Convincing donors, Kumaratunge's goal- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 May 2005, 00:45 GMT]
Accusing Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge for not taking constructive steps to establish the Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction of NorthEast, Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers (LTTE), S.P Thamilchelvan, in a recent interview with TamilNet, dismissed Ms Kumaratunge's positive statements on the Joint Mechanism as a mere tactic to influence the donors in the forthcoming aid conference to take decisions in her favor, and to attract international assistance.
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Pirapaharan extols Jeyanthan Brigade on 12th anniversary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 May 2005, 00:02 GMT]
In April last year, the world witnessed the prowess, fighting spirit and the commitment of the Jeyanthan Brigade which, by executing in Batticaloa soil “the right operation at the right time and the right place, triumphed against betrayal and reclaimed our soil, our people and our cadre," said LTTE leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan in a congratulatory message sent to the fighting unit which celebrated the 12th anniversary of its formation on Wednesday.
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Australian Tamils condemn journalist's murder

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 May 2005, 10:52 GMT]
The Australian Federation of Tamil Associations, in a press release issued Tuesday condemned the murder of Dharmeratnam Sivaram and said, "This murder is the latest in a series of brutal slayings of Tamil journalists which includeBBC journalist, Mr Mylvaganam Nimalarajan and Mr Nadesan...We call upon the Australian Government and the Australian Media in particular to condemn this brutal and premeditated murder. AFTA is outraged that the Sri Lankan politicalestablishment should continue silencing the voice of Tamils despite the cease-fire."
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Sivaram: ‘Don’t raise false hopes amongst our people’

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 May 2005, 18:35 GMT]
The last article published by Mr. Dharmeratnam Sivaram, the political columnist and military analyst abducted and murdered on Friday, was an appeal to his colleagues in the Tamil media. Urging them not to hype up the chances of a positive outcome with regards to the joint mechanism until it actually happens, Mr. Sivaram argued that the media has a duty to not to raise false hopes amongst the Tamil people and to keep the Sri Lankan state’s determination not to meet Tamil expectations in sight.The article, written in Tamil for the Colombo-based Virakesari newspaper appeared in its edition of Sunday April 24.
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Sivaram funeral cortege leaves Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 May 2005, 17:19 GMT]
The body of murdered Tamil journalist Sivaram Dharmeratnam was taken from his residence in Colombo at 10pm local time to Batticaloa where his funeral will take place on Monday. The skies opened up momentarily around No.15/4 Mahindarama Road, Ratmalana from where the cortege left with Police escort. The cortege is expected to reach Batticaloa in the early hours of Monday
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Heavy security marks May day rallies in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 May 2005, 11:37 GMT]
Thousands of supporters of major political parties in southern Sri Lanka joined the May day rallies being held in capital Colombo, amidst heavy security measures. The ruling United People’s Front Alliance (UPFA) is holding a rally at the Galle Face Green, under the patronage of Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge. Several government Ministers, Parliamentarians and UPFA leaders are taking part in the rally, sources in capital said.
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CPJ condemns ‘brazen abduction and execution’

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 April 2005, 18:25 GMT]
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the murder on Friday of leading military analyst and political commentator, Dharmeratnam Sivaram, saying “the brazen abduction and execution of a veteran journalist sends a chilling message to others in the Tamil media.”
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NESOHR: Yet another blow to press freedom in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 April 2005, 12:49 GMT]
Pointing out that none of the cases of journalist murders in Sri Lanka for the past two decades have been solved, North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) said: "Abduction and murder of well known journalist Dhramaratnam Sivaram in the capital city Colombo on Thursday April 29th 2005 is yet another blow to the non-existing press freedom in Sri Lanka and yet another nail on the coffin of the dying democracy in Sri Lanka. It is a telling symbolism that he was abducted in front of a police station in Colombo and his body was found only 500 meters behind the parliamentary complex."
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RSF ‘revolted’ at Sivaram’s murder

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 April 2005, 12:19 GMT]
Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders) Friday said it was revolted at the brutal killing of well known journalist and military analyst Dharmeratnam Sivaram who was abducted in front of a Colombo police stations Thursday night. Describing Mr. Sivaram as a “brilliant journalist”, RSF said he was targeted because of his “uncompromising coverage of the political and military situation” in Sri Lanka.
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Paramilitary cadre killed, associate abducted

