No new message from Sri Lanka President - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 November 2004, 08:57 GMT]
"President Kumaratunga has sent no new message through the Norwegian Foreign Minister. She has only reiterated her stand that there should be talks on a permanent political solution. We have conveyed a message to her on how to take the peace process forward. But the Norwegians have requested us not to speak about it to the press until they discuss it with the Sri Lankan President", said Mr. Anton Balasingham, political advisor of the Liberation Tigers speaking to journalists Thursday in Kilinochchi after the meeting between the leader of the LTTE and Norway’s Foreign Minister.


Full story >>

Norwegian FM meets Sri Lanka's President

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 November 2004, 03:31 GMT]
Norwegian Foreign Minister Mr. Jan Petersen met with Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, Wednesday night, and discussed the resumption of peace process between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources said.
Full story >>

Upcountry Tamils face "dismal prospect" - UPF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 19:14 GMT]
Upcountry Tamils, many of whom still live in lands owned and controlled by their employers, face "dismal prospect" of being thrown out of their lands within the next decade as a result of the "menacing rise of racism" in the country, Mr. M. Sivalingam, Secretary General of the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF), said speaking at a book launching ceremony held at Samimalai, Bogawanthalawa in Hatton district Tuesday.
Full story >>

TRO assists NE flood victims

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 17:12 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) has launched a project to provide dry rations and other relief supplies to flood victims in all the eight districts in the northeast province in collaboration with the respective Government Agent and other local non-governmental organizations, TRO said in a press release Wednesday.
Full story >>

GAs, LTTE, Harim Peiris meet to discuss North rehabilitation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 11:52 GMT]
Mr.Harim Peiris, Advisor to Sri Lanka's President on the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and Reconciliation of the North East, Wednesday held a conference in the circuit bungalow of the Vavuniya district secretariat with the Government Agents of the districts of Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Killinochchi, Mannar and Vavuniya and political activists of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the proposed rehabilitation and reconstruction activities to be undertaken in the northern province, sources said.
Full story >>

"Tamils have right to make their own constitution" – Mavai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 08:52 GMT]
“The objective before us is to make our own constitution on the basis of our sovereignty, which is inalienable. We have the right to do it. The signing of the ceasefire agreement between the leader of the Tamil nation and the Prime Minister of the Sinhala nation proved that there are two states on this island”, said Mr. Mavai Senathirajah, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna, speaking at the opening of the new building of the Thamil Eelam Law College in Kilinochchi Wednesday. The Thamil Eelam Law College was declared open by Ms. Adele Balasingham.
Full story >>

Norwegian FM to meet Sri Lanka's President Wednesday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 02:03 GMT]
Norwegian Foreign Minister Mr.Jan Peterson accompanied by his deputy Mr.Vidar Helgessen and special envoy Mr.Erik Solheim is due to hold talks with Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Wednesday evening regarding the resumption of peace talks with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Liberation (LTTE), Presidential secretariat sources said.
Full story >>

Kumarapuram massacre case inquiry fixed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 14:01 GMT]
Mr.Anton Balasingham, Trincomalee High Court Judge fixed the inquiry into the Kumarapuram massacre case for 14 February 2005, as none of the witnesses was present when it was taken up on Monday. He also directed the court registrar to serve notice on three eyewitnesses to be present on the next date, legal sources said.
Full story >>

Children's Home Administrator sent to prison

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 13:20 GMT]
Trincomalee Magistrate Mr.M.Ganesharajah Tuesday imposed a fine of five hundred rupees and one-month imprisonment on Mr.Sangarapillai Suntheralingam, the former administrator of " Anbu Illam" (children home) in Trincomalee for having violated the Orphanage Ordinance of the North East Provincial Department of Social and Child Care, legal sources said.
Full story >>

US Tamil activist dies

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 12:11 GMT]
Mr. Ramalingam Shanmugalingam (70), also known as 'AppuArchie', a San Diego, California based Tamil activist who campaigned for the Tamil cause with his writings died Sunday after suffering a heart attack. Mr Shanmugalingam transcreated Tamil poems in English and was a prolific writer and Internet activist for more than a decade.
Full story >>

TNA MPs meet Solheim

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 11:25 GMT]
Norwegian Special Peace Envoy, Mr Eric Solheim, who arrived in Sri Lanka Tuesday morning, met with a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation led by Senior M.P Joseph Pararasingham at the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, political sources in Colombo said. Jaffna district parliamentarians Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Ms Padmini Sithamparanathan, S. Gajenthiran, and Suress Premachchandran accompanied Mr Pararajasingham to the meeting.
Full story >>

Balasingham, Solheim arrive in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 01:44 GMT]
Mr.Anton Balasingham, political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) arrived in Colombo Tuesday morning around 5 a.m. Mr.Erik Solheim, Norwegian special peace envoy arrived in Colombo after midnight Tuesday, political and diplomatic sources said.


