'We are optimistic' - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 September 2002, 06:17 GMT]
Addressing the opening ceremony of the first round of formal talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka in Thailand Monday, Mr. Anton Balasingham, the political advisor of the LTTE said "We are optimistic that the peace talks will succeed because Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the LTTE and Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, have genuine will and firm determination to resolve the conflict through the process of dialogue."
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Black September remembrance in Batticaloa university

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 21:53 GMT]
Batticaloa marked the beginning of Black September Thursday with a largely attended function at the Eastern University in Vantharumoolai on the 12th anniversary of the massacre of 174 refugees who had sought asylum on the campus during Sri Lanka army operations in the area in 1990.
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North-South peace sports festival proposed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 August 2002, 19:05 GMT]
A conference, chaired by the Minister of Lands, Mr.Rajitha Senaratne, was held in Trincomalee Saturday to discuss holding a four-day, North-South Peace Sports Festival in Kalutara, in the south of the country.
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TNA meets Armitage

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 August 2002, 09:35 GMT]
"The United States of America should help the Tamils to find an alternate and just political solution to their longstanding problems while reiterating its stand against the division of the country," the delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told the visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Mr. Richard Armitage when it met the latter at the official residence of the US ambassador in Colombo Thursday evening.
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Twenty injured at music festival

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 August 2002, 09:38 GMT]
At least twenty people, including two policemen, were injured in clashes during the last day of a musical show held in Trincomalee. The five day mega industrial exhibition 'Yuga Thekma', organised by the Industries Ministry in Trincomalee, ended in the early hours of Wednesday.
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'Economic recovery depends on permanent solution' -Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 August 2002, 21:35 GMT]
"The economy of the country will be improved only when the interim administration starts functioning with necessary powers to develop the Northeast province following the Thailand peace talks scheduled to be held in mid September," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group when addressing the fifth and final day of the 'Yuga Thekma' industrial exhibition held in Trincomalee esplanade.
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Thadchchanamadu murder suspects identified

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 August 2002, 19:48 GMT]
All the eleven suspects in the Thadchanamadu murder case were identified Wednesday before the Mannar acting Magistrate Mr.S.A.Johnthasan. All the fifteen witnesses who were present in the court identified the accused when the identification parade was held in five. The suspects were produced under heavy security.
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Eleven remanded in Madhu killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 July 2002, 20:53 GMT]
The Vavuniya Magistrate M.Illancheliyan Wednesday ordered remand for eleven suspects, eight Sinhalese and three Tamils, in connection with the murder of three persons whose bodies were recovered on 25 July by the Tamileelam police in Thatchanamaruthamadhu near the Madhu shrine.
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Sri Lanka stands by ceasefire agreement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 19:07 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government Thursday dismissed calls for its ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers to be revised. “Although several political groups have requested for the revision of the ceasefire agreement the Government considers it a complete document," Minister G.L. Peiris said at a press conference held Thursday to announce the cabinet decisions taken Wednesday.
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Language barrier to teaching in Kantalai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 17:48 GMT]
Sinhalese teachers who are not proficient in Tamil have been appointed on part time basis to teach English to Tamil students in the Kantalai education zone in the Trincomalee district, parents protested this week.
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HC discharges accused in PTA cases

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 July 2002, 21:23 GMT]
The Eastern High Court Wednesday discharged the accused in two cases filed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the Emergency Regulations (ER) when the prosecution brought to the notice that the key police witness who had recorded the confession of the accused was not present in the court for the seventh time.
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Ferial Ashraff demands revision of cease-fire agreement

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 July 2002, 15:36 GMT]
The National Unity Alliance (NUA) Friday demanded a complete revision of the cease-fire agreement that has been signed by the Prime Minister and the LTTE leader. The NUA is one of the constituents of the main opposition People's Alliance (PA). The Executive President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge is the leader of the PA.
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Local body asks SLA to lift fishing ban

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 July 2002, 06:46 GMT]
The Chairman of the Chavakachcheri Pradeshiya Sabha (local government institution) said Saturday that he has written to the Jaffna Security Forces Commander, Maj. Gen. Sarath Fonseka urging him to immediately lift the ban on fishing in the Jaffna lagoon off Koilakandy and Kilali.
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New TNA national list MP from Muttur east

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 20:12 GMT]
The central working committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front Sunday unanimously decided to appoint Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham from Mutur-east as its National List parliamentarian to fill the vacancy created by the demise of late leader Mr. Murugesu Sivasithambaram. The Secretary General of the TULF Mr.R.Sampanthan will inform the decision of the party to the Speaker of the parliament next week, party sources said.
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Tamils, Sinhalese welcome LTTE in Nainativu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 June 2002, 22:38 GMT]
Tamil residents of Nainativu and Sinhalese who are there on pilgrimage gave a rousing welcome to the Liberation Tigers when they entered Nainativu Wednesday. The Liberation Tigers began political activities in Nainativu, one of the main islands off the Jaffna peninsula, Wednesday.
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"End discrimination against Tamils in education" -CTTU

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 June 2002, 19:14 GMT]
The Ministry of Education under the United National Front (UNF) government continues the discrimination of Tamil people in the sphere of education, the Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) has told an advisor to the Prime Minister (PM).
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Samurdhi ministry discriminates against Tamil villages

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 June 2002, 22:01 GMT]
Several civil groups Sunday complained that Tamil villages in the Trincomalee district have been discriminated when allocating funds for implementing agricultural development projects under the Poverty Alleviation (Samurdhi) Programme. The Department of Samurdhi (Poverty Alleviation) is functioning in the Trincomalee district secretariat under the supervision of the Government Agent.
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Police officer remanded for harassing Indian fishermen

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 June 2002, 16:42 GMT]
The Mannar District Judge Monday remanded a Sinhalese police officer for allegedly harassing Indian fishermen, robbing their catch and threatening them with death in the mid sea.
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Sri Lanka's conditions for talks create an 'impasse' - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 June 2002, 12:42 GMT]
The Norwegian peace initiative in Sri Lanka has been delayed by the government’s failure to implement the terms of the permanent ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers and is threatened by the hostile intervention of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the LTTE’s chief negotiator and political advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham, told the Tamil Guardian this week.
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Persistent Police absence frees PTA accused

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 May 2002, 15:43 GMT]
The Eastern High Court Thursday discharged a Tamil youth arrested in 1998 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act when the Police officer who recorded his purported confession failed to appear in court for the sixth time. Hundreds of Tamil youth languish in Sri Lankan prisons for long years because Policemen who record their confessions are often transferred out by the time their cases are eventually taken up for hearing. Tamil human rights lawyers say that this is inevitable in Sri Lanka's PTA cases where the confession of the accused is the sole production and the Policemen who record and translate it are the sole witnesses.
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