Violence, paramilitary activity on upward trend- CMEV

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 February 2008, 16:54 GMT]
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) in a report issued Monday on the ground situation in the east in relation to the forthcoming local elections, expressed concerns of "continuing trend of paramilitary activity, reports of abduction, extra-judicial execution, intimidation and extortion attributed to 'unidentified armed men' and the inability of the law enforcement agencies to pursue investigations."
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Colombo TV news editor fears for his life

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 February 2008, 15:11 GMT]
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), a media rights watchdog, in a press release issued Monday, condemned "all attempts to intimidate, harm and harass journalists," including a news editor at Sirasa, the Sinhala language channel of MTV-MBC network, "and any acts by public officials or members of the public to undermine the safety and security of journalists and media personnel who dare to report the country’s inconvenient truths." Kedelpitiya, editor at Sirasa, complained of stalkers, and threats, following his work on the Action TV news program, which recently aired several reports on corruption allegedly involving powerful figures.
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Plantation Tamil youth missing in Moneragala

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 February 2008, 14:49 GMT]
A plantation Tamil youth employed as a three wheel driver in Moneragala town in the south has been reported missing since 13 February. 24 year-old Maruthan Dineshkumar was last seen driving his three-wheeler to Okkampitya, and has not returned to his residence with his vehicle, according to complaints lodged with the Moneragala police.
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29 Tamils arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 February 2008, 13:45 GMT]
Thirty four civilians were taken into custody in a cordon and search operation conducted by the government security forces at Gampaha town from Saturday night till Sunday morning. Twenty nine of those arrested are Tamils, majority of them plantation workers. Three are Muslims and 2 are Sinhalese, media sources said quoting police.
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Two abducted Tamils in police custody

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 February 2008, 02:26 GMT]
Two of the three Tamil civilians abducted by unknown persons in Dehiwala and Grandpass last week are reported to be in the custody of the police for interrogation. The whereabouts of the third person, Asirwatham Sooriyakumar, 22, who was abducted from Grandpass is still not known, according to civil sources.
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Sri Lanka rejects Kosovo independence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 February 2008, 18:22 GMT]
While the United States and a number of European Union countries are expected to recognize Kosovo on Monday, Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry, reasoning that declaration of Independence can set "an unmanageable precedent in the conduct of international relations," said that Sri Lanka does not endorse the secession of Kosovo from Republic of Serbia. Questions raised by the birth of a new state towards demand for self-determination by similarly affected Tamils in Sri Lanka, may explain Sri Lanka's discomfiture towards Kosovo's independence, more than the outwardly expressed "concern" for the threat to international peace and security, political observers in Colombo said.
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LTTE attacks SLA FDL in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 February 2008, 14:13 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Sunday attacked a Sri Lanka Army Forward Defence post at Naavatku'lam in Vavuniyaa district, killing a SLA soldier and wounding two. The SLA soldiers withdrew from the checkpost following the LTTE attack that lasted for 30 minutes from 11:10 a.m., according to LTTE Operations Command in Vavuniyaa. Meanwhile, shelling duel continued in Paalamoaddai throughout the night till Sunday 10:00 a.m.
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Colombo banks demand police certificate to open accounts

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 February 2008, 12:46 GMT]
Managements of some private sector banks are demanding Jaffna based Tamil civilians residing in Colombo district to produce police registration certificate in addition to other documents usually required to open current or saving accounts in their branches located in Colombo, civil society sources in Colombo said.
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Fishing restrictions affect Trincomalee fishermen

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 February 2008, 12:43 GMT]
The livelihood of Trincomalee fishermen, majority of them Tamil or Muslim, have been badly affected due to the restriction imposed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on fishing now in force for more than one year. One third of the population in Kinniya town, second densely populated town in the district is engaged in fishing, and many have been driven to abject poverty, according to Kinniya Division Fisheries Co-operative Society sources.
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3 Tamils abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 February 2008, 10:06 GMT]
Three Tamils have been abducted by unidentified men who came in white van in Colombo and its suburbs, Saturday night, according to complaints made with the police by their relatives.
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SLA push fails in Paalaikkuzhi, SLAF bombs Madu area- LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 February 2008, 22:05 GMT]
Attempts by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers to push forward in Paalaikkuzhi, Mannaar Saturday morning 7:00 a.m. was foiled according to Mannaar Operations Command of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE).
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Expanding role of diaspora youth in political activism

