Facilitator to ensure humanitarian action, sluice gates to be opened

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 August 2006, 06:15 GMT]
Norwegian Special Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer has assured the LTTE leadership that the facilitators would act, within three weeks, to ensure equitable humanitarian assistance as the Tiger leadership told the facilitator that the LTTE would convince the Maavilaru Tamils to re-open the closed sluice gates. The Tigers also said that the Sri Lanka's direct military actions such as air-strikes, artillery attacks and "socalled limited operations" would be regarded as Declaration of War.
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Abducted Tamil youth found dead in Kantalai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 16:41 GMT]
A Tamil youth S.Sriskandarajah aged 35 and a father of three children abducted by unidentified men Friday evening around 7:00 p.m. from his tailor shop located in front of the Kantalai police station was found dead Saturday morning in a paddy field with hands tied and gunshot injuries.
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Water war

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 16:33 GMT]
"Defensive attacks" launched by Liberation Tigers four days ago with the surprise artillery attacks on Trincomalee naval base, and the sweeping attacks on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and positions in Muthur and southern sector of Trincomalee, were interpreted as the Tiger response to the three-month-long humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Muthur East, where 30 000 civilians were forced to live as Internally Displaced People (IDPs). Supply of drinking water, one of the most basic needs, emerged as a critical issue as wells dried in the hottest spell as August approached, says Trincomalee Parliamentarian K. Thurairatnasingham.
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Killings take place to intimidate Tamil population - Sampanthan tells Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 14:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army was killing innocent Tamil civilians to intimidate Tamil population said the leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Trincomalee district parliamentarian, R. Sampanthan, in an urgent letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse Saturday. The slaying of a leading Tamil businessman Kaththamuthu Perinaparasa was committed to intimidate the Tamil civilian population who have lived in the area for generations and centuries, said Mr. Sampanthan.
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Sri Lankan bombers, artillery target road infrastructure

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 13:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery attacks Saturday have destroyed the road network of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Muthur east and Eachchilampathu division and the ferry over Verugal Aru, according to sources in LTTE controlled Sampur. The bridge over Ilankaithurai Muhathuwaram was damaged.
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Sri Lanka Army kills Tamil businessman in Kiliveddy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 13:42 GMT]
A Tamil businessman in Kiliveddy village in Muttur division was shot and killed by the Sri Lanka Army Friday evening. SLA soldiers shot the businessman around 6:30 p.m. when he closed his business and approached the main road. The victim, Kaththamuthu Perinaparasa, 65, had been a leading businessmen in the village, civil sources said.
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"Expel Norway from Sri Lanka" – JVP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 11:30 GMT]
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the extreme Sinhala nationalist ally of Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, has resumed their demand that the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) must expel Norway from Sri Lanka. Speaking at a Media Conference Thursday, August 3, 2006 convened by the Patriotic National Movement (PNM) held at the Colombo Sri Lanka Assembly College, Sri Lankan parliamentarian and JVP Propaganda Secretary, Wimal Weerawansa called on Norway’s International Development Minister Eric Solheim to withdraw the statement he made last Wednesday. Sri Lanka being a sovereign nation, Solheim has no authority to give orders to GOSL claimed Wimal Weerawansa.
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Paramilitaries set fire to Tamil paper newsstand in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 11:27 GMT]
A paper distributor's shop located in the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Batticaloa town was completely burnt early morning Saturday, sources from Batticaloa said. Muruges and Son Stores which is on the Batticaloa Central Road was 75 meters from the Special Task Force (STF) troopers camp next to the Batticaloa Clock Tower. Batticaloa residents allege the shop was burnt by paramilitaries working in collaboration with the SLA. Paramilitary cadres have warned paper distributors to cancel two mainstream papers, Sudar Oli and Thinakkural, published in Colombo in Batticaloa Sri Lanka Army controlled areas. Meanwhile, Batticaloa Police said they suspected electric short caused the fire.
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"Objective accomplished, forces returned to CFA positions" - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 11:04 GMT]
The militay spokesman of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Irasaiah Ilanthiayan, told TamilNet that the LTTE troops, by midnight Friday, returned to their original positions as per February 22, 2002 Ceasefire Agreement. 32 LTTE fighters, including a Lieutinent Colonel and another senior cadre of the Tigers were killed in the operation that excerted a military pressure to Colombo's military offensive to resolve a civilian dispute, Mr. Ilanthirayan said. Two SLN Dvora Fast Attack Crafts (FACs) were destroyed and sunk, 3 boats were damaged. Mortars, Light Machine Guns and ammunitions were seized.
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Tamil businessman shot dead in Trincomalee town

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 10:42 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen riding in a motorbike shot and killed Mr.T Mayuran, 30, Saturday afternoon around 1.30 p.m. inside a business establishment located along Sea View Road in Trincomalee town, police sources said. Two men covered their faces with black cloths shot Mr.Mayuran in his head at the counter of the business establishment at point blank range before escaping.
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Fighting ceases in Muthur, ICRC resumes food supply