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 April 2005, 18:33 GMT]
A cadre of the paramilitary ‘Karuna Group’ was killed and his Singhalese colleague was abducted by gunmen in Karapola, an interior Tamil village in Polannaruwa district close to Batticaloa border, around 4.30 p.m. Monday. Police sources in the area said that the gunmen had fired on the victims who were in a house in Karapola. The Karuna Group cadre, who was seriously injured, died on admission to the Polannaruwa Base Hospital, according to Police.
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Karuna Group cadre shot dead in Valaichenai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 April 2005, 07:02 GMT]
A youth believed to be a Karuna Group cadre was killed by an unidentified gunman Thursday around 11.30 a.m. in Valaichenai, 32 kilometres north of Batticaloa. He was gunned down on the Valaichenai Kalkudah road, according Police.
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Where the truce promise rings hollow

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 April 2005, 14:26 GMT]
The cease fire agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers was greeted eagerly by the people of Batticaloa because it held out the hope that their daily lives would be spared of the tensions, fears, anxieties, stress and trauma which they suffered for two long decades of war. They were glad that they could lead normal lives again. Today the cease fire’s promise rings increasingly hollow to them as the Sri Lankan armed forces reintroduce war era measures, which are tinged indelibly with bitter memories of a past the people of Batticaloa wanted to put behind so that they could start their lives anew.
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Polannaruwa magistrate visits Karuna Group / ENDLF camp

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 April 2005, 13:31 GMT]
Acting magistrate for Polannaruwa visited the place where the Karuna Group/ENDLF camps were attacked in the early hours of Friday morning. She inspected the five bodies, including that of a man identified as 'Vijayan', which were in huts in Vannaanthuraiyadi in the general area of Aralanganwila. However Informed sources in Sorivil said there were nine bodies in Vannaanthuraiyadi early Friday morning. Police said the attackers got away. ENDLF is a paramilitary based in South India.
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Nine killed in attack on paramilitary camp

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 April 2005, 02:22 GMT]
At least nine were killed in an attack on the camps of a paramilitary group in Sorivil in the Welikanda area, 80 kilometres northwest of Batticaloa Thursday morning, civilians in the area said. "We can neither confirm nor deny the reports of the attack", a senior military officer in the east said. The bodies of nine paramilitary cadres who were killed in the assault were lying near a river in Sorivil (Soruwila in Sinhala), an interior village in the Polannaruwa district. The ENDLF/Karuna Group set up five camps in the area recently, according to civilians in the area. Three paramilitary camps in Vannathuraiyadi near Sorivil were attacked. The other camps had supplies, according to villagers.
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LTTE conducted clearing operation in its area-Elilan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 April 2005, 17:04 GMT]
Responding to a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that LTTE cadres had fired towards the SLA Mahindapura army camp which is located down south of Muttur area in the Trincomalee district Wednesday night, Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head said " Our cadres conducted a clearing operation on receipt of information that armed cadres of an unidentified group had entered from the side of army camp into the no-man zone".


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Media watchdog says JVP inciting violence against journalists

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 April 2005, 16:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s main press watchdog, Free Media Movement FMM, Tuesday expressed grave concern that a speech by Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, the powerful propaganda secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), could incite violence against journalists and media institutions. In a letter addressed to the Patriotic National Movement, a JVP affiliate which organized the meeting where Mr. Weerawansa spoke, FMM said “stop this hate campaign your organisation has launched against journalists and media institutions and to keep criticisms within the limits of democratic freedoms."
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SLMM official: ‘Government must disarm Karuna Group’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 April 2005, 17:03 GMT]
The Sunday Times this week published transcripts from the Presidential Commission into the killings of LTTE officials and supporters in Sri Lanka’s restive east, in which the head of the international ceasefire monitors in Batticaloa, Mr. Steen Joergensen, confirmed the presence of anti-LTTE paramilitaries in government-held areas. However, the Sri Lanka Army's senior most officer in Batticaloa, Brigadier Laksiri Amaratunge, denied the charge.
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SLMM monitors meet Elilan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 April 2005, 11:53 GMT]
Members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee Saturday morning met with Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and discussed ways to curb events detrimental to peace, such as those which had recently in the district, SLMM sources said.
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Truce monitors saw Karuna cadres in Army area - report

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 April 2005, 18:02 GMT]
The head of the international ceasefire monitors supervising Sri Lanka’s three year old ceasefire told a President Commission investigating deadly attacks on members and supporters LTTE that cadres of an anti-LTTE paramilitary group had been seen operating in a government-held area, a Reuters report said Friday.
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LTTE sentry in Muttur attacked, one killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 April 2005, 07:03 GMT]
A helper of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was killed and another injured in an attack on a LTTE sentry by an unidentified group Friday early morning around four a.m within the LTTE controlled area, about five hundred meters from the Mahindapura sentry of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), down south of Trincomalee district along Muttur-Batticaloa highway, sources said.
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