SLMC blames police partiality for Dharga Nagar violence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 February 2006, 19:48 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has requested the President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse to appoint a Presidential Commission to inquire into the conduct of the Sri Lanka Police in the violence that took place in Dharga Nagar in Southern district Aluthgama. Mr.Rauff Hakim, SLMC leader alleged that the partiality of the Police had contributed to the escalation of the violence against the Muslim people in the area, sources said.
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"Back to war"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 January 2006, 21:06 GMT]
"Unlike Indonesia Sri Lanka has failed to usher in peace. Every opportunity for rapprochement has been squandered after the Tsunami...The Sri Lankan government and the LTTE are steeped in mutual suspicion and contempt and will not arrive at any resolution on their own. A new heavy weight mediator must join Norway's Herculean but waning peacemaking efforts, one whom both parties can respect as an honest broker," said an independent analysis that appeared in the Sunday online edition of "The News" of Jang Group.
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10 civilians, 3 SLA soldiers, policeman wounded in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 January 2006, 15:23 GMT]
Ten civilians were wounded in a bomb attack on a Sri Lanka Navy Jeep and the retaliatory fire and assault on civilians by the troopers Thursday evening in Trincomalee district between Gandhinagar and Anuradhapura junction along the Trincomalee - Kandy Highway, 3 km southwest of east port town. SLA soldiers opened fire wounding civilians following the explosion. The bomb exploded Thursday around 4 p.m., according to the Police. Tension prevailed in the area.
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Mannar Sinhala medical officers demand security

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 16:15 GMT]
Ten Sinhalese medical officers working in the Mannar general hospital left for Colombo Tuesday evening stating that they would not return for work until their security is guaranteed. Their action follows the grenade attack on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry located in the premises of the hospital which killed a SLA soldier, health department sources said.
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Governor to hold Conference on Trincomalee violence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 January 2006, 13:38 GMT]
North East Provincial Governor, Mr.Tyronne Fernando, has called for a conference to discuss the volatile situation in the Trincomalee district following frequent general shut down by rival parties. The conference earlier scheduled to be held on Thursday has now been advanced to Wednesday evening and will be held in Colombo, provincial council sources said.


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JVP MP says he was attacked for "opposing shut down"

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 January 2006, 08:48 GMT]
A Sinhala nationalist JVP parliamentarian, who was attacked Friday in a suburb of Trincomalee town, has claimed, on Saturday, that he was attacked by a group of Sinhala persons for "opposing" the continuation of the shut down on the Tamil festival day, Thai Pongal. However, most of the Sinhala-owned shops remained closed in the east port town for the third day while Tamils remained in their homes to celebrate Thai Pongal. Two Sinhala nationalist organisations, backed by the JVP, had called for the four-day shut down in Trincomalee.
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Abeyapura residents attack JVP parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 January 2006, 14:34 GMT]
A group of Sinhalese residents in Abeyapura, a suburb in Trincomalee town, Friday afternoon around 4 p.m. attacked the vehicle of Mr.Jayantha Wijeysekara, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian of Trincomalee district when he was traveling through the area. Sri Lanka policemen rushed to the scene of the incident and rescued Mr Wijeysekara from being manhandled by the angry crowd, police sources said.


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Join hands to arrest spread of violence- EU Commissioner

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 January 2006, 12:35 GMT]
Mrs Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations, European Commission in a message issued Thursday said that inspite of the escalating violence "Sri Lanka's leaders may yet be able to build on to pull back from the brink: it is the profound desire of the people of Sri Lanka for peace," and added that "it is imperative that the government, other political parties and the Tamil Tigers heed the call of the people and join hands to arrest the spread of violence prevailing in the north and in the east."
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Hartal cripples Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 January 2006, 12:14 GMT]
Normal life and business in the Trincomalee town and its suburbs were completely paralyzed Thursday when shops, government offices, schools, public markets, non-governmental organizations and state and private sector banking institutions were closed down. Public and private transport came to a complete halt. All main roads in the town were seen deserted except government troops manning sentry points and patrolling, sources in the east port town said.
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Explosives found in bus, Murunkan Police detains driver, passengers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 January 2006, 14:49 GMT]
The Murunkan Police on Friday morning around 4.40 a.m. detected explosives in a Mannar bound bus that left Colombo Thursday night and arrested five persons including the driver and the conductor of the bus. The explosives were discovered during an inspection at the checkpoint in Kaddaiadampan, a village in the Mannar, Police said. The Murunkan Police served three-day detention order on the driver who is a Sinhalese, conductor and three passengers for further investigation, legal sources said.