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 08:02 GMT]
Fighting ceased between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Trincomalee and humanitarian agencies resumed food supplies to 18 000 Muslim and Sinhala refugees staying in 5 different schools in Kantalai and 15 000 Tamil refugees staying in Kiliveddy. Initial reports from Muttur said the LTTE fighters returned to their positions Friday. No official comments were available from the LTTE or Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) regarding the military situation. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Head Major General Ulf Henricsson was on his way to Muthur and Norwegian Special Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer was en route to Kilinochchi via Jaffna.
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15 000 Tamil people stranded in Killiveddy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 07:55 GMT]
About fifteen thousand Tamil people gathered in Killiveddy village along Muttur-Batticaloa road in government controlled area in the Muttur division Friday to seek safer places to escape from aerial strike and artillery fire now being conducted by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The civilians have fled from their villages, Manalsenai, Mallikaitivu, Menkamam, Bharathipuram, Thanganagar, Kanguveli, Palathadichchenai, and Iruthayapuram, civil sources said.
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TRO caring 10 000 IDPs, seeks assistance from ICRC, GoSL, SLMM

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 12:35 GMT]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) on Thursday said the organisation was taking care of ten thousand IDPs in Trincomalee district. Food and water has been provided by the TRO to the IDPs since 01 August 2006. "Stockpiles of food are running low and TRO is appealing to the ICRC, Government of Sri Lanka, and the SLMM to facilitate the transportation of humanitarian relief to the displaced persons," the organisation said. TRO has also received requests for assistance from the Muslim Council in Kinniya, a community TRO has assisted post-tsunami.
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Sinhalese settlers demand evacuation from Somapura

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 06:52 GMT]
Thousands of Sinhalese settlers from the southern sectors of Trincomalee district have demanded safe evacuation from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas, civil sources in Somapura said. The local authorities have contacted the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to facilitate evacuation from the southern sector where the SLA offensive towards Mavil Aaru was launched. Meanwhile, initial reports reaching from Kiliveddy said Muttur civilians, carrying white flags, have started to reach Kiliveddy area. However, the ICRC coordinator, Davide Vignati, in Colombo has told media that a formal cessation of hostilities for a limited time frame is yet to be established.
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Bank Manager shot dead in Jaffna, employees protest

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 05:03 GMT]
A well-known literary figure and General Manager of People's Bank, KKS Branch, was shot at point blank range allegedly by the Intelligence operatives of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), at Thirunelvely, a suburb of Jaffna, around 7:45 a.m., Friday. Pon. Ganeshamoorthy, 56, killed when he was getting ready to go to work from his residence at the Post office junction in Thirunelvely, according to sources in Jaffna.
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Arrangements underway for civilian movement from Muttur - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 04:52 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Friday morning said their cadres were making arrangements to safely transport all civilians out of the Muttur town to remote locations as Sri Lanka Army shells continued to hit civilian refuges in the town. The LTTE has urged the ICRC and other humanitarian agencies to enable humanitarian assistance to the displaced people.
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SLMC accuses SL Army of shelling Muttur civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 00:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s largest Muslim party Thursday accused Sri Lankan security forces of shelling Muslim civilians in embattled Muttur town, killing dozens of people and wounding scores more. As Sri Lanka’s military blamed the Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader, Rauf Hakeem told AFP: “the people were killed in attacks carried out by the security forces.”
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Electricity, telephone service to Muttur cut off

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 17:44 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has cut off the supply of electricity to Muttur town and other villages in the Muttur division from Tuesday since the fighting broke out between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). From Thursday noon telephone service to Muttur town has also been cut off, Muttur civilians arrived in Trincomalee Thursday evening with injured civilians said. Telephone communications were severed after the artillery attack on Muttur Arabic College and Thoppur Al-Noor Mahavidiyalayam where twenty two Muslim civilians who sought refuge were killed, and sixty nine injured, sources there said.
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Tigers discuss humanitarian measures in Muttur

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 11:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Trincomalee District Political Head S. Elilan and the LTTE's Liason officer for UN and NGO affairs, were engaged in discussions related to the urgent humanitarian measures necessary to address the needs of the civilian population that has taken refuge in Mosques and Churches in large numbers in Muttur area that has largely come under the control of the LTTE, according to the Tiger Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan. Mr. Ilanthirayan said the SL forces attempt to land in Muttur jetty was thwarted and forty SLA troopers were killed Thursday.
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SLA fires on Ambulance, 3 Tamils killed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 06:56 GMT]
Sri Lankan troopers in Seruvila opened fire on an ambulance of the Muttur district hospital, transferring patients to Trincomalee general hospital, through Allai-Kantalai Road, Wednesday. Two Tamil civilians were killed on the spot. The driver of the ambulance who was critically wounded in the shooting succumbed to injuries while being taken to the Colombo general hospital. Sri Lankan Police on Thursday said the ambulance was caught up in a "cross-fire."
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