Special education project for resettled students in Trinco inaugurated

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 August 2004, 17:57 GMT]
Trincomalee Children Fund (TCF), supported by Trincomalee Tamil expatriates in Canada, last weekend inaugurated a free education project for resettled students in the villages of Sampalthivu, Salli and Aththimoddai, north of Trincomalee town. This project would provide special classes to students of Salli Ambal Vidiyalayam, Aththimoddai Tamil Vidyalaym and Sampalthivu Tamil Maha Vidyalayam in three subjects Maths, English Language and Science by specialized teachers in the subjects.
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TNA to promote ISGA awareness and advocacy

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 August 2004, 14:27 GMT]
"We have created three different action groups for the tasks of promoting awareness in the Parliament, awareness in the South and advocacy in the diplomatic circles," Mr. R. Sampanthan, Secretary General of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told the press in Kilinochchi Monday. LTTE Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan and Mr. Sampanthan met press briefly after TNA's meeting with the LTTE's Political Head at the Planning Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers in Kilinochchi.
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Estate youths seek greener pastures

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 August 2004, 05:15 GMT]
Growing population of young adults within the community of plantation workers in hill country towns of Nuwara Eliya, Hatton, Bandarawela and others see education as their best opportunity to break out of the miserable living conditions their parents endure. More are seeking lower-middle class employment in and out of their estates. "Out of the thirty staff running this show room, fifteen are children of plantation workers," said Malar Rani who attends to the stream of visitors inspecting the merchandize displayed at the Laboakellie tea estate, located 15 km north of Nuwara Eliya town.
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TNA parliamentarians to meet Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 August 2004, 18:01 GMT]
All twenty-two parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are scheduled to hold talks with Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday morning at the headquarters of the LTTE, Vanni sources said.


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"We will remain strong" - Balakumaran in Oslo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 August 2004, 03:01 GMT]
"LTTE has been successfully resisting attempts to weaken its military and political strength during the peace time with the same courage and bravery it displayed during the time of war. Tamils seek a just peace and not a peace with surrender. LTTE leadership will not relent until political and social dignity is restored to the lives of Tamil people," said Mr.V.Balakumaran, a senior member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in his address as Chief Guest in the Silver Jubilee of the Tamil Sangam in Oslo Saturday .


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Jaffna Bishop urges govt. to recommence talks with LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 August 2004, 17:52 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop Rt.Rev. Thomas Soundaranayagam Saturday appealed to the Sri Lanka government to engage in confidence building with the LTTE without delay and to take forward the peace process with sincerity on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal submitted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA detains TNA MP at Omanthai checkpoint

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 August 2004, 13:23 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) manning the Omanthai checkpoint in the Vanni region Friday detained Mr.M.K.Eelaventhan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) national list parliamentarian, and his family members for more than one and a half hours under the pretense of checking his family members' identities, sources said.
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Sri Lanka recommissions disputed Ilmenite factory

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 August 2004, 14:26 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka will re-commission the disputed Pulmoddai Ilmenite factory next Wednesday 1 September, officials said. The factory was closed sixteen years ago after the Liberation Tigers blasted its fresh water supply lines from the Yan Oya River. The factory processed sand excavated from the beaches of Pulmoddai, 52 kilometres north of Trincomalee, to separate Ilmenite and Rutile ores for export. Sea Tigers sank two foreign ships that were loading Ilmenite sand off the Pulmoddai coast in 1996 and 1997.


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Human skeleton washed ashore in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 August 2004, 12:32 GMT]
A human skeleton was washed ashore in Olaithoduvaai, Pesalai, 15 kilometres west of Mannar town Thursday morning, Police said. The skeleton probably belongs to one of the scores of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from South India who daily embark on dangerous journey's across the sea to Mannar, according to Police.Tamil politicians and government officials in Mannar have urged the governments of Sri Lanka and India to ensure the legal and safe return of refugees to prevent the accidents and hazards of illegal crossings.
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SLA imposes restrictions on deepening fisheries jetties

