Karuna implicates Gotabaya in false passport – report

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 15:33 GMT]
Tamil paramilitary leader Karuna (Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan) was sentenced Friday to nine months in prison for entering Britain on a Sri Lankan passport under a different name. Pleading guilty, Karuna had implicated the government of Sri Lanka and the defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa of providing the travel documents including the diplomatic passport for him to enter the UK, the BBC Sinhala service reported.
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"We are not party to Vitarne Report"- WPF

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 12:23 GMT]
General Secretary of Western Peoples Front (WPF) in a press release issued Friday said, "Minister Tissa Vitarana has used the name of our party among other parties for his interim report he submitted to the [Sri Lanka's] president. By listing the name of our party, Western Peoples Front (WPF), he is giving an impression that we too are in agreement with his submission. This is a regrettable sinister move of the veteran samasamajist minister..."
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Tamil youth arrested in Deraniyagala

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 11:39 GMT]
A Tamil youth, resident of Killinochchi was taken into custody on Wednesday midnight by the police at Noori Estate in Deraniyagala in upcountry, in a cordon and search operation. Police said he was arrested as he failed to provide reasons for his stay in the location. Meanwhile, the Police have warned all Tamil plantation workers in Ratnapura district not to give accommodation to strangers in their houses.
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Tamil woman arrested in Wattegama

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 11:11 GMT]
A Tamil young woman was arrested Thursday in front of Madawela Madeena National School in the Wattegama police division, allegedly for loitering in front of the school. The woman was first apprehended by the security guard of the school and later handed over to the Police for further inquiry, sources said.
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Jaffna Undergrads condemn killling of Student leader

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 09:18 GMT]
Jaffna District Tamil Students’ Union (JDTSU), in a press release issued Friday, strongly condemned the killing of Panchadcharam Kunenthiran, 22, who was shot dead inside the Jaffna Campus premises, and praised him for his efforts to safeguard the interests of Jaffna district students. The youth, the former president of Jaffna District Students Union, had gone to Jaffna University campus to meet his friends and was gunned down in day light inside the campus by two men in civil clothes on a motor bicycle amid tight security around the campus with several Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops posted in sentries posts near the campus, sources in Jaffna said.
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8 Batticaloa youths arrested in Colombo Fort

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 04:59 GMT]
Eight Batticaloa Tamil youths from displaced families residing in Batticaloa and who had arrived in Colombo to obtain Passports to travel to a Middle East country for employment, were arrested at Fort Railway station Wednesday early morning, relatives said in a complaint.
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3 SLA killed, 6 wounded in Ma'nalaa'ru skirmish - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 03:38 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and six wounded Thursday evening when Liberation Tigers counter-attacked SLA soldiers who mounted an attack on Tiger positions at Ma'nki'ndi Malai, according to the operation command of the LTTE in Ma'nalaa'ru. Meanwhile, the Tigers said they had seized weapons from the SLA in a separate clash at Ceylon Theatre area in Ma'nalaa'ru.
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Youth abducted in Kotahena

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 01:00 GMT]
A Tamil youth from Batticaloa district, a resident of Poaratheevu, recently captured from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), was abducted in Kotahena, Colombo on the 14 January by group of five men operating in a white van with license plate number 2534899, the relatives of the youth stated in a complaint lodged with P.Rathakrishnan, Deputy minister and an Upcountry United Front (UPF) parliamentarian.
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18 Tamils arrested in Polonnaruwa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 10:52 GMT]
Eighteen Tamil civilians were taken into custody by the police at Polonnaruwa and its border villages during a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army from Wednesday night till the dawn of Thursday.
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Yala sanctuary to be closed again

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 10:46 GMT]
Yala sanctuary in the southern province is likely to be closed down for tourists again with the drop of foreign tourists following claymore explosions and attack that took place recently. The Yala sanctuary was re-opened in the beginning of January this year after several months' closure due to violence. Meanwhile more than eight thousand soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army are reported to have been deployed in about 12 villages in the Moneragala district to curb the movement of armed groups in the jungle area.
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TNA to boycott Batticaloa local polls

