SLMM Chief grounded in Oslo - Paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2003, 22:24 GMT]
For the last one and a half months, since he was declared persona non grata by the Sri Lankan President the chief of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General (ret.) Tryggve Tellefsen (62), is forced to work from Oslo Norway with remaining members of SLMM in Sri Lanka, using telephone and e-mail, writes the Norwegian daily Aftenposten in its Saturday issue. The paper adds that the situation is unsatisfactory that the likelihood of Tellefsen resigning from his post cannot be ruled out.


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Vavuniya Tamils decry Indian objections to ISGA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2003, 06:27 GMT]
Criticizing the comments made by the former Indian foreign secretary, Mr. M.K. Rasgotra, at a conference in Colombo on December 4, saying that India could not accept the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals submitted by the Liberation Tigers, the Federation of Vavuniya Cattle breeders unions said in a statement Friday that the Tamil people would totally reject the opinion of Mr. Rasgotra.
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Parents of Jaffna missing protest against HRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 08:33 GMT]
The Jaffna Missing Persons Association and Mothers’ Front held a protest in front of the office of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC) in the northern town Wednesday. The protesting parents of the 234 young Jaffna men and women who went missing after they were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in 1996 and 97 accused the HRC of sidelining their issue in its recent work on the human rights situation in the northern province.
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TNA, LTTE urge end to southern instability

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 15:37 GMT]
The political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, responding to a question at the press briefing he held Tuesday afternoon in Kilinochchi, said that if the current political crisis in the South were to continue indefinitely, it would seriously impact the peace process and the LTTE would carefully study its options, the Voice of Tigers radio said Tuesday.
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NECORD launches village rehabilitation program

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 December 2003, 00:01 GMT]
The Asian Development Bank funded North East Community Organization for Restoration and Development (NECORD) Project Thursday launched the Village Rehabilitation Programme (VRP) under the Community Development Project (CDP) in eight districts of the North-East, with the signing of two agreements with non-governmental organizations to implement two projects in the Trincomalee district.
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EU Commissioner meets Sri Lanka's President

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 2003, 15:50 GMT]
European Commission External Relations Commissioner, Mr. Chris Patten, Tuesday afternoon met with Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, at the Presidential House and discussed the current political crisis that has stalled the peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), political sources said.
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SL Security Forces told to strictly observe CFA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2003, 12:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), General Balagalle, SL Navy Chief, Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri and Chief of SL AirForce Air Vice Marshall Donald Weerakody met Thursday with Commanders of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Navy (SLN) and Air Force (SLAF) serving in Batticaloa district and directed them to strictly adhere to and observe the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), security sources said.
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"SL President's lack of sincerity will hamper peace efforts" -TNA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 12:34 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Tuesday told the Norwegian peace envoys that defense arrangements of the country should be left in the hands of one party that is dedicated to take forward the current peace process with sincerity. Sri Lanka's President's past actions of not responding to LTTE's unilateral ceasefire in December 2000 and her attempts to sideline Norway's peace envoy Eric Soleheim reflect her lack of sincerity and leaving the Peace Process in her command will damage peace efforts, TNA delegation added.
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Jaffna islets' IDPs reluctant to return

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 11:30 GMT]
Only less than thirty percent of the internally displaced families from the islets of Jaffna district who fled the islets following 1990 military operations by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have returned back to their former homes since the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), according statistics collected by civil authorities.


