SLAF bombs broadcast tower in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 October 2006, 10:38 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers Tuesday destroyed the main broadcast tower and transmitter of the Thamileelam Radio that broadcasts the official broadcast of the Liberation Tigers, the Voice of Tigers (VoT), Thamileelam Vanoli, a commercial Tamil service and a Sinhala language broadcast. Political Head of the LTTE, S.P. Thamilchelvan, who visited the broadcast station along the A9 Road in Kokkavil, 15 km south of Kilinochchi, charged the Sri Lankan Government for attacking the broadcast station with a "planned agenda to suppress the freedom of expression prior to the talks scheduled in Geneva."
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LTTE captures SLA soldier, locates 75 dead bodies of Lankan troopers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 October 2006, 13:48 GMT]
LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan Wednesday evening told media that the Tigers had repulsed the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive Wednesday. SLA troopers who broke through the LTTE Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions in Kilali and Muhamalai were defeated, leaving around 75 dead bodies of Sri Lankan soldiers inside the LTTE territory in Kilali. A soldier was captured alive by the Tigers, he said. Three tanks were damaged and one destroyed, according to LTTE military spokesman. Meanwhile, SLA sources in Colombo claimed 35 were killed and more than 300 wounded in the Sri Lankan offensive.
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International Community should ensure SLMM access to FDLs - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 October 2006, 10:19 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan accused Colombo for being the "aggressor" despite the International Community's efforts and the LTTE leadership's assurances in ceasing violence to create conducive environment for talks. Colombo has denied access to truce monitors to the Northern Front where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has been seen readying for a frontal assault, he told TamilNet after meeting the Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar in Kilinochchi Tuesday.
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SLA preparing for Jaffna offensive, Tigers warn SLMM

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 October 2006, 16:30 GMT]
Heavy deployment of Sri Lankan armed forces is reported in Thenmaradchi and Vadamaradchi East along the Northern Front Saturday, LTTE sources said. The Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Saturday night, in an urgent communiqué to the Head of SLMM, informed Sri Lanka's military build-up and urged the monitors to take immediate steps to visit Muhamalai FDL and confirm Sri Lanka's preparations for the offensive. LTTE's Political Head told TamilNet that LTTE is concerned of SLMM's limited access to Muhamalai. Unhindered access is vital for a fair and neutral judgement on the SLA offensive that will likely lead to a full-scale war, Thamilchelvan said.
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LTTE Political Head writes to Norwegian facilitator

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 October 2006, 06:00 GMT]
The Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, S.P. Thamilchelvan Friday sent an urgent letter to the Norwegian Special Envoy, Jon Hanssen-Bauer, informing the Norwegian facilitator on the LTTE stand following the Sri Lankan offensive in Vaharai. The LTTE decision to abide by the Co-Chairs call was a goodwill gesture, extended to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), the officials in Kilinochchi said alluding that the LTTE leadership's message was a reminder of the moral obligations bound with the call to cease the violence in creating a conducive environment for talks.
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SLAF bombs Vanni as Special Envoy meets Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 October 2006, 11:07 GMT]
Three Kfir jet bombers of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) flew over Vanni and attacked Pooneryn as Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer met the Liberation Tigers Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi to discuss the modalities for creating a conducive environment for talks, LTTE sources in Kilinochchi said. Mr. Thamilchelvan told media after the meeting that Colombo was continuously engaged in "offensive aggression," despite the assurances given to the Norwegian facilitators following the call by the Co-Chairs to cease all violence. Tigers were still extending support to unconditional talks as urged by the International Community, the LTTE political head told TamilNet.
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ICRC hands over bodies of slain LTTE cadres

