Mannar LTTE offices come under attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 June 2005, 16:51 GMT]
Two offices of the Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled area of Mannar have been simultaneously attacked by suspected gunmen belonging to Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) around 9.45 pm Saturday with grenades and gunfire, sources in Mannar said. Sounds of grenade explosions and gunfire were heard near the political office of the LTTE, located in Mannar-Thalaimannar Road and LTTE's administrative office located in Mannar Moor street. TamilNet has not confirmed whether a third office in Moor street of LTTE's financial division was also attacked, sources added.
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Civil group plans agitation in NorthEast over Buddha statue

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 June 2005, 11:49 GMT]
Mr.V.Vigneswaran, President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum (TDTPF) Saturday said in a press conference that his organization will begin non-violent direct action after July 10 through out NorthEast if the Sri Lanka government fails to remove the controversial Buddhist statue which was erected close to the Trincomalee central bus stand on 15 May, sources in Trincomalee said.
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SLMM vehicle damaged in Trinco violence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 June 2005, 11:15 GMT]
A vehicle belonging to Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee was damaged by a group of persons around 8.30 a.m., Saturday, at Hali Oluwa, a predominantly Sinhala suburb, located south of Trincomalee. Meanwhile, police in the eastern port town said several violent incidents against Tamils had taken place in Serunuwara and Hali Oluwa areas in the wake of the the killing of Police intelligence officer, Friday. Several lorries transporting cadjan and fishing boats were attacked by Sinhala youth. Tamil civilians who were using the Hali Oluwa junction for travelling to their areas were also assaulted, civilian sources said.


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TNA urges Colombo to sign aid deal

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 June 2005, 09:06 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Saturday appealed to the Sri Lanka Government to sign the post-Tsunami agreement with the LTTE as agreed between the Government and the LTTE with Norwegian facilitation. Noting that the main barrier to signing the agreement, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has quit the alliance, the TNA said it would support fully all steps taken in the right direction by the minority Government.
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Third token fast held in Kodikamam

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 10:32 GMT]
About five hundred Tamil civilians including students and traders participated in a one-day token fast in support of the joint mechanism proposal Friday under a special structure constructed in Kodikamam junction in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district. Similar events were earlier held in Chavakachcheri on Wednesday and in Kaithady on Thursday, sources said.
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Aid deal not final, says Kumaratunga

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 10:28 GMT]
Responding to a letter from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which listed JVP's reasons for quitting the alliance, Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga said Thursday that a final document for the Joint Mechanism has not been formulated. She added that the proposed mechanism does not go beyond the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed by Ranil Wickremesinghe and that the mechanism will not in any way jeopardize the sovereignty or integrity of Sri Lanka. Political observers in Colombo noted that as no time frame has been fixed for signing the proposal, more political maneuvering and delay in finalizing the aid deal can be expected.
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German Foundation assists Veloor pre-school building project

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 01:09 GMT]
Juergen Wahn Stiftung (JWS), a German Foundation, is funding the construction of a new two-storied building for the Veloor pre-school located in Nilaveli, a predominantly Tamil village, north of Trincomalee, sources said. JWS Wednesday donated a tractor and a trailer costing about one million rupees to the Nilaveli Tamil Maha Vidiyalayam School Development Society and Veloor Pre-School Development Society, sources said.
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Donor pressure ‘breached Buddhist hegemony’- paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 00:05 GMT]
Hailing the international donor community’s insistence on a joint mechanism for tsunami aid, the Tamil Guardian newspaper this week said this had forced Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga to face down powerful Buddhist clergy and Sinhala ultranationalists. “This breach in Buddhist hegemony must be widened … if peace and, in particular, ethnic reconciliation is to be possible in Sri Lanka,” the paper argued in its latest editorial.
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Government stays, but will its power? - paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 June 2005, 17:38 GMT]
Despite the exit of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a key Parliamentary ally, the stability of Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government is assured, not because of its inherent strength, but because none of the other parties want an election at this juncture, Jaffna's Uthayan newspaper argued in its editorial Thursday.
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JM failure will boost prospects for direct aid to Tigers- SLFP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 June 2005, 10:31 GMT]
"If we fail to agree on the Joint Mechanism (JM) with the LTTE, it is likely that aid will go directly to the Tigers and LTTE controlled NGOs. The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) will be left out of the decision-making for reconstruction," said a propaganda leaflet circulated by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, Wednesday evening when it launched an awareness campaign in eighteen districts in the south of Sri Lanka to win support for the Joint Mechanism proposal, political sources in Colombo said.
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Model library opened in Thampalakamam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 June 2005, 02:25 GMT]
A model library for Potkerni, a village in Thampalakamam in Trincomalee district, funded by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) and NGO mainly operating in NorthEast, was opened Wednesday morning at 10.30 am, sources said.
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Demonstrators urge SL President to sign aid deal, resume peace talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 21:39 GMT]
Representatives from 42 civil society organizations, leftist parties and trade unions, demonstrated in support of the proposed Post Tsunami Operational Management Structure (PTOMS), previously called Joint Mechanism (JM), opposite the state controlled Lake House, on Wednesday from 4.30 PM to 6.30 PM. The demonstrators shouted slogans against the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and demanded the Government to banish Mr. Somawanse Amerasinghe, the leader of the JVP, from Sri Lanka. The demonstration was oraganised by the HIRU Group that works against chauvinism in southern Sri Lanka.
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Two civilians shot dead in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 18:41 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Mr. Nallathamby Ravinthiran (28), a Tamil refugee, and Mr. A. Mohammed Galeel (39), a Muslim resident from Kalmunaikuddy Shivo road, at Kalmunai bus stand approximately 100 meters away from the Kalmunai Police station around 8.00 PM Wednesday, Kalmunai Police said.
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Divided polity, absence of trust, cause for stalled peace- Rocca

