Search operation in Nuwara Eliya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 1999, 23:01 GMT]
At least 50 Tamil youths have been arrested during a cordon and search operation by the Sri Lankan Police in the hill town of Nuwara Eliya, about 90 km. east of Colombo, this morning.
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Batticaloa MP raises Rights question

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 1999, 15:13 GMT]
Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Member of Parliament for the Batticaloa district has complained to the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission that the detention of a person at a police station for more than two months is a violation of human rights.
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PLOTE leader admits to past mistakes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 1999, 15:11 GMT]
Mr.Dharmalingam Siddharthan, the leader of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and a Member of Parliament for Vanni district yesterday admitted the moral responsibility for the mistakes made by his group, in the past.
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Transport restriction hits villagers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 October 1999, 11:15 GMT]
(News Feature) More than twenty thousand people in the coastal areas north of Mannar are facing starvation due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) restrictions on food and medicine and transport to this area according to refugees from Vidaththalthivu who arrived on Thursday (September 30) in Pallimunai near Mannar town.
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Soldiers harass widow, daughter - MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 1999, 13:25 GMT]
Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham, MP for the Batticaloa District appealed to the Sri Lankan government authorities yesterday, to safeguard a Tamil widow and her teenage daughter of Peythaalai in the Valachchenai area from being sexually harassed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers.
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Religious leaders allay villagers' fears

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 September 1999, 15:54 GMT]
Catholic and Buddhist priests visited villages in the borders between Tamil and Sinhala areas today to console residents fearful of attack by other communities in revenge for the Puthukukiyiruppu and Konavila incidents, said sources.
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Tigers slam rejection of mediation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 September 1999, 13:12 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers today condemned the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministers rejection of international mediation to resolve the island's ethnic conflict and said it reflected the "narrow, intransigent and uncompromising attitude" of the government.
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120 PLOTE cadres face arrest

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 1999, 18:39 GMT]
Rupavahini, the Sri Lankan state television, said in its evening news telecast that the Sri Lankan security forces in Vavuniya have taken measures to arrest about 120 armed cadres of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam who are suspected to be hiding in the jungle of Aasikulam.
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Tigers warn paramilitary groups

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 1999, 07:14 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers yesterday called on the cadres and supporters of the Tamil paramilitary groups operating alongside the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to desist from actions "detrimental to the Tamil people"
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New homeguard units raised

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 September 1999, 07:12 GMT]
Measures to enrol youth to homeguard units in Vavuniya have been taken in order to safeguard Sinhala civilians in the villages bordering Tamil and Sinhala areas, said sources.
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Attack on MP’s house repulsed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 September 1999, 12:54 GMT]
An attack by unidentified gunmen on the Police unit guarding the residence of V.Balachandran MP, for the Vanni district, was repulsed at about 11 pm last night, said Police sources.
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Convoy attack kills 20

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 1999, 14:12 GMT]
Twenty Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and 27 others wounded when the vehicle in which they were traveling was hit by a claymore mine blast around noon today in Batticaloa town. SLA soldiers fired indiscriminately, wounding two civilians, sources said.
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Communal tension before massacre - Bishop

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 September 1999, 10:34 GMT]
The anti- Tamil and Muslim propaganda conducted by the Sinhala Veera Vithane, a Sinhala extremist organisation in the Ampara district could have contributed to inflaming communal tensions ahead of the massacre of civilians in the border villages last weekend, the Bishop of Trincomalee and Batticaloa, Rt.Rev.Kingsley Swampillai said yesterday.
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Tamil Bishops urge peace talks

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 1999, 13:27 GMT]
The Bishop of the Batticaloa-Trincomalee diocese Rt.Rev. Kingsley Swampillai who returned yesterday after a visit to the Vanni said that the Liberation Tigers denied reports that they were responsible for the massacre of Sinhala civilians in the Ampara district on September 18. The Bishops of the Tamil dioceses of Sri Lanka, Rt.Rev.Thomas Savundaranayagam (Jaffna), Rt.Rev.Rayappu Joseph (Mannar) and Rt.Rev. Swampillai (Batticaloa-Trincomalee) went to the Vanni on Monday Sept.20.
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35 arrests in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 September 1999, 10:34 GMT]
35 Tamils were arrested at Pettah area in Colombo this morning in two separate search operations conducted by the Police.
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PLOTE military leader under investigation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 1999, 13:18 GMT]
K.Chanthirakulasingam alias Mohan, former Vice Chairman of the Vavuniya Urban Council has been appointed as the Vavuniya District Organiser for the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).
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Amnesty condemns Amparai killings

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 1999, 21:24 GMT]
Amnesty International Monday condemned the killing of more than 50 Sinhalese civilians in a predawn raid on three villages in the Amparai district. In a statement issued today, Amnesty said the Liberation Tigers might have carried out the attack in retaliation for the deaths of 22 Tamil civilians at Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu district, in a bombing raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) on 15 September.
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Massive search operation in Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 1999, 06:47 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police arrested more than 500 Tamil youth during a massive cordon and search operation in the Mannar town which began around 9 a.m. this morning. The boys and girls were detained for questioning said the Mannar TamilNet correspondent.
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Kalutara prisoners fast continues

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 1999, 16:29 GMT]
The condition of three Tamil political prisoners who are on a protest fast in the Kalutara maximum security prison 43 km. south of Colombo is serious said sources.
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Vehicle accident injures STF women

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 1999, 14:36 GMT]
A truck taking 35 women Special Task Force personnel for special army training met with an accident at Mangalagama in the Ampara district this afternoon. 20 women STF personnel were seriously wounded. Others received minor injuries.
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