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 October 2006, 11:49 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Batticaloa District Commander Col. Ramesh, who had taken command recently, attended the funeral of three of the eleven Tiger cadres who were killed in an alleged Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) ambush inside the LTTE territory in Batticaloa. The bodies of the 11 Tiger cadres killed Saturday dawn in the counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) attack, were handed over to the Tigers by the Representatives of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) Sunday around 3.30 p.m, according to Batticaloa District LTTE Deputy Political Head, S. Seeralan.
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Colombo's refusal to open A9, serious Humanitarian violation - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 September 2006, 12:23 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S.P. Thamilchelvan Wednesday held discussions with the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General Lars Johan Sølvberg, urging the Head of Mission to clarify the stand of Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) after the refusal by Sri Lanka Army in allowing the truce monitors access the Muhamalai area. Mr. Thamilchelvan questioned the HoM on the cooperation extended by GoSL in restoring normalcy in re-opening the land route and relieve the humanitarian sufferings of 500,000 civilians entrapped in economic embargo and GoSL refusal to open the Jaffna Kandy A9 route. Also other access routes to LTTE controlled areas in the East remain blocked.
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Thileepan, Shankar commemorated in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 September 2006, 23:22 GMT]
The nineteenth death anniversary of Lt. Col. Thileepan, a political leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who fasted unto death in 1987, and the fifth death anniversary of Col. Shankar, a senior commander and the founder of the Tiger air-wing, who was killed in a Sri Lankan Deep Penetration Unit triggered Claymore mine in Vanni in 2001, were commemorated in NorthEast on Tuesday. Hundreds of people took part in token fasts. Temple and church bells were rung at 10:48 a.m. The leader of the LTTE, Mr. V. Pirapaharan, paid homage to Thileepan and Shankar at a commemoration event.
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Tigers respond positively for Co-Chairs' call for talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 09:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers officials at the LTTE's Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi Friday said that the Tigers had responded positively for the International Community's call for talks in Oslo to Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar, in a meeting Friday where LTTE's Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan discussed the ground situation and the recent statement from the Co-Chairs, who represent the donor community to Sri Lanka.
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Clashes erupt at Nagarkovil, SLAF bombs Palai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 09:12 GMT]
Artillery attacks from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) positions towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Forward Defence Line in Vadamaradchi East intensified Thursday noon after exchange of mortar and gunfire in Nagarkovil. Earlier, around 10:0 a.m., Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers dropped at least 9 bombs in Pachchilaippalli village in Pallai in Thenmaradchi, destroying at least five civilian houses. Meanwhile, informed military circles in Colombo said some SLA coastal sentries near Nagarkovil camp were destroyed by the Sea Tigers in the fighting that ensued.
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More civilians brave Mannar seas to reach Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 07:19 GMT]
A group of 33 civilians of the many stranded people in Vavuniya by the shutting of A9 road to Jaffna, reached the Jaffna islet of Delft in three hired boats from Thalai Mannar Wednesday evening, Police sources in Kayts said. A group of 13 civilians arrived at Delft earlier in the week in a hired boat from Thalai Mannar risking their lives on the seas. More than 3500 civilians from Jaffna are stranded in Vavuniya and elsewhere following the closure of the A9 Road to Jaffna.
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One killed, another injured in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 September 2006, 16:26 GMT]
Two unidentified armed men riding a motor cycle shot and killed a young man in Atchuvely town, around 7 a.m., Tuesday.
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Humanitarian supplies through land routes crucial - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 11:40 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan met Friday with the new Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, retired Maj. Gen. Lars Johan Sølvberg. Mr. Thamilchelvan, talking to press, after the meeting, said that the Tigers discussed the humanitarian crisis as the top priority issue. The closure of A9 is "not a mere violation of the Ceasefire Agreement, but an offence against humanity, denying basic supplies to hundreds of thousands of people," Mr. Thamilchelvan said.
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International community must ensure Sri Lanka honours CFA and paves way for talks- LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 00:03 GMT]
Welcoming the call by the Co-Chairs of Sri Lanka’s donor community for the Colombo government to abide by the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) and implement the pledges it made in Geneva, the Liberation Tigers said Wednesday it is the responsibility of the Norwegian facilitators and international community to ensure the Rajapakse government adheres to the territorial demarcations, terms and conditions of the CFA and thereby creates a conducive atmosphere for talks.
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Co-chairs say want talks in early October

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 14:59 GMT]
Representatives of Co-Chairs of Sri Lanka’s donors said Tuesday they had received “signals” from the Liberation Tigers and the Colombo government that they were ready for talks “without preconditions,” and urged both parties to meet “urgently” in Oslo in early October, saying the Co-chairs would review the progress of the talks later that month. “The international community insisted that the two parties sit immediately and also stop the violence,” Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim told the BBC’s Sinhala service.
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Stable ceasefire ‘essential pre-requisite’ for peace moves - India

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 13:23 GMT]
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday India's efforts would be to ensure that the current ceasefire holds in Sri Lanka as a pre-requisite for a durable solution to the island's crisis, IANS reported.
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Sri Lanka pushing island to "full scale war" - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 09:33 GMT]
Continuing offensives by the Sri Lankan military will compel the Liberation Tigers to switch from defensive operations to launching their own offensives, the LTTE said Wednesday. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, the head of the LTTE’s Political Wing, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan said the Sri Lankan military’s offensives and continuing forcible occupation of Tamil areas had rendered the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) "meaningless" but "since the facilitators and the international community are eager to strengthen peace efforts, the LTTE is also continuing to examine options for strengthening the CFA."
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LTTE writes to ICRC: Humanitarian supplies through demarcated landroutes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 07:55 GMT]
S. P. Thamilchelvan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers, in a letter addressed to the ICRC Head of Delegation in Sri Lanka, Toon Vandenhove, Tuesday reiterated that the LTTE pledge to stop all retaliatory fire during the land passage of, humanitarian supply convoys, ambulances, and employees of non-governmental organizations. The Ceasefire agreement (CFA), does not have specific articles about demarcation lines in sea, the letter said. "This issue [of demarcation] remains unresolved to this day. Under these circumstances it is not possible for us to provide protection to ICRC sponsored ship using the seas."
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No peace moves until Colombo respects CFA borders - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2006, 11:52 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government’s aggression on LTTE-controlled territory has blocked progress towards peace, the Liberation Tigers told Norwegian facilitators Wednesday. The LTTE’s Political Head, S. P. Thamilchelvan, told Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar that Colombo’s invasion and occupation of LTTE-held territory has put an end to peaceful ways of stabilising the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). Sri Lankan jets overflew Kilinochchi as Mr. Brattskar met Mr. Thamilchelvan.
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