Polling stations considered in no-man zones

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2004, 00:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Commissioner of Elections, Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake, has summoned all District Returning Officers and District Assistant Commissioners of Elections for a top level conference on Saturday at his office in Colombo to finalize locating polling booths for voters in Liberation Tigers-held areas in the Northeast province and also other related matters, authoritative sources said.
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TNA discussions on election strategy to continue

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 February 2004, 00:02 GMT]
The second round of discussions among the leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to map out their election strategy concluded Wednesday night with a decision to meet again for the third round of talks on Sunday evening in Colombo. TNA parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan presided. The first round of talks was held Tuesday evening, TNA sources said.
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Kumarapuram massacre victims remembered

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 16:43 GMT]
The seventh death anniversary of twenty-four Tamil civilians, including fourteen children, who were massacred by a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army in Kumarapuram, in the Muttur division of the Trincomalee district, on February 11, 1996, was held Wednesday. In the 1996 massacre, another thirty Tamil civilians were seriously wounded, human rights sources said.
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Moragoda resigns from the UNF cabinet

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 15:52 GMT]
Mr.Milinda Moragoda, a senior minister in the United National Front government of Sri Lanka and a key member of the UNF team in peace talks with the Liberation Tigers, Wednesday submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, sources said.
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CWC - UNP talks commence on forming alliance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 14:55 GMT]
The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) said Wednesday that it has commenced talks with the United National Party to forge an alliance to face the forthcoming general election, which is scheduled to be held on April 2. The CWC is a constituent of the United National Front government.
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Court extends enjoining order on TULF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 08:51 GMT]
The Colombo district court Wednesday extended the enjoining order preventing the Secretary General and Senior Vice President of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) from convening party meetings without the written permission of TULF President Anandasangaree to 16 March 2004. The extension of the enjoining order would stymie plans by the Tamil National Alliance to contest elections to Sri Lanka’s Parliament on the TULF’s ‘rising sun’ symbol, Tamil legal sources said.
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TEPS calls on people to identify anti-social elements

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 05:42 GMT]
The Tamil Eelam Police Service (TEPS), the police division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, on Tuesday called on the people of the Jaffna peninsula to identify anti-social elements and root them out, according to the Jaffna-based Tamil language daily, Uthayan.
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Chandrasekaran briefs TNA leaders on alliance

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 18:24 GMT]
Leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) held extensive discussion Tuesday to map out their election strategy to contest the forthcoming general election. The discussion commenced at about 5 p.m. at the Colombo headquarters of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), and was concluded at 10 p.m with a decision to meet again on Wednesday evening to finalize electoral arrangements, TNA sources said.
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Batticaloa organizations appeal for Tamil unity

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 15:16 GMT]
A consortium of civil organizations in Batticaloa, including Tamil renaissance association and Batticaloa People's Forum, made a public appeal yesterday calling upon the tamil people to demonstrate their unity and strength to the international community and others by voting to the 'Rising Sun' symbol in the general elections scheduled to be held on 2 February, civil society sources said.
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SLA soldiers assault two Jaffna youths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 14:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers assaulted two Tamil youths, Mr.N.Partheepan (22) and Mr.C.Kutty (19) of Manipay, Monday night around eight p.m. in Jaffna town inflicting severe injuries to the youths, security sources said. The youths have been admitted to the Jaffna teaching hospital.


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ACTC rejects voting for policy, symbol

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 12:40 GMT]
Mr. Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy, the leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, a constituent of the Tamil National Alliance, told TamilNet Tuesday that his party will not agree to contest the forthcoming general elections on the basis of symbol and policy. He said his party will decide whether to join the TNA or not only after Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, MP who is currently abroad, returns to Colombo later this week.
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Sports activities in Muttur given a boost

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 02:31 GMT]
One hundred and fifty thousand worth of sports gear and other related equipment were distributed to forty one youth service and sports clubs in the Liberation Tigers-held villages in the Muttur east in Trincomalee district during the past weekend. "The supply of sports gear would certainly give a boost to the development of sports activities in rural areas in the Trincomalee and to produce sport persons achieving national level," a sports official said.
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TNA leaders to meet in Colombo over election strategy

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2004, 18:30 GMT]
Leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are scheduled to meet Tuesday evening at the Colombo office of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) to work out a common election agenda to field candidates at the forthcoming general election.
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New SLMM head begins Northeast evaluation tour

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2004, 17:37 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission head, Major General (retd.) Trond Furuhovde, began his tour of the Northeast province Monday, having assumed office for the second time on February 1st. He arrived in Trincomalee Monday. The aim of his visit is to evaluate the implementation and the functions of the SLMM, sources said.
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Trinco Bishop exhorts people to work for peace

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2004, 17:07 GMT]
The Trincomalee-Batticaloa Bishop, the Rt.Rev.Dr.Joseph Kingsely Swampillai, Sunday said a dangerous situation has arisen in the country when one speaks about his or her language and religion, and lamented that all human values, which are needed for moulding a nation with healthy mind, are being destroyed in the name of language and religion.
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Votes only for policies and symbol - TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 February 2004, 15:00 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance leaders in Trincomalee resolved unanimously on Monday to contest the general elections on 2 April 2004, only on the basis of their coalition and its policies instead of their candidates.
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LTTE blames sinhala leaders for lack of political will and vision

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2004, 19:24 GMT]
“The dissolution of the Sri Lankan parliament and the call for a snap election constitutes a grave set-back to the peace process. The decision to seek another mandate from the people clearly demonstrates the fact that the Sinhala political leadership lacks the political will and vision to resolve the country’s burning issue - the Tamil national question,” said Mr Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s political advisor and theoretician commenting on the current political developments in Colombo.
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LTTE comments on Sri Lanka Parliament dissolution

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2004, 16:17 GMT]
''The Tamil people and the Liberation Tigers wish a change of government in Sri Lanka that would provide a permanent political solution to the problems of the Tamils'', said Mr S Elilan, the head of the LTTE's Political divison in Vavuniya Sunday. His comment is the LTTE's first official reaction to the dissolution of the Sri Lankan Parliament Saturday.
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General elections would create more confusion - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 February 2004, 04:27 GMT]
Commenting on the dissolution of parliament and the scheduled general elections in April, the parliamentary leader of the Tamil National Alliance, Mr. R. Sampanthan, said Sunday that the general elections would lead to more confusion in the country as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which clamored for the elections "to salvage the country from the current political uncertainty," have no clear-cut policies to solve the Tamil national question.
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EU assures support to North-East development

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 February 2004, 15:22 GMT]
Mr. John Cushnahan, Member of the European Parliament, Friday assured the visiting delegation of the Liberation Tigers’ political division in Brussels, Belgium, that the European Union would provide support for the rehabilitation and development of the North-East, LTTE sources said.
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