SLN Dvora reported missing

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 January 2006, 22:15 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Dvora fast attack craft has been reported missing off the coast of Trincomalee, naval sources said. A big explosion was heard off the coast of Foul Point around 2.30 a.m. Saturday, police in the eastern port town said. A statement issused by the Sri Lanka Army said two survivors of the crew have been found and thirteen are still missing and the Dvora has sunk without any traces. Liberation Tigers' media spokesperson Daya Master, speaking to TamilNet from Kilinochchi, said that LTTE has no involvement in the explosion.
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SLN bans fishing east, west of KKS harbor

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 January 2006, 00:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka Security Forces have banned fishing on seas east and west of Kankesanthurai Harbor High Security Zone (HSZ), stripping nearly six hundred fisher families from their livelihood, said K Thavaratnam, president of Jaffna District Consortium of Fisheries Unions. According to Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) officials the ban will be lifted only when violents incidents subside and Jaffna district returns to normalcy, Mr Thavaratnam further said.
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SLA's Deep Penetration Unit responsible for Claymore attack - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 January 2006, 13:40 GMT]
LTTE's Political Head of Mannar District, Mr. Iniyavan, said Wednesday that there were two Claymore mines bound to a tree and wired to a triggering device operated a few meters away from the spot where LTTE Vavuniya West Political Co-ordinatar Major Jeyanthan was killed with a civilian supporter riding in a motorbike Tuesday. "A deep penetration unit of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is known to operate from the Iranai Illuppaikulam SLA base," Iniyavan told TamilNet after showing the site to Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) members Wednesday morning. The Claymore explosion that claimed the life of Maj. Jeyanthan, took place 4 km near Chinnavalayankattu, 47 km east of Mannar.
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SL Navy blocks fishermen from entering Northern Seas - Jaffna MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 January 2006, 15:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel in Valvettithurai and Polikandy coastal areas in Jaffna have blocked fishermen from fishing for the past 3 days, Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament Mr.Selvarajah Gajendran told TamilNet Tuesday. The fishermen who are dependent on daily income from fishing for their livelihood were blocked also from moving their boats to other parts of the Jaffna peninsula, the MP said.
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War and Peace- LTTE way: Taraki, 1991

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 January 2006, 00:08 GMT]
In the 12 June 1991 issue of Sri Lanka's English daily, Island International, late Dharmeratnam Sivaram, popular journalist and Senior editor at TamilNet, writes on issues that dominated the early Premadasa period after the departure of IPKF as prevailing climate appeared ripe for peace talks. However, on the day the article appeared, two soldiers were killed in a Batticaloa landmine attack. Enraged soldiers massacred 150 Tamil civilians (13 June) in Kokkadichcholai. LTTE retaliated by killing 19 soldiers (20 June) in an ambush, leading to continued blood letting as Eelam War II (June 1990 to 1994) was fought without any hopes of peace talks.
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920 Tamils arrested in major cordon, search operation in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 December 2005, 11:01 GMT]
Sri Lankan Military troopers and the Colombo Police have arrested 920 Tamils, including 105 Tamil women, in a joint cordon and search operation in Colombo between Friday midnight and Saturday noon, police said. The arrested were taken in busses to 8 different police stations and were being photographed, finger-printed and videoed by the Sri Lankan Intelligence agencies, informed sources said. The search operation was conducted in Tamil residential areas in Wellawatte, Bambalapitiya, Maradana, Kotahena, Grandpass and Mutuwal. Fifty three Tamils were detained after identity-registration in the operation code named "Strangers Night III," Police said.
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STF soldiers fire into LTTE held area in East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2005, 12:03 GMT]
Around fifty soldiers of the Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF) Thursday morning 11:00 a.m. opened fire at random into paddy fields located inside the LTTE held area, dispersing more than a hundred farmers working in the fields. Only minor injuries were sustained by a few farmers in the gunfire, LTTE's Udumpankulam area Co-ordinator Mr. Veeramani told TamilNet.
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Co-Chairs representatives to meet LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 15:20 GMT]
A top level diplomatic team representing the Co-Chairs of the peace process in Sri Lanka are scheduled to visit Kilinochchi and meet the LTTE's Political Head Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan on Saturday to discuss the situation following the recent escalation of violence in Jaffna and Mannar districts, sources in Kilinochchi told TamilNet.
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Vaiko meets Indian Premier, Defence Minister in New Delhi

