Kanjirankuda inquiry in Tirukovil completed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 October 2002, 19:13 GMT]
The three-member committee appointed to investigate the October 9 killings of eight Tamil civilians at Kanjirankuda completed its sittings at Thirukovil divisional secretariat auditorium today. The committee will have further two days of hearings at the Bandaranaike Memorial Hall in Colombo.


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Karuna, Thamilselvan in LTTE team for Thailand - paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 October 2002, 01:41 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have finalised their negotiating team for the second round of direct talks between the movement and the Sri Lankan government scheduled to be held in Thailand next week, the Tamil Guardian newspaper reported this week.
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Trincomalee hartal killing inquest begins

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 17:25 GMT]
The inquest into the killing of three Tamil civilians on October 11 at Abeyapura in the east port town in a gun and grenade attack commenced Wednesday before the Trincomalee Magistrate Mr.S.Thiagendran.
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State power said necessary for uplifting Tamil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 17:20 GMT]
"Tamil language and culture can never prosper as long as Tamils do not have state power. The Tamil language is demeaned by Tamils themselves in Tamilnadu. One cannot even engage in peaceful protest for Tamil rights in Tamilnadu. Tamilians and the Tamil language cannot survive until the Hindutva ideology is extirpated from Tamil society," said Mr. R. Thirumavalavan, member of the Tamilnadu legislative assembly, addressing a meeting in the University of Jaffna Wednesday.
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JVP debates NE security, TNA stages walkout

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 14:53 GMT]
Members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) staged a walk out in parliament Wednesday evening protesting at not being allocated time to speak on the adjournment motion moved by the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) censuring the United National Front (UNF) government for failing to provide security to the people of eastern province.


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Residents urge removal of Kanchirankuda, Thirukovil STF camps

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 10:45 GMT]
Several residents of Thirukovil and adjacent villages pleaded before the Committee of Inquiry that is probing into the killing of eight Tamil civilians at Kanchirankuda recently that the Special Task Force camps in the area should be removed to ensure their freedom of movement and normalize their day-to-day lives.
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Special police team to investigate Trincomalee attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 10:35 GMT]
A special team comprising senior police officers will be sent to Trincomalee to conduct full scale investigation into the gun and grenade attack on Tamil civilians on October 11 that killed three Tamil civilians and injuring about fifty. Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe took this decision after meeting with Mr. Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA)parliamentarian for the Trincomalee district, Tuesday, said sources. Interior Minister Mr. John Amaratunge also participated in the talks.
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Norway, LTTE discuss talks agenda

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 09:40 GMT]
The Norwegian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Vidar Helgesen met with the leadership of the Liberation Tigers Wednesday and held two and a half hours of discussions on "crucial issues pertaining to the formation of the joint task force" for economic development and reconstruction of the northeast, sources in Vanni said. Issues underlying the high security zones (HSZ) and the security situation in the northeast were also discussed, they said.
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Committee begins Kanchirankuda probe

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 October 2002, 20:15 GMT]
The three-member committee of inquiry into the killings of eight Tamil civilians at Kanchirankuda began its sittings at Thirukovil divisional secretariat auditorium in southeast Ampara district Monday morning. Eight civilians were killed and at least 20 others were wounded when the Special Task Force (STF) opened fire on protestors.
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AG transfers PTA cases to special HC in Welikada jail

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 October 2002, 17:48 GMT]
The Attorney General has transferred about 150 cases filed in the Colombo High Court (HC) under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to a special court. The special High Court has been set up in Welikada jail to expedite the disposal of cases filed under the PTA.
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Norwegian government team meets Opposition leader

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 October 2002, 16:51 GMT]
The Norwegian government delegation Monday morning held wide ranging discussions with the Leader of the Opposition Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse regarding the second round of peace talks between the United National Front (UNF) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which is scheduled to commence on October 31 at Sattahip in Thailand. In the afternoon the Norwegian team met with the leader of government's peace delegation, Professor G.L. Peiris, ruling party sources said.


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All island karate contest-2002 concludes in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 October 2002, 19:27 GMT]
The all island martial arts -karate tournament-2002 was held Saturday and Sunday at St Joseph’s College auditorium in Trincomalee, organised by the district branch of the Sri Lanka Martial Arts-Do-Association and sponsored by the UNICEF.
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Pulithevan spells out realities of a solution

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 October 2002, 18:13 GMT]
“Any solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has to be based on the reality that we have an army, navy and police and an administrative and judicial system,” said S. Pulithevan, an official from the headquarters of the political division of the Liberation Tigers, addressing the second day sessions of the conference organised by the Arts and Culture Division of the LTTE in Jaffna Sunday.
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STF refuses to vacate homes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 October 2002, 18:06 GMT]
Five Tamil refugee families of Kittanki at Kalmunai in the southeastern Amparai district have appealed to the authorities to return their houses now being occupied by the Commandos of the Special Task Force. The STF earlier promised to leave these houses on 16 October. The STA now has gone back on its promise, said refugees in a complaint to the district parliamentarian.
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CTTU workshop on formulating Tamil medium education policy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 October 2002, 18:43 GMT]
The two-day residential workshop for Tamil educationists and teachers began Saturday in Colombo organised by the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU), sponsored by the Education International (EI) and the Friedrch Ebert Stiftung (FES). At the end of the workshop, proposals for the development of Tamil medium education will be submitted to the government to incorporate in its national policy on general education, CTTU officials said.
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Morogoda visits Akkaraipattu, confers with local leaders

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 October 2002, 16:19 GMT]
Minister of Science, Technology and Economic Reforms Mr.Milinda Morogoda Saturday visited Akkaraipattu in the southeast and conferred with local community leaders the future course of action to be taken to maintain peace in the area. It was decided at a conference held at Akkaraipattu cultural hall Saturday to form a peace committee, which would facilitate reconciliation between communities whenever problems arise.
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Arts, literature conference opens in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 October 2002, 14:30 GMT]
“The Tamil language is now in the process of renewing itself for the 21st century. What we need today is Tamil for the Internet age. We need rational Tamil, not emotive Tamil,” said Mr. Nilanthan, a well known writer and poet from the Vanni in a special speech on the opening of the four day conference organized by the Arts and Culture Division of the Liberation Tigers in Jaffna Saturday. Hundreds of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim writers, poets, artists and journalists from all parts of the island and from south India are taking part in the event.
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Tigers escorted SLA troops

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 October 2002, 08:55 GMT]
(News Feature) In a reciprocal gesture to earlier actions by the Sri Lanka Army, cadres of the Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa last Sunday escorted SLA soldiers through areas in which angry Tamil demonstrators had set up road blocks protesting the earlier killings of several civilians by Special Task Force (STF) commandos.
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Evidence of dead witness read out in Mylanthanai massacre

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 October 2002, 19:08 GMT]
The Colombo High Court Judge Mr.S.Sriskandarajah Friday allowed an application in the Mylanthanai massacre case by the prosecution to read out the evidence of two witnesses given in the lower court to the Jury, as these witnesses could not attend court. One of the two witnesses Thavarajah Rajmohan is dead and the other witness Nallammah Nallasekaram has gone abroad and working in Kuwait.
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SLA soldier assaults Vadamaradchy fishermen

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 October 2002, 19:03 GMT]
Two young Tamil fishermen were assaulted by a Sri Lanka Army soldier manning a sentry in the coastal village of Katkovalam in Vadamaradchi, Wednesday night, fisheries co-operative sources said. SLA officials at the 52-4 Brigade apologized to the injured, saying that the said soldier was mentally deranged.
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