Mylanthanai massacre accused make statements from dock

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 November 2002, 18:20 GMT]
All eighteen accused soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Tuesday made statements from the dock in the Colombo High Court (HC) in the Mylanthanai massacre case denying their involvement in the crime. The case is being heard daly from 2nd October before a Sinhala speaking Jury at the request of the accused, who are also Sinhalese.
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Tamil poetry 'Towards the path of Peace' released in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 November 2002, 23:12 GMT]
A collection of Tamil poems titled 'Towards the path of Peace' and composed by Poet Sigandithasan was released in Trincomalee Saturday evening. "No one can benefit by derailing the peace process now being taken forward," said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan addressing the event.
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Long term political matters on Talks agenda

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 November 2002, 13:58 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), at the conclusion of the second meeting of the first round of peace talks held in Thailand, agreed to set up a joint task force (JTF) to identify immediate humanitarian and rehabilitation needs of north east, work towards military de-escalation and to look at political questions at the heart of two decades of war. The JTF is first tasked to prepare for a political-level meeting of key government s to take place in Norway on 25 November.
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Assessing progress of Chemmani investigations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 November 2002, 18:42 GMT]
Amnesty International said in 1997 that as many as 600 people who "disappeared" in the Jaffna peninsula after the Sri Lankan Army moved into the area in 1996, "died under torture or been deliberately killed." A soldier involved in the crimes alleged that Chemmani was where bodies of those disappeared were clandestinely buried. However, the Chemmani mass grave investigation has become a victim of the judicial limbo common in Sri Lanka when powerful interests are implicated. Ethnic politics and the fallout of an active war have also contributed to the lack of forward movement in the case.
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Religious leaders meet to diffuse tension in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 November 2002, 22:36 GMT]
Curfew was re-imposed for the third day Friday afternoon till Saturday morning as seven police divisions in the city of Colombo are slowly returning to normalcy with the heavy presence of state armed forces and police, security sources said.
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Karuna and Hakeem to work closely

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 November 2002, 15:27 GMT]
Improving the security situation in the East was a key topic of discussion in the second round of peace talks between the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) and the Government of SriLanka which began on the 31 October in Thailand. "Mr. Hakeem and Mr. Karuna agreed to work together in the east to meet with local communities and address their specific concerns and aspirations, including matters relating to the occupation and cultivation of land," a release from the Norwegian Embassy in Thailand said.
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Curfew re-imposed in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 October 2002, 18:12 GMT]
Colombo north and central areas were again placed under curfew to quell further violence between the Sinhalese and Muslims, which has left one killed and at least a dozen wounded, police sources said. Muslims who took part in the funeral of the Muslim person who was killed in Thursday's clashes, attacked a Buddhist monk Friday. Another Muslim man was wounded when the Police opened fire to disperse the crowd.
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Trincomalee hartal killing inquest begins

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 17:25 GMT]
The inquest into the killing of three Tamil civilians on October 11 at Abeyapura in the east port town in a gun and grenade attack commenced Wednesday before the Trincomalee Magistrate Mr.S.Thiagendran.
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Norwegian government team meets Opposition leader

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 October 2002, 16:51 GMT]
The Norwegian government delegation Monday morning held wide ranging discussions with the Leader of the Opposition Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse regarding the second round of peace talks between the United National Front (UNF) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which is scheduled to commence on October 31 at Sattahip in Thailand. In the afternoon the Norwegian team met with the leader of government's peace delegation, Professor G.L. Peiris, ruling party sources said.


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Buddhist monk warns of disruptive forces in Trinco

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 October 2002, 13:26 GMT]
Venerable Dodantuwe Thammanatha Thero of Mahamayapura Buddhist temple in Trincomalee town said that miscreants are bent on instigating clashes in the eastern district by portraying the Liberation Tigers as anti- Singhalese. He was addressing a peace conference at the Trincomalee Police Headquarters to promote reconciliation between all communities in the eastern port town Thursday evening. The Buddhist monk showed the audience a leaflet printed in Sinhala stating that LTTE leader Mr. Pirapaharan considers the Singhalese as his enemies.
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TNA writes to PM on Trinco violence

