SL Tamil refugees rescued at mid-sea

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2002, 14:01 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy Sunday rescued twelve members of three displaced families at midsea west of Mannar and handed them over to the Talaimannar police, sources said. They were returning from Rameswaram in South India after spending twelve years in a refugee camp there. They had left in a boat Saturday midnight on the promise that they would be given safe passage to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. They paid three thousand rupees per head to Indian boatmen as hire. But the boatmen left them on a sandbank in mid-sea around early morning Sunday, sources said.
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Minister Morogoda visits Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2002, 11:31 GMT]
The Minister of Economic Reforms, Mr.Milinda Morogoda accompanied by the Commander of Sri Lanka Army Lt.General Lionel Balagalle and Peace Secretariat Secretary General Mr.Bernard Gunatilake visited Trincomalee Sunday morning and attended a top-level conference at the Police Headquarters. Later in the afternoon the party led by Minister Morogoda held talks with the Tamil National Alliance leader Mr.R.Sampanthan at latter's residence regarding the two LTTE members in remand and six SLA soldiers of the SLA in the custody of the LTTE.
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Islanders' woes addressed in LTTE-SLN discussions

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2002, 11:24 GMT]
A three-hour discussion was held Sunday at Velanai office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission between the Sri Lanka Navy officials and area leaders of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to normalize the situation in Delft, Analaitivu, Nainativu and Eluvaitheivu in Jaffna district, sources said.
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EPDP knifes shopkeeper, Delft tense

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 October 2002, 12:04 GMT]
Tension prevailed in Delft (Neduntheevu) Sunday as locals prevented a paramilitary group working with the Sri Lanka army and Navy from landing on the island southwest of Jaffna. Angry islanders smashed the paramilitary’s office in Delft and set fire to office furniture after armed members of the group knifed a local shopkeeper during an altercation Saturday night. The islanders stoned a boat carrying the paramilitary’s cadres that had tried to go ashore Sunday morning.
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NE observes 15th death anniversary of Pulendran and Kumarappa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 October 2002, 20:42 GMT]
The fifteen-death anniversary of senior commanders of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Lt. Colonel Pulendran and Lt. Colonel Kumarappa and ten other cadres was observed at several places in the northeast province Saturday. Remembrance meeting was held at the mausoleum at Theeruvil, Valvettithurai in Jaffna district where their bodies were buried and at LTTE political office in Trincomalee town.
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‘Punitha Boomi’ Celebrates 10th Anniversary

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 October 2002, 20:25 GMT]
'Punitha Boomi', a boys’ home operating from Oddusuddan in the Vanni region, Saturday celebrated its 10th anniversary. The occasion was also marked by the ceremonial opening of four new halls of residence, a cultural centre, a medical house and an administrative office.
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Jaffna DCC wants North-East governor removed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 October 2002, 20:07 GMT]
The Jaffna District Co-ordinating Committee (JDCC) Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution that the northeast provincial governor Major General (retd) Asoka Jayawardene be removed from the office for failing to co-operate with the local officials in their effort towards development of the district.


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Prosthetic rehabilitation in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 October 2002, 00:37 GMT]
Land mines and aerial bombardment have made hundreds of Tamil civilians disabled. But help for the disabled wasn't immediately forthcoming. Fitting artificial limbs was costly and there was severe shortage of hospitals and medical equipment. The organization, Venpura (White Pigeon), was born to address this need. Following the opening of its first site in Kullapiddy Road, Jaffna in 1994, Venpura has been offering free prosthetic services to people in the NorthEast enabling many to become productive members of the society.
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Police blamed for inaction as Trinco protest turns unruly

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 October 2002, 20:27 GMT]
A general shut down ('hartal') organised by a group of Sinhalese youths setting up roadblocks and burning tyres disrupted the normal life in Trincomalee and its suburbs this Friday. The Hartal was held in support of a sit-in-protest campaign started by relatives of the six soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army now in the custody of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
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Women witnesses give evidence in Mylanthanai massacre case

