LTTE hands over two SLA bodies to ICRC

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 May 2007, 17:58 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Liason officer for the NGOs, Thiyagarajah, Friday morning at 10:00 a.m., handed over the bodies of two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers to Maurizio Geremila, Acting Head of Sub Delegation of ICRC, at the secretariat for Non Governmental Organizations (NGO), sources in Kilinochchi said.
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35 civilians arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 May 2007, 11:29 GMT]
Sri Lankan armed forces Thursday and Friday arrested thirty-five civilians, majority of them Tamils, in cordon and search operations conducted in Wellawatte, and Vaalaithoddam in Colombo city. Five have been remanded on the orders of the Colombo Magistrate and the others are detained in police station and are being interrogated, police sources said.
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Tamil Journalists launch protest in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 May 2007, 08:45 GMT]
"Tamil journalists in Jaffna are hunted down and shot dead with impunity. So far six Tamil journalists had lost their lives for writing about and exposing the misdeeds of those in power," the press release of North Ceylon Journalists Association (NCJA) Thursday said. NCJA observed the World Press Freedom Day by launching a token demonstration programme protesting against the violence unleashed on the journalists of NorthEast and demanding the freedom to write.


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UK lawmakers urge LTTE de-proscription

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 May 2007, 23:47 GMT]
Amid signs of greater British involvement in efforts to end Sri Lanka’s conflict, the UK government was this week urged by ruling and opposition lawmakers to lift the ban on the Liberation Tigers in the interests of a negotiated solution. At a landmark debate on Sri Lanka’s conflict in the British Parliament on Wednesday, leaders of a newly formed all party group representing the interests of the island’s Tamils urged the Blair government to lift the ban on the LTTE and also called for LTTE political leaders to be allowed to address the British parliament to better understand their views.
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2 SLA troopers injured in claymore blast in Vadamaraadchchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 19:00 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers were injured Wednesday around 9:15 a.m, when a claymore device hidden in an empty building along Vathiri-Udupiddi road in Navindil, Karaveddy in Vadamaraadchchi, exploded when the troopers tried to remove the device, sources in Vadmaraadchchi said. One of the troopers is seriously injured while the other sustained minor injuries.
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Tiger planes hit Sri Lanka economy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 18:12 GMT]
Whilst Sri Lanka’s government has brushed aside the threat posed by the Liberation Tigers’ air attacks, the tourist industry is bracing for further setbacks as airlines pull out and other countries warn citizens to stay away. In addition to tourist arrivals falling further, Colombo’s potential as a passenger transit hub was been stymied, Hindustan Times reported. Defence spending is expected to soar as Colombo defends against the LTTE’s aircraft. Even before the recent raids, ratings agency Fitch had given Sri Lanka a rating of BB- with a negative outlook as the domestic security situation posed risks to economic stability and growth.
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France suspends TTN broadcast

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 15:46 GMT]
France based GlobeCast, a satellite TV and radio channel distribution company, has stopped relaying Tamil Television Network (TTN), a Tamil diaspora Television, Wednesday evening, after receiving instructions from the French broadcasting authority, TTN officials in Paris told media.
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Australia arrests will jeopardize humanitarian help- AFTA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 11:55 GMT]
The recent arrests in Australia of Tamil activists on allegations of misdirecting of funds for the LTTE, "could jeopardize the humanitarian projects funded by the Australian Tamil community and NGOs that assist over 500,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians in the Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka. Denial of this assistance to the needy would only help the Sri Lankan government in their attempt to “beat the Tamil people in Sri Lanka into submission,"" the Australasian Federation Of Tamil Associations (AFTA) said in a press release issued Wednesday.
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Swiss Tamils May day rally highlights State opression in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 11:33 GMT]
Hundreds of Swiss Tamils participated in the May day rally held in Zurich, starting at the Central platz near the Main railway station and ending in Helvetia platz, sources in Switzerland said. Tamils joined the multi-national labor organizations, and liberation groups in the rally.
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Tamils hold May day rally in Paris