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 October 2002, 21:11 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance MP, Mr.R.Sampanthan Tuesday said that the lives of three Tamil civilians who died in the grenade attack last week in Trincomalee, might have been saved had the attackers not prevented two ambulances, one bringing medical officers and the other dispatched from Muttur, from reaching the injured. In a fax sent to the Prime Minister the MP said, "the deliberate inaction of the Police contributed to this tragedy."
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Sinhala nationalists step up campaign against talks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 October 2002, 20:21 GMT]
The Sinhala Nationalist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, People’s Liberation Front) vowed Tuesday to bring down Prime Minister Ranil Wicremesinghe’s government and defeat its peace negotiations with the Liberation Tigers. The JVP launched a campaign last week to convince Sinhalese that the peace process is a ruse to divide the island.
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TNA calls for Tamil home guard

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 October 2002, 03:12 GMT]
The security of the Tamil people can no longer be left in the hands of Sinhala dominated Army and Police, the Trincomalee district parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Mr. R. Sampanthan, told Sri Lanka’s Interior Minister, Mr. John Amaratunge Sunday afternoon. Arguing “the security of Tamils should be entrusted to Tamil youths,” the TNA leader urged the Minister to take immediate steps to form home guards units comprising Tamils.
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Buddhist monks slam Tigers, Tamils at Trinco review

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 October 2002, 03:09 GMT]
The conference convened Sunday morning at Trincomalee district secretariat and presided over by Sri Lanka's Interior Minister Mr. John Amaratunge was apparently meant to review the security situation in the eastern port town. But there was no Tamil or Muslim representation – because the authorities didn’t even notify local representatives. Instead, Buddhist monks dominated the conference – which was conducted entirely in Sinhalese - hurling allegations against the Liberation Tigers and the Tamil community.
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Minister Morogoda visits Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2002, 11:31 GMT]
The Minister of Economic Reforms, Mr.Milinda Morogoda accompanied by the Commander of Sri Lanka Army Lt.General Lionel Balagalle and Peace Secretariat Secretary General Mr.Bernard Gunatilake visited Trincomalee Sunday morning and attended a top-level conference at the Police Headquarters. Later in the afternoon the party led by Minister Morogoda held talks with the Tamil National Alliance leader Mr.R.Sampanthan at latter's residence regarding the two LTTE members in remand and six SLA soldiers of the SLA in the custody of the LTTE.
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Police blamed for inaction as Trinco protest turns unruly

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 October 2002, 20:27 GMT]
A general shut down ('hartal') organised by a group of Sinhalese youths setting up roadblocks and burning tyres disrupted the normal life in Trincomalee and its suburbs this Friday. The Hartal was held in support of a sit-in-protest campaign started by relatives of the six soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army now in the custody of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
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NIE rejects request for Jaffna Branch office

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 September 2002, 19:09 GMT]
The National Institute of Education (NIE) that comes under the purview of the Ministry of Education has turned down a request made by the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) to open its regional office in Jaffna district. The CTTU said its request was made to ensure equal opportunity to Tamil medium teachers and students in education in the northeast province as in other provinces.
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ULF supports autonomous region demand

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 September 2002, 13:15 GMT]
"The division of the country is inevitable if the majority Sinhalese fail to accept the concept of an autonomous region for Tamils," said the President of the United Left Front (ULF) Dr.Wickremabahu Karunaratne in an interview with the state run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) Saturday.


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North East Tamil-Muslim unity stressed

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 September 2002, 19:21 GMT]
"Sinhalese politicians have now realized that they can no longer adopt divide and rule policy between Tamils and Muslims when serious negotiations are in progress to resolve the ethnic conflict," said Mr. R.Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance leader and district parliamentarian addressing the Tamil language day celebrations held Monday in Trincomalee. Tamils and Muslims should shed their differences, especially in the northeast province, if we are to achieve sustainable peace, Mr.Sampanthan appealed.
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Preliminary steps towards interim administration agreed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 September 2002, 17:53 GMT]
Preliminary steps towards an interim administration for the Tamil areas of the island were agreed as part of the first direct Norwegian facilitated talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, the chief negotiators of both sides told a press conference in Sittahip, Thailand Wednesday.
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