Switzerland welcomes decision to hold talks in Geneva

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2006, 11:55 GMT]
"Switzerland welcomes the decision by the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to hold talks on the implementation of the Cease Fire Agreement in Switzerland," and "Switzerland is ready to provide Norway with its utmost support and hopes that the talks can get underway as soon as possible," said a press release issued by the Swiss Government in Berne Wednesday.
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LTTE releases Sri Lanka Policeman

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2006, 10:17 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eleam released Thursday one of the three Sri Lankan policemen held in custody since September 2005 for illegally entering into Liberation Tigers controlled area. S.Thangan, Deputy Head of the Political Wing handed over the policeman to Liaison Officer of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), LTTE sources in Kilinochchi said. The policeman was handed over Sri Lankan Government Security Forces in Vavuniya, the SLMM said.
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US welcomes agreement to hold peace talks in Geneva

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2006, 09:10 GMT]
United States Department of State issued a statement on Tuesday welcoming the the agreement by the Sri Lankan government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to hold peace talks in February in Geneva and commending the Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim for his effort in advancing the process. "The United States remains fully committed to the Sri Lankan peace process," said Sean McCormack, spokesman for the Department of State in the statement issued in Washington DC.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Muttur

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 17:01 GMT]
Mr.Thambipillai Selvarajah (48) a mason by profession was shot dead by unidentified men Wednesday night around 7.30 p.m. close to the market in Muttur town in Trincomalee district. He was the second Tamil civilian shot dead by unidentified persons in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled Muttur town since Tuesday morning and the third in the Trincomalee district, police sources said.


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SLTMA urges action on journalist killing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 11:03 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) in an urgent letter to the Media Minister Mr.Anura Priyadarshana Yapa has asked him to reveal his proposed actions to prevent future killings and harassing of Tamil media journalists following the murder of Tamil journalist on Tuesday in Trincomalee.
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LTTE, GoSL to hold talks on truce implementation in Geneva

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 08:23 GMT]
Liberation Tigers said Wednesday that they have agreed to hold talks in Geneva with the Government of Sri Lanka on "smooth implementation" of the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement. Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Anton Balasingham, told reporters that the talks, expected to begin in mid-February, would be limited to the implementation of the truce which has come under increasing strain recently. Talks on further matters could only take place after complete cessation of the Sri Lankan military's violent repression of the population in Government held areas of the Northeast, he said.
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MEPs attend White Pigeon's tsunami remembrance event

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 00:34 GMT]
Members of European Parliament (MEPs) Jean Lambert and Robert Evans participated in Tsunami anniversary remembrance event organized by UK Tamil Charity, White Pigeon, held at the Trafalgar Square during on the 22nd Sunday, a press release from Jean Lambert's office said. Director of White Pigeon, Dr Moorthy, also spoke at the event where the participants stood in silence, and then held multi-faith prayers, the release added.
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Journalist killed for reporting on paramilitary abuses- RSF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 18:23 GMT]
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) in a press release issued Tuesday said that Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan, a correspondent of the Tamil-language daily Sudar Oli was killed for writing about "abuses committed in his region by Tamil paramilitary groups," and that in Sri Lanka, "the impunity enjoyed by the instigators and perpetrators of these murders encourages more violence against the press."
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Intelligence Chief Zacky in Jaffna to step up campaign

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 12:40 GMT]
Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) Brigadier Rizvy Zacky, a hardliner, has been recently posted as Brigadier General Staff Officer (GSO, Intelligence) at the Sri Lanka Army Head Quarters (SF HQ) Jaffna in a major reshuffle of the SLA and Intelligence apparatus. Execution-style killings of five students in Trincomalee and three women members of a family in Jaffna mark a stark change of pattern in the escalation of intensified serial killings of non-combatant civilians in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas in the NorthEast. The pattern of violence also marks the return of hardliners who seems to prefer terror to subdue a population.
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FMM condemns killing of Tamil journalist

