Colombo's transport refusal endangers CFA- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 June 2005, 08:52 GMT]
"Serious crisis has developed over Sri Lanka Government's continuing refusal to provide travel security to our military commanders across Government controlled areas forcing us to plan our own armed escort. We have pointed out to the Norwegian facilitators to urgently seek the response from Colombo on this matter. Failure to resolve this issue will call into question the continued observation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA)," said Thamilchelvan in a press briefing to reporters in Kilinochchi, after meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar and Mr. Wagn Winkel, acting Head of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Kilinochchi Tuesday morning.
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TNA MPs protest over SL Government's failure to pullout troops

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 June 2005, 08:40 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians Tuesday brought the proceedings of Sri Lanka parliament to a halt twice staging a protest in the well of the House spotlighting the failure of the Sri Lanka government to keep its promise to withdraw government troops in deployed in the east port town after the unlawful erection of the controversial Buddha statue near the central bus stand in Trincomalee, parliamentary sources said.
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Trinco airstrip, a canard to justify Muttur embargo- Elilan

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 June 2005, 19:20 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday brought to the notice of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that reports published in a section of the media quoting a report from the state intelligence agency that LTTE is engaged in constructing an airstrip in Sampoor, Muttur east, is a figment of imagination, sources said.
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Thousands march in Pottuvil against buffer zone

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 June 2005, 16:16 GMT]
Around ten thousand protesters from all three communities from Pottuvil to Panama, jointly marched Monday morning from 8.00 AM to 12.00 AM demanding the removal of the 200 meter buffer zone. Demonstrators shouted slogans against the different restrictions, 38 meter buffer zone in Hambantota in the South as opposed to the 200 meter buffer zone imposed in NorthEast. The protest march organised by Pottuvil All Community Forum was backed up by a widely observed hartal. All shops in Pottuvil remained closed. Residents setup road blocks and burnt tires across major roads. Security was beefed up in Pottuvil by the Police, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Special Task Force (STF) soldiers.
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LTTE official attacked by STF soldiers in Amparai

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 June 2005, 12:42 GMT]
A political division official of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eealm (LTTE) from Veeramunai Navithanveli, Mr. Sathees, was attacked by Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) soldiers Monday morning around 9.30 AM, LTTE said. STF soldiers hit Mr. Sathees with gun butts while he was standing in front of the Veeramunai LTTE political office, according to Mr. Atheeswaran Master, Political Head of the LTTE Veeramunai Koddam in Amparai.
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Memorial meetings for Sivaram held in US

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 June 2005, 10:09 GMT]
Memorial meetings for Dharmeratnam Sivaram, senior TamilNet editor and military analyst abducted and killed on 28 April, were held in Washington D.C and in Rutgers University Center Hall New Jersey, Saturday and Sunday respectively, sources said.
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Tamil youth killed in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 June 2005, 06:29 GMT]
Mr. Veerabahu Inthirakumar, 27, was shot by unidentified gunmen at Nelson Place, Wellawatte, Colombo Monday early morning 2.30 AM, Police said. The victim succumbed to gunshot injuries at Kalubowila Hospital in Colombo.
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Police blame political party for Sivaram murder - paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 June 2005, 14:17 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police have cracked the murder of journalist Sivaram Dharmaratnam but are keeping it under wraps until all suspects are arrested, The Sunday Leader newspaper claimed this week, adding a political party supportive of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's ruling coalition is to blame. The claim was echoed in by the Sunday Times’ defence column.
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Two Tamil youths killed in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 June 2005, 05:22 GMT]
Two Tamil youths, identified as Mr. Francis Denisius and Mr. Thevathas Emmanuel from Gurunagar, Jaffna, were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen who followed the victims in a three wheeler in Kochchikkadai, Colombo. The incident took place in front of a Kali Temple located near the Ponnambalawaneswar Temple in Kochchikkadi Sunday morning around 5.50 AM, according to residents in the area.
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Veteran Tamil scholar 'Nanthi' dies

