Political engagement with LTTE vital to avoid estrangement - Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 2003, 12:22 GMT]
"The negotiation process needs to be revived soon. The exploration of the conditions under which the next phase of talks might take place should not be delayed under the pretext of either the political negotiations between the UNF and SLFP or the budget debate. Otherwise...a new process of estrangement between the Sinhalese and Tamil polities might emerge under the conditions of uncertainty created by the present process of no war-no peace," said Prof. Jeyadeva Uyangoda in an article which appeared in Friday edition of Daily mirror.
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Jaffna Great Heroes day celebrations draw large crowd

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 2003, 11:03 GMT]
Despite heavy down pour and interference by Sri Lanka Government security forces in the Jaffna district people in large numbers attended the events at the Heroes' cemetaries (Maveerar Thuyilum Illam) Thursday evening on the Great Heroes Day and paid their homage to the martyrs of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who sacrificed their lives in the armed Tamil freedom struggle, sources in Jaffna said.


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Thousands attend Heroes’ Day events in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 2003, 22:01 GMT]
Thousands of people participated at the Great Heroes Day celebrations held at the Tharavai ‘Maveerar Thuyilum Illam’ (The martyr's cemetery where Great Heroes rest) in the Batticaloa district, despite heavy rains Thursday evening, and the Senior Commander of the LTTE for the eastern flank, Col. V. Karuna, attended the celebrations, sources said.
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Pirapaharan's Heroes' day address

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 2003, 12:22 GMT]
Mr Vellupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in his annual statement commemorating the Heroes’ Day rejected accusations made by President Chandrika Kumaratunga that his organisation was strengthening its military power and preparing for war, and pointed to the power struggle between Sri Lanka's President and Prime Minister as historical repetitive pattern of "political drama [which] has been continuing for the last fifty years aggravating the plight of the Tamil people.”
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HDU to start demining in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 2003, 00:01 GMT]
The Humanitarian Demining Unit (HDU) has announced that it will start demining in the Batticaloa district on November 29, and the HDU has already begun initial preparations and surveys to concentrate on demining the Palaiyadivaddai village for mines and booby traps in the first stage, sources said.
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'Renewed war will devastate Sri Lanka' - Col.Karuna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 17:40 GMT]
"The current power struggle between Sri Lanka's President and Prime Minister has adversely impacted the Peace Process. However, we will strictly adhere to the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) and will patiently wait to see if political stability returns to the South," Col. Karuna, Senior Commander of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), told TamilNet's Batticaloa correspondent at the Tharavai Heroes' cemetery Tuesday.
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Positive response from Pirapaharan - Patten

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 17:34 GMT]
The European Union(EU)'s External Relations Commissioner, Mr. Chris Patten, said Wednesday that the international community has welcomed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for eschewing violence and entering political negotiations to find a solution to the conflict. Mr. Patten said that he had told the LTTE leader that a political solution to the conflict should be found under a federal political system as declared in the Oslo conference.
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Foundation stone laid for Thileepan Health Centre in Pooneryn

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 15:36 GMT]
The foundation stone for the Thileepan Health Centre (Community Hospital & Maternity Home), was laid down by Dr. Kuna Iynkaran Wednesday at 10.30 a.m. The centre is already runnng in a temporary accommodation, sources said.
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Pirapaharan discusses Colombo crisis, CFA with Patten

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 07:09 GMT]
"Our leader Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan told Mr. Patten it is not at all in the hands of the Liberation Tigers to ensure that there is no return to violence and that it is completely up to the Sinhala polity to see there is no return to war. Mr. Pirapaharan very clearly explained to Mr. Patten that we remain committed to resolving the conflict peacefully," said Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, speaking to media following the meeting between the leader of the Liberation Tigers and the European Union’s Commissioner for External Relations Wednesday in Kilinochchi.


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Tamil diaspora celebrates Heroes' day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 03:51 GMT]
Tamil expatriate community in countries of Europe and North America are celebrating heroes' day, with several prominent members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) addressing the Heroes' day events in these countries, a popular Tamil Television Newscast in London said Tuesday.


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Great Heroes' Day celebrations begin in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 00:01 GMT]
The Great Heroes Day celebrations began in Trincomalee town Tuesday morning with paying homage to LTTE martyrs of Trincomalee whose photographs have been kept in the gaily decorated Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall, which is located along the Inner Harbour Road facing the harbour. TEEDOR Trincomalee district head Mr.S.Tharman declared open the event by cutting the ribbon.
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EU Commissioner meets Sri Lanka's President

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 2003, 15:50 GMT]
European Commission External Relations Commissioner, Mr. Chris Patten, Tuesday afternoon met with Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, at the Presidential House and discussed the current political crisis that has stalled the peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), political sources said.
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Heroes day celebrations begin in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 2003, 12:51 GMT]
Batticaloa-Amparai district began its main celebrations for the Heroes day at the Tharavai Heroes cemetary on Tuesday morning. Col. Karuna, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Senior Commander for the East, participated as the chief guest hoisting the Tamileelam flag, sources said.


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SLA, LTTE meet again over Jaffna Heroes’ Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 2003, 09:43 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka army met again Tuesday to resolve persisting friction over the Great Heroes’ Day observations in Jaffna. Speaking to the press after the meeting, Maj. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the Sri Lankan security forces commander for Jaffna, said his troops won’t interfere in the Great Heroes’ Day arrangements in the peninsula. Responding to a question from TamilNet, he said the SLA won’t allow the Tiger flag to be flown in Sri Lankan government buildings and public places.
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NECORD provides new life to Varothaya Nagar School

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 2003, 01:43 GMT]
The Varothaya Nagar Barathi Vidiyalayam in the suburb of Trincomalee town, which has a history of being occupied by both the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and thereafter by the Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Police, till the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has now got a new two storied building at a cost of nearly 4 .6 million rupees under the North East Community Restoration and Development Project (NECORD). The building was declared open Monday.
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“Defense and ceasefire must flow from single authority”-TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 2003, 18:00 GMT]
“It is the considered view of the Tamil people and of the fifteen Members of Parliament of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that the responsibility on the part of the government to sustain the ceasefire, and to continue with the peace process, must flow from one single authority," said the TNA parliamentary group leader, Mr.R.Sampanthan, speaking in the budget debate in parliament Monday.
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LTTE honors parents of martyrs in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 2003, 04:30 GMT]
The practice of honoring fighters who sacrifice their lives for their homeland even during periods of war, and honoring the parents of the fighters on-going now in the NorthEast, is not seen in other parts of the world and is unique to the Tamil homeland, said Mr. S. Ezhilan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vavuniya, speaking at an event held at Sastrikoolankulam in the Vavuniya district to honor parents of LTTE martyrs Saturday, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Trincomalee district goes festive celebrating Heroes' Day

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 2003, 01:58 GMT]
More than three hundred three wheelers participated in a parade held in Trincomalee town Sunday as scheduled. The organizers said the event was arranged to create awareness among Trincomalee residents of the importance of the Great Heroes' Day to the liberation struggle of Tamils.


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JUSU condemns SLA's behaviour in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2003, 17:41 GMT]
The Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU), in a statement released Sunday evening, warned that grave repercussion would follow if the Sinhala dominated Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police continued their hostile activities against Tamil students and civilians in the Jaffna district with the assistance of their quislings.
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Students' Association condemns SLA intimidation in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2003, 17:09 GMT]
The International Students' Association of Tamil Eelam (ISATE) Sunday condemned SLA's continued intimidation of students and said the chauvinist policy of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Police has been the root cause for the growth of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its demand for police, judicial powers for the proposed interim self governing authority for the northeast province.
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