Stranded travellers to return tomorrow

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 21:52 GMT]
K.Ganesh, the Government Agent in Vavuniya, said today that over 2200 stranded travellers in Vavuniya had been registered with the civil authorities to be sent to the Vanni tomorrow morning after military officials informed him that the Vanni people will be returned home tomorrow.
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Stranded Vanni residents to go back?

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 16:46 GMT]
The Vanni Security Forces Commander, Major General Lionel Balagalle, said today that two thousand persons from among the Vanni residents who have been stranded in Vavuniya since the closure off all entry points to the areas held by the Liberation Tigers in the north could be sent back tomorrow.
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Journalists to watch travellers return

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 16:26 GMT]
Vavuniya kacheri officials were busy this morning making arrangements to send back about 2200 civilians from the LTTE controlled areas of the Vanni who have been stranded in Vavuniya since last month.
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Torture victim granted bail

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 11:41 GMT]
The Batticaloa high court yesterday decided to proceed with three cases filed against Shanmuganm Manogaran,23, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act despite a supreme court verdict last month ordering the state to grant him compensation on grounds that he was tortured while in detention.
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LTTE agrees to Mannar sea evacuation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 07:38 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have welcomed a proposal by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that seriously ill patients stranded in the Vanni due to the closure of the access point at Uyilankulam could be evacuated by sea, said sources close to the LTTE in Europe.
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Six killed in shooting incident

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 11:08 GMT]
A policeman, a soldier and four civilians were killed and six others seriously wounded when two gunmen, suspected to be members of LTTE, opened fire at Thekkankaadu, about one km south of Vavuniya town along the Vavuniya Anuradhapura road, said sources.
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Demonstrators demand route to Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 10:00 GMT]
About 500 travellers, including government servants and traders from the LTTE held areas of the Vanni, have staged a Sathyagraha demonstration outside the Vavuniya Kacherie this morning demanding that a route to the LTTE held areas of the Vanni be opened immediately so that they could return home to their families.
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Further troop movement out of Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 09:55 GMT]
Hundreds of troops deployed in the Mannar district have been replaced by Police, said sources.
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Situation in Vanni Deteriorating - GA

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 07:43 GMT]
People in the Kilinochchi district are affected by shortages of food, malnutrition and disease due to the closure of an access route to the Vanni, according to T.Rasanayagam the Government Agent in Kilinochchi, said sources.
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Teaching unions protest against discriminatory decision

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 1999, 20:35 GMT]
Seven Tamil and Muslim teaching trade unions unanimously decided today to picket the offices of the North east Provincial Ministry of Education and the Department of Education in Trincomalee on the Morning of July 26 to protest against what they see as a discriminatory pay award.
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Troop Relocation in Mannar Area

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 1999, 16:17 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) troops stationed at Sunny Village, Puthukduiyiruppu and Pesalai have been relocated to the Paappamoddai area and police personnel have taken over these positions, said sources.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 July 1999, 19:09 GMT]
Trincomalee residents alarmed by illegal settlements, SLA casualty in Vavuniya road accident, Teachers demand payment of risk allowance; Confusion over alternative exam arrangements.
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Tigers offer alternative Vanni route

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 1999, 19:31 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are ready to open an access route to the Vanni through the Uylankulam and Pallamadu areas in Mannar district or through Mankulam if the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) agrees to maintain a demilitarised zone in the area between the present defence lines of the two sides, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) said quoting S.P.Thamilchelvan leader of the LTTE’s Political wing in its morning news bulletin today.
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Mass protest in Vanni -GA

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 1999, 18:05 GMT]
At least eight seriously ill people in the Vanni have died as they had been unable to travel to hospitals in the south, due to the closure of the access route to the region, according to K.Ganesh, the Government Agent in Vavuniya. At least three thousand travellers who had come to Mannar and Vavuniya for various purposes and stranded are undergoing severe hardship without money and spare clothes to wear, the GA said.
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Six killed in clashes

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 1999, 17:48 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and another wounded when suspected members of the Liberation Tigers opened fire at them in the Madhu area around 9 a.m. this morning, said sources.
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ICRC may move sick

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 1999, 13:30 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has not agreed to let the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) take relief supplies to the Vanni by sea from Mannar to Vidaththaltheevu but has granted the organisation permission to transport the sick not only by sea but through any of the access routes that are closed now, SLA official said today.
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New Mankulam DMZ proposed

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 1999, 13:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army officials said yesterday that they have suggested a new demilitarised zone, 5 km long and 1 km wide along the Mankulam- Thunukkai road, through which relief supplies may be taken into the Vanni.
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Peace before development -World Bank told

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 July 1999, 12:06 GMT]
Leaders of Tamil groups in Colombo told a World Bank team that the war in the Northeast should be brought to and end before any development projects are initiated in the province.
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SLA continues Jaffna sweep

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 July 1999, 10:15 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army (SLA) will continue its operation into the mangroves of Varani and Amban in southeastern Jaffna for another week said sources in the north. One soldier was killed and three were wounded during clashes between troops and the Liberation Tigers today.
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LTTE officials meet NGOs over route

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 July 1999, 23:02 GMT]
S.P.Thamilchelvan, leader of the Liberation Tigers' political section and his deputy, Karikaalan, met the representatives of international non governmental organisations in the Vanni to explain the position of the LTTE regarding opening of a route to the areas held by the LTTE., the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said in its morning news broadcast today.
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