Lt Col Ponnamman's 19th anniversary celebrated

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 12:28 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers, V Pirapaharan, paid respects to LTTE's Senior Commander Lt Col Ponnamman at an undisclosed LTTE camp in Vanni Friday, at the ninteenth rememberance anniversary, sources in Kilinochchi said.
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NGOs in Kilinochchi demand release of TRO staffers

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 11:23 GMT]
The Kilinochchi Federation of NGOs staged a peace protest march Friday 17th in Kilinochchi at 10 am, demanding the release of the seven employees of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), abducted at gun point and held captive for more than 20 days in the Wellikanda region by paramilitaries. The marchers condemned the abductors and demanded that the TRO staffers be released immediately.
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LTTE delegation leaves Kilinochchi for Geneva

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 11:21 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation left Kilinochchi Friday morning to participate in negotiations with Government of Sri Lanka(GOSL) facilitated by the Norwegian Government in Geneva, Switzerland scheduled to be held February 22-23. Head of LTTE Political Wing, Mr Thamilchelvan, told the media before leaving Kilinochchi that the talks will discuss ways to implement February 2002 Truce agreement between the parties who are meeting for direct talk after more than three years. The delegation departed Kilinochchi grounds in a Sri Lanka Air Force( SLAF) helicopter around 9:00 am Friday.
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UNICEF welcomes sharp decline in under-age youths joining LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 February 2006, 00:46 GMT]
UNICEF representatives expressed satisfaction in the sharp decline of the number of under-age youths joining the ranks of the Liberation Tigers after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, during a meeting held with the LTTE's Child Protection Unit at the LTTE Peace Secretariat building Sunday, LTTE officials said.
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Five parties to contest in Jaffna Local Council elections

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 February 2006, 11:26 GMT]
Five political parties have expressed interest to contest in local elections in Jaffna district, Jaffna election officials said. Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), and Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK- Federal party), are expected to contest in all regions in Jaffna district whereas All Ceylon Muslim Congress and Muslim Congress will compete only in Jaffna Municipal Council, sources said.
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Local elections will highlight Upcountry Tamils' unity- Chandrasekaran

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 February 2006, 01:40 GMT]
"In the forthcoming local elections, Hillcountry Tamils should unite to initiate a joint action program to increase their representation, and create the foundation for strengthening the political power and unity of Sri Lanka's Tamil people." said Thamilchelvan, leader of LTTE political wing, during the discussions he had with the Leader of Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF), Periyasamy Chandrasekaran, at the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi Wednesday morning, a media release from the UPF said.
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Preparations ahead of Geneva talks should focus on people's plight - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 February 2006, 07:58 GMT]
"One of the key issues in the February 2002 Cease Fire Agrement was ensuring a safe life to the civilians in Sri Lanka military controlled areas of the Tamil homeland," Liberation Tigers Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan told media, following a preparatory meeting with the Ambassadors of Norway and Swtizerland, at the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi Thursday. "It is therefore vital that the team participating in the talks, study the ground situation prevailing in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas," he added.
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Switzerland welcomes talks, Swiss Ambassador to visit Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 February 2006, 11:16 GMT]
Government of Switzerland in a press release issued from Berne Monday welcomed the decision by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers to hold talks on February 22-23 and called on "the parties to the conflict to do all within their powers to ensure that the talks can start in a constructive atmosphere." Mr. Hans Brattskar, Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Mr. Bernadino Regazzoni, Switzerland Ambassador to Sri Lanka, will travel to Kilinochchi on Thursday to discuss preparatory arrangements for talks in Geneva with the LTTE Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, LTTE Peace Secretariat sources in Kilinochchi said.


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Colombo's bona fides on creating normalcy ahead of talks, questionable - paper

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 February 2006, 13:25 GMT]
Uthayan, the Jaffna based daily, in its Monday editorial warned of the potentially dangerous consequences of the attitude being displayed by the Sri Lankan Government insisting on its innocense and not taking urgent action to secure the release of the seven humanitarian workers of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) in the east. Referring to the "strict adherence" by the Tamil side in living up to its pledge on the cessation of hostilities the last two weeks, since the meeting between Norwegian Peace Envoy and the LTTE leader commenced on January 25, the paper questioned whether Colombo has demonstrated its will to create a conducive environment in the run-up to the truce talks.
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Norwegian NGO condemns abduction of aid workers

