Christian prelates meet LTTE in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 December 2005, 10:05 GMT]
Bishops and Senior Clergymen from different districts across Sri Lanka met with the Liberation Tigers leadership in Kilinochchi Peace Secretariat at 11.45 a.m. Friday. Discussions focussed on exploring ways to return normalcy to the NorthEast which has witnessed increasing levels of violence in the last few weeks, sources in Kilinochchi said. Prelates expressed their deep desire that peace return to NorthEast.
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Bishops, clergy to meet LTTE political head

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2005, 18:51 GMT]
Clergy and Bishops from various parts of the island are scheduled to meet with Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, on Friday to discuss the current political situation following the slaying of senior Tamil politician Joseph Pararajasingam, sources in Colombo said. Bishops from Colombo, Kandy and Kurunagala were expected to attend the meeting with the Bishops of Jaffna and Mannar, the sources said.
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Pararajasingham slaying has endangered direct talks - TNA MPs

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2005, 16:33 GMT]
Addressing the mourners who had gathered to pay the last tribute to the slain Tamil National Alliance MP, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, TNA parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah and M.K. Sivajilingam said that the Government of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan President, in his capacity as Defense Minister, are responsible for the continued engagement of paramilitary cadres and for the killing of the MP. "The whole affair of resuming the peace process has been placed at maximum risk by the brutal act," Mr. Sivajilngam told the gathering.
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Kilinochchi pays tribute to Pararajasingham

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 December 2005, 12:43 GMT]
"It is the occupying Sri Lankan forces that have unleashed violence on the Tamil people. Destructive effects of such crimes will likely boomerang on the Sinhala armed forces. The Sri Lankan Government is solely responsible for controlling its armed forces to bring back normalcy," said the Liberation Tigers' Political Head, Mr.S. P. Thamilchelvan, addressing the mourners who gathered to pay tribute to the slain TNA MP, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, at the Kilinochchi Cultural Hall Wedesday morning.
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Pirapaharan pays tribute to slain TNA MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 22:43 GMT]
The leader of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. V. Pirapaharan, on Tuesday, paid tribute to the slain senior Tamil politician Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham in the Vanni. The body of the Tamil National Alliance paraliamentarian, who was shot inside Batticaloa St. Mary's Co-Catherdal during Christmas mass on Sunday, was taken to LTTE controlled Kokkadicholai on Monday and to Kilinochchi on Tuesday. The funeral service of the MP is to take place in the church where he was slain Thursday after receiving Holy Communion from Bishop Kingsley Swampillai.
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Refugee homes gutted by fire in Pesalai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 16:05 GMT]
Eleven temporary shelters with cadjan roof tops, out of more than one hundred such huts in the open refugee camp (ORC) located in the premises of the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation in Pesalai in Mannar district, were gutted by fire Tuesday afternoon around 2.30 p.m. The families have lost all their belongings and have been given shelter in the Vettrimatha Church, which is now housing several families driven out of the One Hundred Housing Scheme following the claymore mine attack on Sri Lanka Navy personnel, sources said.
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All five Jaffna victims identified as civilians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 10:48 GMT]
The young woman, who was shot and killed by the SLA soldiers and dressed up with denim trousers last Saturday, was identified as a heart patient, Ms Parameswari Somasundaram, 26, who had come to Jaffna Hospital for treatment from Konavil in Kilinochchi. Two other remaining bodies were also identified as belonging civilians from Kanakarayankulam and Pallai. Two bodies were earlier identified as belonging to a night watcher and a garage worker in Kottady. The Sri Lanka Military spokesman in Colombo had claimed that the five persons were gunmen who were shot by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and that troopers had recovered weapons from the victims.
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NESOHR mourns killing of Pararajasingham

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 December 2005, 14:59 GMT]
Praising Joseph Pararajasingham as a human rights activist ready to take up human rights violations against his community in Batticoloa disregarding risks to his life, the Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) in a press release issued Sunday said, " A land where human rights defenders’ life can be taken away so cheaply is a damned land. It is also a damning indictment on those who are charged with the responsibility of protecting them."
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LTTE firm on venue, Co-chairs "committed and impartial"

