President to meet Ministers, party officials

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 December 2000, 22:21 GMT]
President Chandrika Kumaratunge will meet key government ministers and prominent members of the ruling People's Alliance (PA) tomorrow, 1st January 2001, to discuss possible responses to the unilateral declaration of ceasefire by the Liberation Tigers, said political sources in Colombo.
Full story >>

Shots fired to mark New Year celebrations

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 December 2000, 19:22 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) troops fired several volleys of shells towards LTTE held western hinterland of Batticaloa and opened up firing from its camps and sentry posts in Batticaloa town to celebrate the dawn of the new year said sources in Batticaloa.
Full story >>

Mirusuvil massacre accused to stand in identification parade

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 December 2000, 09:12 GMT]
The six Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers accused of murdering eight Tamil civilians and burying their bodies in Mirusuvil North, Jaffna were ordered to be kept in remand prison until 10th of January and to appear in an identification parade on the 3rd of January by the Chavakachcheri District Court Judge A. Premshankar Friday evening, said sources in Jaffna.
Full story >>

SLA offensive in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 December 2000, 13:52 GMT]
Sri Lankan Government troops launched a fresh offensive Saturday morning and have taken control of Navatkuly bridge, about 3 km. east of Jaffna town, army sources said. TamilNet sources in Jaffna said there were no signs of heavy fighting in the area, except sounds of shelling.
Full story >>

Tamil parties appeal for ceasefire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 December 2000, 04:20 GMT]
"Sri Lankan government should respond favourably to the call by the Liberation Tigers for a ceasefire and, USA, Britain, India, members of the European Union and other countries interested in solving the conflict in Sri Lanka should exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to bring an end to the war," said a joint statement issued by a coalition of ten Tamil political parties after they met in Colombo yesterday. .
Full story >>

Jaffna University students, staff protest

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 December 2000, 22:29 GMT]
Hundreds of students, academic and non-academic staff of the Jaffna University demonstrated inside the campus premises on Friday voicing support to the political demands of the Tamil people, and demanding the Sri Lankan Government to declare cease-fire and to begin negotiations with the Liberation Tigers, sources in the northern town said.
Full story >>

No compensation for Palaly expansion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 December 2000, 14:52 GMT]
Hundreds of families in Valikamam-north sector who had to vacate their houses when the Sri Lanka Army expanded its Palaly base in the Jaffna peninsula have not received compensations from the government, according to the Consortium of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the northern town.
Full story >>

More bodies feared buried in Mirusuvil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 December 2000, 21:35 GMT]
In addition to the recently discovered bodies of eight Tamil civilians found buried in Mirusuvil North in Jaffna, residents and local authorities fear more civilian bodies may be hidden buried in areas surrounding Mirusuvil, according to deposition given by Jesutha, the young wife of one of the murdered civilians Theivakulasingam.
Full story >>

Massacre victims died of stab wounds - Medical Officer

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 December 2000, 16:21 GMT]
Bodies of the eight civilians found buried in Mirusuvil, Northern SriLanka yesterday, allegedly abducted and murdered by the Sri Lanka security forces, contained deep stab wounds around the necks, said the District Medical Officer, Dr. S. Kathiravetpillai, after his postmortem examination carried out at Manthikai General Hospital today.
Full story >>

Bodies of missing civilians found

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 December 2000, 16:52 GMT]
The bodies of eight Tamil civilians, including a five year old child, who were reported 'missing' after being arrested by Sri Lanka Army soldiers on 19 December were unearthed from a grave in Mirusuvil area in the Thenmaradchi Monday, said police and hospital sources in Jaffna.
Full story >>

TULF protests Sri Lanka's ceasefire rejection

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 December 2000, 15:31 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Monday criticised the Sri Lankan government's refusal to reciprocate the LTTE's pledge to unilaterally observe a month-long ceasefire over the festive season. "The vast majority of people would have welcomed the prevalence of peace during the festive season of Christmas, New Year and Thai Pongal", the TULF said. Commenting on the government's insistence that any negotiations take place as fighting continues, the party said "The TULF considers it impractical and also irrational to expect a guerilla force to engage in serious negotiations, while at the same time fighting a fierce war."
Full story >>