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 11:17 GMT]
Expressing shock and dismay at the killing of Tamil journalist Mr Sugirdharajan, the Free Media Movement (FMM) in a press release issued Tuesday in Colombo said, "It is time to put a complete stop to the impunity which has been the hallmark of attacks on the freedom of expression in this country and ensure that culprits are arrested and held account for their crimes."
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LTTE condemns Tamil journalist's killing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 05:46 GMT]
Trincomalee district political section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday condemned the killing of Mr.S.S.Rajan, Trincomalee correspondent of the Colombo based Tamil daily 'Sudar Oli'. "Para military groups collaborating with the Sri Lanka Army had committed this murder", LTTE accused in a statement released Tuesday, sources said.
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Tamil journalist shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 04:20 GMT]
Mr.S.S.Rajan, Trincomalee correspondent for "Sudar Oli," a Tamil daily published from Colombo was shot dead Tuesday morning around 6:00 by unidentified men close to his residence while waiting for transport to his workplace.
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Aussie MPs attend Pararajasingham memorial event

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 02:22 GMT]
Several Australian parliamentarians and representatives from humanitarian agencies attended a memorial meeting to pay tribute to the slain Tamil Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham held on at the Homebush Boys High School auditorium, Sydney Australia organized by Tamil Australians on 22nd January.
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LTTE, GoSL dialogue imperative for peace, says Burns

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 16:17 GMT]
"We hope that the LTTE will understand that it will have no relationship with my government and, indeed, no effective relationship with any country in this world as long as it seeks to redress its own grievances through the barrel of a gun. Now, we understand the Tamil community here has legitimate grievances, and legitimate issues that ought to be addressed by the government. And there out to be a dialogue, a better dialogue, between the government and the Tamil community," said US Undersecretary of Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns, in a press briefing in Colombo Monday.
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EPDP threatens Jaffna government workers

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 12:42 GMT]
In a letter addressed from the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) office, Sridhar Theater, Jaffna, to selected government officers, the EPDP threatened with death those who defy EPDP's call to attend a meeting in Vathiri, Karaveddy on 23 January, sources said.
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Solheim to meet LTTE leaders in Kilinochchi Wednesday

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 12:20 GMT]
Norwegian Minister of International Development and peace envoy, Mr. Erik Solheim, will be traveling to Kilinochchi on Wednesday to meet with the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources from Kilinochchi said.
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Hartal cripples Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 11:18 GMT]
Normal life in the Mannar island Monday came to a complete standstill when the Tamil speaking people observed general shut down in response to the call made by the Pesalai Tamil Peoples Forum to condemn the killing fo four members of two families by Sri Lankan Navy.
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SLA cordons, searches Kallikaddaikadu village

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 07:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers cordoned off Kallikaddaikadu village in the north western Mannar District and conducted house-to-house search operation Monday morning, sources in Mannar said. Nearly fifty families with about 180 members reside in Kallikaddaikadu which is a traditional Tamil village.
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Balasingham arrives in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 06:23 GMT]
The Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr. Anton Balasingham, arrived in Kilinochchi Monday morning around 9:00 in a Sri Lankan Air Force Helicopter. Mr. Balasingham will hold consultations with the leader of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. V. Pirapaharan, Monday, regarding the current state of the peace process. Mr. Balasingham, who will assist the LTTE leader during the forthcoming meeting with the Norwegian Minister of International Development, Mr. Erik Solheim, is expected to hold a press conference on Wednesday, LTTE officials said.
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US Tamils question timing of Ambassador Lunstead's speech

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 00:41 GMT]
Questioning Ambassador Lunstead's "reckless exercise at a time of great risk to the peace process, and just a few days before Mr. Erik Solheim’s visit, which everyone was looking to as the only way of defusing an extremely dangerous situation," US Tamils, in a memorandum to Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice and to Mr Nicholas Burns, the U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, said they hoped that Mr. Burns, who will be in Sri Lanka during Mr. Solheim’s visit, "will clarify to everyone what US policy is at this critical time, and help revive the peace track."
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