Arms cache found

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Weapons and ammunition were discovered buried behind the Mandresa Roman Catholic Church retreat in the outskirts of Batticaloa town by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Batticaloa police on Friday evening, said police sources in Batticaloa.
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Policemen extort money from lodging residents

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two inebriated policemen who extorted money at knife-point at two lodging houses in Mannar on Friday evening, were arrested on the orders of the Magistrate of Mannar, said sources in Mannar.
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Doyen of Sinhala nationalism passes away

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Gamani Jayasuriya, an ardent Sinhala nationalist and controversial politician died today. He was 74. He was Minister of Agriculture in J R Jayewardena's 1977 Cabinet from which he resigned in 1987, protesting against the Indo-Lanka Accord. Gamani Jayasuriya was also a stout champion of Buddhism and associated with many organisations such as the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress.
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Closed hospital awaits opening

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Siththa-Ayurveda Hospital (Siththa-Ayurvda is a system of indigenous medicine popular among the Tamils) at Mamunai 36 km north-east of Jaffna in an LTTE controlled area, has not been reopened after it was closed when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied the Jaffna peninsula, said sources in Jaffna.
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Eastern colonisation ongoing- UNP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A massive illegal colonisation of Sinhalese sponsored by the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party is taking place in the Trincomalee district said UNP sources in the eastern port town today.
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Doctor harrased mother - Red Cross official

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sivanthan Kishore, Secretary of the Vavuniya branch of the Red Cross Society, has informed the Sri Lankan medical authorities of an incident where a Sinhalese doctor at Anuradhapura hospital had accused a Tamil woman named Arulrani (31) of working for the Liberation Tigers. Arulrani had brought her year old child for treatment at the hospital.
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SLA deserters abscond again

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two soldiers from a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp in Vavuniya who hijacked a three wheeler taxi on April 22 at Pattaanichoodu, 10 km west of Vavuniya, were arrested by the Neeriyakulam police at Neeriyakulam on the Chettikulam- Madwachchi road, while trying to escape, said sources in Vavuniya.
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SLA soldiers clash

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
One SLA soldier, Madduma Bandara, was killed and another, W. J Niroshan, was injured when two groups of military personnel from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) clashed at Pallappai 18 km north of Jaffna at 2:45 a.m. today, said sources in Jaffna. The injured was removed to Mandikai Base Hospital, said sources.
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Arrests follow postal strike

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Three of the ten Sri Lankan postal trade union leaders arrested by the Police last night as the Sri Lankan government declared the postal service an essential service were interrogated today by the Criminal Investigation Department. The other leaders are being held at different Police stations for security reasons said Police sources.
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Inaugural JMC meeting planned

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The inaugural meeting of the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) will be held today at the Nallur Hindu Hostel premises in the Jaffna town, presided over by Jaffna Mayor Sarojini Yogeswaran. The Democratic Peoples' Liberation Front (DPLF), the principal party in opposition in the JMC, is expected to put up 10 proposals for consideration by the Council today.
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Kalutara prison inquiry concludes

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The inquiry into the death of two Tamil and one Muslim detainees - Shanmugarajah Sivanesan, Mutthulingam Dharamalingam and Mohammed Jehan - at the Kalutara prison on December 12, 1997 was concluded yesterday. The Commission of Inquiry appointed by Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga, was headed by High Court judge Raja Fernando and comprised two others.
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Investigations should be made public: Amnesty

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Amnesty International, the human rights organisation said on April 23, that the Government of Sri Lanka should promptly make public and disseminate widely, the findings of an investigation into more than 700 "disappearances" reported in 1996 in Jaffna.
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Acrimony at inaugural JMC meeting

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Today's inaugural meeting of the newly elected Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC), which began with solemn requests for a non-partisan approach to resolve the problems of the people and for Jaffna's long term economic development, soon slipped into an acrimonious trading of words between the party holding office, and the principal party in opposition, said sources in Jaffna.
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Vakarai denied dry rations

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Almost 7000 families in Vakarai, 60 km north of Batticaloa, which is under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have not received their quota of dry rations issued by the Sri Lanka Government from December last year, due to an order issued by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that rations should not be transported to Vakarai, said sources in Valaichenai.
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NGO calls for Peace Task Force

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Movement for Justice, Peace and National Reconciliation, an NGO of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, called on the Sri Lankan government today to establish a bipartisan peace task force to negotiate with the Liberation Tigers.
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Villagers protest over forcible eviction

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Between 500 and 1000 persons, forcibly evicted by the Sri Lankan army from Upparu, 15 km south of Trincomalee, staged a token fast at the nearby village of Aalenkerni today, between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. with the support of the Eelam Peoples' Democratic Party (EPDP), according to sources.
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Daughter witnesses mother's murder

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Theiventhiram Sakunthala (44), recently widowed and mother of five children, was shot dead in the presence of her second daughter Wajanthi, by an officer of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) last night 7.45 p.m., said sources in Jaffna.
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Tigers attack police patrol

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Seven Sri Lankan Policemen were killed last night around 10.30 p.m. in Kalmunai in the Ampara district when suspected members of the Liberation Tigers lobbed two grenades into their jeep. Two policemen were wounded in the explosion.
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Tamper proof cards for Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Reading out the PA government's position at today's adjournment debate in the Sri Lankan Parliament moved by the TULF on the indiscriminate mass arrests of Tamils in Colombo and other parts of the island, Deputy Minister for Finance Prof. G.L Pieris said that Tamils who are not permanent residents of Colombo will be issued with special tamper proof identity cards to prevent problems.
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India expresses interest and concern

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Mr. Nagendranath Jha, formerly India's High Commissioner in Sri Lanka and currently a senior advisor to the BJP government, who is currently on a visit to Colombo to speak on the future of Indo Lanka relations, told sections of the local press today that the Vajpayee government is interested and concerned about the situation in Sri Lanka.
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