Police out of Koneswaram demands Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 March 2002, 22:11 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan, Trincomalee district parliamentarian Tuesday urged the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Eastern region) to permanently remove the police barrack from the 'madam' (pilgrim's rest) of historic Koneswaram temple in the eastern port town.
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Restriction on Colombo Tamils lifted

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 March 2002, 17:41 GMT]
The United National Front (UNF) government Friday decided to suspend immediately the practice of providing information about Tamil civilians residing in Colombo and its suburbs to the Police. Till Friday permanent residents and owners of boarding houses and lodges in Colombo had to furnish information about Tamil civilians who come from outstations, especially from the Northeast province and stay with them, to the police.
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"UNF to take constructive decision on LTTE ban" -PM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 March 2002, 21:03 GMT]
A parliamentary delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday held a wide ranging discussion with the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe on several issues, including the lifting of ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the postponement of the local government elections in the Northeast province scheduled to take place on March 25. A spokesman of the TNA delegation told TamilNet that the Prime Minister had assured that the government would take a constructive decision in regard to the lifting the ban on the LTTE at the appropriate time.
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Parliamentary debate on truce concludes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 March 2002, 20:22 GMT]
The two-day Parliamentary debate on permanent ceasefire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers concluded Tuesday evening with a winding up speech by the Constitutional Affairs Minister Professor G. L. Peiris. "The cease-fire agreement signed by the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is the best to end the war in the country," he insisted.
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Appeal Court to inquire JVP's petition

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 March 2002, 17:43 GMT]
The Court of Appeal Tuesday decided to take up the petition filed by the Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the cease-fire agreement signed by the Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe and the Leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr.Velupillai Pirapaharan for inquiry on Friday 14th March 2002.
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Parliament debates permanent truce

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 March 2002, 12:23 GMT]
The two-day debate on the permanent cease-fire agreement signed by the United National Front government (UNF) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on February 22 began Monday morning in Parliament. "The agreement signed last month by me and the LTTE leader Mr.V.Pirapaharan was a cease-fire agreement and not the final step in arriving at a political solution to the ethnic crisis. However, the agreement is a vehicle for moving forward and addressing the needs of the LTTE and the problems put forward by the Tamil people,", said the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe in a special speech made during the debate.
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Monitoring Mission Chief arrives Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 March 2002, 12:06 GMT]
The Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Retired Norwegian Army General Trond Furuhovde arrived in Colombo Saturday morning, accompanied by four other Norwegian monitors. Monitors from Finland and Sweden are also expected to arrive shortly, government sources said. The sixteen-member Monitoring Mission comprising officials from Nordic countries was set up according to the permanent cease-fire agreement signed between the Sri Lanka government and the Liberation Tigers last month.
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Isolation blamed for Kumaratunga’s CHOGM absence

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 March 2002, 18:11 GMT]
(News Feature) Increasing international isolation rather than government persecution of her supporters compelled Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga to abort her participation at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this weekend, government sources said Friday. Dismissing the President’s accusations that the newly elected United National Front (UNF) was harassing supporters of her opposition People's Alliance (PA), the sources said Kumaratunga “was unable to face” the Commonwealth’s other leaders due to her opposition to the ceasefire accord between the government and the Tamil Tigers.
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Kumaratunga flays truce agreement

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 March 2002, 17:02 GMT]
(News Feature) Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga Friday condemned the Norwegian-facilitated permanent ceasefire agreement between the government and the Liberation Tigers. In a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, her first formal comment on the landmark truce hailed by the international community, Kumaratunga said the agreement jeopardised Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and national security. Kumaratunga’s letter, which was reportedly drafted by Lakshman Kadirgamar, the former Foreign Minister and a close confidante of hers, again denounced the Premier’s signing of the pact as “improper and unconstitutional,” blamed Wickremesinghe for the friction between Parliament and her office and, with acidic sarcasm, also criticised what she felt were undue powers the agreement accorded Norway.
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Darkness looms over SL as power crisis deepens

