Town mourns as slain MP is buried

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2000, 17:53 GMT]
The funeral of slain TULF MP for Batticaloa, Nimalan Soundaranayagam took place at the Methodist burial ground in his native town of Morokkottaanchenai, in Batticaloa at 5 p.m. Friday.
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Justice demanded in Bindunuwewa massacre

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2000, 11:22 GMT]
The Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) has requested the President of Sri Lanka and her government to bring to justice those responsible for planning, instigating and carrying out the Bindunuwewa massacre, including those who were responsible for the poster campaign prior to the event.
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President urges unity against terrorism

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2000, 01:17 GMT]
(News Feature) Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunge told Parliament Thursday that she was prepared to talk to the Liberation Tigers about a solution to the island’s conflict within the limits of a united Sri Lanka, but said the war “against terrorism” would continue. Addressing Sri Lanka’s newly formed Parliament, she said that “military action against terrorists”, along with her proposed constitutional reforms and the forming of “national unity” was part of her government’s strategy to solve the island’s ethnic conflict. “It is our expectation to finish this war very soon,” she said.
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State of Emergency extended

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2000, 16:07 GMT]
A motion extending the state of emergency by a further month was approved in Parliament Thursday by a majority of 98 votes. 113 parliamentarians of the ruling Peoples' Alliance voted for the motion. 15 voted against it. MPs of the TULF, JVP, TELO and the All Ceylon Tamil Congress voted against the motion.
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Friday funeral for slain MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2000, 23:21 GMT]
The funeral of slain Batticaloa parliamentarian Nimalan Soundaranayagam, of the Tamil United Liberation Front will take place at Morokkottaanchenai burial ground on Friday evening, party officials said.
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TULF condemns Soundaranayagam killing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2000, 15:32 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) has condemned the killing of Batticaloa District Parliamentarian Nimalan Soundaranayagam as a "senseless murder" and appealed for an end to all violence, which they say only makes the search for a peaceful political solution to the Tamil question even more complex and difficult.
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Police officer wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2000, 15:30 GMT]
A police intelligence officer was shot and wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire at Kalmunaikudi, south of Batticaloa around 5.30 p.m. Wednesday, police sources said.
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Batticaloa MP shot dead

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 November 2000, 13:53 GMT]
Mr.Aslie Nimalan Soundaranayagam (50), a Member of Parliament of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was shot dead Tuesday at 6pm at Kiran in the eastern province while he was travelling on a motor cycle with one of his party supporters, said sources. Uniformed men were seen in the vicinity of the incident according to residents.
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Solheim briefs Kumaratunga on Prabaharan meet

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 November 2000, 14:40 GMT]
Norway's special envoy Erik Solheim had a two-hour meeting with the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga Friday night to apprise her about the discussion he had with the LTTE leader, V.Pirapaharan at Mallavi in the Vanni on Wednesday.
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Demonstrators protest in Kaluwankerny

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 November 2000, 18:52 GMT]
About 500 villagers demonstrated in Kaluwankerny, about 20 km. north of Batticaloa, protesting against the massacre of Tamil detainees at Bandarawela detention centre last week and the slaying of Jaffna based journalist Nimalarajan.
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Families of murdered farmers suffering

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 November 2000, 13:12 GMT]
The families of seven Tamil farmers killed by Sinhalese home guards in Eeachilampathai AGA division last month have appealed to the government authorities for financial aid. The families from the Muttur area, south of Trincomalee town, are undergoing undue hardship due to the loss of the family breadwinner, according to the appeal.
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Tigers seek "normalcy in Tamil areas"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 November 2000, 17:20 GMT]
Norway's Special envoy Mr.Eric Solheim who returned from Vanni after meeting the leader of the Liberation Tigers, V.Pirapaharan told journalists in Colombo Thursday that the LTTE had not laid down any precondition to begin talks with the Sri Lankan Government. He said the LTTE leader brought to the notice of the Norway's delegation that the Tamil areas the island was suffering under the economic embargo imposed by the Sri Lankan government and that he wanted quick return of normalcy in the northeast, Mr.Solheim said.
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Early international involvement in massacre inquiry urged

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 November 2000, 16:46 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) has told the Minister of Justice that it is only the very early active involvement of neutral independent international investigators that can ensure a credible investigative process into the Bandarawela-Bindunuwewa massacre.
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CTTU requests meeting with Education Minister

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 November 2000, 16:39 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) has sought an interview with the new Minister of Education to discuss problems faced by Tamil medium students and teachers before 15th of November.
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Norway meets LTTE in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 November 2000, 16:32 GMT]
A delegation of the Norwegian government met with the leader of the Liberation Tigers, Mr.Velupillai Pirapaharan, and other LTTE officials in the Vanni this week, the organisation said Wednesday in a statement from its London offices. The discussions, described as "cordial and constructive" covered "several pertinent issues" including the issue of political negotiations, statement said.
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Hills said quiet, tense

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2000, 17:14 GMT]
Shops and schools remained closed and there was little traffic on the main roads in Sri Lanka's tea producing Nuwara Eliya district as thousands of Tamil plantation workers went on strike. The Sri Lankan government Tuesday cancelled all leave for Police personnel in view of the situation. Meanwhile, one person was reported killed and another critically injured when the Police opened fire on a group of Tamils in Boralanda town in the Haputale area Monday evening and arrested eighteen of them.
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Four more bodies identified

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2000, 13:32 GMT]
The bodies of four detainees killed in the Bandarawela massacre were identified Tuesday morning at Colombo National Hospital. They were named as Kokulamani Sajeewan of Kallady, Batticaloa, Perinpanayagam Nimlaraj of Batticaloa, Somasuntharam Sellarasa and Sivan Kubendran of Arayampathi. All bodies were found to be in a highly decomposed state, hospital sources said.
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Trouble flares at Batticaloa protest

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2000, 13:30 GMT]
There were clashes with Sri Lankan security forces Tuesday as undergraduates, lecturers and non-academic staff of the East University went on a picketing campaign blocking all traffic between Batticaloa and Valaichchenai main road condemning the massacre of Tamil detainees at Bandarawela-Bindunuwewa rehabilitation center on October 25 and demanding the immediate release of Mr.P.Chandrasekaram Parliamentarian and the Leader of the Upcountry People's Front who is now in police custody in Colombo.
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US Congressmen condemn prison massacre

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2000, 01:44 GMT]
Congressmen Benjamin Gilman, Sherrod Brown and Brad Shermen, in a letter addressed to the Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, urged her to "register her concern with the Government of Sri Lanka regarding the brutal murder of 24 Tamil prisoners" and "to support an independent and international inquiry." They further asked the Secretary to "urge the Sri Lankan Government to release all Tamil prisoners who are being held in custody without being charged with a crime."
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Mob attacks continue in Nuwara Eliya

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 October 2000, 16:19 GMT]
An second, 24 hour curfew was declared in several towns in the Nuwara Eliya district, about 100 km. east of Colombo, as communal violence against the Tamils continued for a second day. Sinhalese thugs set fire to twenty shops belonging to Tamils in Ginigathhena Monday afternoon, and fourteen people were injured in the riots, said sources.
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