Sri Lanka's President invites JVP, CWC for talks

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 May 2005, 12:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga has invited two members of her ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) - the Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) and Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) - for talks at her official residence Thursday, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported. The meeting comes as the JVP seemed to back away from its confrontationist course with President Kumaratunga on thedonor-backed notion of sharing aid with the LTTE and amid speculation the matter had created a rift within the Marxist-cum-ultranationalist party.
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General shut down continues in Trinco

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 May 2005, 10:04 GMT]
General shut down observed by Tamil people in Trincomalee town since Tuesday entered third day Thursday, demanding the removal of Buddha statue erected in the land which is close to the bus stand and also used to park three wheelers. Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum (TDTPF) has organized this hartal, sources said.
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Monks disrupt Parliament over Trinco statue

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 May 2005, 08:00 GMT]
The hardline monks’ party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Thursday condemned a Magistrate’s judgement ordering police to temporarily remove the controversial Buddha statue erected in Trincomalee town bus stand.
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Henrik Ibsen play in Sinhala

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 May 2005, 17:07 GMT]
Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen’s famous play ‘The Master Builder’ is now being staged for the first time ever in Sinhala, while translations into Sinhala and Tamil of three of Ibsen’s most well-known plays, ‘The Master Builder’, ‘Hedda Gabler’ and ‘Pillars of Society’ will be launched this week, the Norwegian Embassy said this week.
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Balasingham urges action on aid

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 May 2005, 16:37 GMT]
Norwegian diplomats met on Wednesday with the Liberation Tigers’ Chief Negotiator and political advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham, to discuss current developments in Oslo’s peace initiative in Sri Lanka, sources close to the LTTE in London said. Mr. Balasingham had welcomed the donor community’s commitment to a joint mechanism between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE for aid distribution, but called for an agreement to be finalised and signed, they said.
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SL parliament to hold one-day debate on peace process

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 May 2005, 15:59 GMT]
Leaders of political parties represented in Sri Lanka's parliament, during a meetging held Monday in the Speaker's Chamber,decided to hold a full day debate on the stalled peace process on Friday on a request made by Mr.R.Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), parliamentary sources in Colombo said. Mr.Sampanthan will open the debate.


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Court orders temporary removal of Buddha statue

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 May 2005, 13:18 GMT]
Mr.M. Ganesharajah, Trincomalee Magistrate and Additional District Judge Wednesday instructed the Police to take all possible steps to temporarily remove the controversial Buddha statue erected near the bus stand by having direct talks with the parties concerned. Long term solution to the matter can be found by legal action by the Urban Council, the magistrate said, according to legal sources.
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Donors pledge $3bn, push peace process

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 May 2005, 16:19 GMT]
International donors wrapped up a key conference for Sri Lanka pledging $3bn in aid, but stressing the importance of progress in resolving the island’s protracted ethnic conflict to pave the way for its disbursement, press reports and officials said. The onus is on Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who has promised donors she would overcome Sinhala nationalist opposition to negotiate and sign a joint mechanism with the LTTE, to deliver. But amid escalating Sinhala right wing pressure, Tamil optimism is tempered by deep sceptism
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Veteran Tamil journalist felicitated

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 May 2005, 15:53 GMT]
Mr.K.Velautham, 88-year-old veteran journalist from Tampalakamam, a traditional Tamil village in Trincomalee district was felicitated for his services for more than half a century. The event was held during the weekend in Tampalakamam Kulakottan Tamil Vidiyalayam. Mr Velautham has been reporting to Tamil daily newspaper Virakesari and writing novels and articles on topics of local interest.


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Grenade explosion kills one, curfew imposed in Trinco

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 May 2005, 14:08 GMT]
Police imposed curfew in Trincomalee town from Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning following several explosions in which one died and three others injured. The incident took place Tuesday afternoon when an unidentified person threw a grenade targeting a shop in the Madathady junction in the east port town while the general shut down (hartal) was in progress, police said.
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New Buddha statue evokes protest in Trinco

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 May 2005, 11:14 GMT]
Normal life in Trincomalee town was disrupted Tuesday when Tamil residents, responding to call made by the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum (TDTPF), observed a general shut down Tuesday to protest the unauthorized erection of a Buddha statue close to the Trincomalee bus stand. TDTPF has been demanding the removal of the Buddha statue, sources said
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RSF slams Colombo’s ‘lack of will’ on journalists’ murder

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 May 2005, 13:48 GMT]
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has written to participants at the Sri Lankan Development Forum (SLDF) meeting in Kandy urging them to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to conduct a serious investigation into the 29 April murder of Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki).