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 February 2008, 21:17 GMT]
Signs of increasing number of diaspora Tamil youth in Australia and Canada seeking new outlets to express their support for the Tamil struggle, and reinforcing their roots in Tamil culture, were visible recently when Australian youths made their presence known during a cricket game on the 12th of February at the Manuka oval in Canberra, and the Canadian Tamil students from York University used Tamileelam flag as the rallying symbol as they exhibited prize winning entries in the cultural shows during the "multicultural week" event in York.
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Justification for Tamil statehood compelling under international law- Fein

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 February 2008, 15:10 GMT]
Accusing a Sri Lanka website of "surrender[ing] the honorable role of scrutinizing and criticizing [Sri Lanka] government to become an obsequious courtier daily genuflecting to the GOSL and the Tamil quislings Karuna and Pillaiyan group," Bruce Fein, an attorney based in Washington D.C, in responding to questions posed by the website, challenged the site to publish a list of Americans killed or threatened by the LTTE, saying "[O]ne statutory requirement is proof that an organization threatens Americans or impairs the national security of the United States."
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Abducted Wellawatte Tamil trader released in Wattala

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 February 2008, 14:52 GMT]
The 49-year old Tamil trader abducted by a group of six persons who arrived in white colored van in front of a hotel located in Wellawatte, Colombo Thursday night around 8:00 p.m., was released Saturday morning around 4.40 a.m. at Wattala, in sources in Colombo said. The victim was forced into the van and the abductors drove away from the scene while hotel employees and several pedestrians witnessed the incident.
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24 Village-divisions in Trincomalee deserted due to conflict

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 February 2008, 14:47 GMT]
A preliminary report released by the Department of Census and Statistics in Colombo revealed that villages in 24 grama niladhari (village level) divisions in the Trincomalee district have been deserted due to the displacement of residents following the conflict. 20 GN divisions are Tamil areas. Other four are Sinhala divisions, media sources said.
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Tamil youth arrested at Avissawella

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 February 2008, 07:06 GMT]
Avissawella police arrested a Tamil youth while he was traveling in a bus from Colombo to Bandarawela Thursday, Police sources said. The youth was taken into custody and is still being detained at the Avissawella police station.
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TMVP threatens Muslim journalist in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 February 2008, 00:53 GMT]
A Muslim, Parliamentary Journalist attached to Thinakkural Tamil daily office in Colombo, received Friday threats from Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) paramilitary group in a letter to his office address, warning him not to write news against their organization and that they will kill him if he does not heed the warning, the journalist said.
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2 Tamils arrested at Matale estate

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 February 2008, 12:28 GMT]
Two Tamils arrested on Thursday at Ethuwatte estate in Matale in the north central province are being detained in the Matale police station and are being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division. One is a resident of Batticaloa Krishnamoorthy, 25, and had been employed at a shop located in Ethuwatte estate and the other is a plantation laborer Rajendran, 45.
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Suspects remanded in attempted murder of Sarath Fonseka

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 February 2008, 12:27 GMT]
Colombo Fort Magistrate Mr.Namal Bandara Thursday ordered further remand till February 27 for two suspects in the suicide attack attempt made on Sri Lanka Army Commander Sarath Fonseka on August 25, 2006 near the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army. The army commander escaped. But 11 soldiers of the SLA were killed and 25 injured, legal sources said.
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Producers of documentary on Women Tigers showcase new film

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 February 2008, 05:00 GMT]
Sabiha Sumar's "Dinner with the President: A Nation's Journey," which she made with her husband, political columnist Sachithanandam Sathananthan, is the story not only of an unusual and intimate dinner with Pervez Musharraf but chronicles a series of gatherings with the constituencies of modern Pakistan, reports Salt Lake Tribune, citing the showing of the documentary at Sundance festival, Utah held 17-27 January. Sri Lanka born Dr Sathananthan, currently in self-exile in India, and his Pakistani wife Sabiha Sumar, produced a 1996 documentary "Suicide Warriors" based on the lives of women cadre amongst the LTTE's women's brigade, some of whom belong to the elite Black Tigers.
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