'Peoples' commitment needed to achieve peace'- Westborg

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 18:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Norwegian ambassador Mr.Jon Westborg Saturday appealed to all citizens to continue their commitment to overcome the obstacles in the path of achieving permanent peace, while addressing a meeting Saturday held at the Colombo Town Hall to mark the one-year completion of the ceasefire agreement signed by the United National Front (UNF)government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).


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Four-hour general shutdown cripples Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 15:50 GMT]
A four-hour hartal (general shutdown) was observed in the Jaffna peninsula Saturday from six to ten in the morning disrupting the normal life. The hartal was organized by the Consortium of NGOs in Jaffna district as a protest to government's failure to implement the ceasefire agreement effectively to ease the sufferings of thousands of displaced Tamils in the northeast, sources said.
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Protest shutdown in Batticaloa, Amparai on CFA anniversary

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 08:53 GMT]
Shops and businesses were closed and roads were deserted in the Batticaloa district Saturday in protest against Colombo's failure to -'satisfactorily honour' the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers. The LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) signed the CFA on one year ago, on 22 Feb. 2002.
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'Letter from the east gave Pirapaharan confidence' – author

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 February 2003, 00:03 GMT]
"On August 4, 1987 our leader asked the large gathering on the Suthumalai grounds in Jaffna whether the Liberation Tigers should hand over their weapons to the Indian army. He was deeply distressed when many cheered him to do so. But it was a letter from this soil that convinced him not to surrender the arms," said Manalaaru Vijayan, the author of a book on massacres of Tamils in the Batticaloa-Amparai Districts by the Sri Lankan armed forces, released Friday.
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Implementation of Cease-fire Agreement not adequate- Sivajilingam

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 February 2003, 23:52 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian (TNA) Mr.M.K.Sivajilingam said Friday addressing a conference held at the Jaffna district secretariat that the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) has not been implemented in a way to alleviate the sufferings of the displaced people who are still languishing in refugee camps and welfare centres.
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FMM condemns attack on journalists

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 February 2003, 21:20 GMT]
The Free Media Movement (FMM) Friday strongly condemned the attack on the journalists who were covering the protest march of the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, Thursday, in Colombo said.
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Protest against GOSL failure to implement ceasefire agreement

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 February 2003, 21:12 GMT]
The Jaffna District People's Forum (JPDF) Friday called for a token hunger campaign in front of the Nallur Kandasamy Temple on Sunday to highlight that cease-fire agreement (CFA) signed by the United National Front (UNF) government and the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) has not benefited Tamils in the northeast province. The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has failed to implement the agreement fully, the campaign organizers said. The Consortium of NGOs in Jaffna district Friday called for a 'hartal' (general shut down) Saturday for the same reason till 10 in the morning, sources said.
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Pandemonium in parliament following JVP sit-in-protest

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 February 2003, 12:11 GMT]
Pandemonium reigned in the Sri Lankan parliament Friday as MPs from the Sinhala nationalist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) held a sit in protest holding placards and shouting slogans against the United National Front (UNF) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The parliamentarians were protesting against the police who dispersed their earlier demonstration Thursday.
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Police ban protest march in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 February 2003, 19:48 GMT]
The Trincomalee Police Thursday banned the black band protest march of the Tamils Women's Front in the eastern port town from St.Joseph's College to the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which is located at the Inner Harbour Road.
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Centers for Employment, Technology Training open in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 February 2003, 01:46 GMT]
Opening ceremonies for an Information and Technology Training Center and Womens Employment Training Center, established by the Vanni Center for Community Advancement, were held Wednesday 10am, sources in Vanni said.
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LTTE Leader felicitates Eelanaatham staff

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 February 2003, 00:42 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, V. Pirapaharan, participated in the anniversary celebrations of Eelanaatham, a daily published in Vanni, entering its 14th year of uninterrupted publication, and presented awards to the staff of the news paper, LTTE sources in Vanni said.
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Udumbankulam survives mass murder, forced eviction

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 February 2003, 21:30 GMT]
In Udumbankulam, a minor Tamil hamlet in the little known interior of Sri Lanka’s southeastern coast, the fields are densely green where 17 years ago on February 19, 1986 the Sri Lankan military hacked and beat to death 128 farmers on the village’s threshing floor. The area is being gradually retrieved from the clutches of the jungle. A handful of intrepid former residents who returned to the village five months ago are eagerly looking forward to a bumper crop of rice. But Feb 19 remains an indelibly bitter day for them.
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Black band protest held in Jaffna condemning Manipay attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 February 2003, 16:24 GMT]
Teachers, students, public and private sector employees in Jaffna district Wednesday attended their routine activities wearing black bands and black waist belts in protest to the attack by the Sri Lanka Army on women cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at Manipay on February 12, sources said.
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District-wide protests in Batticaloa over Manipay attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 February 2003, 15:33 GMT]
Massive processions and a campaign of wearing black waist-belts were held Wednesday in all Tamil regions of the Batticaloa district to protest the attack on February 12 in Manipay, where the Sri Lanka Army personnel and the paramilitary EPDP group assaulted unarmed women political cadres of the LTTE, civilians and journalists
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Protest march in Jaffna against Kantharodai Buddhist Vihare construction

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 February 2003, 15:03 GMT]
The Confederation of Valikamam South Public Organizations Wednesday conducted a protest march condemning the construction of a Buddhist Vihare at Kantharodai in Jaffna district by the Sri Lanka Army. The protest march, which commenced Wednesday morning from Kantharodai, arrived at Uduvil Divisional Secretariat around afternoon, sources said.
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No confidence motion against Defence Minister defeated

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 February 2003, 17:21 GMT]
The no confidence motion moved by the opposition against the Defence Minister Mr.Tilak Marapane was defeated by a majority of forty-two votes Tuesday. 84 opposition parliamentarians voted for the motion and 126 parliamentarians against the motion, said parliamentary sources.


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TNA refutes PA MP's charge on Buddhist shrines

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 February 2003, 16:58 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian from Trincomalee Mr.K.Thurairetnasingham participating in the debate on the no confidence motion against the Defence Minister Tuesday Tuesday refuted charges made by a Peoples Alliance (PA) parliamentarian Mr.M.K.A.de.S Gunawardene that Hindu temples have been constructed after destroying Buddhist shrines in the eastern province, parliamentary sources said.
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Defense Minister faces No Confidence Motion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 February 2003, 11:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament Tuesday began debating the no-confidence motion against the Sri Lanka's Defense Minister Mr.Tilak Marapone. Opposition parliamentarian and a leading member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Mr.Nimal Sripala de Silva presented the no confidence motion and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian Mr.Wimal Weerawanse seconded it, parliamentary sources said.


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Mirusuvil massacre inquiry put off

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 February 2003, 18:50 GMT]
The inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case was put off for February 19 as the prison officials reported to the Trial-at-Bar Monday that the fourth accused has fallen ill, legal sources said. The three-member bench of the High Court comprising of Judges Mr.I.M.Imam (President), Mr.Sarath Ambepitya and Mr. Kumar Ekaratne are due to hear the case.
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Jaffna Journalists stage sit-in protest over Manipay attack

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 February 2003, 15:25 GMT]
The Jaffna Journalist Association (JJA) Monday held a protest demonstration outside the office of the District Information Office in the Jaffna district secretariat condemning the attack on two journalists at Manipay by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers last Wednesday. Members of the JJA with black bands and covered their mouths with black clothes participated in the demonstration which commenced Monday morning and concluded in the afternoon, sources said.
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