GOSL proposal falls way short of aspirations of Tamil people - Thamilselvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 August 2003, 11:10 GMT]
"This Paris conference is a victory for our liberation struggle. The GOSL proposal [for an Interim Administration for the Northeast] falls way short of the aspirations of Tamil people. This conference will define a response that reflects the just aspirations of our people," said Mr. S.P. Thamilselvan, head of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, delivering the opening address at the LTTE's conference in Paris which began on the 23rd August.


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SLA restricts video, camera equipment inside Weber stadium

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 August 2003, 10:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 23-3rd brigade commander Brigadier Rajitha De Silva has barred public and journalists from taking camera and video equipment inside Weber sports stadium in Batticaloa, security sources in the east said. The Brigadier said that the order was issued due to the security sensitive nature of the location which falls within the High Security Zone (HSZ).


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'Final decision on LTTE camp issue after meeting SLMM' - Solheim

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 August 2003, 14:57 GMT]
A final decision on the Kurankupanchan camp of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will be taken after Mr. Erik Solheim, the Norwegian special peace envoy, meets with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, according to Mr. Solheim, who addressed media persons after about three hours of talks with the political head of the LTTE, Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, Wednesday at the LTTE’s political secretariat in Kilinochchi, Vanni sources said.
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‘Tamil question is not a minority issue' – Prof. Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 August 2003, 19:09 GMT]
“The challenge for the future is to reform the Sri Lankan state without generating violence in Sinhala society. And that is a tremendous challenge for any ruling elite in Colombo,” said Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, the well regarded political commentator in the Sinhala and English media in Sri Lanka, in a wide ranging interview with TamilNet this week. He emphasised the need for developing means for greater dialogue and engagement between the Tamils and Singhalese to resolve the conflict.
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Peiris says peace talks could resume next month

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 August 2003, 14:48 GMT]
The Cabinet Spokesman of the United National Front Government of Sri Lanka, Prof.G.L.Peiris, Thursday expressed confidence that peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could resume next month as the latter is currently engaged in seeking legal advice from constitutional experts on the interim administrative structure for the northeast province, media sources said.
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LTTE leader served notice through the media in MoU case

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 July 2003, 15:59 GMT]
The Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka Wednesday served notice by newspaper publication on the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr.V.Pirapaharan, the second respondent in cases filed separately by the Sinhala Jathika Sangamaya, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Sihala Urumaya, who challenged the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the LTTE on 22nd February 2002 on the grounds that it was “illegal and unconstitutional,” legal sources said
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‘Federalism is a beguiling serpent’ – H. L de Silva

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 July 2003, 04:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s leading Sinhala constitutional lawyer, Mr. H. L de Silva, addressing a seminar on Indian federalism Sunday in Colombo, described a federal solution to end the island’s ethnic conflict as a snake a drowning man clutches in his desperation to stay afloat. In a cogently argued critique of Colombo’s efforts to formulate a federal concept as the basis for a solution to the conflict, Mr. Silva said, “One wonders whether for Sri Lanka federalism is that beguiling serpent, which by its fatal sting will bring about the death of the Republic”.
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‘HSZ in Jaffna expanded post ceasefire'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 July 2003, 18:37 GMT]
The high security zones in the Jaffna district have been expanded since the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said the former Jaffna Municipal Commissioner, Mr.C.V.K.Sivagnanam, who is the current President of the Northern Federation of Farmers' Co-operative Societies, addressing a press briefing held at the Jaffna Humanitarian Agencies Consortium (JHAC) office Sunday.
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Norwegian envoy carries IA proposals to Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 July 2003, 12:35 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr.Jon Westborg Thursday morning left Colombo to Killinochchi with Sri Lanka Government's proposals to establish an Interim Administrative (IA) structure in the northeast province, Cabinet Spokesman and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mr. G.L.Peiris said duirng his weekly press briefing in Colombo Thursday, sources said.


