Iceland Foreign Ministry official meets Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 November 2006, 00:15 GMT]
Anna Johannsdottir, Head of Crisis Response Unit of the Iceland ministry of foreign affairs, accompanied by Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Jon Oskar Solnes, and Acting head of the SLMM, Thofinur Omarson, met with LTTE Political Head S. P. Tamilchelvan in the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi Tuesday 11:00 a.m., sources in Kilinochchi said.
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Tree planting encouraged in Mullaithivu on Pirapaharan's birthday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 November 2006, 18:52 GMT]
Business Union in Mullaithivu, on Sunday, organised an event to celebrate the 52nd birth day of LTTE leader V.Pirapaharan. Sea Tiger Special Commander Col. Soosai took part in the event where tree saplings were gifted, encouraging the local community to plant trees along the coast, ravaged by the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.
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LTTE leader participates in Heroes commemoration event

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 November 2006, 08:22 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers, Velupillai Pirapaharan, took part in a commemoration event held in Vanni Saturday when the three-day long 'Tamil National Heroes Day' remembrance events were inaugurated. From 27 November 1982, when the first LTTE fighter Lt.Sanker was killed, until 20 November 2006, a total of 18,742 fighters have died, all of whom have been declared War Heroes by the LTTE. 818 LTTE fighters, 568 men and 250 women fighters of the LTTE, have been killed in a largely defensive war faced by the Tigers in 2006. The list also includes members of Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS) and selected members of other organisations.
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Paramilitary threatens Tamil MPs from Batticaloa, Amparai to resign their seats before Monday

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 November 2006, 07:35 GMT]
A paramilitary Karuna Group operative, identifying himself as Gunanan, operating from the office of the group located in Sri Lanka Army controlled Batticaloa town, has issued death threats to Tamil parliamentarians from the East, Tamil National Alliance said in a letter to the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Tuesday. If the 8 parliamentarians from Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, did not resign their posts before coming Monday, November 27, they would be assassinated, the group has warned. 4 key members of the the TNA, 2 MPs, an ex-MP and a to-be-nominated MP, have been assassinated during the past 2 years.
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Colombo ignoring humanitarian catastrophe - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 November 2006, 15:49 GMT]
Colombo was engaged in "last minute tactics to placate the international community," prior to a scheduled meeting of Co-Chairs in Washington, by dispatching a single lorry into Vaharai where 38,000 civilians were starving for the past fortnight. Likewise, Colombo was showcasing to the media that it would dispatch a single convoy of supplies through A9 into Jaffna where 600,000 Tamils are under military siege in an "open prison," charged S. P. Thamilchelvan, political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday.
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Kilinochchi remembers Raviraj

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 November 2006, 00:07 GMT]
"Nadaraja Raviraj went to the doorsteps of his people, observed their living conditions, understood the daily struggle of our people, and exposed the atrocities and human rights violations committed against the Tamil people by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). His activities were a threat to the extremists who have succeeded in taking his life," said C. Ilamparithi, the Jaffna political head of Liberation Tigers, Wednesday in an event held to remember the slain parliamentarian, held at Kilinochchi Cultural Hall, 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, sources in Kilinochichi said.
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LTTE Political Head condemns Raviraj assassination in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 11:02 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Political Head S.P.Thamilchelvan condemned the assassination of Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj and accused the Sri Lankan state as responsible for the systematic slaying of humanitarian and democratic voices of Tamils. "Mr. Raviraj was slain in Colombo where he voiced against the abductions and killings carried out by the Sri Lankan military and it's paramilitaries," he said.
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Colombo intensifies attacks in Vanni, Vaharai

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 November 2006, 22:34 GMT]
Four civilians were killed and six wounded in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery shelling in Vaharai in the East, and a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre was killed and two wounded in Pooneryn, Vanni, Friday, as SLAF intensified air raids across Northeast, sources in Kilinochchi said. The attacks continued despite Colombo's commitment to cease violence at the negotiating table in Geneva last weekend, and Co-chairs' indignation over the bombing of a house in Kilinochchi that killed five persons and damaged Kilinochchi Hospital.
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Aerial attack near Hospital, a message of terror, says Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 November 2006, 11:59 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) that promised to halt the military offensives at the negotiating table, in front of the International Community in Geneva, has sent a "message of terror" within 24 hours of LTTE delegation's arrival in Kilinochchi by conducting a "gruesome" aerial attack killing an innocent family and terrorising the patients at the General Hopital premises, said Political Head of the Liberation Tigers, S. P. Thamilchelvan, following the Sri Lankan aerial attack in the heart of Kilinochchi town Thursday. Hospitals which serve the most humanitarian need and deserve utmost protection from any acts of violence, have now become targets to GoSL's campaign of terror, he added.
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No progress on Humanitarian issues, CFA- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 18:07 GMT]
First day of talks in Geneva between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers, focusing on the urgent humanitarian issues and the re-opening of A9 concluded without the parties agreeing to any measures to relieve the humanitarian crisis in the Tamil homeland, Liberation Tigers Political Head S.P Thamilchelvan told TamilNet.
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Peace process depends on ceasefire implementation - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 10:49 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers called Saturday for the full implementation of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA), saying "such actions will bring normalcy in the lives of our people, and help in taking forward the peace process towards a satisfactory conclusion." Addressing the opening session of the Norwegian facilitated negotiations in Geneva, LTTE's Political Head, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, said: "the best we can hope for from the current talks is therefore, the strengthening of the CFA agreement that has the potential to lead to a permanent, just peace in this island."
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Geneva Talks II begins

