"Attacks on LTTE premeditated" -TULF

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 20:16 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front Sunday appealed to the United National Front government to conduct an impartial inquiry into the attacks on Liberation Tiger leaders at Velanai in Jaffna district and the Mutur political office of the LTTE in Trincomalee district and to bring the culprits before the court of law. The central working committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front, main constituent of the Tamil National Alliance, which met Sunday, passed a resolution vehemently condemning these attacks. "These attacks on Liberation Tigers should be considered not only as cease-fire violations but also to be viewed as a premeditated action to derail the peace process by provoking the Liberation Tigers to react," said the resolution.
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New TNA national list MP from Muttur east

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 20:12 GMT]
The central working committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front Sunday unanimously decided to appoint Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham from Mutur-east as its National List parliamentarian to fill the vacancy created by the demise of late leader Mr. Murugesu Sivasithambaram. The Secretary General of the TULF Mr.R.Sampanthan will inform the decision of the party to the Speaker of the parliament next week, party sources said.
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US urges ceasefire implementation followed by talks

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 07:58 GMT]
(News Feature) The United States' Ambassador to Sri Lanka said his government urges a negotiated settlement to the island's ethnic conflict and said the Tamil people have "legitimate grievances about the way that they have been treated in this country." Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Mr. Ashley Wills said: "We agree with [Sri Lanka's policy of talking to the LTTE], and that we don't see a military solution to the conflict. We do see a political solution." Calling on the LTTE to renounce its armed struggle, the Ambassador expressed confidence the LTTE wanted to participate in talks.
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Monitoring chief to visit as SLMC urges calm

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 01:34 GMT]
The head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General Trond Furuhovde is scheduled to visit Trincomalee by next week urgently to sort out two major complaints - including an attack on the Liberation Tigers' office in Mutur allegedly by Muslim militants - and some other matters pertaining to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, SLMM sources said. Sri Lanka's largest Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), said "sinister elements" were seeking to forment communal strife and urged calm.
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'Poverty alleviation program neglects Tamil poor in Trinco' -TRO

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 June 2002, 23:15 GMT]
A large number of Tamil people in Mutur East, in the Trincomalee district, live under the poverty line; they eat yams and green leaves in their areas, and malnutrition has affected many pregnant women and children, but their needs have been neglected by the government, according to Mr.S.Kumaragurparan, Secretary of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).
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LTTE blames SLN for sabotaging peace efforts

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2002, 22:35 GMT]
The Jaffna district political unit of the Liberation Tigers Friday issued a statement condemning the brutal attack carried out jointly by the Sri Lanka Navy and the para military group Eelam People's Democratic Party.
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'Velanai attack an attempt to derail peace process' - TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2002, 22:34 GMT]
"The Tamil National Alliance views the Velanai attack on Liberation Tigers political activists by the Sri Lanka Navy and some men wearing masks as an attempt to derail the peace process and to disrupt the implementation of the ceasefire agreement," said TNA parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan in a statement issued Friday night.
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Colombo to recruit 1600 for STF

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2002, 17:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Minister for Interior, Mr. John Amaratunga, told troops frontline in Mannar Thursday that his government will recruit 1600 to the Special Task Force (STF), the elite counter insurgency arm of the island's military. Speaking among STF commandos and military trained Policemen manning forward defences on the border separating the Vanni region held by the Liberation Tigers at Kannatti, Mr. Amaratunga dismissed rumours that Colombo intends to downsize the elite counter insurgency force.
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Paramilitary, Navy assault LTTE political worker

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2002, 12:01 GMT]
A group of armed persons suspected to be troopers of the Sri Lanka Navy and cadres of a paramilitary group working with it in the islands off Jaffna assaulted and attempted to abduct the head of the Liberation Tigers' political division in Kayts, Mr.Semmanan, Thursday night, LTTE sources in Jaffna said. The armed persons had attempted to force Mr. Semmanan into a vehicle at the 'Bus Company' near the Velanai junction Thursday night around 9.15 p.m.
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Sri Lanka to expand paramilitary auxiliaries

