Madhu Feast proceeds peacefully

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 August 1999, 14:21 GMT]
Over fifty thousand devotees participated in the Madhu Feast which took place today, said church sources. The Bishop of the Ratnapura diocese conducted the festival mass in Tamil and Sinhala at 6.30 a.m. this morning, along with Rev.Fr. A. Xavier Croos, the Vicar General of Mannar and Rev.Fr.D.B.Derarajah.
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SLA operation towards Paduvankarai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 August 1999, 07:59 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stationed at the Vavunathivu camp, 5 km. south west of Batticaloa town, began an operation to recapture areas under the control of the Liberation Tigers in the western hinterland of the district last night around 8 p.m.
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Youth arrested in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 August 1999, 10:19 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army (SLA) arrested twenty two youth in the Batticaloa town on suspicion today.
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Inquest into death of SLAF personnel

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 August 1999, 09:20 GMT]
The inquest into the death of Flight Lt. Mahinda Rajapakse took place at the Vavuniya district court yesterday.
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Bishop wants demilitarized zone for feast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 August 1999, 05:53 GMT]
The Bishop of Mannar Dr. Rev. Rayappu Joseph called on the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers to declare Madhu church and its precincts as a demilitarized zone for holding the annual feast.
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Most Vavuniya stranded back home

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 August 1999, 20:04 GMT]
The arrangements to return the people from the Vanni who became stranded in Vavuniya and Mannar due to the closure of the access route to the Vanni will conclude on Monday August 16, said sources.
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Dvora damaged - VoT

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 August 1999, 17:48 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said in its night news bulletin today that in a confrontation with the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in the deep sea off Kokkilai, the Liberation Tigers damaged a Dvora fast attack craft (FAC).
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Two LTTE boats damaged-SLN

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 August 1999, 09:52 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) said today that two boats belonging to the Liberation Tigers were damaged in a three hour long confrontation in the seas off Kokkilai, 40 km. north of Trincomalee, in the early hours of the morning.
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Batticaloa SLA, paramilitaries on edge

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 August 1999, 14:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army cordoned off the area around Loyds Avenue on the Batticaloa-Trincomalee road where the SLA convoy was attacked yesterday, and conducted a search operation from 11 a.m. this morning. The SLA searched the area for more than four hours.
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Impromptu crossing of paths

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 August 1999, 09:41 GMT]
A group of Liberation Tigers met a troupe of artists campaigning for peace accompanied by journalists returning yesterday after a performance in Sri Lanka Army controlled Thatchanamaruthamadu, northwest of Vavuniya, and told them that "Peace cannot be brought about easily because the President is determined to wage this war."
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Arrests in Batticaloa, Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 August 1999, 15:31 GMT]
Nine people, including five women were arrested during a combined search operation by the Sri Lanka Army and military trained Police in the Batticaloa Central Market area this afternoon sources said.
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Views of Vanni crossing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 August 1999, 10:01 GMT]
(Photographs) TamilNet correspondents' views of the movement of civilians through the newly established crossing point between areas held by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers (LTTE).
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Petition for Rehearing filed in U.S Court

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 August 1999, 06:58 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam today filed a petition for Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, said Ramsey Clark, Lawrence W Schilling and Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, the Lawyers representing the LTTE, in a press release issued on August 9th.
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Crossing completed at Mankulam

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 August 1999, 16:10 GMT]
Ten lorries carrying essential supplies were sent under ICRC escort to the Vanni this afternoon by 4.30 p.m. Supplies from lorries that came from Vavuniya were unloaded and reloaded onto lorries from the LTTE held areas of the Vanni which came through the safe passage on the A9 at Mankulam around 3 p.m.
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Travellers use new access route

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 August 1999, 10:30 GMT]
Seven seriously ill patients from the Vanni came through the safe passage opened today at Mankulam on the A9. The 500 civilians who were taken from the Vavuniya for the crossing are in the process of moving through the safe passage to the side held by the Liberation Tigers now said sources.
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Further details of Vanni crossing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 August 1999, 14:47 GMT]
Five hundred stranded travellers from the Vanni who are currently housed in the 'Kolikoodu' transit camp in Vavuniya will be in the first batch allowed to return to the LTTE controlled areas on Monday, said officials in the northern town of Vavuniya.
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Soldier wounded in LTTE Ambush

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 August 1999, 14:46 GMT]
A soldier was wounded at Iranai Iluppaikulam, 18 km. north west of Vavuniya, at about 11.00 a.m. this morning when the LTTE ambushed a SLA water tank, sources said.
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Access route to be opened on Monday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 August 1999, 17:02 GMT]
A safe route to the LTTE controlled areas of the Vanni will be opened on Monday and the first batch of 500 civilians, out of the 2000 who are stranded in Vavuniya, will be allowed to cross over along with 10 truck loads of food, said K.Ganesh, the Government Agent in Vavuniya.
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LTTE, SLA de-mine to open access route

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 August 1999, 11:23 GMT]
Work on opening a safe passage for civilians on the A9 at Mankulam began at 11:30 a.m. yesterday. The ICRC delegate for Vavuniya, Sherine Pollini, and the ICRC delegate for Mallavi, Rene Walter, were present on either side of no man's land to witness the event and to facilitate the process.
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Vavuniya traders demand access route

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 August 1999, 23:09 GMT]
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officials in Mallavi and Vavuniya visited the LTTE and SLA Mankulam defence lines today while both parties were engaged in de-mining their respective areas, sources said.
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