Tamil Organisations condemn killings

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 20:47 GMT]
"Judicial investigation should be held into the killings of innocent Tamils at Kanchirankuda in Ampara district and at Abeyapura in Trincomalee and culprits should be brought to book without delay," said the Humanitarian Agencies Consortium in Killinochchi in memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister and Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Saturday.
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Civilians’ funerals to be held Sunday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 20:33 GMT]
The bodies of the three Tamil civilians killed in Friday’s gun and grenade attacks in Abeypura will be kept at the Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall in front of Trincomalee harbour from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to allow people to pay their respects, sources said Saturday. Parliamentarians from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are expected to deliver eulogies. The funeral procession will commence at 3 p.m. to the Hindu cemetery.
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LTTE, Sri Lanka military meet over civilian deaths

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 20:17 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Saturday requested international ceasefire monitors to take immediate action against those responsible for Friday's gun and grenade attack on Tamil civilians in Trincomalee and demanded Sri Lankan military commanders take steps to prevent future attacks on civilians.
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STF atrocities intended to scuttle peace – Karuna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 11:16 GMT]
“The peace talks in Thailand have created confidence among our fighters and our people. In this context, the actions of the STF are aimed at scuttling the peace talks. Our people have faith in future negotiations. But the STF’s atrocities are sowing doubts and confusion in their minds. However, we are observing the ceasefire with vigilance according to the instructions of our national leader,” Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers in charge of the Batticaloa Ampara districts, told Maj. Gen. (ret) Trond Furhovde, the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.
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Hartal in northeast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 09:03 GMT]
Shops remained closed and streets were deserted in all the towns in the northeast as a general shut down ('hartal') was observed in protest at the attacks on Tamil civilians in Trincomalee and Kanchirankuda. Black flags were hoisted on shops, houses and at public places. Burning tyres were seen on main roads, sources in several north-eastern towns said.
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Research Farm charts region's agricultural future

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 04:07 GMT]
A few miles east of Kilinochchi town lies Vattakkatchi which is the site of a sprawling Agricultural Research Farm covering hundreds of acres. Here, bright minds are at work charting the future of small scale industries and agricultural development of the North East region.
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Service Chiefs, SLMM visit Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 October 2002, 19:15 GMT]
The heads of three State armed forces and the Inspector General of Police are scheduled to visit Trincomalee Saturday to review the security situation in the wake of Friday violence in which three Tamil civilians were killed and thirty-eight others were wounded, defence ministry sources said. The Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General (retd) Trond Furuhovde also is expected to visit the east port town Saturday, SLMM sources said.
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TNA: Sri Lankan forces unwilling to protect Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 October 2002, 15:18 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance Friday blamed the gun and grenade attacks on Tamil civilians in Trincomalee which left three people dead and over thirty wounded on "lawless elements" from the Sinhala community. In a statement, the TNA said the Sri Lankan armed forces, which are predominately Sinhala, "lack the will and capacity to provide security to the Tamil people."
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Amparai hartal continues

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 October 2002, 09:20 GMT]
A general strike (hartal) is being observed in Ampara for the second day in protest against the killing of seven Tamil protestors by Special Task Force (STF) commandos on Wednesday at a violent demonstration at the STF camp in Kanjirankudah, sources said Friday.
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Premier to act after 3 Tamil civilian deaths

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 October 2002, 09:01 GMT]
Three Tamil civilians were killed and about twenty others were wounded, eight critically, in Trincomalee Friday in firing and grenade attacks blamed on Sri Lankan police and Sinhala paramilitaries. The killings occurred amid calls for a general shut down (hartal) in the east port town condemning the killings Wednesday of seven Tamil demonstrators by Special Task Force commandos in Ampara district.
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Curfew clamped down in Trincomalee town following violence

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 October 2002, 06:06 GMT]
Trincomalee town has been put under 18-hour curfew with immediate effect from Friday till Saturday morning 6 a.m. on reports of violence following a general shut down (Hartal) called by Tamil Organizations Federation (TOF).
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NE observes fifteenth-death anniversary of 2nd Lt Malathi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 October 2002, 19:48 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Thursday observed the fifteenth death anniversary of 2nd. Lt.Malathi, the first LTTE woman fighter, as the Thamileelam Women Upsurge Day in the Northeast province with rallies, public meetings and other cultural activities.
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TNA condemns Kanchirankuda killings, demands STF withdrawal

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 October 2002, 14:02 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday strongly condemned the attack by the Special Task Force (STF) on unarmed Tamil civilians at Kanchirankuda in Thirukovil area of the Amparai district . “We suspect that this was a deliberate attempt to disrupt the peace process,” said Mr.R.Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance parliamentary group in a statement issued to the press Thursday.
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STF fire on demonstration - 5 killed, 15 wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 October 2002, 18:06 GMT]
Five civilians were killed and fifteen were wounded when commandos of the Special Task Force, an elite wing of the Sri Lankan armed forces, opened fire on a public protest at Kanjirankudah, 84 kilometres south of Batticaloa, around 6.30 p.m. Wednesday. The shooting followed tension in Tamil areas in Sri Lanka’s southeastern coast after word spread that two members of the Liberation Tigers were severely assaulted by the STF and had been admitted to hospital.
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NE protests in support of fasting PTA suspects

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 October 2002, 17:26 GMT]
Token hunger strikes, boycott of classes and rallies were held in Northeast province Tuesday in support of the fast unto death campaign by the Tamil political prisoners now under detention at Kalutara, Welikada and other prisons in the country.
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TNA presses PM for immediate action on prisoner release

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 October 2002, 17:24 GMT]
The adjournment motion moved by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in parliament regarding the hunger strike of Tamil political prisoners that has entered eighth day would be taken up for debate pending on the outcome of the top-level talks the TNA parliamentarians are scheduled to have Wednesday with the Prime Minister (PM) and the Attorney General, sources said. Tamil political prisoners detained at Welikada, Kalutara and other prisons are on hunger strike since October 1 demanding their immediate release.
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CA enlarges LTTE members on bail

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 October 2002, 13:22 GMT]
The Court of Appeal (CA) Tuesday ordered bail for two members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who were arrested by the Kantalai Police and remanded by the Trincomalee Magistrate.
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Bishop pleads for Tamil political prisoners' release

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2002, 20:33 GMT]
Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph Bishop of Mannar made an urgent appeal to Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe Monday immediate action is required to save fasting Tamil political prisoners from death. The Bishop said that he visited the Kalutara prison Sunday and that condition of the fasting prisoners is deteriorating rapidly. “Fourteen have become unconscious, forty seven have vomited blood and the rest I saw sitting or lying, most of them senseless”, the Mannar Bishop said.
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TNA calls for Hartal in NE

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2002, 20:11 GMT]
Human rights lawyers, NGO activists and leaders of the Tamil National Alliance resolved in Colombo Monday evening to step up action on several fronts to persuade the Sri Lankan government to release Tamil political prisoners who have been languishing in the island’s jails for many years. Mr. N. Sri Kantha, speaking on behalf of the TNA after an urgent meeting convened Monday to discuss the fast deteriorating condition of the fasting prisoners, told Tamilnet that a general shut down all over the northeast would be called for on Friday 11 October.
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Detainees reject appeal to call off fast

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2002, 17:35 GMT]
The Tamil political prisoners detained at Kalutara prison Monday rejected offers made by two cabinet ministers of the United National Front (UNF) government to call off their seven-day hunger strike, prison sources said.
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