Batticaloa Bishop and his team meet LTTE Leaders

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 March 2004, 15:35 GMT]
Bishop Rt. Rev. Kingsley Swampillai and his team from Batticaloa consisting of the eastern university representatives, NGOs and members of the business community, met with LTTE Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Batticaloa-Amparai Special Commander Ramesh, Commander Ram, Mr. Karikalan and the Political Head of Batticaloa-Amparai Mr. Kausalyan today 8th March 2004 in Kilinochchi, sources in Vanni said.
Full story >>

Peace delegation from Batticaloa to resolve Karuna crisis

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 March 2004, 02:40 GMT]
A delegation of religious and civil society leaders of Batticaloa, led by Bishop Rt. Rev. Kingsley Swampillai and Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University, Dr. S. Raveendranath, will leave for Vanni Monday to hold discussions with the Liberation Tigers' leadership to peacefully handle the problem of renegade LTTE commander, Mr. Karuna, a senior LTTE official in Batticaloa told TamilNet Sunday night.
Full story >>

Karuna feared expulsion, avoided direct contact - Ramesh

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 March 2004, 21:04 GMT]
In an interview from Vanni to the UK-based International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) Radio, Col.Ramesh, the new Special Commander of the Liberation Tigers for Batticaloa-Ampara, said that Karuna took the unilateral decision to split on his own ignoring the advices of several senior commanders and administrateive heads.
Full story >>

Karuna’s accusations are cover up for guilt and betrayal - Karikalan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 March 2004, 19:58 GMT]
In a wide ranging interview from Vanni to the London, UK-based International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) Radio, Mr. Karikalan, a senior leader of the Liberation Tigers and former head of the political division in Batticaloa-Ampara, said that Karuna, the renegade former LTTE commander from Batticaloa-Ampara, was spreading false stories to the international media to justify his betrayal and to prevent the international Tamil community from calling Mr. Karuna a “traitor.”
Full story >>

Karuna’s supporters protest in Valaichenai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 March 2004, 13:22 GMT]
Supporters of the renegade LTTE commander, Mr. Vinyagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna), Sunday held a protest in Valaichenai, 32 kilometres north of Batticaloa, amidst reports that more troops and military officers who were under his overall command were co-ordinating their operations in the east with Mr. T. Ramesh, the new commander for the Batticaloa-Amparai district. A senior LTTE military officer from the Batticaloa-Amparai district arrived in Kilinochchi Sunday evening to brief the Liberation Tigers’ high command about the latest developments in the eastern region, sources said.


Full story >>

Karikalan condemns Karuna as Pol Pot

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 March 2004, 06:45 GMT]
"Karuna will be seen as a Pol Pot if he continues to act irresponsibly towards our people", said Mr. Sivagnanam Karikalan, one of the senior leaders in the East to arrive in Kilinochchi Sunday morning for discussions with his leadership about the situation in Batticaloa. Mr. Karikalan is a close confidante of Mr. Karuna, the eastern LTTE leader who was sacked from the Liberation Tigers Saturday on charges of treason.
Full story >>

"Will handle the problem in Batticaloa with caution"- Ramesh

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 March 2004, 01:45 GMT]
"Our leader has given us strict instructions that no harm should befall our people and our fighters in the Batticaloa- Amparai district in dealing with Karuna’s problem. We have devised plans to do this very carefully and with great caution. We have already started to implement these plans. We intend to go back and begin work soon," Commander Ramesh, the LTTE’s military leader for the Batticaloa-Amparai district told TamilNet Sunday.
Full story >>

Peace Talks, CFA will not be affected - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 March 2004, 11:19 GMT]
Talking to journalists during the press conference at the Peace Secretariat Saturday, LTTE Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan said that LTTE will maintain its firm committment to the peace talks and the Ceasefire Agreement and that LTTE leader Pirapaharan is always ready to provide amnesty to those who realize their mistakes.
Full story >>

Karuna removed from the LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 March 2004, 05:45 GMT]
Liberation Tigers announced today that their Batticaloa-Amparai district commander Karuna has been discharged from the LTTE and has been relieved of official responsibilities. "The Tamil Eelam National leadership has appointed Mr. T. Ramesh as special commander, Mr. Ram as Commander, Mr. Praba as the deputy commander and Mr. Kousalyan as political head of the Batticaloa-Ampara district," said the LTTE statement issued today.
Full story >>

