Colombo conspires to alter East's demography- NLF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 March 2007, 11:41 GMT]
Dr.Wickremabahu Karunaratne, leader of the New Left Front (NLF) said at a news conference held Monday at Hotel Nippon in Colombo organized by the National Front Against War (NFAW) that Sri Lanka Government is conspiring to change the demography of the eastern province by forcibly driving out Tamil people and settling members of the majority community, media sources said.
Full story >>

JUSU condemns GoSL attacks on East, raises funds to help refugees

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 March 2007, 11:21 GMT]
Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) condemned the pre-planned attack by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on the people of Eastern province and demanded that the Sri Lanka government to immediately stop the attacks on civilians creating a humanitarian crisis, during a meeting held at the Kailasapathy Hall in Jaffna university around 10:30 a.m. Monday. The JUSU also urged the student community to unite to help the people displaced by the SLA offensives.
Full story >>

Sooriyarachchi remand extended, attends parliament under escort

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 March 2007, 11:14 GMT]
Kaduwela Magistrate Tuesday ordered further remand for Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, parliamentarian of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government till March 27. The court further said it could consider application by Mr. Sooriyarachchi to attend parliamentary sittings during remand period, legal sources said. Accordingly, Mr Sooriarachchi attended the parliament under escort Tuesday afternoon. Opposition parliamentarians greeted him with applause when he entered the well of the House, sources said.
Full story >>

SLA soldier killed in Kuchchaveli

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 March 2007, 00:11 GMT]
A soldier of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was killed at Sembimalai in Kuchchaveli police division Trincomalee Sunday evening when an unidentified group of persons fired at a foot patrol of the SLA, military sources said.
Full story >>

Bishop calls for urgent help to Batticaloa IDPs

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 March 2007, 10:23 GMT]
"Around 1,53,000 Internally Displaced People from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held areas, are suffering without sufficient food, drinking water and other basic facilities for the last four or five days. The International community and humanitarian organizations should step in immediately to help the destitute people," Rt. Rev. Kingsley Swampillai, the Bishop of the Trincomalee-Batticaloa diocese of the Catholic Church said to media, explaining the dire situation in Batticaloa district and conveying his open appeal, Sunday.
Full story >>

175 schoolchildren, 9 staff narrowly escape air strike on school

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 March 2007, 08:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers Monday morning bombed a school in Chundikulam, wounding a female teacher and two schoolboys, attending 7th grade and 9th grade at the school, Chundikulam Vidyalayam, located 21 km northeast of Kilinochchi, in the southern part of Vadamaradchi East region in Jaffna district. Three bombs were dropped 25 meters from a class room. A bomb that hit a tree exploded in the air, wounding two children and a teacher. Around 175 schoolchildren, 8 teachers and the principal of the school narrowly escaped from the aerial attack. TamilNet correspondent who visited the site of the attack witnessed a second air strike at 11:45 a.m.
Full story >>

Abducted TRO staffers final rites held

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 March 2007, 20:01 GMT]
The final rites for the seven TRO staffers abducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA)-backed Karuna paramilitary group in January 2006, and presumed murdered, were held on the Saturday, after three days of mourning, sources from Kilinochchi said. Framed memorials with photographs were taken to relatives home in Kilinochchi on Wednesday, 14 March, for people to pay respect. The pictures were taken in procession to the Kilinochchi Cultural Hall where the final ceremony was held.
Full story >>

Rajapakse sibling to be appointed national list MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 March 2007, 23:39 GMT]
Basil Rajapakse, senior advisor to, and brother of, Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, is to accept the position as a National List Member of Parliament next Tuesday, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) sources said Friday. Secretary of SLFP and Minister Maithripala Srisena has forwarded a letter to the Secretary General of Sri Lanka Parliament Ms Priyani Wijesekera to appoint Basil Rajapakse as an MP, according to parliamentary sources.
Full story >>

Colombo forcing refugees to return home- Rights Group

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 March 2007, 19:47 GMT]
"Sri Lankan authorities are using threats and intimidation to force civilians who fled recent fighting in Sri Lanka’s civil war to return home," Human Rights Watch said today. "To pressure individuals to return home, government officials and military personnel have threatened to withdraw humanitarian aid, food and other essential supplies," the Rights body further said.
Full story >>