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 June 2005, 19:48 GMT]
Professor C.Sivagnanasuntheram, a veteran Tamil scholar passed away in Jaffna Saturday afternoon after a brief illness at the age of 77. He wrote several Tamil literary works under pseudonym 'Nanthi', sources said.
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SLA troopers attempt to enter LTTE office in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 June 2005, 18:32 GMT]
Around hundred Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers together with paramilitary cadres from Razeek Group entered the premises of the LTTE administrative office at Thamaraikerni in Batticaloa town Saturday night around 11.30 PM. However, LTTE officials did not allow the soldiers to enter the office building till the arrival of truce monitors, Deputy Head of Batticaloa-Amparai Political Wing of the LTTE, Mr. Daya Mohan, told TamilNet. The sudden siege by the SLA soldiers with the presence of paramilitary cadres, "in contradiction to the terms of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) was aimed at provoking the Tigers", he charged.
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Demonstration against Upper Kotmale Hydro-project held in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 June 2005, 04:58 GMT]
More than two hundred activists belonging to civil groups opposed to Upper Kotmale Hydro-power scheme demonstrated in front of Colombo Fort Railway station Friday afternoon, sources in Colombo said. Members of leftist political parties and other related civil groups including Sinhalese and Tamils participated in the demonstration. Upcountry Tamil political parties did not attend the demonstration.
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STF lays siege to LTTE's Thirukovil political office

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 June 2005, 13:27 GMT]
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) soldiers were stopped from forcibly entering the Political office of the Liberation Tigers in Thirukkovil, Amparai at 12.00 PM Friday, by Political Head of LTTE Veeramunai Koddam Mr. Atheeswaran Master who demanded the presence of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials, LTTE officials said. STF soldiers kept the LTTE office under siege till 18.20 PM till SLMM officials arrived at the scene. Mr. Aleeswaran Master told TamilNet that harrassment by Security Forces to provoke the LTTE cadres is escalating in Batticaloa, Amparai districts and the situation is rapidly deteriorating.
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Two Tamil youths shot by Sri Lankan Air Force in Trinco

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 June 2005, 12:46 GMT]
Two Tamil youths, identified as Mr.Ravi and Mr.Sathyaseelan, have been admitted to Trincomalee General Hospital with serious gunshot injuries after being fired on by Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) personnel at Mitsubishi Cement Factory in Chinabay, 10 km off Trincomalee town, sources said.
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Hartal paralyzes NorthEast

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 June 2005, 11:06 GMT]
Normal life in the northeast province was disrupted Friday following the one-day general shut down condemning the failure by the Sri Lanka Government to withdraw troops from Trincomalee town in large numbers. More than fifteen hundred troops are deployed in the east port town following the controversy over the erection of a Buddha statue in a land located close to the central bus stand.
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Profile of a shadow war veteran

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 June 2005, 01:02 GMT]
The veteran intelligence officer, Lieutenant Colonel Nizam Muthaliff, was a central figure in the atrocity-punctuated paramilitary aspects of the counter-insurgency campaign against the LTTE in the early nineties then had a critical role in the deep penetration attacks on LTTE commanders and officials, the Tamil Guardian reported Wednesday.
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NorthEast to shutdown as Colombo fails to withdraw troops from Trinco

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2005, 19:16 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians, Representatives of Trincomalee District Tamil People's Forum (TDTPF) and other Tamil civil groups, in a meeting held Thursday, decided to hold a one-day general shut down in NorthEast protesting the continued presence of Sri Lanka troops in Trincomalee town despite the assurance given by the Ministerial team that troops will be withdrawn by Thursday, TNA sources said.
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Colombo holds key to restore normalcy, says LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2005, 14:51 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka has a moral responsibility to demonstrate its serious commitment to the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) and its will to maintain the integrity of the CFA by delivering on it in terms of its obligation to restore normalcy, Mr. Thamilchelvan, LTTE's Head of Political Division, told Swiss Ambassador Mr.Bernadino Reggazzoni on Thursday in a meeting in Kilinochchi. LTTE's Political Head expressed fear over the state of the CFA in the context of "fanatical elements" trying to cash in on a volatile situation in Trincomalee and Vavuniya, the LTTE Peace Secretariat website reported.


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Minibus carrying students escapes landmine blast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2005, 12:18 GMT]
A minibus carrying more than 70 students travelling to participate in Tamileelam Students Uprising Day in Kaludavalai from LTTE controlled Pankudaveli in Batticaloa narrowly escaped a Claymore landmine attack at 8.30 AM on Thursday. The incident took place 100 meters from a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoint at Koduvamadu in Chenkallady-Badulla Road.
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Sri Lanka's President urged to make Bindunuwewa massacre report public

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 June 2005, 11:02 GMT]
"The fact that that not a single person could be held guilty for the mass murder of 28 Tamils in the protective custody of the State at Bindunuwewa will further increase the distrust of even the moderate Tamil minorities with the democratic institutions of Sri Lanka" stated Mr. Suhas Chakma, Director of Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in a 24 page report issued on Thursday titled "Sri Lanka:Miscarriage of Justice". On 27 May 2005, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka acquitted four accused who were earlier sentenced to death by the High Court.
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