LTTE to unilaterally observe "goodwill" ceasefire

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 December 2000, 13:35 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Monday expressed "great dismay" the Sri Lankan government had rejected its offer of a month-long ceasefire over the festive season, but said they would continue to unilaterally observe a truce and urged the government to reconsider its position. "The LTTE will not embark on offensive armed operations during the festive season ending on the 24th January 2001 but it reserves the right to armed defence. We will only engage in defensive war if and when Sri Lanka armed forces launch offensive military operations against our positions," the Tigers said in a statement from their London offices.
Full story >>

SLA hands over 30 bodies

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 December 2000, 11:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army on Monday handed over the bodies of thirty Liberation Tigers who were killed during the recent fighting in the Kaithady sector, east of Jaffna town, to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Full story >>

Petition against Antiterrorism Law ruling filed in US Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 December 2000, 10:49 GMT]
Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a New York based non-profit organization, filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court asking the Court to exercise its discretion and review the decision of the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, which ruled that Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) does not violate the First and the Fifth Amendments of the US constitution, legal sources said.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka rejects LTTE's "goodwill" ceasefire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 December 2000, 20:13 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government Saturday rejected the Liberation Tigers offer Thursday of a month-long "goodwill" cease-fire, asserting that military operations by the armed forces will continue. A statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat also said that "further gestures of goodwill are unnecessary [before negotiations]," rejecting the LTTE's call to de- escalate the conflict for negotiations to take place in conditions of normalcy.
Full story >>

"Offensive against Tigers will continue" - P.M

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 December 2000, 14:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, told reporters in Colombo Friday that military offensives against the Liberation Tigers will continue and that a response to the month long cease-fire declared by them unilaterally Thursday night could be considered only after President Kumaratunga returns to the island. Meanwhile the massive three pronged offensive launched Friday by the SLA barely 8 hours after the cease-fire offer by the Tigers faced fierce opposition south west of Madduvil but another prong from Nunavil has advanced close to the Kaithady bridge east of Jaffna town sources said.
Full story >>

Britain welcomes LTTE ceasefire

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 December 2000, 10:23 GMT]
Britain’s Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain Friday welcomed the Liberation Tigers announcement Thursday of a month-long unilateral ceasefire as “a first step” in de-escalating the conflict and urged the Sri Lankan government to follow suit.
Full story >>

Aid ‘disconnect’ in Paris

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 December 2000, 03:27 GMT]
(News Feature) The ambiguity surrounding the outcome of the Sri Lanka Development Forum in Paris this week has been rapidly seized upon by Sri Lanka’s main opposition and (belatedly in response) by the government’s supporters, with confident assertions of failure or success respectively. However, with the meeting concluding sans the customary pledges of monetary assistance and the critical tone of the final statement from the Forum - with warnings of the need for “an utmost sense of urgency” from the government and “a sense of frustration amongst donors” - it is clear that things have not gone according to plan for President Chandrika Kumaratunge.
Full story >>

Tigers declare "goodwill" month-long ceasefire

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 December 2000, 11:47 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers declared Thursday a month-long unilateral ceasefire "as a goodwill measure to facilitate the peace process." A press release from the organisation's London offices quoted a statement released by its headquarters in the Vanni said it would cease hostile military actions against the Sri Lankan armed forces from midnight 24 December.
Full story >>

Tigers shell eastern naval detachment

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 December 2000, 11:32 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel were killed and two others were wounded when the Liberation Tigers launched a mortar attack on a naval detachment at Salaiparu in the Kuchchaveli Division. around 9 a.m. Thursday, security sources in Trincomalee said.
Full story >>

Amnesty fears for safety of Tamil villagers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 December 2000, 02:32 GMT]
Amnesty International in a statement published yesterday said that it fears for safety of villagers of Gopalapuram in Trincomalee district from Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel. The statement was issued following the torture and murder, allegedly by the navy, of two young Tamil men, Mahalingam Thamiran and Shanmugarajan Sornahasan, who were previously threatened after the villagers protested against the killing of several villagers by the navy.
Full story >>

Jaffna passengers to pay Defense Levy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 December 2000, 23:31 GMT]
Passengers to and from Jaffna will be charged Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Defense Levy when they travel by the vessel 'City of Trinco' from January next year.
Full story >>