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 11:03 GMT]
Thousands of Tamils participated in the May day rally held in Paris Tuesday starting in Republique and ending in Nation area, sources in Paris said. Participants distributed leaflets urging the French to recognize Tamils right to self-determination, carried photographs of the leader of Liberation Tigers, Velupillai Pirapaharan, and shouted slogans in support of Tamileelam during the procession.
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May Day observed in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 10:41 GMT]
Hundreds of residents of different parts of Vanni participated in the May Day events held Tuesday in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts, sources in Kilinochchi said. Three separate regional events were held in Kilinochchi district, and the event in Kilinochchi town was held in the Kilinochci Co-operative Hall at 10:00 a.m.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Moothoor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 10:38 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot dead a fifty-eight year-old civilian at Me:nkaamam, a Tamil village in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled territory in Moothoor south division in Trincomalee district Tuesday night, Moothoor police sources said.
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Two Tamils arrested in Puttalam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 May 2007, 16:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government armed forces Tuesday arrested two Tamil civilians in Puttalam area during the cordon and search operation, sources in Puttalam said. The two had failed to prove their identity and the reason for their stay in the location, police sources said.
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3 Tamil IDPs shot dead in Ea'raavoor

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 May 2007, 09:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers lying in ambush along a lake at Siththaa'ndi in Ea'raavoor police division in Batticaloa district shot dead three Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) including a woman, who had gone Sunday to check their cultivation.


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MP urges Media watchdogs to highlight Tamil journalists plight

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 May 2007, 04:47 GMT]
The killing of Jaffna based young Tamil journalist, Selvarajah Rajivarman, shows us clearly that the lives of journalists working in Sri Lanka, especially in Northeast, are in imminent danger. The international media watchdogs should pay special attention to the safety of Tamil journalists, S. Jeyananthamoorthy, one time journalist and a Member of Parliament representing Batticaloa district said in a press communique released Monday.


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RSF condemns murder of Jaffna journalist

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 May 2007, 01:12 GMT]
Reporters Without Borders (RSF - Reporters Sans Frontiers) the French based Journalist organization condemned the killing of young journalist, Selvarajah Rajivarman, who was killed in Jaffna Sunday by a lone gunman riding a motorbike.
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Three Tamils arrested in Morawewa

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 April 2007, 20:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka Security forces arrested three Tamil civilians in Gomarankadawela village in Morawewa division in Trincomalee district during a cordon and search operation Monday morning. Police sources said they three were taken into custody on suspicion, as they failed to provide satisfactory explanation for their stay in the area.
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LTTE: Sri Lankan MIG-27 jet fighter shot down

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 April 2007, 14:38 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) jet fighter was shot down by Liberation Tigers air-defense system when the bomber approached the airfield of the Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) in Ira'naimadu Monday around 2:30 p.m., LTTE military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said. The SLAF bomber, following a loud explosion, went down into the sea, Mr. Ilanthirayan said.
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SLAF bomber shot over Ira'naimadu

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 April 2007, 11:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force's (SLAF's) aircraft on a bombing raid south of Ira'naimadu in Vannai around 2:45 p.m. spewed large cloud of smoke after a explosion and the jet suspended the bombing raid struggling to maintain height, traders in Kilinochchi who saw the troubled aircraft said. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports from Colombo said a Israeli-built fast attack Kfir which took off from Katunayake Air Force base Monday has failed to return to the base.


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Sooriyarachchi released on bail

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 April 2007, 08:33 GMT]
Avissawella High Court Monday allowed the bail application filed by Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, sacked minister of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government and instructed the Kaduwela Magistrate to release him on cash and surety bail. Mr.Nihal Silva, High Court Judge said in his order that no substantial evidence had been submitted to Kaduwela magistrate court under the Section 381 of Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to remand Mr.Sooriayarachchi, legal sources said.
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