Suspects in attempted murder case of SLA commander remanded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 16:06 GMT]
Colombo Fort Magistrate, Mr. Namal Bandara Balalle, Thursday ordered further remand till March 12, for the two suspects in the attempted murder of Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sarath Fonseka, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Police arrests Plantation Tamil youth in Nawalapitiya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 16:05 GMT]
A Tamil youth arrested on Thursday night when he was traveling in Udarata Menike express train is still being detained at Nawalapitiya police station and subjected to interrogation by the Terrorist Intelligence Division, media sources said.
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Tamil Teachers Union excluded from talks with Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 16:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse Friday held a discussion with representatives of Sri Lanka's teacher trade unions regarding the removal of salary anomalies and the increase of salary. The Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) was not invited for the discussion, trade union sources said.
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Sarath Fonseka to visit India seeking military cooperation - report

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 12:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Army commander, Maj. Gen. Sarath Fonseka is scheduled to pay a six-day visit to India Sunday to "deepen military cooperation between the two countries," according to a news report by the Indo Asian News Agency (IANS), Saturday. "Fonseka is sure to discuss military cooperation with India, which has become a touchy issue in bilateral relations," the IANS report said.
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SLA deserters threaten Up-Country Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 08:47 GMT]
A group of more than 15 armed Sinhalese persons, said to be instigated by the arrival of a dead body of a Sri Lanka Army soldier from Ma'nalaa'ru battlefront in the North, entered the 'line' houses of Up-Country Tamils at Kirimetiya watte (estate) in Yatinuwara division of Kandy district in the Central Province and heaped threats of 'collective punishment' a few days ago. Fear gripped the Tamil 'lines' following the episode as many SLA soldiers, recruited from the Yatinuwara area, are engaged in the Northern battlefront.
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Election commissioner in legal trouble over language issue

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 01:11 GMT]
The Supreme Court Friday directed the Attorney General to obtain statement from the Commissioner of Elections regarding the failure of publishing the voters register in Tamil language, for consideration during the March 17 hearing of Fundamental Rights violation petition filed by the Ceylon Workers United Front (CWUF), legal sources in Colombo said.
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11 SLA killed in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 February 2008, 17:41 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar said Friday that 11 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and many wounded when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) recaptured a position at Pa'ndivirichchaan Friday morning between 5:00 and 6:30 a.m. Meanwhlie, an SLA Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) was confronted by the Tigers at Mu'l'likku'lam around 2:00 p.m. 2 Claymore mines were seized, the Tigers said.
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Ganesan charges SL Embassy for misinformation campaign

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 February 2008, 15:33 GMT]
Mano Ganesan, leader of Western Peoples Front (WPF) and convener of Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC), in a press release issued Friday, charged the Counselor for Sri Lanka Embassy in France misrepresenting the strength of security provided to him. The actual number of security personnel assigned is eight, and not eighteen as the Embassy official had said, the press release said. "[T]his too had come after the Lankan Court of Appeal’s intervention in this legal battle...," the release added.
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LTTE, SLA clash in 2 fronts in Mannaar district

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 February 2008, 15:07 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters fought against Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and foiled an SLA attempt to enter LTTE territory Thursday around 11:00 a.m at Mui’l’likku’lam in Mannaar district, after 45 minutes of fierce fighting, Mannaar LTTE Operation Command said.
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SLA arrests 25 Tamil youths in Ea’raavoor

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 February 2008, 13:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) arrested twenty five Tamil youths in Tha’lavaai coastal jungle area in Ea’ravoor police division in Batticaloa district in a cordon and search conducted Thursday evening in the area. The arrestees have been handed over to Ea’raavoor police Friday morning, sources in Ea’raavoor said.
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Abducted Tamil youth found dead at Anpuvazhipuram

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 February 2008, 09:38 GMT]
The bullet-ridden body of a 20-year-old Tamil youth, Devuda Christopher, abducted by unknown persons on February 4 in Trincomalee was found Friday morning at Anpuvazhipuram, a suburb located about 3 km off along Trincomalee-Kandy road from east port city.
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MP objects to SLA video-filming residents during cordon, search

