Tamil Americans call for moratorium on military aid to Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 November 2006, 03:12 GMT]
Expressing condemnation over killing of at least 65 internally displaced people (IDPs) who were seeking shelter in a school in Vakarai by the government of Sri Lanka," a joint press release issued by Tamil organizations in the US Friday, called upon the international community to "impose a moratorium on military assistance to GOSL," and urged "the co-chairs of the peace process to explore modalities that will allow the peoples on the island of Sri Lanka to live with dignity, to determine their political and economic future without interference, and to ensure regional security."
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SLN suspends unloading goods at Pt. Pedro harbour

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 November 2006, 00:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) cancelled the temporary permission given to Vadmaradchy fishermen to fish in waters up to Munai in Point Pedro Friday, and scoured large stretches of Point Pedro seas for bodies of sailors killed in the Thursday clashes with Sea Tigers, fishermen society sources in Point Pedro said. Unloading essential goods at Pt. Pedro harbour was suspended the whole day Friday.
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U.S. deplores Raviraj assassination

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 14:56 GMT]
The United States has deplored the assassination of Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj. The U.S. Embassy in Colombo expressed deepest sympathy for the loss to the family of Mr. Raviraj, to his parliamentary colleagues, and to the people of Sri Lanka, who have been "unjustly robbed of his energy and talent." The press statement further said "it is critical that crimes such as the murder of Nadarajah Raviraj not go unpunished."
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GoSL should take responsibility for Raviraj's assassination - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 14:03 GMT]
R. Sampanthan, Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said Friday in Colombo to the press, "Raviraj's assassination is a clear attempt by the paramilitary operating with the Sri Lanka Army to stifle the Tamil parliamentarians' voice in and out of the Parliament to inform the International Community of the Sri Lanka Government's genocide against the Tamils." Sampanthan further said, "Almost an year has passed since the assassination of Batticaloa parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingam and the Sri Lanka government is yet to bring the killers to book. This reveals the covert connections the government has with them."
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Batticaloa, Amparai shut down in protest of Vaharai killings

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 12:18 GMT]
Batticaloa and Amparai districts came to a standstill in response to a call made by Parliamentarian P. Ariyanenthiran, on behalf of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), to the people of both the districts to observe total shut down on Friday, as an expression of their united appeal to the International Community to exert pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to stop killing Tamil civilians, sources in Batticaloa said.
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U.S. regrets loss of innocent life in Sri Lankan military attack in Vakarai

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 12:05 GMT]
The U.S. Department of State in a media note issued on Thursday said the U.S "strongly regrets" the loss of innocent life caused by the shelling by the Sri Lankan military in Vakarai region Wednesday. The U.S. urged both the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to honor their commitment to abide by the cease fire, end all hostilities immediately, and return to negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. "We are also disturbed that the Head of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission and his delegation came under fire in Pooneryn in the north of Sri Lanka the same day," the statement said.
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LTTE Political Head condemns Raviraj assassination in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 11:02 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Political Head S.P.Thamilchelvan condemned the assassination of Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj and accused the Sri Lankan state as responsible for the systematic slaying of humanitarian and democratic voices of Tamils. "Mr. Raviraj was slain in Colombo where he voiced against the abductions and killings carried out by the Sri Lankan military and it's paramilitaries," he said.
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Tamil Parliamentarian Raviraj assassinated in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 03:43 GMT]
Nadarajah Raviraj, 44, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian was shot in Colombo around 8:30 a.m. Friday. The MP succumbed to his wounds at Colombo National Hospital. A lawyer turned politician, former mayor of Jaffna, Mr. Raviraj, elected twice, has been an outspoken parliamentarian who voiced against the extra-judicial killings and forced disapperances in NorthEast and Colombo. The parliamentarian took part in a demonstration Thursday against the Sri Lanka Army shelling in Vaharai where 47 Tamil civilians, Internally Displaced from Trincomalee, were killed, Wednesday.
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ICRC deplores attack on civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 01:56 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Thursday in a press release deplored the tragic loss of life and injury to civilians resulting from the Wednesday shelling of the densely populated area of Kathiraveli, a coastal hamlet north of Vaharai, where several thousand internally displaced people had sought shelter.
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Stop genocide against Tamils - TNA appeals to UN

