‘Coordinated, deliberate’ SLA campaign in LTTE areas - SLMM

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 September 2006, 14:05 GMT]
Amid the furore triggered by international truce monitors’ findings that Sri Lankan security forces carried out the massacre of 17 aid workers, other conclusions by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) lost focus, including the charge the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) carried out “deliberate, planned and coordinated offensive military operations” against LTTE cadres and civilians in LTTE-controlled areas from April 1, weeks after Norwegian facilitated talks in Geneva to de-escalate rising violence.
Full story >>

Only a phased peace process will work - Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 August 2006, 06:10 GMT]
A lasting solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic question can only emerge out of a protracted peace process with interim agreements, rather than a quest for an up-front final solution, one of the country’s leading political scientists argued this week. "Protracted ethnic conflict always requires a protracted peace process. The peace process should [aim] for an interim settlement rather than a big-bang solution. We may have to go through a series of interim managements," said Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda, Head of Department of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Colombo.
Full story >>

Sri Lankan C-in-C, Rajapakse or Weerawanse, asks UNP MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 August 2006, 11:26 GMT]
UNP Puttalam District parliamentarian Johnston Fernando Thursday told reporters recent developments aimed at motivating armed forces of Sri Lanka had cast doubts on whether the Commander in Chief (C-in-C) of Sri Lanka was Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawanse or Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. Wimal Weerawanse's demeanor during his address to the Sri Lankan soldiers in the recent "Manel Mal" (Water Lily) ceremonies was more like a C-in-C than a party secretary, the UNP MP said.
Full story >>

Uyilankulam, Madhu check points' closure affects Tamil civilians

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 August 2006, 13:06 GMT]
Since the closure of Uyilankulam and Madhu checkpoints in Mannar district by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from August 11 acute shortage for food, fuel and medicine is prevailing in LTTE held villages located in the divisions of Manthai West and Madhu as transport of such items is not allowed through these checkpoints.
Full story >>

Burnt body of youth recovered in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 August 2006, 05:18 GMT]
A body of an unidentified youth, with gun shot wounds, whose face was burnt with tyres to hide his identification, was found by Jaffna Magistrate R.K.Viknarajah at Potpathy Road, Kokkuvil in Valikamam area, in front of the LTTE's former Cultural Wing office, Tuesday morning, sources in Jaffna said.


Full story >>

March for Peace campaign to be held in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 August 2006, 19:21 GMT]
A broad coalition of people against violence and war is to participate in a "March for Peace," organized by the National Anti-war Front (NAWF), that will begin at Hyde Park in Colombo at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, culminating in a peace rally at the Viharamahadevi open Air Theatre at 3.00 p.m, said a press release issued by the NAWF Chairman, Dr Kumar Rupesinghe.
Full story >>

One killed, another injured in Mannar shooting incident

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 August 2006, 09:04 GMT]
Gunmen Monday night around 10.30 p.m. attacked the Special Task Force sentry point at Semmankulam located along Mannar-Madawachchi road. In the retaliatory fire by the STF one person was killed and another injured, Mannar Police said.
Full story >>

‘Allow aid to displaced’ - Minority Rights Group

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 August 2006, 16:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s ethnic minorities have been the worst affected in the recent surge in violence and both the Sri Lankan government and LTTE must make a greater commitment to safeguard minority rights in their controlled areas and provide equal access to humanitarian assistance, the Minority Rights Group (MRG) said Thursday. MRG called on both sides to give international and local aid agencies unimpeded access to the affected areas and said the aim should be “to facilitate the free return, in safety, of minority communities to their homes as quickly as possible.”
Full story >>

JVP: ‘wipe out LTTE and its supporters’

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 August 2006, 14:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s ultra-nationalist JVP party has called for the government to “wipe out not ony LTTE but its supporters as well” in a heated debate Thursday over the Trincomalee crisis. Jayantha Wijesekara, JVP MP from Trincomalee district made his comments in support of JVP Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa, who said that the LTTE areas of Sampur and Maavilaru must be captured by the Sri Lankan military. The Trincomalee situation dominated Thursday’s deliberations in Parliament.
Full story >>

Fleeing IDPs bombed in Verugal, five killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 August 2006, 16:16 GMT]
Fleeing IDPs from Eachchilampathu and Muthur to Vaharai were caught in aerial attack and SLA artillery fire Wednesday evening when they were ferrying through Verugal River to Vaharai division in Batticaloa district. On Wednesday evening around 6.05 p.m. five IDP persons were killed in bombing by Kfir jets and several others injured at Verugal. About thirty five thousand people of around seven thousand families displaced from Muttur east and Eachchilampathu division seeking refuge in Vaharai division in Batticaloa district till Wednesday.
Full story >>

Aid massacre ‘result of impunity’ - TRO

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 August 2006, 15:37 GMT]
Joining several humanitarian organizations in condemning the massacre of the 17 ACF staff members in Muthur, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) said the failure to investigate and punish those responsible for attacks on its own aid workers in January 2006 had contributed to a climate of impunity.
Full story >>

STF seize farmers' vehicles in Akkaraippattu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 August 2006, 08:55 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) forcibly took away 5 tractors and 2 motorbikes belonging to Tamil farmers Monday around 5.30 p.m., the affected farmers lodged a complaint at the Akkaraippattu Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) office, sources said. The farmers allege that the STF carried this out in retaliation to the hijacking of a tractor belonging to a Sinhalese farmer, Monday morning at Manthottam by unknown persons.


