Attack on Bollywood show creates political storm in south

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 December 2004, 20:23 GMT]
The grenade attack on Bollywood concert held Saturday in Colombo killing two and injuring several has created a political storm in the south of the country following a speech by President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge at Matara Sunday accusing a parliamentarian of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) and some monks of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) for causing the crime.
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Mothers of disappeared hold prayer on HR day in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 December 2004, 11:17 GMT]
Members of Jaffna Mothers' Front (JMF) and Jaffna District Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (JDCHA) Friday morning till afternoon held a prayer in front of the regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) after lighting the flame in remembrance of their sons and daughters who disappeared after being arrested by the government security forces in Jaffna and its suburbs during 1996-1997 period, civil sources said.
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CFA in danger of collapse, Prof Peiris says

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 2004, 12:20 GMT]
''The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has demanded that the Norwegian facilitators engaged in the peace process should quit, whereas the President insists that they should continue to be the facilitators. It is evident that contradictions within the Sri Lanka's ruling coalition have reached the highest point...On the peace front, given the amplitude of contradictions within the Government, the ceasefire agreement (CFA) suffers erosion day by day,'' said UNP spokesperson, Prof., G.L. Pieris, M.P. at a media conference held today wednesday the Opposition Leaders's office.
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Supreme Court jails Dissanayake for contempt of court

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 December 2004, 10:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court (SC) Tuesday sentenced Mr.S.B.Dissanayake, United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian and a former minister in the governments of People Alliance (PA) and United National Front (UNF) to two years rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court for making a statement defaming the country's superior court, legal sources said.
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Counter proposals not conducive to peace- Vanni MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2004, 17:03 GMT]
"The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) should desist from placing counter proposals before resuming negotiations. GoSL should be prepared to resume talks on the basis of Interim Self-Governing Authority proposals. Any further delay has the potential to lead Sri Lanka into another dark period of war and destruction. I urge the Sinhala parties speak with a unified, consistent voice, and enter peace talks," said Tamil national Alliance (TNA) Vanni District MP Mr Sathasivam Kanagaratnam when TamilNet talked to him Saturday.
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Tyronne Fernando to be sworn in as NE Governor

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 December 2004, 12:18 GMT]
Mr.Tyronne Fernando, former Foreign Minister in the earlier United National Front (UNF) government is to be sworn in as fourth Governor of the Tamil dominated North-East Province on Monday, 6th December, before Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge. He was scheduled to take oaths Friday but the event was put off for Monday, provincial council ministry sources said.
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"Impending disaster is SL President's own making"- Jaffna daily

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 December 2004, 12:50 GMT]
''Sri Lanka's President Ms Kumaratunge has brought to the forefront of political influence ultra Sinhala Buddhist elements with the idea of seizing political power at no less a time when the onus of compulsive responsibility of finding solution to the ethnic problem stood cast on the government of Sri Lanka. It is Ms Kumaratunge who will have to singly take the blame if the present peace efforts fail owing to the hysteria unleashed by the chauvinistic forces whom she had elevated to the high plain of political influence,'' said popular Jaffna daily Uthayan in its Thursday editorial.
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Srimani Athulathmudali dies

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 December 2004, 14:16 GMT]
Former Minister of Transport, environment and Women Affairs and wife of late Lalith Athulathmudali died after a brief illnesss in Colombo, media reports in Colombo said.
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UPFA ignoring critical national issues- Prof Peiris

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 December 2004, 12:09 GMT]
"Political parties in the South should recognize the "potentially dangerous" situation Sri Lanka is facing. The United National party (UNP) is ready to support any genuine steps the Government of Sri Lanka takes to resolve critical National issues faced by this country," said Prof G L Peiris Monday in Kandy after meeting Asgiriya Mahanayake Thera in Dalda Maligawa, sources said.
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Southern consensus, a prerequisite to resume talks- Thinakural

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 November 2004, 09:31 GMT]
"Is the Sri Lanka Government, which tells the world that LTTE is unwilling to talk about permanent solution, prepared to talk to the Tigers with clarity of purpose and in one voice? If not, is the government at least prepared to acknowledge that its call for talk on permanent solution is not genuine?" questioned the editorial of the popular Tamil daily Thinakural referring to the annual speech of the LTTE leader.
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SLN, SLA chiefs arrive in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 November 2004, 15:34 GMT]
Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri, Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy and the Chief of Armed Forces and Major General Shantha Kottegoda, Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are reported to have arrived in Trincomalee Monday evening to assess the security situation in the east port town on the instruction of the Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge following violent incidents that have taken place Monday, Colombo security sources said.