Full story >>

Mannar Bishop slams Kumaratunga's stand on Indian poaching

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 November 2004, 18:46 GMT]
Mannar Fishermen Monday temporarily gave up their protest against Indian poaching after Maj. Gen. Parami Kulatunga, Sri Lankan security forces commander for Vanni, promised them that he would take measures within two weeks to stop Indian fishermen from entering the seas off the Mannar coast. A conference to discuss Indian poaching was held Monday at the Bishop House in Mannar. "I have raised this matter with the President on several occasions. And everytime I was told that Indians cannot be antagonised on this score", Mannar Bishop Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph said, addressing the conference.
Full story >>

Jaffna SLA assault case transferred to Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 November 2004, 18:29 GMT]
The case against two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who were indicted for causing grievous injury to a paper seller boy and a bus conductor by firing at them in Jaffna bus stand during early part of this year has been transferred from Jaffna to Vavuniya Magistrate Court on the orders of the Court of Appeal, legal sources said.


Full story >>

WFP expands school meals project in northeast

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 November 2004, 17:36 GMT]
''Standard of education in the North East has deteriorated due to the two-decade old war and malnutrition in children has further impacted the educational standards,'' said Mr.M.S.Jayasinghe, Secretary of Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction addressing the launching of School Feeding (Expansion) of the World Food Programme of United Nations at Nilaveli Tamil Maha Vidiyalayam located sixteen km off the east port town Trincomalee Monday.


Full story >>

St.Mary's sings for unity

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 November 2004, 00:20 GMT]
"The absence of open conflict is not peace. Peace will start only when the parties have found solutions for their disagreements," said Mr. Dagfinn Aadnanes, Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee district speaking as the chief guest at a musical event organized by the Past Students Association of the Trincomalee St. Mary's Girls College Sunday evening at the school's Theresian Auditorium. One hundred selected students of all communities from several schools in the district participated in the musical program.
Full story >>

NESOHR chair addresses US event

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 November 2004, 19:15 GMT]
Rev Father Karunaratnam, Chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR), delivered the key note address at the the Annual General Meeting of Ilankai Tamil Sangam (ITS), USA held in New York Saturday. He urged expatriate Tamils in the US to become politically more active to raise the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils in the US political fora. He described the human rights situation in the NorthEast and the efforts of the NESOHR to address rights issues. Two books related to Tamil struggle were also released at the event.
Full story >>

TELO launches savings project for war-affected students

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 November 2004, 17:04 GMT]
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), a constituent of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Sunday launched a project to assist Tamil medium students affected by the war in Trincomalee district by opening savings accounts in their names in the State run People's Bank, sources from Trincomalee said.
Full story >>

Who will espouse Tamil concerns to Delhi?: paper questions

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 November 2004, 13:18 GMT]
Stating that, "Although India has unambiguously said that she will not become directly involved in Sri Lankan peace process, yet, the two main southern political camps as well as the Norwegian facilitators have never failed to brief Delhi on the status of the issue, and even Japanese Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi who was in Sri Lanka last week also flew direct to Delhi," the editorial in Tamil daily Thinakkural Sunday, urged the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians to take immediate steps to meet with India's leaders to convince them of the legitimacy of the Tamil cause.
Full story >>

Indian poaching sparks road protests in Mannar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 November 2004, 07:46 GMT]
Traffic on the main artery of Mannar Island was blocked from early morning Sunday as hundreds of Tamil and Muslim fishermen piled their boats across the road to protest against large scale poaching by Indians in the waters off Pesalai and against the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) for taking no action to stop it. Hundreds of Indian fishing boats entered and fished in the sea off the Pesalai coast of the Mannar Island on Saturday night.
Full story >>