Full story >>

RSF slams curbs on Trincomalee reporters

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 18:17 GMT]
Sri Lankan security forces prevented journalists, including some from the BBC, from accessing Muttur town Monday amid reports that 17 aid workers had been shot dead, a media watchdog said Tuesday. “One foreign journalist told Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that many Sri lanka army roadblocks also stopped the media getting to places that were far from any fighting,” RSF said. The LTTE has shown “no interest in allowing independent journalists to report from the areas they hold,” RSF also said.
Full story >>

Relatives blame SLA for aid workers’ executions

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 11:36 GMT]
Relatives of some of the aid workers shot dead execution-style in Muttur town blamed Sri Lankan security forces Tuesday whilst diplomats were skeptical of government claims the Tamil Tigers were responsible. Correspondents with Reuters news agency interviewed relatives of some of the seventeen staff of international aid group Action Contre La Faim (ACF). The father of one aid worker said another son was amongst five Tamil students shot, also execution-style in Trincomalee earlier this year.
Full story >>

Bodies of 17 NGO workers brought to Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 09:01 GMT]
The bodies of 17 persons, 16 Tamils and a Muslim, were brought to the mortuary of the Trincomalee general hospital Tuesday in a lorry from Muthur via Allai-Kantalai road. On the orders of the Sri Lankan authorities, a Sinhalese Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) was brought from Anuradhapura to conduct the post-mortem examinations. One of the victims, Y.Kodeeswaran, was the eldest brother of Y.Hemachchandran, another victim of an execution-style massacre by the Special Task Force (STF), the Sri Lankan counter-insurgency elite force in January this year along the Trincomalee sea beach. A father who was a driver, and his daughter, a hygience promoter, were also among the ACF victims.
Full story >>

Water war

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 August 2006, 16:33 GMT]
"Defensive attacks" launched by Liberation Tigers four days ago with the surprise artillery attacks on Trincomalee naval base, and the sweeping attacks on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and positions in Muthur and southern sector of Trincomalee, were interpreted as the Tiger response to the three-month-long humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Muthur East, where 30 000 civilians were forced to live as Internally Displaced People (IDPs). Supply of drinking water, one of the most basic needs, emerged as a critical issue as wells dried in the hottest spell as August approached, says Trincomalee Parliamentarian K. Thurairatnasingham.
Full story >>

Sinhalese settlers demand evacuation from Somapura

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 06:52 GMT]
Thousands of Sinhalese settlers from the southern sectors of Trincomalee district have demanded safe evacuation from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas, civil sources in Somapura said. The local authorities have contacted the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to facilitate evacuation from the southern sector where the SLA offensive towards Mavil Aaru was launched. Meanwhile, initial reports reaching from Kiliveddy said Muttur civilians, carrying white flags, have started to reach Kiliveddy area. However, the ICRC coordinator, Davide Vignati, in Colombo has told media that a formal cessation of hostilities for a limited time frame is yet to be established.
Full story >>

Tamil youth shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 August 2006, 06:00 GMT]
Unidentified men Monday night around 10:00 p.m. shot dead a Tamil youth Kaliyuganathan Geethansan, 22, at Abeyapura, suburb in Trincomalee town. Men went in motorbike called him out of the house and shot him in the head, police sources said.
Full story >>

Two Sinhalese men shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 July 2006, 10:30 GMT]
Two Sinhalese persons were shot dead by unidentified men in Trincomalee in two separate killings Monday. The first shooting incident took place around 10.30 a.m. at Love Lane, and the second around noon at Chelvanayagapuram, suburbs of east port town, police sources said.
Full story >>

Recognize Tamil rights, or risk CFA collapse- NZ MP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 July 2006, 20:21 GMT]
Tamil NewZealanders marked the Remembrance of Black July with a series of events including blood donation drives, prayer offerings, and a Peace March that culminated in an event at the Auckland Normal Intermediate School, July 29, 2006, Kiwi sources said. Member of Parliament, Keith Locke, Secretary of the Refugee Council of New Zealand (RCNZ) Heval Hylan, Human Rights Activist from Global Peace and Justice, Mike Treen, and about 200 Tamils participated in the event which also featured a cultural show.
Full story >>