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 16:32 GMT]
Parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a parliamentary group meeting held Wednesday, unanimously agreed to boycott elections to nine local authorities in the Batticaloa district. Mr. R.Sampanthan, President of the TNA parliamentary group presided over the meeting.
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Sri Lanka Navy plants explosives in Historic Waters

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 16:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) has planted underwater mines between Kachchatheevu and Neduntheevu (Delft Island) endangering the lives of Tamil Nadu fishermen according to reports in the Indian media Wednesday. Consequently, 12 fishermen from Rameswaram (Raameasvaram) in Tamil Nadu were taken into custody by the SLN Monday when they attempted to exercise their traditional fishing rights in Kachchatheevu. "In a shameless show of solidarity with the SLN which has violated the international convention, the Indian Navy has also arrested 60 fishermen from Rameswaram in the last two days," said a fishermen society representative in Rameswaram.
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13 Tamils arrested in Kalpity

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 11:20 GMT]
The Chilaw Police Wednesday arrested 13 Tamil civilians in Kalpity coastal village in a cordon and search operation conducted from Tuesday night. Majority of them now detained and interrogated at Kalpity police station are residents of Mannaar and Jaffna, sources said.
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ICRC hands over 9 bodies to LTTE in Oamanthai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 08:59 GMT]
International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) officials in Vavuniyaa handed over nine dead bodies to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Oamanthai in LTTE controlled area Wednesday around 9:00 a.m, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The Sri Lanka Army had handed over the 9 bodies to Vavuniyaa hospital Tuesday.
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SLA trooper killed, 3 injured in Northern FDL

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 08:19 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forces killed an Sri Lanka Army (SLA) trooper and injured three in an attack Tuesday around 2:00 a.m on a group of soldiers attempting to penetrate the Front Defence Line (FDL) in Mukamaalai with the intention of attacking LTTE sentry posts, LTTE Operation Command in northern front said.
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Tamil youth reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 19:35 GMT]
A young construction worker from Jaffna working at the site of Colombo Mahavidyalaya Mawathe has not returned home after leaving his workplace for lunch Friday, the relatives of the youth complained to Deputy Minister Rathakrishnan, sources in Colombo said.
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New office for Assistant Superintendent of Police opened in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 15:20 GMT]
"The lack of at least one police officer proficient in Tamil language is the cause for the public's reluctance to seek police assistance to have their needs attended," Jaffna magistrate Mr. R. T. Vicknarajah said, speaking at the official opening ceremony of the new office for Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) at the Jaffna police station premises Tuesday around 2:00 p.m. According to the 13th amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution, the Tamil language also shall be the official language of Sri Lanka. Despite this, the status of Tamil as an official language has not been implemented for the past 20 years.
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LTTE beats back SLA troops in 2 separate fronts in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 21:28 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched an attack and beat back the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops Monday around 10:30 a.m at Vilaaththiku'lam area in Mannaaar district, and in a similar clash at Pa'ndivirichchaan in Mannaar district Monday around 7:30 a.m fought back an SLA unit which attempted to advance into LTTE territory supported with artillery, mortar, and multi-barrel rocket fire, Mannaar Tiger operations command said.
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16 SLA troops killed, 38 injured in Mannaar- LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 21:22 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officer and 12 troopers of an SLA commando unit were killed, and 29 soldiers injured in a clash with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sunday in Paalaikuzhi area in Mannaar. Two LTTE fighters were killed in the clash, Mannaar LTTE operation command said. Meanwhile, in a separate confrontation Sunday morning at Mu'l'liku'lam in Manaar, 3 SLA troops were killed and 9 soldiers were injured, according to the LTTE.
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Court denies injunction to postpone Batticaloa elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 15:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Monday refused to issue an interim injunction to postpone the elections to nine local authorities in the Batticaloa district. "The Supreme Court has no authority to issue such interim injunction," said the Chief Justice Mr. Sarath Silva after hearing the submissions in the two Fundamental Rights violation petitions filed by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), legal sources said.
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