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 February 2008, 16:54 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Ampaa'rai district K. Pathmanathan sent an appeal to Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse and Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse protesting against the video taping of residents by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers during cordon and search operation conducted 20 February in Aalayadiveampu area in Akkaraipattu. People were also harrassed during the interrogation and these are violations of basic human rights, the MP said in the appeal.
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International institutions turn sour to Colombo government

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 February 2008, 13:18 GMT]
The Sri Lankan state, which was gleefully making use of some of the International NGOs and the Colombo based intellectuals associated with them, as long as their activities were serving its interests in weakening the Tamil cause, now frowns at them and seeks for their disintegration. The latest story is the government's hand in the disruptions faced by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) in Colombo. According to informed circles, there is a clear message from the Rajapaksa government that it would not tolerate any agenda of the International Community through such NGOs, when it comes to interference with the genocidal programme of the Sri Lankan state.
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Bruce Fein: Independence promotes stability

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 February 2008, 02:33 GMT]
"The reason why the Kosovo independence is so significant is because it addresses an issue that's prevalent throughout the world, for example Sri Lanka, where you have a minority that has been oppressed by the majority. And we’ve always had rather blurry lines in knowing, well, when does the oppression reach a sufficiently intense and egregious level that you're entitled to walk away from a sovereign and establish your separate statehood?" asks Bruce Fein in a video commentary on the global significance of Kosovo independence given to U.S-based Real News Network Sunday.
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8 civilians killed in SLA DPU attacks in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 18:01 GMT]
Eight innocent civilians riding in tractors were killed in two different Claymore attacks carried out by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit teams that had infiltrated into Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled areas on either sides of the A9 road, north of Vavuniyaa on Wednesday. The first attack, in which four civilians were killed, was reported at Panangkaamam in Moon'ru Mu'rippu GS area of Maanthai East division in Mullaiththeevu district at 1:50 p.m. The second attack was reported at 8:30 p.m. in which another four civilians were slain while they were riding in a tractor from Maruthoadai to Olumadu.
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3 SLA troops killed, 6 injured in Paalamoaddai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 16:45 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters killed three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers and injured six in a confrontation at Paalamoaddai in Vavuniya district Wednesday from 11:00 a.m to 11.40 a.m, Vavuniyaa LTTE Operations Command said.
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Britain to get tough with Sri Lanka - Minister

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 13:51 GMT]
Britain will be pressing Sri Lanka’s hardline government for greater access for senior UN officials and would join European allies in taking a stronger position against Colombo over human rights abuses. In a meeting with Tamil Diaspora representatives at the British Foreign Office on Monday, Foreign Minister Lord Malloch-Brown said he would personally be attending the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva next week to press the point. The government of President Rajapakse had “made political process secondary to military process,” the British Tamil Forum, a Diaspora advocacy group which attended the meeting, quoted the Minister as saying.
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UPFA, TMVP alliance implicates GoSL complicity, collusion with armed group - CPA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 13:37 GMT]
Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo based think-tank that undertook a fact finding mission to Batticaloa district between February 8 and 11, said Sri Lanka's ruling United Peoples Freedom Allilance (UPFA) government, by opting for the alliance with the armed TMVP group in Batticaloa municipal council election, finds itself in a position where it is increasingly difficult for the GoSL to deny the charges of "complicity and collusion with the TMVP." The CPA's statement has warned that there was a clear sense of inevitability that the elections will result in a TMVP "victory" as it is the only "political actor" allowed to move around in recently resettled areas.
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27 civilians arrested at Veappamadu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 12:17 GMT]
Twenty seven civilians, majority of them Tamils, were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka police in a cordon and search operation conducted at Veappamadu village along Puththa'lam-Mannaar road Wednesday from dawn for about five hours, media sources said.
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10 building workers arrested at Wellampitya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 12:14 GMT]
Ten civilians including 8 plantation Tamil youths were taken into custody by the police on Monday at a house construction site in Kumaradasa Place at Wellampitya in Colombo district, and are still being detained in the police station, police sources said.
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