of the civilians taken for inquiries are yet to return, the residents said.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 June 2008, 14:40 GMT]
A Tamil youth was shot dead during a joint cordon and search operation conducted Saturday morning 7:00 a.m. in Ka'luvaangkea'ni area within Ea’raavoor Police division in Batticaloa district by Special Task Force (STF) troopers of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and paramilitary operatives of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP).
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Jaffna student reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 June 2008, 11:47 GMT]
A 20-year Tamil youth from Jaffna, staying with his aunt in Wellawatte in Colombo, has been reported missing since June 26, according to complaints lodged with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) by relatives.
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A'laveddi Tamil youth missing in Dehiwala

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 June 2008, 11:43 GMT]
A 21-year Tamil youth from A'laveddi in Jaffna district, working in Colombo for nearly a one year, has been reported missing since June 24, according to complaints lodged by his sister with the Dehiwala Police, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and International Committee of Red cross (ICRC), sources said.
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Tamil woman shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 June 2008, 10:42 GMT]
A 31-year old Tamil woman was shot dead by unknown gunmen waiting under the cover of shrub jungle when the victim was returning home after work with her husband in a motorbike near a cemetery along I'rampaikku'lam area in Vavuniyaa Friday night, police sources said.
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Weerawansa, Pillayan discuss alliance

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 June 2008, 10:04 GMT]
Wimal Weerawansa, a pro-government politician who heads a breakaway faction of the Sinhala extreme nationalist JVP, Saturday morning held discussions with Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, the leader of the paramilitary-cum-political party TMVP, who was recently installed by Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling UPFA as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, to reach a 'common understanding' and to form a 'common political front', informed sources in Colombo told TamilNet. Meanwhile, JVP sources, when contacted with the news, described the move as 'alliance of puppets.'
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TMVP person shot, injured in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 June 2008, 08:28 GMT]
Unidentified armed men on motorcycle shot and seriously injured Friday around 9:15 p.m the person in charge of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) office in Aalaiyadivempu in Akkaraippattu police division in Ampaa’rai district, near the office. The injured person was first rushed to Akkaraipattu hospital and then transferred to Ampaa’rai District Hospital for further treatment.
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SLA hands over 25 LTTE bodies to Vavuniyaa hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 2008, 15:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vavuniyaa handed over 25 dead bodies of Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) fighters, claiming that they were killed in action at Chriraddikku'lam, which is a GS area in Maanthai East division of Mullaiththeevu district. Meanwhile, Murungkan police handed over a dead body of a combatant to Mannaar hospital Friday evening.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 2008, 14:55 GMT]
Unknown gunmen shot dead a Tamil youth in Sivapuram in Vavuniyaa Thursday afternoon. The body of the youth has been lying in the mortuary of the Vavuniyaa general hospital for identification and postmortem examination, police sources said.
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Kaithadi Tamil youth abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 2008, 14:53 GMT]
A Tamil youth Subramaniam Vaseeharan, 21, was abducted Thursday night while staying in a lodge located along Kathiresan Road in Colombo, according to complaints lodged with the Kotahena Police by his relatives.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 2008, 14:45 GMT]
A 33-year old Tamil youth was shot dead Thursday night in Paalaiyoottu, a suburb in Trincomalee by unidentified armed persons riding a motorbike. The victim had been working in a lodge and was shot while returning home, according to complaints lodged by his relatives with the police.
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FMM: State media level dangerous allegation against Press Institute

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 2008, 12:41 GMT]
Colombo based media watchdog, the Free Media Movement (FMM), on Friday expressed serious concern against a false story planted in the Sri Lankan state controlled newspaper, 'Dinamina', a paper considered as one of the mouthpieces of the government, leveling dangerous allegations against Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and a group of journalists who participated in a journalism course in Denmark. The story alleged that the SLPI had sent members connected to LTTE under Journalist label. The FMM has demanded the Sri Lankan media minister to extend a formal apology to the Sri Lankan Press Institute (SLPI) and the journalists who participated a journalism training course in Denmark.
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Criminalization of Tamil diaspora counterproductive - IFT

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 2008, 10:27 GMT]
Geneva based Tamil diaspora federation, the International Federation of Tamils (IFT), in a press release issued Thursday, expressed disappointment on the misuse of anti-terrorist legislation by Canada to "suppress the voice of Canadian Tamil diaspora by listing the World Tamil Organization (WTM) as a terrorist organization," denounced the measures taken by other western governments on criminalization of Tamil diaspora as "plainly unhelpful and clearly counter productive."
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Slain Maheswaran’s associate knifed to death

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 2008, 09:53 GMT]
Unknown men killed Friday around 1:40 a.m. knifed to death a close associate of late T. Maheswaran, former Sri Lanka minister and United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian for Colombo district at his residence on Wyman Road in Jaffna, police said. The victim was making arrangements for a memorial event that was to be held in Nalloor Thurkkaa Ma’ni Ma’ndapam Friday in remembrance of late Maheswaran who was slain on 01 January in Colombo.
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