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 01:20 GMT]
19 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians led by Mr. R. Sampanthan, Leader of the TNA Parliamentary group and Member of Parliament for Trincomalee district, protested Thursday at 11:00 a.m in front of United Nations office in Colombo condemning the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bombing of Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Vaharai and Kathiravelli, killing 53 civilians and seriously injuring 127, sources in Colombo said. The protesters urged the United Nations to urgently intervene to stop the "genocide against Tamils let loose by the Sri Lanka government."
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SLA targets Tamil activists, one killed, another injured in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 00:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and collaborating paramilitaries shot dead a fisheries official in Vadamaradchy, and wounded another seriously in Valigamam East Thursday, sources in Jaffna said. Both were Tamil activists involved in organizing protests against SLA harassment and violence in Jaffna district, civil society sources said.
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Sea Tigers sink 2 Sri Lankan attack crafts, seize armament, capture troopers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2006, 12:45 GMT]
A Sea Tiger flotilla clashed with Sri Lanka Navy in the Northern waters killing 25 SLN troopers, capturing 4 troopers alive and destroying two Dvora Fast Attack Crafts, LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet. The two Dvora FACs were seized and the Sea Tigers dismantled all the armament including a 23 mm cannon and a HK AGL gun. Dead body of a SLN trooper was also recovered by the Tigers. The clash erupted as Sea Tigers engaged in training activities were provoked by Sri Lanka Navy vessels in the seas off Nagarkovil in LTTE territorial waters, according to the Tiger spokesman. A third Dvora FAC was damaged. Five Sea Tigers were killed in close gunbattle, he said.
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Assassination attempts on two civilians fail in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2006, 08:25 GMT]
Unidentified armed men following a Tamil trader and a youth in the Nanattan division in Mannar fired at them missing hitting the intended victims in two separate incidents , Sunday sources in Mannar said.


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UNP demands inquiry into Vaharai killings

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2006, 02:46 GMT]
Mr.Tissa Attanayake, General Secretary of the UNP, the main opposition United National Party (UNP), in a statement released in Colombo Thursday, condemned the killing of civilians in Vaharai division in Batticaloa district and called on the government to hold immediate proper inquiry into this tragedy, sources said.
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Amnesty condemns "terrible" attack on displaced civilians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 22:08 GMT]
Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Director Purna Sen, condemning the Sri Lankan military attack on displaced civilian camp in Vaaharai region on Wednesday, in a press statement said it was shocked to see such a large-scale attack on civilians just days after the government's announcement of its Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses. The Human Rights watchdog has called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate the "terrible attack as a matter of urgency and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice to signal to the rest of the military that attacking civilians will not be tolerated."
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SLA arrests eight men in Kottawa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 16:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and police cordoned off and searched Kottawa area in Colombo Wednesday around 08:10 a.m arresting eight persons including six Tamils in connection with the recovery of a 40 mm hand grenade found on the top of a building in Kottawa area, said Kottawa police.
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FMM deplores SLA's censoring of Jaffna press

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 11:52 GMT]
The Free Media Movement (FMM) in a press release issued in Colombo Tuesday said that FMM is "deeply concerned that the media situation in the Jaffna Peninsula is extremely dire, with many media establishments and journalists now preferring an overt legal censorship of the media as opposed to frequent thinly veiled threats and intimidation by armed forces, including the Army."


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Sonobo Children’s Home in Vaharai attacked, 12 children injured - TRO

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 11:07 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), engaged in emergency rescue work at the IDP camp in Kathiraveli school Wednesday evening, said TRO’s Sonobo Children’s Home located close to the school was also attacked by SLA artillery. 12 children were wounded. Forty bodies have been recovered including 6 babies between the ages of 3 and 6 months, the TRO statement said. 76 persons have been admitted to the hospital.
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TNA parliamentarians meet Wickremasinghe

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 10:54 GMT]
Nineteen of the twenty two Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians Tuesday met with Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), at the latter's request and held discussions on the urgency of bringing normalcy in the North East, legalising the merger of the two provinces, and the opening of the land route A9 to Jaffna peninsula, political sources in Colombo said.
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SLMM Head, visiting Pooneryn, comes under artillery fire

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 10:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells crossed over the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General Lars Johan Sølvberg and his delegation who were visiting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Pooneryn jetty Wednesday evening to undertake a feasibiity study on Colombo's latest suggestion in opening Pooneryin Sangupitty Road as an alternative to A9. SLA fired artillery shells exploded 200 meters behind in Pooneryn jetty area while the delegation was visiting the site for inspection around 3:15 p.m. The Norwegian Major General returned safely, LTTE officials told TamilNet. While returning, artillery shells exploded at 20 meter distance.
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