UNP MPs ride bicycles to protest price rise

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 December 2000, 23:27 GMT]
(Photograph) A dozen of opposition United National Party (UNP) MPs cycled to the parliament on Wednesday to protest against the rising oil prices and cost of living. Two weeks ago, opposition MPs went to the parliament in bullock carts.
Full story >>

ICRC vessel returns with unloaded medicine

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 December 2000, 23:22 GMT]
Inclement weather in Point Pedro forced the vessel 'Jaya Gold', to abandon unloading a portion of 13 metric tones of medicines badly needed for use at Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
Full story >>

Sinhala nationalists protest against talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 December 2000, 14:34 GMT]
The militant Sinhala Buddhist nationalist group, the National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT), urged the Sri Lanka army to continue the war until the Liberation Tigers are defeated when they met the SLA commander Lt.Gen. Lionel Balagalle Wednesday and gave him a memorandum against peace talks to end the ethnic conflict in the island. The NMAT held a protest in downtown Colombo against peace talks Wednesday afternoon. Protesters burnt an effigy of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan and poked fun at two persons dressed up as Norwegian peace emissary Eric Soleheim and British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Peter Hain.
Full story >>

EU urges easing of embargo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2000, 08:46 GMT]
The European Union, whilst discussing financial assistance for the Sri Lankan government Monday, urged negotiations to end the protracted conflict in Sri Lanka and called for a lasting solution which would take "substantial account of the aspirations" of the Tamils within Sri Lanka's territorial integrity and unity. A declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on Sri Lanka at the World Bank Development Forum, also urged the Sri Lankan government to ease the hardships of the displaced people in the north-east and welcomed the Norwegian peace initiative, whilst expressing concern at defence expenditure. The EU also said "the ethnic conflict and shortcomings in government are hampering" Sri Lanka's development.
Full story >>

Two soldiers shot dead

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2000, 08:01 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army soldiers attached to the SLA's military intelligence unit were shot dead by suspected members of the Liberation Tigers in the high security zone of Mannar town around 11.10 a.m. Tuesday, security sources said. Two soldiers were also wounded in the incident.
Full story >>

Tigers attack SLN-SLA detachment in east

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2000, 02:48 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy sailor was killed and three Sri Lanka army soldiers were injured when the Liberation Tigers attacked the Saththurukkondaan SLA-SLN camp by the Batticaloa lagoon, about five kilometers north of the eastern town around 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Full story >>

SLA asked to assist murder investigation

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 December 2000, 15:43 GMT]
The Vavuniya district judge M.Ilancheliyan Monday directed the commander of the Sri Lanka army units in the Cheddikulam region to assist the court in the investigation into the murder of Kanapathipillai Selvakumar (42) of Maniarkulam who was abducted by armed persons from his home on Saturday. Selvakumar's body was found by the village reservoir yesterday.
Full story >>

Landmines injure forty two in Jaffna - UNDP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 December 2000, 16:45 GMT]
Forty two civilians in Jaffna lost their limbs to land mines this year said Mr. Elmo Fernando, Director for Mine Clearing Operations funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Full story >>

Shelling kills one, injures 2

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 December 2000, 10:34 GMT]
A sixteen year old girl was killed and two others were wounded when shells fired by Sri Lankan police hit 5th district Eravur, 12 km. north of Batticaloa, around 10 p.m. Saturday night, residents said.
Full story >>

'Negotiations cannot be held under conditions of war' - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 December 2000, 14:19 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Saturday called on the international community to use its good offices “to persuade the Sri Lankan government to abandon its hardline militarist approach and to seek a negotiated political settlement in a climate of peace and goodwill”. A press release from the organisation’s London offices quoted a statement it released Saturday in the Vanni expressing the LTTE’s “deep disappointment” over the “categorical rejection” by Sri Lanka of its call for a process of de-escalation of the armed conflict prior to peace talks. The LTTE also welcomed the “positive” proposals for “mutually reciprocated confidence building goodwill measures” suggested by the Government of Norway to be undertaken on both sides.
Full story >>

Fresh SLA operation in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 December 2000, 11:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army launched a fresh operation towards areas held by the Liberation Tigers in t Nunavil-Kaithady sector in Thenmaradchi in the early hours of Saturday. SLA sources in Jaffna said 12 soldiers including an officer were killed and 31 were wounded in the fighting.
Full story >>