130 Tamils from government held Muttur villages return

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 March 2007, 11:44 GMT]
A batch of about 130 persons from 40 Tamil families displaced from their villages in government controlled territory in Muttur and Serunuwara divisions returned from Batticaloa to Killiveddy in Muttur police division Thursday around 11 in night in two buses for resettlement. Another batch of 147 persons from 47 Tamil families are waiting in Batticaloa to return to their villages, divisional secretariat sources said.
Full story >>

SLA arrests three Tamil youths in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 March 2007, 11:28 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Friday morning arrested three Tamil youths travelling in a private bus to Mannar from Vavuniya. Monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) have been informed of the arrest, sources said.


Full story >>

Sampanthan meets Akashi in Tokyo

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 March 2007, 11:17 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) met with Mr.Yasusi Akashi, Special Peace Envoy for Sri Lanka in Tokyo Wednesday, TNA sources in Colombo said. The discussion, lasting about an hour, centered on the present situation in North East province where hundreds of thousands Tamil families are being displaced due to military operation from their own villages.
Full story >>

Jaffna students denied permission to attend Trinco contest

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 March 2007, 00:05 GMT]
Tamil medium students selected from schools in Jaffna district to participate in the rescheduled 2006 North East Provincial Tamil Language Day competition scheduled to be held in Trincomalee on Saturday and Sunday have not been given permission to travel by sea to the east port town, education officials in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

Ships meant for civilian use, carryout military tasks

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 March 2007, 20:23 GMT]
While refusing to open the A9 land route, the Sri Lanka government (GoSL), under the pretext of shipping passengers and essential food items to Jaffna district, is using the ships to bring in the requirements of its armed forces occupying Jaffna peninsula, civil society sources in Jaffna said. The ship 'Ruhuna', the latest ship arriving at Jaffna, was taken to Kankesanthurai harbour, used exclusively by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), first unloaded the goods brought for the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the SLN.
Full story >>

SLA offensives affect 14000 students in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 March 2007, 11:16 GMT]
The education of more than 14,000 students of 110 schools in Batticaloa district has been badly affected by the fighting between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), A. M. E. Paul, Batticaloa District Zonal Director of Education said. Nearly 4,000 students in Batticaloa town whose schools are being used as refuge for displaced people are unable to continue their education, the Director added.
Full story >>

13 Tamils arrested in Mt.Lavinia

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 March 2007, 11:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and Police arrested thirteen Tamils from North and Eastern provinces in a pre-dawn search conducted Thursday in Hathuduwa area in Mt.Lavinia, a suburb of Colombo city, police said.
Full story >>

Muslim trader disappears in Jaffna, youth's body found in toilet pit

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 March 2007, 01:01 GMT]
A body of youth strangled to death, was found in a toilet pit in an abandoned house in Chunnakam South area in Valikamam region in Jaffna district Monday evening. The neighbors alerted the area Village Service officer after detecting a bad stench, and the body was found after a search. The Village Service officer handed over the unidentified body to the Jaffna Teaching hospital for autopsy and identification. Meanwhile, a muslim trader has been reported to have disappeared in Mallakam, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

UK calls for truce, backs Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 March 2007, 23:13 GMT]
British Prime Minister Tony Blair Wednesday called for the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) to be implemented as a first step towards ending Sri Lanka’s conflict. “The only realistic way to get a solution is to come back to the 2002 agreement and make sure that it is implemented,” Mr. Blair said. Meanwhile British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told her Sri Lankan counterpart, Rohitha Bogollagama, “there can be no military solution alone to the conflict.” The emphasis on ‘alone’ is seen by some as British preparedness to endorse the Colombo’s war against the Tigers, provided a political solution is offered also.
Full story >>

SLA trooper injured in mortar fire on Omanthai brigade base

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 March 2007, 10:41 GMT]
Mortar shells launched by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) hit Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Omanthai brigade base Tuesday night around 12:00 p.m. seriously injuring a trooper, SLA sources said.
Full story >>

Tamils arrested in Tissamaharagama still in detention

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 21:38 GMT]
Ten Tamil civilians arrested in Tissamaharagama, in the southern province Sunday night in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police are still being detained in the police station and being questioned.
Full story >>