LTTE, Muslim leaders appoint Mutur peace committee

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2003, 18:55 GMT]
The first meeting of the eight-member committee appointed under a four point agreement signed by the Liberation Tigers and Mutur Majlis Al Shura Council last Wednesday to resolve differences between Tamils and Muslims in Mutur area is to be held on May 29 morning at the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in Trincomalee district.
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EU urges LTTE participation in Tokyo aid talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2003, 16:19 GMT]
European Union (EU) resident representative in Sri Lanka Mr.Wouter Wilton Friday arrived in Jaffna on a two-day fact-finding visit. Addressing a meeting held at the office of the Consortium of the Jaffna District Humanitarian Agencies (CJDHA) Friday afternoon Mr. Wilton said that the EU is of the view that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should participate in the Tokyo aid summit to be held next month, sources said.


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SLN soldier escapes from Karainagar detachment

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2003, 13:02 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldier Friday morning escaped from the Sri Lanka Navy detachment at Karainagar in Jaffna district and surrendered to the residents of the area. Later he was handed over to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam officials in Karainagar, military sources said
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Relief items from North reach flood victims

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2003, 08:27 GMT]
A convoy of trucks containing goods donated by various non-governmental and civil organisations from the North reached affected villages in the South yesterday. The trucks are delivering much needed emergency items to both Tamil and Sinhala villages affected by the recent floods.
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1987 killings still haunt Vakarai residents

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2003, 02:21 GMT]
Nearly sixteen years ago residents of Thonithandamadu village in Vakarai region in Batticaloa district were witness to gruesome killings when soldiers of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shot, hacked to death and burnt the bodies of ten Tamil civilians. The memory still haunts the relatives of the victims and the residents of the impoverished village.


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Former PS chairman wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 18:36 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and wounded a former chairman of the Vaakarai Pradeshiya Sabha (local government institution), Mr.Samuel Pushparajah (40), around 8.30 p.m., Thursday, at Valaichenai, 32 km. north of Batticaloa.
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Damaged boats keep Indian fishermen trapped in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 16:19 GMT]
Four Indian boatmen with their boats damaged during an earlier incident in mid-sea have been languishing in a weaving centre in Mannar for the last three months with no means to travel to South India. They have threatened to commit suicide if the authorities do not find a way to send them home immediately, sources said.


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TNA briefs foreign envoys on NE interim administration

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 15:57 GMT]
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance Thursday told the American Ambassador for Sri Lanka Mr.Ashely Wills the urgency in setting up of an interim administration to rebuild the war ravaged northeast province and to rehabilitate the displaced families in their villages, TNA sources said.
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Flood relief convoy from North arrives Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 14:55 GMT]
A convoy of six lorries loaded with flood relief supplies valued at more than three million rupees sent by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from north arrived Colombo Thursday, government sources said.
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Security strengthened in Batticaloa following killing

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 11:25 GMT]
Following the shooting death of Kumaraperumal Perinpam (38), alias 'Master,' a former member of Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), by unidentified gunman in Batticaloa Wednesday, security has been tightened in Batticaloa, military sources said.
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Colombo’s new proposals said not valid in law

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 06:40 GMT]
Institutional arrangements suggested by Colombo last week in response to concerns raised by the Liberation Tigers about establishing a legally viable and operable system to utilise donor aid for development and reconstruction of the war ravaged northeast are not valid in Sri Lankan law, legal experts said Thursday. “An Interim administrative mechanism similar to the one proposed under the Indo Lanka Agreement can be set up by the President alone; and only while Emergency Regulations are in force”, said Mr. V. T Thamilmaran, senior lecturer in law in the University of Colombo.
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Special Act to call fresh nominations for NE local polls

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 18:58 GMT]
The United National Front government Wednesday tabled a Local Government Elections Special Provision Act bill in parliament empowering the Commissioner General of Elections to call for fresh nominations to the fifty-three local government institutions in the Tamil dominated Northeast province.
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LTTE-Muslim leaders meet in Mutur

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 18:52 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Mutur Majlis Al Shura Council Wednesday agreed to appoint an eight-member committee to resolve differences that arise between Tamils and Muslims in the Mutur area in future, sources in Mutur said.
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Batticaloa tense amid killing and grenade attacks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 16:41 GMT]
Batticaloa town was tense Wednesday night as an operative of the Sri Lanka army’s military intelligence was shot dead while a grenade was also lobbed at the residence of Mr. Indrakumar Prasanna, secretary general of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO). The TELO is a constituent of the Tamil National Alliance.
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North to supply relief to flood victims in south

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 15:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has enlisted several Tamil social organizations in the northeast to collect dry ration, food items and other assistance that are deemed necessary to be supplied to victims in flood ravaged areas in the south of the country, government sources said.
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‘Border pioneers’ face uphill task

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 12:44 GMT]
“We settled here in 1954 to safeguard our homeland. Today there is nobody to save us”, says Mr. Kanapathipillai Poopalapillai, 79, former President of the Rural Development Society of Sinnawaththai, a destroyed border Tamil village in the east coast’s interior. The Special Task Force and Sri Lanka Police built their camps in the Sinhala sector of this border zone with bricks and wood from the Tamil homes they dismantled or demolished in Sinnawaththai.
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LTTE seeks premier's response on interim administration proposal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 06:53 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) today called upon the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, to formally respond to proposals by its leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan, for an interim administrative set-up in the Northeast. The LTTE’s comments were made in a letter by its chief negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, to the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen.
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Canadian High Commissioner concludes Trincomalee visit

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 06:39 GMT]
The Canadian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Ms Valerie Raymond Monday commenced her Batticaloa tour, concluding her two-day visit to Trincomalee district Tuesday. She met Tamil and Muslim representatives in Trincomalee at the conclusion of her visit to east port town Tuesday evening held at the office of the Trincomalee District Development Association (TDDA). TDDA organised the discussion.
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TNA delegation meets LTTE leadership in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 May 2003, 14:30 GMT]
A Tamil National Alliance delegation led by its parliamentary group leader, Mr.R.Sampanthan, Tuesday held discussion with the LTTE’s political head, Mr.S.P.Thamilselvan, regarding the possibility of the resumption of peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.
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Jaffna Protesters demand permission to resettle

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 May 2003, 11:08 GMT]
Valikamam North residents should jointly support and participate in the protest to be held today in front of Jaffna secretariat demanding permission to resettle in their homes that lie within the High Security Zone (HSZ) demarcated by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), said Maavai Senathirajah, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian in an appeal to residents in Jaffna, local press reports said.


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