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 February 2002, 16:43 GMT]
The United National Front government Thursday announced that the present two and a half hour power cut would be extended to five hours from Friday as the water level of the reservoirs has decreased drastically. The Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe would issue a statement Friday regarding the island's power crisis, government officials said.
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President threatens to cancel ceasefire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 February 2002, 11:56 GMT]
(News Feature) Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga Monday threatened to derail the permanent ceasefire between the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers with a single letter to the Army commander, a press report said Tuesday. President Kumaratunga also stepped up the war of words with the UNF government of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, dealing a heavy blow to the latter’s efforts to sustain governance by ‘cohabitation’ between Parliament and the office of the President, the Daily Mirror reported. Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA), along with the Janatha Vimukthi Pramuna (JVP) and the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) intend to mount a legal challenge to the permanent ceasefire, press reports said Monday.
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Parliamentary debate date on MOU advanced

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 February 2002, 16:40 GMT]
The Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Monday evening decided to summon the parliament on March 4 to debate the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Earlier the parliament was scheduled to meet on March 5.
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Chandrika urged not to derail the peace process

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 February 2002, 15:52 GMT]
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) Sunday, a constituent of the main opposition People's Alliance (PA) appealed to President Chandrika Kumaratunge and the leaders of other political parties not to derail the peace process which is gathering momentum after signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United National Front (UNF) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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'PTA will not be repealed' -Prime Minister

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 February 2002, 12:00 GMT]
"We cannot be too rigid in regard to the talks. We have to first bring the LTTE to the negotiating table. We should not put too many prohibitions, too many restrictions, and too many conditions that would prevent them from coming to the negotiating table.
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UNF rejects President's accusation on truce signing

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 February 2002, 17:08 GMT]
The United National Front (UNF) government Saturday rejected the accusations made by the Presidential Secretariat on the cease-fire agreement signed between the government and the Liberation Tigers were entirely incorrect. The Presidential Secretariat Friday blamed the UNF government that it signed the Memorandum of Understanding without informing the Cabinet.
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Kumaratunga expresses 'shock and dismay' over truce signing

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 February 2002, 19:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, expressed her "shock and dismay" at the government's hurried signing of a permanent ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers. In a statement released by the Presidential Secretariat, she lashed out at her arch-rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for not seeking her prior approval, describing his entering into the truce as "an undemocratic act."
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Ranil visits A9 entry point to mark MoU signing

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 February 2002, 11:30 GMT]
(Photos) Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the main entry point on the A9 highway to the LTTE held Vanni region Friday afternoon to mark the historic signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a permanent cease-fire between the Liberation Tigers and Colombo. The Prime Minister was accorded a reception at the last SLA point on the edge of the no man's land supervised by the ICRC.
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Norway announces permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 February 2002, 10:16 GMT]
The Norwegian government Friday declared the commencement from Saturday of a permanent ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers. In a statement, Jan Petersen, Foreign Minister of Norway, said his government had been asked to make public the agreement signed by LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
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UNF govt to hold parliamentary debate on MoU

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 February 2002, 12:02 GMT]
The United National Front government said Thursday that it is willing to conduct a full parliamentary debate on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and the Liberation Tigers as soon as it is signed. "The MoU between the UNF government and the Liberation Tigers has not yet been finalised. The meeting of leaders of the political parties represented in the parliament would be summoned to fix the date for the debate, once the MoU came into force. The government is willing to hold a full debate on it if the opposition wanted," Mr.W.J.M.Loku Bandara, Leader of the House and Minister of Justice told parliament Thursday morning.
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Gen. Ratwatte indicted in massacre case

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 February 2002, 17:02 GMT]
The Attorney General Wednesday decided to indict the thirty-three suspects, including General Ratwatte in the Udathalawinne Murder case before a Trial at Bar inquiry. At a conference presided by the AG at his office Wednesday afternoon, it was decided to request the Chief Justice to nominate three High Court judges to the Trial at Bar inquiry, legal sources said. AG department sources said that this decision was taken to treat the Udathalawinne murder case as a special one.
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