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 October 2002, 20:21 GMT]
"About 50 Sri Lanka government troops entered our village with arms and started harassing the villagers. On seeing them I started running from my house towards jungle area. I fell on the ground. Some army personnel came to the spot and stabbed my hands with rifle bayonet. When I regained consciousness I saw 10 bodies of our villagers with gunshot and cut injuries," said Ms Sinnathurai Indrakala, 28, giving evidence before Judge Mr.S.Sriskandarajah, Friday, when Mylanthanai massacre case resumed in Colombo High Court.
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Second LTTE convoy uses sea route

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 October 2002, 13:12 GMT]
A large number of Liberation Tigers, escorted by international ceasefire monitors, travelled Thursday from Mullaitivu to the eastern province along the sea route agreed by the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE two months ago. This is the second such convoy to use the route.
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Prelates stress need for patience

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 October 2002, 18:05 GMT]
The prelates of Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters Thursday appealed that every one should act with patience at a time when the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were seriously involved in negotiations to restore peace in the island.
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Saddened that he didn’t join LTTE says PA MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 October 2002, 15:04 GMT]
Mr. V. Puththirasihamani, a leading Tamil trade union leader and MP of President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance said Wednesday that he was saddened that hadn’t joined the Liberation Tigers yet after seeing the violence perpetrated on Jaffna. He was addressing a meeting between the parents and relatives of missing persons in the peninsula and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Human Rights at the Jaffna District Secretariat, Thursday morning.
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LTTE demands release of Tamil political detainees

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 October 2002, 12:21 GMT]
The political wing of the Liberation Tigers Thursday called on the Sri Lankan government of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe to “take urgent and immediate steps” to secure the release of Tamil political detainees who have undertaken a fast unto death since October 1 over their continued incarceration. In a statement issued by its political headquarters in Kilinochchi, the LTTE said the release of the detainees would boost the prevailing atmosphere of peace and goodwill and urged Tamil MPs and human rights groups to take measures to bring this about.
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Mylanthanai massacre accused remanded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 October 2002, 18:00 GMT]
The inquiry into the Mylanthanai massacre case commenced before a Sinhala speaking Jury in the Colombo High Court Wednesday. In this case twenty-one Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have been indicted by the Attorney General on several counts including the murder of thirty-five Tamil civilians. The High Court Judge Mr.S.Sriskandarajah ordered all the accused present in court be kept in remand till the trial is concluded.
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SLN personnel assault two fishermen

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 October 2002, 17:55 GMT]
Two fishermen were severely assaulted by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel Tuesday night when rough sea forced them to drift towards the high security zone of the Kankesanthurai harbour. Anandasivam Sivakaran (24) and Gopalasingham Ravikumar (24) of Supparmadam, Point Pedro, Wednesday morning complained to the Fisheries Co-operative Federation and to Valvettithurai office of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) about the assault.
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LTTE releases one SLA soldier in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 October 2002, 15:11 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Wednesday evening released one of the seven soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army at Kumburupiddy, 22 km north of Trincomalee. The seven SLA soldiers were arrested by the LTTE inside the security zone between two LTTE camps in Kumburupitty last week.
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Action committee demands release of PTA suspects

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 October 2002, 18:47 GMT]
The Action Committee for the Immediate Release of all Political Prisoners (ACIRPP) Tuesday appealed to the Tamil National Alliance to announce its strategy on using its parliamentary strength to expedite the release of all political prisoners.
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Rape case reported to UN official

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 October 2002, 18:43 GMT]
The United Nations Rapporteur on Violence against Women has been informed of the brutal sexual assault and torture on twenty three year old Sathasivam Rathykala, a Batticaloa Tamil woman, by a group of policemen at the Polonaruwa police station on 24.11.2001. A human rights activist and an Attorney-at-Law, Mr.K.Sivapalan, Tuesday sent a copy of the medical report of the Batticaloa Judicial Medical Officer Dr.S.Chandrapalan in this regard to UN Rapporteur Ms Radhika Kumarasamy for further action.


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New Tamil daily launched in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 October 2002, 14:52 GMT]
A new Tamil daily newspaper, Namathu Eelanadu, hit the stands in Jaffna Tuesday. With the arrival of Eelanadu, readers in the northern peninsula will have four daily papers to provide them news and views. The paper’s editor Mr. Sivasubramaniam Raguram, said that Eelanadu will be published on the web too. Jaffna has one of the oldest and richest regional newspaper publishing traditions in South Asia.
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