Colombo said considering alternative to Nordic truce mission

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 06:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka' Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, said Monday that his government is thinking of either enhancing the powers of the Nordic truce monitoring mission in the island or finding a more effective alternative to it.
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Twenty two thousand families hit by drought in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 August 2004, 07:49 GMT]
Severe drought and scarcity of drinking water has affected 22,806 families in the Vavuniya district, relief officials said Sunday. Most water reservoirs have dried up. A few which retain water are drying up fast, according to them.
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Garbage dump sparks protest in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 August 2004, 13:12 GMT]
Hundreds of people Saturday from four villages affected by a dump for disposing garbage from Vavuniya protested against the disposal of waste to near Rasenthirakulam eight kilometres west of the large northern border town. Protestors blocked tractors carrying garbage to the dump. Residents of these farming villages complain that the garbage dump used by the Vavuniya Urban Council (UC) has become a major health hazard in the area and its foul smell is unbearable. Protestors also blocked vehicle of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) that was carrying waste to dispose at the dump.
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Nimalarajan murder case struck off from roll call

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 August 2004, 03:50 GMT]
The Jaffna Magistrate, Mr.R.T.Viknarajah, Thursday struck off the murder case of journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan from the roll call until the Attorney General sent his determination on the findings of the special police team, which conducted investigation into the murder, legal sources said.
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SC allows petition of Nimalarajan murder suspects

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 August 2004, 02:26 GMT]
The Supreme Court has allowed the four suspects in the Journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan murder case to report to the Vavuniya Police on the last Sunday of each month instead of reporting to Jaffna Police Station as earlier ordered by the Jaffna High Court, legal sources said.
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Tamil women's problems spotlighted in Vavuniya gathering

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 August 2004, 14:28 GMT]
A gathering of Tamil Eelam Women Associations, Sangamam, was held in Vavuniya Irambaikulam Girls Maha Vidiyalayam Monday on a grand scale. Noting that "women are subjected to more violence than during the war period", Vavuniya district Political Head of the LTTE's Women Wing, Ms Alai, said that the gathering was conducted to study about the violence and the forces behind the atrocities committed against women.
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SLMM-SLA meeting held in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 August 2004, 02:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission’s officials coordinating security met with the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army for the Vanni region, Maj. Gen. Sisira Wijesooriya, at the SLMM office in Vavuniya Friday, military sources said.
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Liberation Tigers release Sri Lanka army soldier

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 August 2004, 16:33 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam Friday released from their custody a Sri Lanka army soldier who had crossed the line of control dividing areas held by them and by Colombo. The soldier, Shalitha Pradeep Kumara Hettiarachchi,28, of Warakapola, 68 kilometres east of Colombo, was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kilinochchi.
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Demining officials from US State Department to visit Jaffna, Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 August 2004, 04:14 GMT]
Mr. Richard Kidd, Director of Weapons Removal and Abatement, U.S. Department of State, and Colonel Stuart C. Harris, Deputy Director of the same office, are visiting Sri Lanka this week, said American Embassy in Colombo in a Press Release issued on Monday.
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Slain Batticaloa journalist remembered in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 August 2004, 00:12 GMT]
The Listners' Circle of Canadian Tamil Radio based in Toronto Saturday presented three hundred and fifty thousand rupees to the family of slain Batticaloa journalist Mr. Aiyathurai Nadesan at a function held at the Vavuniya Urban Council hall Saturday. Mr. Nadesan, a senior Tamil journalist and the Batticaloa correspondent for the Tamil daily Virakesari and several local and foreign electronic media was shot dead on 31 May by gunmen believed to be associates of renegade LTTE commander 'Karuna'.
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Police officer promotions questioned in SL Parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 August 2004, 10:29 GMT]
Interior Minister in the former United National Front (UNF) government, John Amaratunge, raised concerns about the service promotions given recently to police officers by the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government under the leadership of Ms.Kumaratunge. He accused the UPFA government of giving recognition to corrupt officers and those who are associated with drug trade, parliamentary sources said.
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Death at noon creates crack in Sri Lanka's defences