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2002, 10:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka's government said this week that paramilitary forces working alongside the military in the eastern province are to be expanded. The home guards will be given additional training and the force will be expanded from its current strength of 23,000 members, Interior Minister John Amaratunga said Monday.
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Jaffna humanitarian agencies slam Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 June 2002, 16:17 GMT]
The Council of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) in Jaffna Thursday slammed the Sri Lankan government for ignoring the plight of thousands who want to resettle in their villages in the northern peninsula. "In Jaffna, restoring normalcy as promised in the cease-fire agreement means the resettlement of internally displaced people.
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Fishermenís pass restriction to stay

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 June 2002, 01:28 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Navy has refused to implement an agreement on passes for Tamil fishermen announced after a recent conference between the latter's representatives and the Defence Ministry officials in Colombo, sources said.
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Tamils, Sinhalese welcome LTTE in Nainativu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 June 2002, 22:38 GMT]
Tamil residents of Nainativu and Sinhalese who are there on pilgrimage gave a rousing welcome to the Liberation Tigers when they entered Nainativu Wednesday. The Liberation Tigers began political activities in Nainativu, one of the main islands off the Jaffna peninsula, Wednesday.
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TRO assists resettlement in Kanniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 June 2002, 20:17 GMT]
The Trincomalee branch of Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), Wednesday handed over a cheque for fifty thousand rupees to Swami Sugasthanandaji to facilitate the resettlement of displaced Tamil families in and around Kanniya village by constructing resting hall ('madam').
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"cease-fire agreement has not conferred normalcy on Tamils in northeast" -TNA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 June 2002, 19:24 GMT]
"The cease-fire agreement signed by the government with the Liberation Tigers 120 days ago, has not yet conferred on all the Tamil people of the Northeast all the freedoms to carry on a normal life, freedoms that have been conferred on all other people in all parts of the country, including the Northeast," the Tamil National Alliance delegation Wednesday told the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe at a conference held at the parliament complex.
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'Thiriyai destruction deliberate' - Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 June 2002, 15:47 GMT]
"The destruction of the Thiriyai Tamil village appears to have been deliberate: there were no attacks and counter attacks in the village in the course of which the destruction could have occurred. The destruction has also been total. Such a deliberate attack should have had a clear objective. It appears to me that the objective was to prevent the displaced Tamil people returning to Thiriyai," Mr.R.Sampanthan, TNA parliamentarian from Trincomalee, told the Prime Minister Wednesday morning at a discussion between the delegations of the TNA and the United National Front government.
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JVP opposes lifting LTTE ban

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 June 2002, 02:41 GMT]
Thousands of the public and supporters of the Sinhala nationalist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna demonstrated in downtown Colombo Wednesday against lifting the ban on the Liberation Tigers and granting them the interim administration of the northeastern province. The protestors, including Buddhist monks, held up placards and shouted slogans against granting Tamils the right to self-determination.
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Tigers begin political work in Delft

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 June 2002, 19:56 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Tuesday entered the islet of Delft in the Jaffna district for political work. A large number of residents gathered to receive the Tiger cadres, who were led by the head of the LTTE's political section in Delft, Mr.Kannan.
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"End discrimination against Tamils in education" -CTTU

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 June 2002, 19:14 GMT]
The Ministry of Education under the United National Front (UNF) government continues the discrimination of Tamil people in the sphere of education, the Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) has told an advisor to the Prime Minister (PM).
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Tigers start political work in Jaffna islands

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 June 2002, 20:32 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers began political work in the islands of Jaffna Monday amid objections and hindrances by the Sri Lanka Navy. They were delayed at Allaipitti, the main entry point to the islands when the Sri Lanka Navy objected to the LTTE's women fighters wearing belts and refused to let them pass. The public welcomed the Tigers near the entry point when the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission resolved the issue.
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