SLN arrests Indian poachers in northern sea

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 August 2004, 19:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Thursday evening took into custody four Indian trawlers poaching in the Sri Lankan northern territorial waters with 21 Indian fishermen and four boatmen and handed them to Kankesanthurai (KKS) Police. The SLN carried out this operation on receipt of information from the members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna, TamilNet sources in the northern town said.
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Politicians misleading the South on ISGA issue- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 August 2004, 17:20 GMT]
The Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals put forward by the Liberation Tigers is to address urgent humanitarian needs of the people in the areas of resettlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction and it is very unfortunate that politicians are using this issue to mislead the people in the south, Mr. Thamilchelvan, the head of the LTTE’s political wing told a delegation from southern Sri Lanka.
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Paramilitary operative killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 August 2004, 07:33 GMT]
A person believed to be a cadre of a paramilitary group working with the Sri Lankan armed forces was shot dead in Kaluthavalai, 20 kilometres south of Batticaloa, around 11.15 a.m. Friday, Police sources in the eastern town said. The man was later identified by the paramilitary EPDP as one of its cadres called 'Haran'.
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"Patience running thin"- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 August 2004, 18:37 GMT]
''Tamil people are fast running out of patience. It has been three years since the ceasefire agreement was signed and our people continue to be denied the fruits of peace,'' Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Tamil National Alliance MP told TamilNet Thursday.
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Calamity in Sri Lanka Parliament following assault attempt on Tamil MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 August 2004, 10:56 GMT]
Proceedings of Sri Lanka's Parliament were suspended Thursday after a ruling party MP triggered pandemonium in the house by attempting to assault Tamil National Alliance MP Mr. M. K Sivajilingam. Ruling party MP Mr. Mervyn de Silva rushed to assault the TNA parliamentarian who had walked up to the speaker's chair urging him to expunge from Hansard a statement by tourism minister Mr. Anura Bandaranaike that Mr. Sivajilingam was elected "by fluke and by accident".
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Poojas on plastic in Meenakshi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 August 2004, 16:49 GMT]
Devotees of the Meenakshi Sundareswar temple in Madurai, 500 km south of Chennai, can now swipe the card to pay for their poojas and donate for temple charities, IANS reported this week.
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SLRC's peace building training programme concluded in Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 August 2004, 13:53 GMT]
USAID supported one month long residential training programme for 90 youth and social animators in the Trincomalee district on the urgent need of promoting peace and harmony which was conducted by the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC) through its Trincomalee district branch concluded during the weekend at Nilaveli SLRC Training Centre.
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ISGA critical to prevent secession- MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 August 2004, 10:50 GMT]
"There is increasing evidence that the Sri Lanka Government is unwilling to accept Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) for NorthEast. If this situation is not reversed soon, Tamil people will have no option other than to seek a path of secession, said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member of Parliament for Jaffna District, M.K.Sivajilingam, during a debate on Regulations on Electricity Board, Wednesday, parliamentary sources said.
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Tamils urge UN to recognize rights to form interim government

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 August 2004, 10:12 GMT]
International Federation of Tamils (IFT), an organization of expatriate Tamils, urged the United Nations to recognize the Tamil people's rights, under international economic social and cultural covenants, to form an interim administration to improve their living condition in north east of sri lanka, Tamil sources in Geneva said. The memorandum was submitted to the 56th session of UN sub commission on promotion and protection of human rights.
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Colombo denies it rejected LTTE proposal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 August 2004, 08:29 GMT]
Minister Maithripala Sirisena, the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), has issued a statement Wednesday denying "there is absolutely no truth in the reports" that quoted him as saying that the Sri Lanka government will not recommence peace talks with the LTTE on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals.


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"No talks on the basis of ISGA"-UPFA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 August 2004, 02:15 GMT]
United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge declared Tuesday that the Sri Lanka government will not recommence peace talks with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals submitted by the LTTE, State-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) announced in its Wednesday morning news bulletin in English, Sinhala and Tamil quoting Minister Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena, the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).


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Islamic militants stone pilgrims from Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 August 2004, 17:42 GMT]
Four pilgrims returning from Kataragama, a shrine venerated by Tamils and Singhalese, were injured when persons suspected to be Islamic militant youth stoned the buses in which they were traveling to Jaffna at Kalmunai, 40 kilometres south of Batticaloa, Tuesday. A general shut down was observed in the Muslim towns of Batticaloa and Amparai districts Tuesday to mark the killing of Muslims in Kattankudy 14 years ago.
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Police officer promotions questioned in SL Parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 August 2004, 10:29 GMT]
Interior Minister in the former United National Front (UNF) government, John Amaratunge, raised concerns about the service promotions given recently to police officers by the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government under the leadership of Ms.Kumaratunge. He accused the UPFA government of giving recognition to corrupt officers and those who are associated with drug trade, parliamentary sources said.
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LTTE returns paddy fields to displaced Muslims

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 August 2004, 09:44 GMT]
Liberation Tigers returned twenty nine paddy fields belonging to Muslims in Thannimurippu in the Mullaithivu District recently, Mr. Sathasivam Kanakaratnam Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni told TamilNet Tuesday. The MP said all Muslims displaced from the district during the war can reclaim their lands as soon as they produce documents to prove ownership.
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Jaffna IDPs woes worsen without relief

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 August 2004, 03:01 GMT]
Lack of employment opportunities, stalled economic growth, and infrastructure development at a virtual standstill continue to affect the lives of people of Jaffna especially the Internally Displaced People (IDPs). Many families, who have suffered loss of lives and loss of property during the two decades of war, face uphill battle to stay above the poverty line.
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Memorial for VVT massacre opened

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 19:15 GMT]
"Our leadership and our people have demonstrated that it will not be possible by any power to suppress our freedom struggle", said Mr C.Ilamparithi, Jaffna district Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) political head speaking at the Valvettithurai massacre memorial meeting held Monday evening.
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UNHCR urged to organize boat service to refugees in India

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 16:54 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian has appealed to the UNHCR Sri Lanka's Representative to take steps to organize boat service between India and Talaimannar to transport Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who are willing to return to their villages. Currently thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are in refugee camps in Tamilnadu in South India.
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Jaffna commemorates "Valvettithurai massacre"

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 10:38 GMT]
People of Jaffna district and residents of Valvettithurai town Monday commemorated the fifteenth anniversary of Valvettithurai massacre of 63 innocent Tamil people the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) which took place on August 2, 1989, civil groups said.


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Demo in Jaffna against wrongs in graduate jobs scheme

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 10:03 GMT]
Hundreds of unemployed graduates demonstrated in front of the Jaffna District Secretariat Monday demanding government jobs. A spokesman for the protestors told TamilNet that Jaffna has been neglected in the Sri Lankan government scheme to give jobs to more than thirty thousand graduates in the island. "There 3400 unemployed graduates in Jaffna. But Colombo has announced the names of only 513 of these for employment", he said.
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BBC's Harrison leaves

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 00:04 GMT]
Frances Harrison, BBC's Colombo correspondent for the past four years and who is leaving Sri Lanka to her new assignment in Tehran, pointed out in one of her last reports filed that she was troubled by the hardships the family of a murdered Jaffna journalist went through: "As I leave Sri Lanka I have on my mind a journalist called Nimalarajan Mylvaganam. He worked for the BBC in the northern city of Jaffna," she said, adding that Nimalarajan's family had become part of her life during the first eighteen months of her assignement in Sri Lanka.
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