US ambassador visits Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 December 2000, 16:32 GMT]
The US ambassador for Sri Lanka, Ashley Wills, held discussions Friday with the Government Agent (GA) for Vavuniya about the situation in the border town and about the conditions obtaining in the Vanni. Officials at the Vavuniya Kachcheri said that the US ambassador had keenly ascertained the ground realities in the region, particularly regarding food and medical supplies to the Vanni during his hour long meeting with the GA, K.Ganesh.
Full story >>

Peace efforts at impasse - paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 December 2000, 12:03 GMT]
(News Feature) The Sri Lankan government's refusal to lift its economic embargo on Tamil areas not held by its military and Colombo's imposition of fresh conditions for negotiations threaten to stall Norwegian efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution of the island's protracted conflict, the London-based Tamil Guardian said this week. "The Sri Lankan government is well aware that adopting this position effectively creates an impasse," the paper said in the editorial column of its latest issue, which hit news stands Friday.
Full story >>

SLA soldier killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 December 2000, 11:59 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army soldier was killed in a claymore blast near Valaichenai, 32 km. north of Batticaloa around 8 a.m. Friday, security sources said. The blast occurred near Usan Etram SLA camp.
Full story >>

Judge sets date to file objections

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 December 2000, 04:27 GMT]
Eastern High Court Judge, A.N. Ramachandran, last Tuesday ordered the six respondents to the Habeas Corpus petition filed by Jeyakili Pushparatha to file their objections before February 15, 2001, legal sources said. In her petition Pushparatha had asked the respondents to produce in court her husband Vairamuttu Jeyakilli of Salli, arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel on February 24 this year.
Full story >>

Inquest held into death of farmers

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 December 2000, 03:19 GMT]
Inquest into the deaths of seven Tamil farmers from Poonagar in the Mutur area, killed by Sinhala home guards on October 2nd of this year, were held last Tuesday in the presence of Muttur Magistrate and Additional District Judge Mr.R.M.Jayawardene.
Full story >>

Two hunters shot dead by SLAF

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 23:15 GMT]
Pampaimadhu residents, Arulanantham Kamalanathan (29), and Sinnathamby Sivakumar (30) who went hunting in Poovarasankulam, Vavuniya were shot and killed by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel on Monday evening, said sources. SLAF claimed that the men were LTTE members and that they had recovered two grenades and a pistol from the dead men.
Full story >>

Police tortured say young Jaffna women

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 17:20 GMT]
The Vavuniya High Court last Tuesday discharged two young girls from Jaffna charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), on the ground that the Police had obtained confessions from them under duress. Mariyathas Mary Sharmila,18, of Alvai north and Shanmugam Sharmila, 21, of Sivankoviladi, Madduvil south told the court that they were severely tortured by male Police personnel during their detention.
Full story >>

Two civilians killed in SLN ambush

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 17:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel lying in ambush in Iqbal Nagar, north of Trincomalee shot and killed two Tamil civilians around 5 p.m. Wednesday. The victims, Shanmugaraja Swarnahasan and Mahalingam Thamiran, were returning to their village, Gopalapuram, on a motorbike from Trincomalee town when they shot at, sources said.
Full story >>

Jaffna student beaten up on suspicion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 17:12 GMT]
The parents of a Jaffna school boy, Sothiraj Nishanthan,17, alleged Wednesday that their son was abducted and tortured by a person suspected to be an intelligence operative working for the Sri Lanka army. The boy was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for treatment with severe contusions on Tuesday 12 december.
Full story >>

UNP queries Chandrika's sojourn in west

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 14:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition, The United National Party (UNP) Thursday challenged President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge to reveal what she did during her long stay in Europe. "What is hilarious or incomprehensible rather is that the president is out of the country while the country is facing misfortune from all fronts", the party said in a press communiqué issued by its Assistant Leader of the UNP Mr.Gamini Atukorale.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka rejects self-determination for Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 11:42 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government Thursday criticised comments by a visiting British Minister last month that the international community will support self-determination for the island’s Tamil community as well as the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Foreign Minister Laxshman Kadirgamar was quoted in the state-owned Daily News as saying he “took strong exception” to comments three weeks ago to Britain's Junior Foreign Minister Peter Hain as they were an infringement on Sri Lanka’s affairs.
Full story >>