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Thiruketheeswaram temple consecrated after 27 years

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 July 2003, 12:10 GMT]
After twenty-seven years the consecration (Maha Kumbabishekam) ceremony of the historic Thiruketheeswaram Temple in Mannar district was held Sunday morning amid hundreds of thousands of devotees from all over the country especially from the northeast chanting prayers," temple authorities said.
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Lack of furniture, buildings hamper Thenmaradchchi education

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 July 2003, 17:08 GMT]
About sixty percent of students in Thenmaradchchi division schools study sitting on the ground due short supply of furniture and about forty percent of school children study in temporary sheds as they are not provided with building facilities, said a North East Provincial Education official.


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SLMM releases report on SLN's sinking of LTTE vessel

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 June 2003, 10:28 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in its report on the sea incident where LTTE's vessel MT Shoshin was sunk by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on 14 June, concluded, "Since neither Party informed the SLMM in due time about the incident...the possibility to prevent the escalation was missed," that SLMM "does not consider that SLN violated the CFA by intercepting the LTTE tanker," and that "LTTE violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10th Dec 1982 by not flying an appropriate flag and official, visible identification."
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Jaffna Islanders extend support to Pongu Thamil

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 June 2003, 10:49 GMT]
Island Peoples' Welfare Association ( IPWA) in Jaffna district Wednesday extended its wholehearted co-operation to the success of Pongu Thamil celebration, which is scheduled to be held on June 27 in Jaffna, sources said.


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Jaffna fisheries sector condemns sinking of LTTE vessel

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 June 2003, 19:14 GMT]
The Northern Province Fishermen's Co-operative Societies Union (NPFCSU) Tuesday condemned the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) for destroying the LTTE oil tanker in the international waters. "All peace loving citizens who are working to achieve lasting political solution to the conflict would not condone such acts," said the NPFCSU in a statement released Tuesday, sources said.
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Colombo has failed to bring normalcy to Northeast - FJDMA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 June 2003, 11:08 GMT]
The Federation of the Jaffna District Minibus Association (FJDMA) Sunday told the United National Front (UNF) government that it has failed to create a conducive situation in the northeast province enabling the internally displaced families to return to their villages. "Instead the government is insisting on maintaining the high security zones in residential areas according to the agenda of its military," the Federation said in a statement, Jaffna sources said.


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Road closure by SLA halts temple festival in Kalkudah

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 June 2003, 11:37 GMT]
Trustees of Munai Murugan temple in Kalkudah, 35km North of Batticaloa town, said Saturday that devotees have no access to the temple and that the popular annual temple festivals cannot be held due to the closure of the main road leading to the temple by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).


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LTTE demands release of cadre arrested one year ago

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 June 2003, 11:25 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Friday said it would release the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldier, Mr.S.T.Ruwankumara, who is in its custody in Trincomalee district in exchange of its cadre Kururathan now in remand for more than a year, sources said.


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Disappearance investigations need GoSL, LTTE support - ICRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 June 2003, 03:19 GMT]
On the appeal made at the fifth round of talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin on 7, 8 February 2003, International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) came forward to provide assistance in investigation of the people who disappeared in Northeast after 1990, said Filipa Nato Marques, the resident representative of the ICRC in Batticaloa district during a press briefing held Tuesday evening at the ICRC office in Batticaloa.


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Pongal festival celebrated in Vattapallai Amman Temple

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 June 2003, 02:27 GMT]
Thousands of devotees from different parts of Northeast joined in the pongal celebrations held at Vattapallai Amman Temple, a popular hindu temple in Vanni, Monday. The prevailing climate of peace after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of SriLanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was the reason for such large gathering of devotees at the temple festival, sources said.


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Jaffna Principals appeal to UNF government to establish IA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 17:35 GMT]
The Northern Principals' Association (JPA) Saturday requested the United National Front (UNF) government to establish an appropriate administrative structure in the northeast under the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to serve as a foundation for find lasting peace in the country. "This request should be accepted by the Colombo government and the peace loving groups without delay," said the Jaffna Principals' Association in a statement issued Saturday in Jaffna, sources said.


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