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 February 2006, 11:12 GMT]
FORUT, a Norwegian non-Governmental Organizaton that works in Sri Lanka, said in a press release issued 2 February that it "condemned strongly the abduction of 10 workers from TRO in eastern Sri Lanka," and urged the "Government of Sri Lanka to give highest priority to the investigation of these abductions."
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WorldBank, ADB to brief media on tsunami reconstruction

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 February 2006, 15:44 GMT]
The representatives of the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are scheduled to meet the media Monday, February 6, in Colombo to discuss the current state of tsunami and post conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation work. The press conference is to be held in the World Bank office, media sources in Colombo said.
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SLA mines injure Mannar elephants

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 February 2006, 15:37 GMT]
Three wild elephants which have sustained injuries from landmines buried in Ganshapuram along Sri Lanka Government controlled Mannar-Vavuniya Road Wednesday morning have crossed over into the jungles at the Madhu side. Wild Department officials and veterinary surgeons are reported to have refused to enter the forest located in the Liberation Tigers controlled area to treat the elephants, sources said.
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TRO abductions, GoSL response may stall Geneva talks - TNA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 February 2006, 14:10 GMT]
"We are concerned that the continued deterioration of ground situation in the NorthEast and the abduction of TRO staff members by paramilitaries can potentially prevent Liberation Tigers' participation in Geneva talks," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians after a meeting with Head of the LTTE Political Wing, S.P Thamilchelvan at the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi at 11 a.m. Saturday. "Colombo has openly attempted to discredit the LTTE by making misleading statements to the International Community on the recent abductions of TRO staff by the paramilitary cadres," they added. The meeting lasted for more than three hours sources in Kilinochchi said.
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Reconstruction of 13,000 houses in NorthEast to begin

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 February 2006, 03:13 GMT]
The World Bank funded North East Housing Reconstruction Programme (NEHRP) has commenced the second phase reconstruction of 13000 houses for the war victim families in the NorthEast. NEHRP officials started distributing forms to collect necessary data to select qualified beneficiaries affected by the two decade-old war in the province to be included in the second phase, a press release of the NEHRP said.
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Another five TRO staff reported missing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 January 2006, 17:17 GMT]
Five persons, four Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) Pre School Education Development Center (PSEDC) personnel, and their driver, have been reported missing in the East, the TRO said in a press release issued Tuesday evening. The team, which was expected to have returned to the Kilinochchi FORUT office Tuesday, had left Valaichchenai, Batticaloa District, Sunday around 7:00 p.m. The PSEDC personnel had gone to Batticaloa to carry out the final assessment of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) funded Temporary Pre School Construction Project for Tsunami Welfare Centers and to evaluate the progress of the construction of Permanent Pre Schools funded by Save the Children in Sri Lanka.
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Chulipuram student missing, familes continue to flee Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 January 2006, 01:39 GMT]
Ramanathan Ratheeskumar, 20, from Chulipuram east and a student at the Vaddukoddai Technical College has disappeared after leaving home Thursday to attend school, said his parents in a complaint registered with the Human Rights Commision in Jaffna Monday, civil society sources said.
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World Bank, ADB, UN representatives to meet LTTE Political Head

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 January 2006, 01:21 GMT]
Representatives of multilateral donor agencies, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP and IMF, will travel to Kilinochchi on Friday to discuss with the leadership of the Liberation Tigers issues related to the rehabilitation, reconstruction and development activities in the NorthEast, according to LTTE officials in Kilinochchi.
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Sewing training to tsunami-affected Kaddaikadu women

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 January 2006, 13:23 GMT]
Sewing training course conducted by the Rural Rehabilitation and Development Organization (RRDH) under an income generation project for about fifty women affected by tsunami at Kaddaikadu village in Vadamarachchi East division in Jaffna district concluded Friday, sources said.


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Balasingham leaves for UK

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 January 2006, 11:32 GMT]
LTTE's Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist Mr. Anton Balasingham, left Kilinochchi Saturday at 9:30 a.m. to Katunayake in a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter, facilitated by Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials.
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Displaced families in Mannar camp to return to Killinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2006, 17:36 GMT]
Eight families with 38 members of the 211 families with 876 members staying since 1990 in Open Refugee Centre (ORC) in Pesalai, a village in Mannar district, have expressed their desire to return to their own district Killinochchi, Divisional Secretariat officials said.
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