Blast kills four

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 08:45 GMT]
Two policemen and two civilians were killed when a bomb exploded in the eastern Batticaloa around 8.25 a.m. Thursday, security sources said. Two policemen were also wounded in the blast.
Full story >>

JVP protests foreign involvement

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 December 2000, 22:49 GMT]
Hundreds of people participated in a rally held in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on Wednesday evening, protesting against the involvement of foreign countries in solving the island's protracted ethnic conflict and soaring cost of living. The rally was organised by the People's Liberation Front (JVP).
Full story >>

Sri Lanka rejects de-escalation before talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 December 2000, 03:29 GMT]
(News Feature) The Sri Lankan government said Tuesday that it would not accept the Liberation Tigers' call for a de-escalation of the war prior to unconditional negotiations to end the island’s protracted conflict, as the call was “proposed almost as a precondition for talks.” The government instead said de-escalation must be accompanied by talks on a permanent solution, which must be preceded by the Liberation Tigers agreeing the core issues to be covered in any negotiations. The government also re-iterated that any talks must be completed within a definite time frame.
Full story >>

Six TELO cadres arrested for murder

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 December 2000, 16:04 GMT]
The Batticaloa Additional District Judge on Tuesday remanded six members of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) in connection with the murder of Parameswaran Yugendran, a security guard at Insurance Co-operation who was severely assaulted by the suspects on 26 October at Aaraiyampathi, about 8 km. south of Batticaloa. Yugendran died in Colombo Hospital after 45 days in coma.
Full story >>

Father of three shot dead

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 December 2000, 22:03 GMT]
A father of three children Sivanayagam Ilango,29 of Thiruperunthurai in the Batticaloa district was shot dead and two others were injured Sunday night when they were returning home after making a complaint at the nearby Air force checkpoint about a robbery, said sources.
Full story >>

Peace march marks Human Rights day

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 December 2000, 21:56 GMT]
At the end of the peace march held on Sunday in Trincomalee in connection with the International Human Rights Day, a memorandum addressed to the UN Secretary General was handed over to the UNHCR representative here by the organising committee comprised of nine non-governmental organisations.
Full story >>

Bindunuwewa camp to be relocated to Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 December 2000, 01:43 GMT]
Prison authorities in Sri Lanka are planning to establish a new rehabilitation camp in Vavuniya to replace the camp at Bindunuwewa in Bandarawela which ceased to function following the brutal murder on the 25th October of this year of more than 24 Tamil prisoners housed in the camp, said sources.
Full story >>

TELO cadre succumbs to injuries

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 December 2000, 20:03 GMT]
Parameswaran Ugendran, a member of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), who was severely beaten by fellow members on October 26th Deepavali day, died at the Colombo National Hospital at 4 pm today due to injuries suffered in the attack, hospital sources said.
Full story >>

Funeral held for doctor killed in blast

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 December 2000, 19:27 GMT]
Funeral of Kallaru District Medical Officer, Periyathamby Duke Arulpragasam, who succumbed to injuries received in the claymore blast in Sathurukkondan, Batticaloa last Wednesday was held today in Kalviyangkadu cemetary. A large number of people attended the funeral, sources said.
Full story >>

Hospital employees to stage demonstration

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 December 2000, 19:07 GMT]
Doctors, nurses and other employees of Batticaloa General Hospital have planned to stage a protest march in Batticaloa town tomorrow morning demanding that Security Forces engaged in battle in the North and East should not use civilians as human shields and that no armed personnel should travel in vehicles carrying civilian passengers, hospital sources said.
Full story >>

SLA arrests, beats-up students

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 December 2000, 14:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested four youths from Karuvakerni near Valaichenai in Batticaloa at 3 am today morning and severly beat the youths before releasing them, said village residents.
Full story >>

Police discover hand bombs in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 December 2000, 15:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police discovered and diffused four hand bombs hidden buried in an unused landsite in W De Silva Mawatte, Wellawatte today morning, sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

Police say no to Jaffna Church peace march

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2000, 20:13 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police Thursday refused permission to the Catholic church in the north to go on a peace procession in Jaffna town. A Catholic church spokesman said that the Police denied permission for the procession on the grounds that the security situation in the Jaffna town did not permit it. He said the march had been organised as a remembrance of a saint of the church.
Full story >>