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Seven Tamil refugees die in Mannar Sea, seven escape

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 May 2005, 16:47 GMT]
Seven Sri Lankan Tamil refugees of fourteen returning from Ramanathapuram coast in South India to Talaimannar died when their boat capsized in sea due to rough weather Saturday early morning. However seven other refugees escaped by swimming to a nearby sandbank in the Sri Lanka territorial waters. All fourteen left by a boat from Ramanathapuram Friday night around 11 p.m., Mannar legal sources said.
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TNA kept out of Development Forum

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 May 2005, 15:06 GMT]
"The programme formulated for the Sri Lanka Development Forum (SLDF) which is to be held in Kandy on May 16th and 17th seeks to marginalize the North East and fails to recognise diversity, and respect the democratic verdict of the people of the North East," said Mr R Sampanthan, Leader of the parliamentary group of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a letter he wrote to the Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Sunday, TNA sources in Colombo said.
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Buddhist Congress protests against aid deal

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 May 2005, 13:58 GMT]
Hundreds of Buddhist monks belonging to Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya (JSS National Buddhist Congress) held a protest march Sunday against any deal with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for a Joint Mechanism to facilitate post-tsunami reconstruction in the NorthEast, sources in Colombo said. The protesters marched to the office of Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr Mahinda Rajapakshe and handed over a memorandum.
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Foundation laid for Thamileelam National hospital

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 May 2005, 10:13 GMT]
Foundation stone for the Tamil Eelam National Hospital was laid at Iranaimadu in Kilinochchi, Sunday morning. Dr.Gangatharan laid the first foundation stone followed by Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, the Head of the Political Wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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Norway funds Mannar Educational Resource Center

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 May 2005, 03:00 GMT]
An Educational Resource Center built under Operation Day's Work (ODW) project supported by Develpment funds from the Norwegian Government, was opened in Aandankulam Roman Catholic School in Mannar Friday, sources in Mannar said. ODW project is administered by the Rural Economic, Education Research and Development Organization (REERDO) branch of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, an NGO registered with the Government of Sri Lanka.
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Breakdown in JM negotiations will be a major blow- Akashi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 May 2005, 21:15 GMT]
Expressing Japan's frustration in the delay in forging permanent peace in Sri Lanka, Japanese peace envoy Yakushi Akashi, turning his attention the aid deal for post-tsunami development said, "The breakdown of negotiations on the Joint Mechanism will be a major blow to all concerned specially to Sri Lankan people who have every right to expect...assistance from abroad...but we must find alternative means for aid delivery." Mr Akashi talked to the reporter in Colombo after meeting S P Thamilchelvan, Head of LTTE political wing Saturday morning.
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Krishanthy murder convict complains of death threat

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 May 2005, 16:39 GMT]
Lance Corporal Somaretna Rajapakse of the Sri Lanka Army who is serving death sentence in Krishanthy Cumaraswamy rape and murder case and a key witness in the several habeas Corpus applications currently under inquiry last week complained to the Jaffna Additional Magistrate that his life is in danger in the Bogambara prison, legal sources said.
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New HC bench to hear Mirusuvil massacre case

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 May 2005, 16:12 GMT]
The Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar (TAB) inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case has been fixed before a newly constituted three member-bench comprising Judges Mr.Upali Abeyaratne, Mr.D Wijesunthara and Mr.Sunil Rajapakse for July 25. Earlier the inquiry was scheduled to resume on 22 Monday, 2004. However the inquiry was put off indefinitely with the murder of Judge Mr.Sarath Ambepitya who was the chairman of the three-member bench, legal sources said.
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