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Colombo's new proposal aims to hurt NorthEast education- paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 November 2004, 13:58 GMT]
"Educational planning is Sri Lanka is not oriented towards the benefit of all its citizens, but is used as an instrument to suppress the progress of Tamils," said Uthayan in an editorial Thursday criticizing Sri Lanka Government's attempt to reintroduce merit system when the Northeast education is suffering from devastation of war. "When Tamils captured more places under the merit system, the SriLankan Government introduced the district quota system, and now when the Tamils are highly dependent on the district quota system the Government is out to topple this avenue," the editorial added.
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“Budget ignores collective will of Tamil Nation”-Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2004, 05:27 GMT]
Mr.R.Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader speaking during the Budget debate in Sri Lanka's parliament Thursday morning, said that it is outrageous that the Finance Minister did not even consult the legitimate representatives of Tamil Nation. "The right to internal self-determination has been consistently denied to the Tamil people. This budget is yet another manifestation of that denial...Nothing can be more humiliating to the Tamil psyche than the non-recognition of their collective will. This situation if continued can have serious repercussions," he said.
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Give Talks priority over self-serving constitutional reforms, TNA tells SL President

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 November 2004, 11:35 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance, in a statement issued to the media Friday, said that the Sri Lanka President, by her recent statement, is attempting to "deflect focus from contradictions and inconsistencies that prevail in her own government," and instead, she "should communicate to the LTTE at the earliest, that the Government is prepared to commence talks on the basis of the ISGA proposals." The 22 TNA parliamentarians signed the statement.
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Expression of Unified position vital- Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 November 2004, 16:21 GMT]
''Sri Lanka's President must candidly discuss the peace process with leaders of Janatha Vimukthy Preramana (JVP) and arrive at a common position acceptable to both President Kumaratunge and the JVP,'' said opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at the United National Party (UNP) New members intake meeting on Tuesday evening, held at UNP party Head office, political sources in Colombo said.


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Sri Lanka's ruling coalition divided on Kotmale project

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 November 2004, 19:27 GMT]
Minister of Estate Infrastructure Mr Muthu Sivalingam of the Ceylon Workers congress (CWC) told the press Friday that CWC will never permit the implementation of the upper Kotmale Hydro-power scheme and warned that United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government will be forcedout of power if it proceeds with the project disregarding CWC's protest.
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Jaffna islet families demand removal of pass system

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 November 2004, 15:19 GMT]
Pungudutivu Division Civil Groups Consortium (PDCGC) Saturday wrote to Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge to take immediate action to completely lift the residential pass system introduced for resettled families in Pungudutivu by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), civil sources in Jaffna said.
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Norwegian FM to meet Sri Lanka's President Wednesday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 02:03 GMT]
Norwegian Foreign Minister Mr.Jan Peterson accompanied by his deputy Mr.Vidar Helgessen and special envoy Mr.Erik Solheim is due to hold talks with Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Wednesday evening regarding the resumption of peace talks with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Liberation (LTTE), Presidential secretariat sources said.
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TNA MPs meet Solheim

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 11:25 GMT]
Norwegian Special Peace Envoy, Mr Eric Solheim, who arrived in Sri Lanka Tuesday morning, met with a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation led by Senior M.P Joseph Pararasingham at the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, political sources in Colombo said. Jaffna district parliamentarians Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Ms Padmini Sithamparanathan, S. Gajenthiran, and Suress Premachchandran accompanied Mr Pararajasingham to the meeting.
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Colombo's peace attempts, ploy to obtain aid funds- Prof Peiris

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 November 2004, 01:36 GMT]
"Sri Lanka President's double-speak is evident from the fact she tells the TNA one thing, and the JVP quite another. Her duplicitous attempts at peace are ploys to obtain aid funds without commencing talks", said Professor G.L.Pieris, who was the Guest speaker at a discussion held in Bright inn Hotel Colombo, Sunday, organized by the Western Province People's Front (WPPF) presided over by its Leader and Parliamentarian, Mano Ganeshan.
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