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 10:37 GMT]
"Developments in Sri Lanka in the past months have seriously endangered the peace process," said Switzerland Foreign Affairs Deputy Head Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini who gave the opening address wishing the facilitator and the Parties better understanding, in Geneva Saturday. Stressing the need for "confidence in the Norwegian Government as facilitator seeking ways to lead the delegations to a better mutual understanding, confidence in the other Party as a partner with whom one can engage," Ms. Heidi Tagliavini said the International Community the recent developments in Sri Lanka have caused considerable concern within the International Community.
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TNA urges LTTE to prioritize opening of A9, warns humanitarian catastrophe in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 October 2006, 18:34 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in an urgent letter to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday, noting that the humanitarian situation in Jaffna has reached critical levels since the closure of the A9 highway, appealed the Tigers to take-up the opening of the A9 highway as a matter of top priority at the forthcoming talks in Geneva. Sri Lanka Army conrolled Jaffna, with 653,755 persons, requires 11,000 Metric tons of food supplies per month. For the last three months, only 14,000 Metric tons of food items had been sent by ship, the short fall is 19,000 Metric tons. The fuel that is currently available is grossly inadequate.
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LTTE delegation arrives in Geneva, enters consultations

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 October 2006, 14:52 GMT]
Delegation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), headed by Political Head of the Tigers S.P. Thamilchelvan arrived in Geneva International Airport Thursday morning and engaged in internal consultations Thursday around 4:00 p.m. with the legal advisors and diaspora experts in Geneva.
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Tamileelam Legislature enacts Child Protection Act

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 October 2006, 22:29 GMT]
Tamileelam Child Protection Act 2006 (Act No. 03 of 2006), enacted by Tamileelam Legislature Secretariat and which became effective on October 15, brings into law measures to protect the Rights and well-being of children from inception of life through adolescence, Head of Tamileelam Judiciary, E. Pararajasingham, told TamilNet Wednesday. The Act, containing 83 sections, makes education compulsory upto grade 11, mandates registration of all child births, outlaws enlisting of children under 17 years in Armed Forces, makes participation of under 18-year olds in armed combat illegal, and proscribes all forms of child labour.
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LTTE to focus humanitarian issues, CFA implementation in Geneva

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 October 2006, 06:37 GMT]
S.P. Thamilchelvan, the Political Head of the Liberation Tigers, before leaving Kilinochchi Tuesday morning, with Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar and the LTTE delegation, for talks in Geneva, told media that the Tigers were participating in the talks respecting the call by the International Community. "Agenda for the talks has not been worked out," Mr. Thamilchelvan said. "However, on our part, we have prepared to focus the urgent humanitarian crisis caused by the Sri Lankan state terrorism in the Tamil homeland," he told media adding that the Tigers were also prepared to focus the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement.
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IFJ condemns bombing of VoT radio station

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 October 2006, 16:51 GMT]
The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the bombing of the official radio station of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Voice of Tigers (VoT), by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) in Vanni last Tuesday. The IFJ, reminding the Sri Lankan government of its "absolute obligation" under the Geneva Convention to respect the safety of journalists, said it hoped the attack does not set a "terrible precedent" for further "targeted attacks" on media outlets. The SLAF attack on Thamileelam Vanoli tower in Kokkavil, destroyed the main transmitter and tower of the station that broadcasts three services, the VoT, a Sinhala service and a Tamil commercial service from Vanni.
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Tigers, Norwegian facilitators agree on Geneva travel arrangements

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 October 2006, 14:31 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan, after meeting Jon Hanssen-Bauer, the Norwegian special envoy to Sri Lanka peace process, in Kilinochchi Thursday, told media that the Tigers had given their consent to participate in the talks in Geneva, provided that the International Community, through Norwegian facilitators, guarantees a safe travel arrangement. Switzerland Ambassador also met the LTTE Political Head in Kilinochchi Thursday.
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"LTTE prepared for talks" - Akashi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 October 2006, 12:09 GMT]
Yasushi Akashi, Japanese peace envoy, after meeting Political Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), S.P.Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi Wednesday, said: "We obtained commitments from Mr. Thamilchelvan that LTTE has prepared to go to Geneva for talks on the 28th October. I have insisted the importance of both sides to end all acts of violence and create an atmosphere for peaceful, sincere and honest discussions."
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Tigers ready for talks, Colombo should end offensives, air-strikes - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 October 2006, 10:08 GMT]
"Colombo drew first blood, launching major offensives and air-strikes into our territory in Vaharai, and in Vanni mainland, even after we made it clear that we were serious about the talks in Geneva, extending our full support and providing necessary assurances following the call by the International Community to engage in talks and cease all violence," LTTE's Political Head S.P. Thamilchelvan told TamilNet after meeting Japanese delegation headed by Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi at the LTTE Political Head Quarters in Kilinochchi Wednesday. Tigers are prepared for talks in Geneva, Mr. Thamilchelvan said.
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