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Getting tough on the Tigers

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 00:31 GMT]
President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s strategy for holding fast to the reins of power in Colombo is fundamentally in conflict with sustaining the peace process in Sri Lanka, Tamil politicians and commentators say. The President and her allies assert that the Sri Lankan state should get tough on the Liberation Tigers to safeguard Sinhala national interests. As her standoff with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took a new turn Sunday, it appeared inevitable that she might match her words with deeds in tune with the sentiments of her increasingly hawkish Sinhala constituency.
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"No solution other than the devolution of power is possible" - Batty Weerakoon

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 2003, 00:01 GMT]
"LSSP shares the realist approach that given the nature of constitutional amendment no solution other than the devolution of power is possible. As to how comprehensive it can be is subject to negotiation," said Batty Weerakoon, General Secretary of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), in a wide ranging interview with TamilNet when TamilNet caught up with him on his private visit to the United States before the LTTE submitted its proposals for the Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) for the NorthEast.
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The way forward lies through direct discussion - GoSL

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 2003, 20:26 GMT]
The government of Sri Lanka in a statement issued today said that the proposals "differ in fundamental respect" from the proposals submitted by the government of Sri Lanka. However the GoSL statement said that ''the government is convinced that the way forward lies through direct discussions of the issues arising from both sets of proposals.''
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Tigers release proposal for Interim Self Governing Authority

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 2003, 06:25 GMT]
The Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposed by the Liberation Tigers will have plenary power for the governance of the northeast, including powers in relation to resettlement , rehabilitation, reconstruction and development, raising revenue, law and order, and over land, according to the LTTE document released on Saturday. The ISGA will continue until a final settlement to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict is reached and implemented, according to the document.
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Helgesen to visit Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 October 2003, 18:39 GMT]
The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, will arrive in Colombo on November 10 to revive the suspended peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said the GoSL's cabinet spokesman, Minister G.L.Peiris, at Thursday's press briefing held at Information Department office, media sources said.
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'Failure to accept IA proposal will invite International displeasure' - Karuna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 October 2003, 16:11 GMT]
"If the Government of Sri Lanka fails to accept the Interim Administration proposals that we have developed with the assistance of our legal and constitutional experts and consultations with many Governments of the West, the Sri Lanka Government will have to face severe international displeasure," said Col.Karuna during a special interview to a local daily when he arrived at the Illupadichcheni sports ground on his return from his foreign trip.


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Protests in Batticaloa over reduction in university admissions

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 October 2003, 15:56 GMT]
The Alliance for the Promotion of Education (APE) in Batticaloa Friday held a protest to complain against the reduction in University admissions of students from the district, as the University Grants Commission (UGC) in recent years has been considering the Batticaloa district as comparatively advanced in education in the Northeast, sources said.


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SLMM political advisor meets Jaffna LTTE leaders

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 14:29 GMT]
The political advisor of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Sri Lanka Mr.Geir Sjøberg Tuesday held discussion with the Jaffna LTTE leaders at the office of the Jaffna LTTE political secretariat. Jaffna district political head of the LTTE Mr.C.Ilamparuthi, women political head Ms Kayalvilzi and education head Mr.Kavianban participated in the discussion, sources said.
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Journalists allowed to visit Trinco LTTE camp

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 October 2003, 15:12 GMT]
For the first time since the controversy broke out over the location of the Kurankupanchan camp of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Trincomalee district, the LTTE Wednesday allowed a group of journalists from Colombo and Trincomalee to visit the camp, located 32 km west of Trincomalee town, sources said.
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'Opposition instigating masses against peace process' - Peiris

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2003, 16:22 GMT]
“A conducive environment would be created to resume peace talks once the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] submitted its response to the Sri Lanka government's proposal on the establishment of the interim administration for the northeast province,” said Mr. G.L.Peiris, Constitutional Affairs Minister in the United National Front government of Sri Lanka and Cabinet spokesman, addressing the weekly press conference held Thursday.
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Killinochchi children transit center opens on Friday

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2003, 10:36 GMT]
The first of three transit centers under the Action Plan for Children Affected by War (APCAW) established in Killinochchi in Vanni region will be declared open Friday. Regional Director of UNICEF South Asia Mr.Sadig Rasheed and UNICEF Sri Lanka representative Mr. Ted Chaiban are scheduled to attend the opening event of the Killinochchi center, UNICEF sources said.


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