Northern plight - Jaffna MP carts in protest

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2000, 14:44 GMT]
United National Party MP for Jaffna Mr.A.Maheswaran led a protest Wednesday against the high price of goods in Jaffna and the government embargo on essentials to the Vanni by riding a bullock cart to the Sri Lankan Parliament. Six UNP Parliamentarians, including Dr.Jayalath Jayawardena and Mahinda Samarasekera joined him in the protest. Mr. Maheswaran told TamilNet that he was protesting over the exorbitant rates charged for taking goods to Jaffna by sea, adding that it is very much cheaper to ship things from Pakistan to Sri Lanka than from Colombo to Jaffna.
Full story >>

Compensation sought for Mutur victims

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2000, 14:41 GMT]
The majority of the Tamils who lost their houses and other properties during the violence in Mutur in 1985 and 1990 have not been paid any compensation by the State, states a memorandum sent to the Minister of Reconstruction, Reconstruction and Rural Housing, Ms Ferial Ashraff.
Full story >>

Blast kills 4

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2000, 11:30 GMT]
A Sri Lankan policeman and three civilians were killed when a bus was hit by a mine at Sathurokkondan 5 km. North of Batticaloa around 1.15 p.m. Wednesday, police sources said. Twenty other passengers were also wounded in the incident. The bus was travelling behind a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) convoy to Polonnaruwa the sources said.
Full story >>

SLA starts another operation for Jaffna road

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2000, 07:36 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army launched an operation towards areas held by the Liberation Tigers west of Chavakachcheri in Jaffna Tuesday morning. SLA troops backed by artillery and armour are attempting to advance on the A9 highway in the direction of Navatkuli sources said. The LTTE held areas between Jaffna and Chavakachcheri were bombed heavily by the Sri Lanka Air Force since Saturday.
Full story >>

Tigers attack Thoppur police station

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2000, 05:17 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked and overran the Police Station at Thoppur in the Mutur area, 25 km. south of Trincomalee around 5.30 Tuesday morning. Local residents said the Liberation Tigers remained in control of the police station, and removed arms and other military equipment from the Police station.
Full story >>

Jaffna University street play condemns Devananda

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 December 2000, 18:44 GMT]
The arts faculty students of the Jaffna University performed a street play Monday in which Sri Lankan cabinet minister Douglas Devananda was portrayed as a heinous oppressor of civilians in the north. Hundreds of students and people watched the play named "that which is not spoken of" (Pesaapporul). The performance started around 4.30 p.m this afternoon inside the campus. The play ended with the likeness of Mr.Devananda being torn to pieces by the people of Jaffna.
Full story >>

CTTU requests lifting ban on school materials

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 December 2000, 18:41 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) is to ask the new Education Minister Susil Premjayanth to take immediate steps to lift the ban imposed on the transportation of all materials needed for teaching to schools in the uncleared areas in the northeast province.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka determined to continue war - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2000, 22:38 GMT]
(News Feature) The Sri Lankan government's continued silence on Liberation Tigers' offer of unconditional peace talks last week cast doubt on Colombo's commitment to peacefully resolving the conflict, Anton Balasingham, the LTTE's theoretician and political advisor said Saturday. Sri Lanka's President Kumaratunge seemed determined to prosecute the war, he said in his Heroes' Day address in London. Nevertheless, the Liberation Tigers were seriously considering a Norwegian proposal for staggered and gradual de-escalation of the conflict, he said.
Full story >>

SLA accused of using civilians as human shields

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2000, 14:22 GMT]
Residents of Jaffna accused Sri Lankan Army (SLA) of transporting civilians with SLA troops, after 750 of 1250 people scheduled to travel on the MV Lanka Muditha, a government run passenger service from Jaffna to Trincomalee, were replaced by armed soldiers.
Full story >>

40000 children to benefit from polio immunization

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2000, 14:01 GMT]
"Children are the messengers of peace. They should be safeguarded from diseases and war atrocities," said the Sri Lanka and Maldives' representative of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Mr.Colin Glennie Saturday morning after inaugurating the second round of the National Immunization Program against Poliomeylitis.
Full story >>