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 August 2004, 08:15 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has imposed new restriction on fisheries societies in the Vadamarachchi division in Jaffna district on deepening about 21 fisheries jetties, said Valvettithurai (VVT) Fisheries Co-operative Society. The SLA said that it would deploy a group of 15 SLA soldiers to each fisheries jetty area to supervise the deepening work for security reasons, sources said.
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Mannar youths lack vocational training opportunities- TNA MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 August 2004, 08:03 GMT]
"Mannar district youths who leave schools without the opportunity of going to universities and other high educational institutions to obtain high studies are tempted to engage in illegal activities to earn a living. Vocational training for these youths are absolutely necessary to provide alternate employment opportunities for these youths," said Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian in a letter Minister Mr.Piyasena Gamage, Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational and Technical Education.
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Sri Lanka's PM visits military frontline

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 August 2004, 16:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha Tuesday visited the military frontlines of Weli Oya. He inspected defences on the Forward Defence Lines that separate areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) in this disputed region in the southern corner of the Mullaithivu district. Prime Minister Rajapaksha spoke to Sri Lanka army officers and the Sinhala settlers in Weli Oya during his visit. SLA drove out Tamils from fourteen villages in this region overnight in 1984. GOSL then armed and settled Sinhala convicts here amidst SLA camps.
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Time for stock taking of truce - SLMM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 August 2004, 08:05 GMT]
It is time for a 'stock taking' of the cease fire between the Liberation Tigers and the Government, of how it has fared since it was signed in February 2002, Head of the Nordic mission monitoring the truce in Sri Lanka, said when he met the LTTE in Kilinochchi Wednesday. LTTE would not resume meeting with the Sri Lankan armed forces in the east until the killings of their cadres in the region are stopped, Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, head of Tigers' political division, told Major General (ret) Trond Furhovde, chief of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.
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UPFA urged to adopt consistent stand on ISGA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 August 2004, 00:41 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) in an 8-page statement issued Monday said that UNP is "saddened by the steadfast refusal of the present UPFA government to adopt a coherent and internally consistent stand in respect of their attitude to the current ISGA proposals," and accused the UPFA government for making confusing and contradictory statements leading to the current impasse, jeopardizing the ceasefire agreement.
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Technology Education key to Tamils' prosperity- Thilak

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 August 2004, 00:04 GMT]
"Skills development in information technology across the districts of NorthEast at international levels is key to economic upliftment of our people," said S.Thilak, currently the Director of Economic Development for NorthEast and formerly political head of Trincomalee, when TamilNet talked to him Saturday about his new assignment in the economic division.
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Ex LTTE cadre shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 17:12 GMT]
An ex cadre of the Liberation Tigers who had been working with the Sri Lanka military intelligence was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in a Hindu Ashramam in Wellawatte, a largely Tamil suburb of Colombo, Monday night around 10, Police said. Police identified the ex LTTE cadre as R. Kugananthan, 47.
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Japanese ambassador says concerned by killings in east

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 14:21 GMT]
Japan and the international community are very concerned that killings in Sri Lanka's east coast and in Colombo might affect the peace process adversely, said Mr. Akio Suda, Japan's ambassador in Colombo Monday. He was speaking to the press in Batticaloa after meeting Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil National Alliance MP for the eastern district. During the meeting the Batticaloa MP told Mr.Suda that the Sri Lankan military intelligence is behind the murder of several Liberation Tigers in the east.
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SLA support to paramilitaries endangers integrity of the CFA - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 09:03 GMT]
In a letter to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) regarding the recent killings of two LTTE members in Batticaloa, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan accused the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) of accommodating and encouraging the activities of armed groups and warned that it is a serious threat to normalcy and maintaining the integrity of the CFA.
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Agricultural exhibition to be held in Vattakachchi Model Farm

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 04:19 GMT]
Manufacturers and resellers of agricultural tools using latest technology, and agricultural, livestock producers will be showcasing their products in an exhibition at the Model Farm premises in Vattakachchi organized by the Tamil Eelam Economic Development Organization (TEEDOR) during the first week of September, organizers in Vanni said this week.
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Muslim towns shut down to mourn slain Tiger

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 04:17 GMT]
Muslim towns and villages in the Amparai district observed a total shut down Monday in mourning for 'Bawa', the senior Liberation Tiger who was killed in an ambush north of Batticaloa last Friday. Traffic on the coastal main road of the district was completely blocked beyond Kalmunai for the shut down (Hartal). Large crowds of Muslims thronged to pay their last respects to 'Bawa' when his body lay at the LTTE's political office in Kalmunai and later at the Ramakrishna Mission in Akkaraipattu on Sunday.
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