Batticaloa military commander says crisis being resolved

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 March 2004, 08:02 GMT]
"We have discussed the situation in Batticaloa with our leader in detail. I am certain that we will resolve the problem smoothly. Our leader will soon clarify the situation to the Tamil people and the world", LTTE's special commander for the Batticaloa-Amparai region, T. Ramesh told TamilNet Friday. Commander Ramesh is Col. Karuna's deputy and commands all the LTTE troops in the Batticaloa-Amparai district.
Full story >>

Monks' Sinhala Buddhist call will derail Kumaratunge - NSSP Leader

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 March 2004, 04:23 GMT]
Dr. Vickremabahu Karunarathne, the leader of the leftist Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP), when asked if United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has any chance of getting absolute majority in the 2 April elections said that "with Buddhist Monks contesting separately, openly proposing 'Sinhala Buddhist' dictatorship, it is very unlikely that United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) could become first in any of the districts."


Full story >>

"Let us function directly under your leadership"-Karuna

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 March 2004, 03:48 GMT]
"Please let us function independently under your direct leadership. We are not leaving you. We are not opposed to you. I do not want to commit the historical mistake of not pointing out to you the aspirations of our people, disregarding their feelings and those of our fighters here. If you love the people here and if you trust the fighters here please let us function independently and directly under your leadership," said Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers in a letter addressed to the leader of the LTTE, Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan Friday.
Full story >>

Batticaloa LTTE reiterates stand

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 March 2004, 09:32 GMT]
"We are functioning with commitment to our cause under the command of our national leader Veluppillai Pirapaharan and the guidance of commander Col. Karuna" a senior official of the LTTE in Batticaloa was quoted as saying in Thursday's edition of the Thamil Alai, a regional daily published from Kokkaddicholai, a large village controlled by the Tigers 15 kilometres southwest of Batticaloa town.
Full story >>

No regional split - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 March 2004, 18:18 GMT]
A spokesman for Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers told TamilNet Wednesday night there was no split in the LTTE. ''We will be functioning directly under the command of our leader'', he said referring to reports that there was a major split in the LTTE.
Full story >>

U.S condemns killing of Batticaloa candidate

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 March 2004, 12:09 GMT]
State Department Spokesperson, Richard Boucher, has condemned the killing of Sinnathamby Sunderampillai, a candidate in Sri Lanka's upcoming parliamentary elections. "Although no one has claimed responsibility for the crime, we note recent statements by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that were clearly intended to discourage Tamil candidates of whom they did not approve," Boucher said in a statement issued March 1 in Washington. Sri Lanka police, however, say the matter is under investigation and declined to blame LTTE.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka President’s Marxist ally slams devolution again

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 March 2004, 17:44 GMT]
The leader of President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s main political ally, Mr. Somawansa Amarasinghe categorically rejected the concept and practice of devolution in an interview published in the latest issue of ‘Business Today’, a monthly magazine from Colombo. “ On the national question, people are talking about devolution, division or sharing of power or other formulae. But everyone has become prisoners of devolution....What we say is please stop talking about devolution,” states Mr. Amerasinghe in the interview.
Full story >>

171 candidates vie for six Vanni seats

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 February 2004, 11:28 GMT]
Ten different registered parties and nine independent groups are presenting 171 candidates for the forthcoming elections in the Vanni district for six seats. In the last elections held in 2001, 207 candidates from 23 groups competed in Vanni, according to Vanni election offiicials.
Full story >>

Ruhunu Janatha Party submits nominations in Trinco

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 February 2004, 16:16 GMT]
The Ruhunu Janatha Party (RJP) was the first political party to submit its nomination papers to contest in the Trincomalee electoral district in the forthcoming parliamentary election, which has been fixed for April 2, election department sources said.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka President proposes truce committee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 13:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga proposed a committee to discuss matters relating to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers. The President made the proposal during a meeting with the head of the Sri Lanka truce monitoring mission, Maj. Gen. Tronde Furuhovde Wednesday in Colombo.
Full story >>

"Will talk to any government with clear authority" – Col. Karuna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 14:17 GMT]
"We are prepared to talk to any government that comes to power in Sri Lanka with clear authority and power. We are ready to negotiate with them to settle the conflict by peaceful means. We are also firmly committed to observing the ceasefire agreement. We urge the Sinhala people to reject obscurantism and chauvinism and to choose political forces that are forward looking for the sake of peace and progress," said Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers Tuesday.
Full story >>