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 August 2004, 02:31 GMT]
Mr. Kandaiah Yoharasa alias PLOTE Mohan was the most dreaded Tamil paramilitary operative that ever worked with the Sri Lankan armed forces in their war against the Liberation Tigers. His name once evoked terror among the people of Batticaloa. He was an invaluable if not indispensable part of Sri Lanka's intelligence and counter insurgency operations against the LTTE.
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Pre-schools exhibition begins in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 July 2004, 01:36 GMT]
A two-day exhibition of the Child Friendly Development Centres (pre-schools) organized by the Early Childhood Development Unit of the North East Provincial Ministry of Education began Friday morning in the auditorium of the Trincomalee St.Joseph's College. This is the first time an exhibition of art works and other creations of students and teachers of pre-schools is being held in the northeast province.


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Peace process is a rudderless boat - Kousalyan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 July 2004, 17:25 GMT]
''Sri Lanka's peace process is like a rudderless boat. We can achieve our political aspirations only if we have exceptional military power. We had only 17 female fighters in Batticaloa ten years ago. Anbarasi was one of them. Today we have a regiment in her name that fought tough battles to defeat Op. Jeya Sikurui'', said Mr. E. Kousalyan, head of LTTE's political division for Batticaloa, Thursday, addressing a ceremony to mark the 9th death anniversary of Lt. Col. Anbarasi.
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Mannar GA says refugee influx unprecedented

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 15:53 GMT]
''Hundreds of refugees are risking their lives, paying high fares to unscrupulous boatmen, to return from India to their homes in the northeast. The influx of refugees is increasing by the day. It is hence imperative that MPs of the Vanni District should persuade the governments of India and Sri Lanka to let these refugees return legally by ferry or by boats from Mannar,'' said the Government Agent for Mannar Wednesday.
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Pre-school exhibition to be held in NE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 2004, 14:44 GMT]
North East Provincial Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs, Sports and Youth Affairs has organized a two day exhibition, where artistic material produced by pre-school students, teachers and parents of Child Friendly Development Centres in the province are to be displayed. This is the first time such an exhibition is to be held in the northeast, said Mt.S.Mahalingam, Senior Assistant Secretary.
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LTTE releases audio CD in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 2004, 00:38 GMT]
“ At a time when forces against Tamil unity are conspiring to destroy the Tamil nationalist movement, we have to unite and awaken Tamil national consciousness,” said Mr. K.V. Balakumar, a senior member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, speaking at an event to mark the release of an audio CD by the LTTE in Vavuniya Saturday with a view to raising Tamil national consciousness, sources said.
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North East Tamils mourn ‘Black July’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 07:12 GMT]
Tamils in northeast province Sunday observed a day of mourning to mark the pogrom against Tamils by Sinhala extremists assisted by the then Sri Lanka Government twenty one years ago on 23rd July, 1983. Several Tamil and civil group organizations in Jaffna called for people to close down shops and conduct prayers. More than thousand innocent Tamils in the southern part of the country, majority of them in Colombo were killed, many burnt alive or hacked to death, in daylight in the presence of State security forces during the ‘Black July’.
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Security Forces, LTTE meet in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 July 2004, 00:14 GMT]
Liberation Tigers agreed to cooperate with Sri Lanka Security Forces to bring the violence and murders in Vavuniya district under control in a meeting attended by Senior LTTE officials and Security Forces commanders at the offices of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in Vavuniya Monday, security sources said.
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US military intelligence team visits Palaly

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 July 2004, 10:38 GMT]
A top US military intelligence team visited the sprawling Sri Lankan armed forces base of Palaly-Kankesanthurai in Jaffna for high level discussions on security and defence issues, according reports in the Tamil press Sunday.
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