Civil group draws attention to Mannar patients' woes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 11:54 GMT]
The Mannar Citizens' Committee Tuesday wrote to the NorthEast Provincial Health Ministry Secretary to take immediate steps to transfer seriously ill patients and those needed surgical attention from Mannar government hospital to Vavuniya or Jaffna instead of transferring them to Anuradhapura hospital which is located in Sinhala speaking area, sources said.
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Buddhist rituals mark Kadirgamar's State Funeral

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 August 2005, 15:55 GMT]
The funeral of slain Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was held with full state honours at the Independence Square at 6 p.m. Monday. Late Kadirgamer's son Ravi lit the funeral pyre after sunset according to Buddhist tradition. Several thousand people paid their last respects as the remains of kadirgamar was taken in procession to the Independence Square from his official residence at the Wijerama Mawatha. From the beginning of the drive of the Independence square to the venue where the funeral orations were made by the religious leaders and the Prime minister on behalf of the Sri Lanka government, the military parade accompanied the cortage.
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SLA attempts attack on office- Jaffna students

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 August 2005, 11:10 GMT]
International Student's Association of Tamil Eelam (ISATE) alleged in a letter of complaint sent to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers attempted to attack their office located at the Parameshwara Junction, Thirunelvely Jaffna, 3km northeast of Jaffna town Monday morning at 2 am.
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Periyakallaru residents receive temporary tsunami housing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 August 2005, 12:33 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) handed over 190 temporary houses to tsunami affected residents of Periyakallaru, a coastal town located 30 km south of Batticaloa town, at a function presided by Batticaloa Director of TRO Mr Baskaran held at 3rd Division, Periyakallaru last week.
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STF soldiers storm Karaithivu LTTE office, arrest four

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 August 2005, 09:01 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) soldiers who stormed the Karaithivu political office of the Liberation Tigers in Kalmunai arrested Mr. Uthayamenan, a political cadre of the LTTE and three civilians in the office around 8:00 a.m. Sunday, Police said. Later, the STF soldiers handed over the persons to Sammanthurai Police. The arrests were made to investigate the recent attacks on police and security posts in Amparai district, the STF soldiers had told the Police.
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TNA statement on Kadirgamar killing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 August 2005, 06:49 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Sunday expressed shock and consternation on the killing of Mr.Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister. "We urge that the peace process be recommenced in a meaningful way. That would be the only way to sustain the Ceasefire Agreement and discourage all forms of violence," said the TNA in its press release.
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UNP, JVP react to Kadirgamar slaying

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 20:44 GMT]
In the wake of the assassination Friday of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party, whilst condemning the killing, accused the government of being lax in providing him with security, particularly amid reports he was close to the renegade LTTE commander who defected to the Army, Karuna. And in its vehement reaction, the ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) mourned Mr. Kadirgamar as one of their own and launched a bitter tirade against the LTTE.
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STF arrests farmers in Akkaraipattu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 18:09 GMT]
Nine Tamil farmers were arrested by the Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) soldiers in Akkaraipattu and Kanjirankuda in Amparai district Saturday noon. The arrested men were taken to Akkaraipattu and Kanjirankuda STF camps, villagers said.
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SLTMA condemns killing of veteran broadcaster

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 14:29 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA), in a media release issued to the press on Friday in Colombo, has condemned the assasination of veteran broadcaster and the Television presenter Mrs. Relangi Selvaraja, 45, and her husband Mr. Selvaraja, 48, who were assassinated Friday noon in Colombo by unidentified gunmen.
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Aussie children donate play equipment to Mullaitivu school

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 11:46 GMT]
A children's play ground facility built from donations of children from Hamilton and Alexandra school in Victoria, Australia was opened at the Sinnathamby Pre School in Oddusuddan Tuesday at 10am by The Economic Consulty House (TECH), a Sri Lanka Government registered NGO operating primarily in the NorthEast, sources in Mullaitivu said.
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Police arrests Tamil owners of Bullers Road house