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 December 2005, 10:38 GMT]
"The Tamil leadership is firm and will oppose Colombo's effort on imposing geographical limitations and preconditions on the venue of talks on the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement and thereby alienating the Liberation Tigers from European countries," the LTTE Political Head Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan told media after a two-hour-long meeting with the Co-Chairs' representatives held in Kilinochchi Saturday. Head of the EU Delegation to Sri Lanka, Ambassador Julian Wilson, speaking to the media, reiterated the Co-Chairs statement on Monday and urged the parties to "start talks on Ceasefire Agreement's Implementation immediately," adding that Co-Chairs were "committed" and "impartial."
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Co-Chairs representatives to meet LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 15:20 GMT]
A top level diplomatic team representing the Co-Chairs of the peace process in Sri Lanka are scheduled to visit Kilinochchi and meet the LTTE's Political Head Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan on Saturday to discuss the situation following the recent escalation of violence in Jaffna and Mannar districts, sources in Kilinochchi told TamilNet.
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Three SLN sailors died in Mannar sea - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 December 2005, 18:45 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have informed the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that their cadres had returned fire for self-protection on Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) boats that intercepted and attacked three LTTE vessels in the seas of Mannar Thursday morning. Two SLN sailors were found dead inside a boat that was abandoned by the SLN fleet, and another sailor, seriously wounded and rescued by the Tigers, later drowned in a Tiger boat that had sustained extensive damage, the LTTE said. One LTTE cadre was wounded in the clash, the Tigers said adding that their cadres were continuing to travel in the seas with arms for self-defence in accordance with their earlier announcement.
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WPPF leader meets Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 December 2005, 16:36 GMT]
Leader of Western Province People's Front (WPPF), Mano Ganeshan, met with Head of LTTE's Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, in Kilinochchi Thursday morning sources in Kilinochchi said. "Forming a united front of all Tamil parties to secure a formidable bargaining position in Sri Lanka parliament was the basis of our discussion today," Mr.Ganeshan told the reporters after his meeting.


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Remand extended for Sri Lanka policemen

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 12:03 GMT]
Tamil Eelam district court, Kilinochchi ordered further remand for three Sri Lankan policemen until 3rd January when inquiry into the case of the policemen accused of illegally crossing into Liberation Tigers controlled areas was taken up for inquiry Tuesday, legal sources said.
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LTTE confers National Patriot title to sportsman Gunaratnam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 December 2005, 17:01 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sunday conferred "Nattupattalar" (National Patriot) title on the departed veteran sportsman Mr.A.S.Gunaratnam. Attorney-at-Law Mr.K.Sivapalan read out the statement issued by the LTTE Trincomalee district political secretariat conferring the title at an event held Sunday morning at Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall where the body of late Mr.Gunaratnam was kept for paying last respects by the people of the east port city, sources said.
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Veteran NorthEast sportsman dies

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 December 2005, 00:00 GMT]
Mr.A.S.Gunaratnam, retired Assistant Director of Sports in the North East Provincial Education, Cultural, Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry and currently Assistant Director of the North East Youth Affairs Ministry passed away Friday in Colombo after a brief illness. He had been a colorful personality in the field of sports not only in the North East but also at the national level. He had been fluent in all three languages, Tamil, Sinhala and English. He was 68 at the time of his death, family sources said.
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Norway best venue for truce talks - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 December 2005, 09:57 GMT]
Reiterating that they wished to engage in talks on the effective implementation of the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement with Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers suggested Saturday that Norway would be the ideal venue to host such talks as Oslo was not only the facilitator of the peace process, but leading the monitoring mission supervising the truce. “Based on a mutual consent, a suitable venue for peace negotiations could be selected following the successful conclusion of the CFA talks,” he said pointing out that Norway has earlier extended invitation to the parties to hold talks on the implementation of the CFA.
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Formation of united Tamil front, a strategic need- Thondaman

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 December 2005, 07:37 GMT]
The leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Mr. Arumugam Thondaman, Saturday held discussions with the LTTE's Political Head Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan at the LTTE Peace Secretariat on his plans to form a united effort among the Upcountry and Western Province Tamil political parties. The Upcountry politician said that his party, CWC and the LTTE discussed the strategic need to form a broad Tamil front to meet the challenges from the Southern polity and to further the common aspirations of both the Tamil communities in the Northeast and the Upcountry.
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Colombo blocks Akashi from visiting Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 December 2005, 22:04 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has prevented Japanese Special Peace Envoy, Yasushi Akashi, from visiting Kilinochchi to meet the political wing leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to discuss matters related to peace process. Denying media reports in Colombo that Japan wanted to become partner of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Akashi said Japan has no intention of becoming a partner to the SLMM and applauded the Scandinavian countries for their effective work.
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LTTE's Human Rights engagement on constructive track - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 December 2005, 11:21 GMT]
“While Colombo has been increasingly engaged in portraying Tamils’ struggle for self-determination as ‘terrorism’ in international fora taking advantage of the changed political climate following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the consequent war on terrorism, Liberation Tigers have exhibited genuine desire to adhere to the international human rights standards by closely engaging with UN agencies,” said Political Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) , S.P. Thamilchelvan, during his keynote address on Human Rights day event organized by the NorthEast Secretariat On Human Rights (NESOHR) in Kilinochchi Saturday.
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CFA, Muslim Tamil amity, key to peace - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 December 2005, 11:31 GMT]
Pointing out that the recent escalation of violence is due to military aggression and sabotage activities of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) supported paramilitaries, LTTE's Political Head Mr. S.P.Thamilchelvan stressed the urgent need for effective implementation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) and the critical need to maintain Muslim, Tamil amity to maintain peace, when he addressed the media following a meeting with the Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar Friday morning. The meeting that began at 9:30 a.m. lasted for one and a half hours at the LTTE's Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi.
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