British MPs tour Jaffna, Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 October 2002, 04:52 GMT]
Progress in peace talks will largely determine if Britain will lift the ban on the LTTE or not, said Mr.Gareth Thomas, British Member of Parliament, Tuesday after visiting Jaffna and Vanni areas accompanied by Mr.Robert Evans, Member of European Parliament.
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Hartal in northeast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 09:03 GMT]
Shops remained closed and streets were deserted in all the towns in the northeast as a general shut down ('hartal') was observed in protest at the attacks on Tamil civilians in Trincomalee and Kanchirankuda. Black flags were hoisted on shops, houses and at public places. Burning tyres were seen on main roads, sources in several north-eastern towns said.
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'Armed strength vital for our protection' - Soosai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 October 2002, 20:08 GMT]
More than hundred thousand people from Vavuniya, Jaffna and many parts of the Vanni thronged the Killinochchi grounds and its surroundings to see the military parade of the LTTE's women fighting forces. The parade was followed by series of floats depicting the women fighting units of the LTTE.
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Jayawardene orders MPCS to distribute spoilt rice

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 October 2002, 19:51 GMT]
The management of the Trincomalee Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society is in a dilemma following instruction by the Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees Minister Dr.Jayalath Jayawardene personally to distribute 950 bags of rice, which has been condemned as unfit for human consumption by the Government Agent and co-operative officials.
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NE protests in support of fasting PTA suspects

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 October 2002, 17:26 GMT]
Token hunger strikes, boycott of classes and rallies were held in Northeast province Tuesday in support of the fast unto death campaign by the Tamil political prisoners now under detention at Kalutara, Welikada and other prisons in the country.
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LTTE, GOSL exchange detainees of war

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 September 2002, 15:46 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Saturday that President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government was responsible for delaying the release of the last batch of Sri Lankan army and Navy personnel in their custody by not acting on the matter with "prudent and humanitarian consideration." The LTTE and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's government exchanged prisoners of war as part of the peace building process to end the island's ethnic conflict Saturday in Omanthai, on the southern border of the Vanni region.
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Polio immunisation targets northeast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 September 2002, 13:27 GMT]
More than three hundred thousand children under five years of age in Sri Lanka’s northeast province were immunized against Polio Saturday, health officials said.
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Lt.Col Thileepan death anniversary concludes in NE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 September 2002, 20:10 GMT]
"The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have begun peace negotiations with the United National Front government sincerely and with confidence that we can achieve full autonomy based on Tamil nationality, Tamil homeland and the right of self determination" said the Head of the LTTE's Judiciary Mr. Pararajasingham addressing the concluding ceremony of the week long observance in honour of the Tiger martyr Lt.Colonel Thileepan in Poonthottam, Vavuniya Thursday morning.
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SLA escorts LTTE convoy to Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 September 2002, 23:34 GMT]
A large number of Liberation Tigers from Batticaloa-Ampara district travelled to the Vanni region by road Tuesday, escorted by Sri Lankan troops. Sources said 285 LTTE members made the journey.
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Vanni MPs slam SLA for blocking resettlement

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 September 2002, 22:54 GMT]
"If Mannar and Vavuniya districts are to be developed the Sri Lanka armed forces have to vacate our homes, and agricultural lands. We are not asking for houses or buildings in Anuradhapura and Madawachchiya. We are only asking permission to go back to our homes, to the lands of our forefathers," said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Vanni district parliamentarian Mr.Sivasakthi Anandan addressing a conference held Friday at the Mannar district secretariat on resettlement.
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China pledges to assist rebuilding north

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 September 2002, 16:40 GMT]
The Chinese government Friday promised that it would offer financial assistance to rebuild houses destroyed by war in the Jaffna district. "My government is developing a rehabilitation programme for implementation in the north," said Chinese ambassador in Colombo, Mr.Jiang Quizheng, addressing a conference at the Jaffna district secretariat Friday. The Ambassador during his visit to Jaffna inspected the Point Pedro jetty, which is in the high security zone of the Sri Lanka Army.
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Indian fishermen, trawlers released following talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 September 2002, 14:56 GMT]
One hundred and three Indian fishermen and their twenty five trawlers were released Friday morning and handed over to the Indian Navy following lengthy talks held Thursday night at Mannar, police sources said. The fishermen of Pesalai in Mannar district had detained them Wednesday night when they were caught illegally fishing in Sri Lanka territorial waters.


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SLA says no to IDP resettlement in Vavuniya north

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 September 2002, 02:42 GMT]
A team comprising government officials, officers of the Sri Lanka Army, officials of Liberation Tigers and civilians Tuesday visited Iranai Illupaikulam and Kalmadu in the Vavuniya district to make an assessment for resettling of internally displaced persons and to recommence paddy cultivation in fields in the region abandoned due to military operations.


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NE local government polls postponed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 September 2002, 14:57 GMT]
The Commissioner of Elections Tuesday announced that the local government polls in the Northeast province scheduled for 25 September has been postponed for the second time in a year. According to the notification issued by the Commissioner Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake Tuesday, the elections to Northeast local authorities will be held on 25 June, 2003.
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Police hand in Murunkan robberies alleged

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 September 2002, 17:18 GMT]
The Mannar magistrate Sunday remanded a Police constable accused of robbing a shop in the Murunkan town. The PC was caught by the townspeople Saturday night around 8.30 p.m. while robbing a grocery. A tense standoff developed late Saturday night between the townspeople who had tied up the PC and more than 300 Police who had surrounded them, demanding the robber’s release. Murunkan residents and traders allege that the Police have been regularly robbing shops in the town for more than three years with impunity.
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Resettling IDPs in Vavuniya discussed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 September 2002, 20:16 GMT]
The Defence Secretary said Saturday that immediate resettlement of displaced families in areas close to high security zone in Vavuniya district is impossible. However, at the request of Defence Secretary Mr. Austin Fernando, it was agreed at the conference held Saturday at Vavuniya district secretariat that a committee comprising government and security officials and Liberation Tigers leaders should submit a report regarding resettlement within two weeks, after visiting the areas.
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Nimalarajan murder case suspects allowed bail

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 September 2002, 18:16 GMT]
The Vavuniya High Court Wednesday allowed the bail applications submitted on behalf of two vital suspects in the Jaffna journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan murder case. The High Court Judge Mr.A. N.Ramachandran overruled the objections raised by the counsel for the deceased and allowed bail for the suspects Michael Collin David and Palanichamy Visvan with two persons as sureties on a bond of one hundred thousand rupees each.
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TNA urges PM to put off NE local polls

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 September 2002, 16:00 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance Wednesday urged Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to postpone elections to local government bodies in the northeast scheduled to be held on 25 September. The polls were postponed in March this year upon a request by the TNA that the situation was not conducive at the time. The Elections Commission said last week that the polls to the local authorities will have to be held as scheduled unless the law is amended.
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Murunkan protestors demand share in peace dividend

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 19:41 GMT]
More than five hundred farmers, traders and community leaders demonstrated in Murunkan in Mannar Tuesday demanding the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to deliver on its promise to start rehabilitation and reconstruction in the area following the ceasefire. Sri Lankan government officials in Mannar said that the Minister for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction had allocated 208 million rupees for the purpose but the Treasury had no money to give.
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SC holds Vavuniya pass system violates FR

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 19:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court held Thursday that the security pass system in Vavuniya under thePeoples Alliance government was a violation of the fundamental rights of citizens. Residents and visitors had to obtain special security permits to to live, stay or travel outside Vavuniya and Mannar. The system was abolished after the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers signed a ceasefire agreement in February this year.
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