Sri Lanka will not ban LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
"We will not proscribe the Liberation Tigers because we want to keep the doors ajar for negotiations with them" said Prof. G.L Pieris , Sri Lanka's Minister for constitutional affairs and deputy minister for finance, answering questions at a press conference at 11 am. this morning in Colombo.
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SLA bans Jaffna paddy cultivation

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The SLA has banned paddy cultivation in the Palai administrative division of the Jaffna peninsula.
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Cordon and search in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army rounded up a large coastal suburb of the Jaffna town in the early hours of the morning yesterday.
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Households must display list of members: SLA

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The SLA has ordered all residents of Punguduthivu (an island off the Jaffna peninsula) to hang boards outside their houses giving full details of all the residents.
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SLA caught in its own trap: LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
"The Sinhala army leadership wants to draw the Tigers widely into battle by opening several fronts simultaneously and thereby destroy their strength of resistance. However, it is caught in its own trap" says the latest issue of the LTTE's official organ 'Viduthalai Pulihal' which is published in the Vanni.
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TULF ranks back self determination

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Batticaloa district branch of the TULF passed a unanimous resolution this morning that any solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka should recognise the Tamil people's right to self determination.
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SLA says Jaffna Tamils funding Tigers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army's 51 division issued a press statement yesterday in Jaffna warning people who are giving money to the Liberation Tigers. This follows widespread reports in the peninsula that the Liberation Tigers were receiving money from a large number of people living in the high-security zones of Jaffna.
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Tigers kill six SLA troops

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers ambushed a Sri Lankan army patrol on the Mannar - Vavuniya road today killing six soldiers and wounding seven according to initial reports from Vavuniya.
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Pararajasingham calls for talks with Tigers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham MP for Batticaloa said today that the international community and the Sri Lankan government have now realised the truth and the reality that no solution to the ethnic problem can be found without the participation of the Liberation Tigers.
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Firefights in the Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Fierce fighting broke out between a commando group of the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers yesterday at Karapukkuththy. The fighting which began around 9.30 a.m went on for about three hours said sources in Vavuniya.
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Confusion follows SLA claims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
At the weekly cabinet press briefing this morning Brig. Sarath Munasinghe said that Operations Jayasikurui has completed its second phase now with the capture of the Mankulam Ottisuddan road.
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UNP plans to disrupt package

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The members of the UNP in the Parliamentary Select Committee issued a statement today regarding the party's position on the government's devolution proposals.
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Canada Tamils stage candle light vigil

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Thousands of Canadian Tamils attended a candle light vigil on Saturday, demanding the release of Tamil community activist Mr. Manickavasagam Suresh and condemning the Sri Lankan government's war in the Tamil homelands.
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Civilians flee SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports from Vavuniya said today that a large number of displaced persons who had settled in the eastern sector of the Mullaithivu district following Operation Riviresa in early 1996, have begun moving enmasse to the western areas of the Vanni.
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SLA punishes Batticaloa village officers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Life has become nightmare for village officers in the Batticaloa district as the Sri Lankan army has begun a sinister campaign to intimidate them into not working in the poverty stricken villages of the district's hinterland which is controlled by the LTTE. Many are languishing in prison and at least one may have been murdered.
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Mullaitivu faces total blockade

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The supply of food and other essential goods to the Mullaitivu district may soon been cut off sources in Vavuniya said today. This is mainly due to the SLA's shelling of the dirt road from Kilinochchi district to Mullaitivu and the effect of the monsoon showers on the access road into the Vanni through Madhu.
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A new SLA division - and a new deadline

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army raised a new division this week to throw into its operations against the Liberation Tigers in the Vanni jungles.The new unit is Div.56. It is an infantry division.
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News In Brief

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Tigers killed 8 Sri Lankan soldiers today. Poor conditions are allowing disease to spread in Thenmaradchi.
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President tries to stem panic

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
"I will even negotiate with the Devil to end the conflict" said the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaranatunge Bandaranaike addressing a special press conference convened by her this morning at the Temple Trees, her official residence.
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The Galadari Blast - Fallout

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Financial analysts in Colombo said today that the Galadari hotel blast could cost Sri Lanka more than the Central Bank blast in February last year. Initial estimates put the damage around six billion rupees.
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