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 14:16 GMT]
Emphasizing that the goal of United States is to help Sri Lanka end the decades long bloody conflict, Christina B. Rocca, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, during a hearing before the House International Relations Subcommittee for Asia and the Pacific, said, "This [the stalled peace process] is due in part to divisions within the Sri Lankan government and the absence of trust between the government and the LTTE..."
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Fasting campaign held in Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 11:10 GMT]
First of the series of fasting campaign demanding the establishment of Joint Mechanism structure to rehabilitate and reconstruct the tsunami destroyed coastal areas in the northeast province without further delay was held in Chavakachcheri bus stand Wednesday. Thenmaradchchi Traders' Association organized the event, sources said.
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JVP urged to reconsider decision to quit

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 10:55 GMT]
Mr.Susil Premajayanth, General Secretary of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Wednesday sent urgent written messages to Mr.Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) to reconsider the decision to leave the UPFA government over the controversial joint mechanism proposal, political sources said.
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Kumarapuram massacre case exhibits destroyed in fire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 19:58 GMT]
All material evidence, including weapons allegedly used in the killing of Tamil civilians in the Kumarapuram massacre, were destroyed when the office of the Government Analyst in Colombo was gutted by fire last year, State Counsel Mr.S.Halimdeen told the Trincomalee High Court Judge Mr.Anton Balasingham when the Kumarapuram massacre case was taken up for inquiry Tuesday, legal sources said.
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Donors urge immediate signing of tsunami agreement

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 June 2005, 09:08 GMT]
The Co-chairs of the Sri Lanka Donor Group who met in Washington D.C Monday, urged immediate signing of the agreement on tsunami reconstruction in order to ensure proper flow of reconstruction aid to tsunami victims in the NorthEast. The Co-chairs called on the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure that killings are stopped and paramilitaries are disarmed immediately as required in the Cease-Fire Agreement and the Liberation Tigers to stop killing Tamil informants, members of other Tamil groups, and to stop the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The Co-chairs of the Donor Group hoped that an agreement on tsunami reconstruction would help to build confidence between the two sides.
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Batticaloa TRO Official injured in grenade attack

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 June 2005, 17:00 GMT]
Mr. Packiarajah Thanapalan (22), a Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) official attached to the Batticaloa office, was injured when the TRO office located in Dias Road in Batticaloa town was attacked by unidentified persons Monday night 8.50 PM, Batticaloa-Amparai TRO Director, Mr. Sebastian Sessar told TamilNet. Office entrance was damaged from the explosion of two grenades that were hurled by the attackers, he added.
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IOM funds pre-school teacher training project

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 June 2005, 13:47 GMT]
Five-day residential workshop for pre-school Tamil and Muslim teachers in the Trincomalee district funded by the International Organization for Migrants (IOM) began Sunday in Valluvar Kottam, which is located along Inner Harbour Road in the east port town. Pre-School Educational Development Council (PSEDC) of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in collaboration with the Pre-School Division of the North East Provincial Ministry of Education has been implementing the project.
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