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 08:07 GMT]
Police has arrested a Tamil couple, Mr. Lakshman Thalaiyasingam, 58, and Mrs. Vipiyan Selvalogini Thalaiyasingam, the owners of the house located at 42, Bullers Lane where the sniper had taken position to strike at Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar. Mr Thalaiyasingam, an executive officer in a leading Colombo business establishment, and his wife were at the house at the time of the incident and have told Police that they had no knowledge that the assassin had taken position at the top floor of their house. The couple told the Police that the top floor was rarely used by them.
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LTTE denies involvement in Kadirgamar killing

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 06:15 GMT]
Denying any involvement in the assassination of Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, LTTE's Political Head, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan Saturday condemned Colombo for hastily blaming the Liberation Tigers for the killing. Thamilchelvan said that there are several forces opposed to the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) in the South. "We also know that there are sections within the Sri Lankan Armed forces operating with a hidden agenda to sabotage the CFA," he said and urged Colombo to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the assassins.
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Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 August 2005, 00:29 GMT]
Mr Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close confidante of Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, was shot Friday night by a sniper near his residence and later succumbed to his injuries. During his 1994-2001 tenure as foreign minister in People's Alliance (PA) government, he was widely credited for his relentless campaign in foreign capitals to brand the Liberation Tigers as a terrorist organization and to ban the LTTE. Mr Kadirgamar was held in high esteem by most of the South for his vehement opposition to separatism and for his passionate defense of the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Mr Kadirgamar never held an elected office.
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SLA patrols intensify in Thenmaradchchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 August 2005, 14:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has intensified its patrols in several areas in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district following an attack on soldiers recently by unidentified men in Mirusuvil area, according to residents. Three soldiers were injured, one critically, in that attack which occured when the soldiers were taking meals to fellow soldiers in a vehicle last week.
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Tamil TV announcer, husband shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 August 2005, 11:27 GMT]
Senior Announcer at Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) Mrs. Relangi Selvarajah (45) and her husband Mr. Sinnadurai Selvarajah (48) were shot dead by unidentified gunmen Friday around 12:45 p.m. at Bampalapitiya St. Peter’s lane Colombo where they ran a Travel Agency, Kinross Travel Service, Police sources in Colombo said.


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First Aid book will help reduce rural deaths- Health officials

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 August 2005, 01:42 GMT]
A book on First Aid written by V Sreetharan and published jointly by the Vanni district St.Johns Ambulance First Aid Brigade and Kilinochchi district Malaria Prevention Movement was officially released Wednesday 3.30 pm at an event held at the Kilinochchi Cultural Hall, sources in Kilinochchi said. Regional Malaraia Prevention official Dr K Sujanthan presided the event.
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Youths on Fast-to-death campaign against Dam project

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 August 2005, 11:02 GMT]
Six youths from the HillCountry Youth Front (HYF) has launched a fast unto death campaign at the Talawakelle bus stand in protest of the proposed Upper Kotmale hydro electricity project Thursday, sources from Talawakelle said.
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"A dirty War of Attrition in the East" - LTTE blames Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 August 2005, 10:29 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday blamed the Government of Sri Lanka for "covertly supporting a dirty war of attrition" against the Liberation Tigers in the Eastern Province in collusion with Tamil para-militaries that is gravely endangering the ceasefire. Criticising the SL Government’s armed forces, particularly the military intelligence, for the fast deteriorating security situation in the eastern province, Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political advisor of the LTTE, warned that the increasing tension has the potential of exploding into a full-fledged armed confrontation, if the government failed in its truce obligation to disarm the para-militaries.
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P-TOMS fate confirms Tamils' grave skepticism- Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 August 2005, 02:57 GMT]
Mr. R. Sampanthan M.P. Leader Parliamentary Group TNA, speaking during the adjournment debate on the P-TOMS structure Thursday in the Sri Lanka Parliament said that JVP mounted a "high profile challenge levelled against the P-TOMS" because the "agreement was intended to substantially benefit the Tamil speaking people of the Northeast," and that the failure of P-TOMS has confirmed the "grave sense of skepticism amongst the Tamil people."


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IOM to assist displaced Jaffna fisher families

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 17:12 GMT]
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) agreed to construct semi-permanent houses for about five hundred displaced fisher families in a fifty acre plot located in the no-man zone in Valalai area close to Thondamannaru lagoon, east of Palaly high security zone, Jaffna district secretariat sources said.
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