UN urged not to ignore Rajapakse regime

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 February 2007, 12:58 GMT]
The UN security council working group which is set to study underage recruitment in Sri Lanka later Friday should not ignore the practice of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse’s regime in the practice, a senior columnist with The Guardian newspaper wrote in Friday’s edition on Guardian's 'Comment is Free' section. And condemning political movements for the violence they turn to, “whilst ignoring their complaints and the degree of support they command leads only to political stalemate and more bloodshed,” Jonathan Steele said in his column. He criticised President Rajapakse for destroying the 2002 truce by trying to reoccupy the areas recognised as under Tiger control.
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11 Tamil civilians arrested in Chilaw

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 February 2007, 12:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government security forces arrested eleven Tamil civilians during cordon and search operations in Munthal, Uddapu and Munneswaram areas in Chilaw district located in the northwestern province Friday. The arrested are being held in Chilaw police station and are being interrogated, sources said.
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7 STF troopers, 3 civilians injured in mortar fire on Vavunathivu SLA camp

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 February 2007, 11:51 GMT]
Seven Special Task Force (STF) troopers and three civilians were injured in a mortar attack launched from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held areas Thursday around 9:40 a.m on the Vavunathivu Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp, where a new STF camp was being constructed, SLA sources said. The SLA fired mortars back in retaliation.
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Six more Tamil youths arrested in Dankotuwa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 February 2007, 11:23 GMT]
Six Tamil youths were arrested in Dankotuwa, 40 km northeast of Colombo, in the northwestern province, in a cordon and search operation by the Sri Lankan forces Wednesday night. They are being detained in police station in the area and are being questioned.
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Three civilians abducted in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 February 2007, 00:31 GMT]
Unidentified persons abducted three Tamil civilians in Mannar Tuesday afternoon in two separate incidents along Mannar-Talaimannar main road, according to complaints lodged with the regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) by the relatives.
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Trapped Vanni school teachers to be employed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 February 2007, 00:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander for Jaffna, Major Gen. G. S. Chandrasri, told the teachers of Vanni schools, trapped in Jaffna peninsula due to SLA closure of the A9 route in August 2006, that they will receive temporary assignments to teach peninsula schools. Major Gen Chandrasri met with nearly half of the 700 stranded teachers at a special centre at Kattuvan, located close to Palaly Military Base, around 7:00 p.m Monday, education officials in Jaffna said.
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Emergency extended for another month in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 February 2007, 17:48 GMT]
Sri Lankan parliament Wednesday adopted motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month with a majority of 105 votes. 122 parliamentarians voted for the motion and 17 voted against.
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SC fixes inquiry into FR petition by Tamil journalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 February 2007, 17:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court by a majority decision, Wednesday, granted leave to proceed with the Fundamental Rights petition filed by a Tamil journalist Mounasamy Parameswary against the State for violating her fundamental rights by detaining her "illegally without any charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)." She is being held in detention since her arrest.
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Youth shot dead in Kinniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 February 2007, 00:14 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers shot dead a Tamil youth in Maniarasankulam in Kinniya divisional secretariat division in Trincomalee district Sunday night around 10 p.m. Security sources claimed that the victim was an LTTE cadre.
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13 upcountry Tamil youths arrested in Dankotuwa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 February 2007, 12:01 GMT]
Thirteen upcountry Tamil youths were arrested Monday evening in Dankotuwa, 40 km northeast of Colombo, in the northwestern province, in a cordon and search operation by the Sri Lankan forces.
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Jaffna-wide schools boycott enters second week

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 February 2007, 10:33 GMT]
The boycott organized by Vadamaradchy Tamil Students union throughout Jaffna peninsula entered its second week on Monday, with no information received about the whereabouts of the two students abducted in Vadamaradchy three weeks ago. Most students in Jaffna district responded to the call by the Students Union to boycott school activities until the abducted students are released.
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Ranil: SLFP-UNP pact over, dark times ahead

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 February 2007, 09:39 GMT]
Addressing the new session of Parliament, leader of the opposition United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremsinghe, slammed President Mahinda Rajapakse for accepting the cross over of 19 UNP lawmakers to government ranks. Mr. Wickremsinghe said the move had led to the “dissolution” of the Memorandum of Understanding between the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the UNP. “The UNP thus finds it impossible to work with the government in finding a solution to the issues referred to in the MOU,” he said. Among the issues are a bi-partisan approach to ending Sri Lanka’s civil war.
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3 Sinhala leftist journalists, activists abducted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 February 2007, 06:40 GMT]
A former journalist with the leftist Hiru paper, Lalith Seneviratne, was abducted at his home Monday night. Meanwhile, a trade union activist and editor of the monthly Akuna (Thunder), Sisira Priyankara, was reported missing from his work at an electrical workshop and another activist Nihal Serasinghe, who worked with the monthly was also abducted Monday evening. Leftist activists have alleged that the three friends were kidnapped by an abduction squad operated by the Sri Lankan military.
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Five schools in Eravur relocated

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 February 2007, 02:10 GMT]
Five schools in Chenkaldy educational zone in Eravur region in Batticaloa District have been temporarily relocated to alternate locations due to internal displacement of civilians, zonal education officer A.Sugumaran announced Monday.
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Two killed, civilian injured in Batticaloa firefight

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 February 2007, 02:08 GMT]
Two unindentified youths were killed and one civilian critically injured when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) cadres and members of Karuna group engaged in a firefight in Kaluthavalai in Kaluwanchikkudy Police division in Batticaloa district around 6:00 p.m. Monday.
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Youth shot dead in Trincomalee suburb

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 February 2007, 01:11 GMT]
A Tamil youth was shot dead by unidentified armed men riding a motorbike near the victims house in Thuwarakandu area in Chelvanayakapuram, a suburb in Trincomalee Sunday afternoon, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Kantalai railway station

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 February 2007, 19:47 GMT]
Unidentified armed men Monday afternoon shot dead a Tamil youth at the Kantalai railway station. The youth is said to be a resident of Killiveddy in Serunuwara police division in Trincomalee district.
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42 Tamil civilians arrested in Kohuwela

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 February 2007, 19:44 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Government security forces in a cordon and search operation conducted Sunday night in Kohuwela in Colombo arrested 42 Tamil civilians including girl students, sources in Colombo said.
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Ratnapura attacks spark strike by plantation workers

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 February 2007, 14:02 GMT]
Seven housing units belonging to Tamil plantation workers in Farm Garden Estate in Ratnapura were destroyed by fire Friday night at 8:30 p.m. when a group of unidentified gangsters, allegedly from the neighboring Sinhala village of Navanagara, armed with hand bombs set ablaze more than fifty housing units. The mob kicked the doors open, removed valuables from the units, splashed accelerants before setting fire to the units. The workers at the Farm Garden Estate went on strike Sunday to protest against the violence, and the lethargic response shown by the Estate Management, spokesperson for the workers said.
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SLA officer killed, four troopers injured in Vavuniya in two separate attacks

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 February 2007, 11:44 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons attacked a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) road patrol unit at Pandarikulam road in Vepankulam, Vavuniya Monday around 11:05 a.m. killing an officer and injuring a trooper, sources in Vavuniya said. Meanwhile, SLA said that three troopers were injured in an attack by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday early morning at Macanar road in Sector 5, Vavuniya.
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