SLFP, UNP exchange rights accusations

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
During the adjournment debate on alleged mass graves in Chemmani in the Sri Lankan Parliament, both main Sinhala mainstream parties, the UNP and the SLFP, attacked each other for human rights violations in their respective terms in office, said sources.
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Tamil parties remember Black July

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Three Tamil political parties in Batticaloa issued a statement yesterday, requesting the public to observe three days, July 25 - 27, as days of mourning in memory of the race riots of 'Black July' 1983, said sources in Batticaloa.
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Uncertainty over journalists' arrests

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Officials from the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID), of the Sri Lankan Police have said that the two Tamil journalists who were recently taken into custody were arrested for reasons not related to their work, said sources.
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Tension ahead of Black July anniversary

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Security has been tightened in the northern town of Jaffna with increased search operations being carried out by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), as the 15th anniversary of 'Black July' approaches said sources in Jaffna. Road checks by the SLA have also been increased during the last few days, they added.
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TELO member fills vacancy

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
S. Sivajilingam, Leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) has been appointed to the Valvettithurai (VVT) Pradeshiya Sabha (PS), the local council, in place of a member of the council who had not taken oaths, said sources in Jaffna.
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Another journalist arrested

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Mr. P Manikkavasagam, a senior journalist with the Veerakesari newspaper was arrested by the Sri Lankan police in Vavuniya, according to his family. No reason had been given for the arrest, they added. Mr. Manikkavasagam is the second reporter from the Tamil language Veerakesari to be arrested in the past week.
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Vavuniya MP's funeral held

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The funeral of Vavuniya Parliamentarian, Mr. S.Shanmuganathan (PLOTE), and his son who were killed in a land mine attack on Wednesday was held in the Vavuniya Kovilkulam cremation ground last evening.
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Propaganda via Soap Opera

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
If there ever was a television serial crafted to have partisan political appeal, "Yuga Vilakkuwa", telecast over Sri Lanka's state owned Rupavahini, Saturday evenings, fits the bill eminently.
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Development meeting

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Government Agents (GAs) of the five districts of northern Sri Lanka, met with N. Obadage, the Chairman of the Relief and Rehabilitation Authority of the North (RRAN), in Trincomalee today, to brief him on the projects earmarked in their districts for financial assistance from the Australian Government, said sources in Trincomalee.
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Police raid nets suicide kits - paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The police Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) yesterday, raided a grocery store in Kochchikade, Colombo, and found a cache of three suicide kits, each containing plastic explosives, four batteries and a detonator reported the state run Daily News today.
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PLOTE leader blames Tigers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Leader of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Mr. T. Siddarthan, blamed the Liberation Tigers for the killing of group's parliamentarian for the Vavuniya district, Mr. Saravanapavananthan Shanmuganathan, 36, yesterday.
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Investigation demanded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Tamil political parties and human rights groups have urged the Sri Lankan government to excavate the alleged mass graves in Chemmani in Jaffna in the presence of representatives of the public where between 300 and 400 Tamils are believed to have been buried.
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Journalist arrested

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
At around 8.30 p.m. today, Mr. Gajan, a journalist with the 'Veerakesari', the Tamil daily with largest circulation in the island, was taken from the paper's offices for interrogation by officials from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Colombo.
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Vavuniya MP killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Mr. S. Shanmuganathan, also known as Vasanthan, parliamentarian for the Vavuniya district representing the Democratic People's Liberation Front (DPLF), was killed along with five others when a claymore mine exploded under the van they were travelling in at Irambaikkulam, 2 km east of Vavuniya around 10.00 today, said police sources.
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Eight killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) handed over the bodies of four fishermen with gunshot injuries to the Valaichchenai hospital, 32 km. north of Batticaloa, said ex-militant sources in Europe when contacted by TamilNet. The bodies had recovered by the SLA from the Kinnaiyadi lagoon Sunday morning, they said.
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Tigers overrun camp

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) overran joint camp of the Sri Lankan Army and Police at Poovarasantheevu in the Trincomalee district yesterday around 10.45 p.m., said sources close to the LTTE in Europe.
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Tamil parties seek meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan Tamil parties have expressed their wish to meet the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to discuss issues related to the island's ethnic conflict, when he visits Sri Lanka to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Co- operation (SAARC) summit at the end of this month.
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Two policemen killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two Sri Lankan policemen were killed at a checkpoint in Valaichenai, 32 km north of Batticaloa, when suspected Liberation Tigers drove up in an auto-rickshaw and opened fire around 9:00 a.m. yesterday, said ex-militant sources in Europe when contacted by TamilNet.
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Appointments to Jaffna local bodies

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) has appointed 80 persons as substitutes to the members of the local bodies in the Jaffna peninsula whose seats were rendered vacant because they failed to take the oath of office within three months of local government elections, said sources in Jaffna.
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Shot youth was civilian - Magistrate

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
K. Thiyagarajah, Acting Magistrate, Batticaloa, pronounced that Nallaratnam Yoganathan (22), who was killed in the crossfire between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an incident on Thursday at Valaichenai, was a civilian, contrary to SLA's claim that he was an member of the LTTE, said ex-militant sources in Europe, quoting legal sources.
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