Brattskar meets Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2006, 11:58 GMT]
Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hans Brattskar met with S. P. Thamilchelvan, Political Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Tuesday around 9.00 a.m at the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi, and discussed the forthcoming visit of Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister and peace envoy, and the present critical situation in Sri Lanka, said sources in Kilinochchi. Brattskar arrived in Kilinochchi after visiting the site of Allapiddy killings on Monday.


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SLN arrests Tamil refugees in Mannar Sea

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2006, 10:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers Monday night arrested seventeen Trincomalee Tamil families in Mannar seas when they werebeing taken in two boats to South India from Pesalai coast in Mannar district. The SLN later handed them to the Talaimannar Police, sources said.


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Decomposed body with gunshot wounds recovered in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2006, 06:58 GMT]
Valaichenai ploice recovered a body of a male in semi-decomposed state with guns shot wounds at Pandimadu in Valaichenai police division Sunday 21st May on receiving information fro Pandimadu residents, said the police. At the inquest held by Additional Magistrate Mr. Ushan, the dead man's uncle S. Nagarajah, identified the body as belonging to Mahalingam Vijayakumar, a textile trader from Tamil Nadu, police added.


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Tamils to rally in front of Bern Parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2006, 03:14 GMT]
Expatriate Tamils from across countries in Europe are to stage a rally in front of Swiss parliament in Bern on the 29 May Monday at 1:00 p.m., leaflets distributed by the organizing officials said. The rally will urge the European countries to assist Tamils in achieving their self-determination rights or to recognize Tamils' right to secede, organizers said.
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Vigneswaran remembered in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2006, 00:48 GMT]
Forty fifth day remembrance of late Mr.V.Vigneswaran, founder President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum was held at Trincomalee Town Hall Sunday. Mr.Vigneswaran was gunned down in the first week of April by unidentified armed men inside the premises of the Trincomalee main branch of the Bank of Ceylon along Dockyard Road in the security zone, sources said.
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Batticaloa, Amparai districts mourn Ramanan's death

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 21:21 GMT]
Residents of Amparai and Batticaloa districts mourned the the death of Ramanan, a Senior Commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the East and the Deputy Head of the LTTE Military wing of the Batticaloa district, Monday sources in Batticaloa said.
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TNA appeals for an even-handed approach

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 13:48 GMT]
Pointing out that the "primary cause of the current violence has been due to the refusal of the Sri Lankan State to implement key provisions of the CFA that obligates the State to disarm and dismantle Paramilitary armed groups in the Northeast of Sri Lanka," the Tamil National Alliance in a press release issued Monday, urged "that no action be taken which casts the blame on one side," cautioning that "such a step can irretrievably harm the legitimate interests of the long-suffering Tamil people," and appealed to the European Union and the International Community for a "more even-handed approach."
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TRO condemns grenade attack, appeals for safety of NGO staffers

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 12:19 GMT]
Condemning the grenade attack on the NGOs in Trincomalee on Sunday, the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) expressed concern over the negative impact the attack will have on humanitarian work, and appealed to the Government of Sri Lanka to "fully investigate this violence and ensure the safety of all humanitarian workers," in a press release issued Monday.
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Sri Lanka government can still avert new war - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 11:39 GMT]
"The objective conditions for an outbreak of war are developing. Yet, there is still a space in which meaningful steps could be taken by the Sri Lankan Government to contain the violence of the paramilitaries and the excesses of the armed forces and create a congenial environment for de-escalation,” the Liberation Tigers’ theoretician and chief negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham said this week in an extensive interview with the Sunday Times newspaper.
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LTTE blames SLA for grenade attack on Muttur INGO offices

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 10:36 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday blamed the Sri Lanka Army(SLA) for the grenade attack at the offices of three international non-governmental organizations, Inter-SOS, ZOA and Non-Violent Peace Force located in the government controlled Muttur town in the Trincomalee district on Sunday afternoon. "We vehemently deny the accusation made by the SLA spokesman that LTTE was responsible the grenade attack. We categorically state that the SLA has carried out this attack," said Mr.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head in a statement.
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Student, companion killed in SLA Claymore attack in Madhu

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 09:25 GMT]
A 15 year old student and his companion were killed in a Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled jungle in Periya Pandivirichan at Madhu in the Mannar district Sunday, reported Voice of Tigers (VoT) Radio. The youths were out hunting when they were killed, according to VoT.


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Durban Tamils demonstrate against Sri Lanka's rights violations

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2006, 00:23 GMT]
More than 500 Tamil activists participated in a demonstration held Sunday in Durban, South Africa organized by the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee of South Africa, protesting against the killings of Tamil civilians in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka, sources in Durban said. Placards carried by the protesters accused the Government of Sri Lanka for the complicity of Sri Lanka security forces and paramilitaries in several killings, including the recent murders of eight residents of Allaipiddy in Jaffna islets, sources added.
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ITAK wins six seats in Kalmunai MC

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 17:18 GMT]
Mr. Henry Mahendran, leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) thanked the Tamil voters of the Kalmunai Municipal Council area for extending their wholehearted support for the ITAK at the election held on Saturday, sources said.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 17:15 GMT]
Unidentified men shot dead a Tamil trader Mr.Gopal Balasubramaniam at Mullipottanai in Thampalakamam division in Trincomalee district Sunday afternoon around 12.15 p.m. when he was coming out of shop, Thampalakamam Police sources said.
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TRO provides facilities to Allaipiddy refugees in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 17:13 GMT]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) is providing temporary dwellings, food and transport facilities to the growing number of refugees moving into Vanni from Jaffna islets in the wake of the Allaipiddy assassinations, said TRO sources in Vanni. More than 40 families consisting of 200 members are yet to recover from fear and shock after the murders believed to be carried by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and the collaborating paramilitaries.
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More families flee from SLN controlled Jaffna islets

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 12:56 GMT]
Following the Allaipiddy assassinations and the consequent evacuation of the village by its entire population, more than ten families from its neighbouring villages Velanai and Suruvil fled Sunday in fear seeking refuge in schools and churches in Jaffna, said sources in Jaffna. The Jaffna islets are under the total control of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN).
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SLA forces attack LTTE camp- Elilan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 12:09 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head Sunday complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Commission based in east port town that a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) had entered the LTTE controlled area, Aathiamankerni, a village in Serunuwara division and destroyed LTTE camp. This incident took place Sunday around 10.30 a.m., Mr.Elilan said.
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UPFA wins 5 councils, UNP 4 in local polls

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 05:59 GMT]
The ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won five councils and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) four in the elections held Saturday for twenty local government authorities located in the Western, Southern, Central and Eastern provinces, election department sources said.
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SLMC captures Kalmunai MC, ITAK one PS in Amparai district

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2006, 05:55 GMT]


The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) captured four local authorities including the Kalmunai Municipal Council and three Pradesiya Sabahs in the Amparai district. The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) won one PS and the Muslim National Congress one PS.
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Senior PLOTE operative 'Farook' talks to media in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 May 2006, 16:01 GMT]
A senior People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) operative, Sinnathamby Ganeshalingam, alias Farook, who was reported missing in December last year in Vavuniya, talked to the media this week in an undisclosed remote village in Vanni. Ganeshalingam claimed that he has begun a settled peaceful life in Liberation Tigers controlled Vanni with his wife Shantha, and refuted earlier reports that he was abducted by the Tigers. He said he left the paramilitary group after PLOTE leadership began to develop close relationships with the hardline elements in Sri Lankan military and extreme nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
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