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Trincomalee suburbs tensed as SLA builds new sentry

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 January 2006, 15:59 GMT]
Tension prevails in Anpuvallipuram and Abeyapura, suburbs of the Trincomalee town located off about 2 km northwest along Trincomalee-Kandy highway following attempts by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to set up a new sentry since Friday afternoon. Tamils live in Anpuvallipuram and Sinhalese reside in the adjoining suburb Abeyapura. The new sentry near the junction, which leads to Anpuvallipuram has drawn the opposition of Tamil families, civil sources said.
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Grenade attack injures woman in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 January 2006, 16:28 GMT]
A Sinhala woman was injured when unidentified men threw a grenade at a sentry point located near the Abeyapura Sinhalese settlement near Trincomalee town, Thursday night, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Indian Executive shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 January 2006, 11:25 GMT]
Mr Atmakuru Prasad, 25, from Hydrabad in Andhra Province in India was shot dead by unknown gunmen at 9.30 p.m. Wednesday near Alfred Place in Dehiwela Colombo, sources said. Mr Prashad was returning to his house after finishing his dinner at a Galle Road hotel when he was shot.
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War and Peace- LTTE way: Taraki, 1991

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 January 2006, 00:08 GMT]
In the 12 June 1991 issue of Sri Lanka's English daily, Island International, late Dharmeratnam Sivaram, popular journalist and Senior editor at TamilNet, writes on issues that dominated the early Premadasa period after the departure of IPKF as prevailing climate appeared ripe for peace talks. However, on the day the article appeared, two soldiers were killed in a Batticaloa landmine attack. Enraged soldiers massacred 150 Tamil civilians (13 June) in Kokkadichcholai. LTTE retaliated by killing 19 soldiers (20 June) in an ambush, leading to continued blood letting as Eelam War II (June 1990 to 1994) was fought without any hopes of peace talks.
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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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Grenade attack kills soldier, injures wife in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 December 2005, 04:29 GMT]
Mr. Sunil, a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier, was killed, and his wife and brother-in-law were injured when unknown assailants hurled a grenade and opened fire inside the soldier's house located in Sangamam, a suburb located about five km northeast of Trincomalee town along Kandy-Trincomalee highway Tuesday night around 9 p.m, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Trincomalee observes general shut down

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 December 2005, 11:48 GMT]
Tamil speaking people Friday observed general shut down in Trincomalee town and its suburbs responding to a call made by the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Consortium demanding the withdrawal of troops from the east port city and condemning the killings of civilians in the northeast province.
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Recognize Tamil need for Self-Government- Boston Globe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 December 2005, 15:18 GMT]
Pointing out Pirapaharan's Heroes Day message that he will intensify struggle for self-determination if no "political framework that will satisfy the political aspirations of Tamils" was forthcoming, the Boston Globe in an editorial appearing on 4 December issue, opined that this "either-or threat, seen alongside Rajapakse's own hard-line stance, presages an imminent renewal of civil war," and said, "India and the United States should bring international pressure to bear on the island's belligerents to sustain the current ceasefire and craft a political resolution that recognizes the Tamil need for self-government."
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SL communities at brink of tragedy- Schaffer

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 December 2005, 00:34 GMT]
"The international friends of the SriLankan peace process need to proceed with bracing realism and appeal to the most urgent self-interest on both sides. Without a new commitment to a real cease-fire and a serious dialogue, all of Sri Lanka’s communities stand at the brink of tragedy. The inclusiveness Rajapakse has promised could stand him in good stead, but the key quality he will need is leadership," says former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Teresita Schaffer.
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Sinhalese fish vendor shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 December 2005, 17:12 GMT]
Unidentified men Friday afternoon around 3.30 p.m. shot dead a Sinhala fish vendor, Mr.Hemasiri, alias Lokku Iya (57), in the market located at Anuradhapura junction, about two km off northwest of Trincomalee town, Uppuveli police said.
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