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 13:54 GMT]
Vaiko, the General Secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) from the Tamil Nadu state in India, met Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi Friday at 5 p.m. Following the meeting with the Indian Premier, Vaiko also met the Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday evening. When contacted by TamilNet, the MDMK chief Vaiko described his meetings with Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee as cordial and constructive. Sri Lanka was trying to trap India to get embroiled into Sri Lanka's conflict as it did in the eighties, Vaiko said, adding that he had cautioned the Indian leaders that Sri Lanka's moves are inimical to Tamil interests.
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World concerned over escalation of violence, Solheim calls for urgent talks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 18:24 GMT]
The global community is gravely concerned over the rising tide of violence in the Jaffna peninsula and calling for urgent talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers to de-escalate the conflict. This message was conveyed to the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and theoretician, Mr. Anton Balasingham when a high level Norwegian delegation met him at his London residence Tuesday morning, sources told TamilNet.
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International political advocacy indispensable to maturing Tamil struggle- Sithamparanathan

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 December 2005, 00:03 GMT]
“Congressional meetings gave me hope that a conducive atmosphere is emerging in the supreme legislative body of the US with regards to the Tamil struggle. It is critical that we maintain sustained efforts to reinforce relationships with congresspersons interested in our struggle, and address human rights issues raised by UN agencies and watchdogs. With the maturing phase of our struggle, focussed political action in major world capitals has become an urgent priority,” said Pathmini Sithamparanathan of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), and the first woman Member of Parliament (MP) for Jaffna, when she talked to TamilNet in Washington D.C concluding her two-week speaking tour in US Saturday.
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Maintaining symmetry of power, key to meaningful peace talks- Adaikalanathan

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 December 2005, 20:34 GMT]
“Instead of choosing a constructive political path setting incremental milestones to monitor progress in addressing the national crisis, various Sri Lanka governments in power, were preoccupied with an "oppressive mindset" and have attempted to weaken the Tamil struggle by purposely dragging out peace processes,” said TNA parliamentarian Selvam Adaikalanathan, speaking to TamilNet Friday. He said that a meaningful peace process is possible only if the prevailing strategic symmetry of power is maintained between the two parties.
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India cannot be a card in Colombo’s oppressive politics game - Vaiko

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 December 2005, 12:59 GMT]
Indian Defence Minister Mr Pranab Muhkerjee assured the Tamil Nadu Politician Mr. Vaiko Monday that he will investigate the press reports on the reconstruction efforts of Palaly airstrip in the main Sri Lankan military base in Jaffna. “Earlier Indian political leaders had acted with great care, and had declined to enter into a defence treaty or airbase reconstruction projects when I have brought the Tamil concerns to the Indian leadership’s notice,” Vaiko said.
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Colombo to build Naval base in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 December 2005, 17:11 GMT]
Preparations by the Sri Lanka Government to set-up the first naval base in Batticaloa district close to Eravur was revealed in a meeting between the Police officers of the Batticaloa district, a Muslim Minister and Muslim representatives in Eravur. The special meeting which took place at Eravur Ummah Mosque Friday noon also discussed special security arrangements for Muslims in Eravur. Punnaikudah beach 4 km northeast of Saddam Hussain Village was identified as the location for the first Sri Lankan naval base in Batticaloa district, Muslim attendees to the meeting told TamilNet.
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Two paramilitary cadres surrender, say Karuna group responsible for attacks against Muslims

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 December 2005, 11:28 GMT]
Two paramilitary cadres, Mr. Gnanatheepan and Mr. Puhalventhan, have surrendered to the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) in Amparai following the counter-attack on Karuna Group cadres where four paramilitary cadres were killed Tuesday, Mr. Daya Mohan, political head of the LTTE in Amparai told TamilNet. The surrendered cadres have confirmed the death of the key operative Iniyabarathy, and have revealed that the paramilitary cadres led by Iniyabarathy were behind the recent attacks against Muslims in Amparai district, including the grenade attack on Akkaraipattu Mosque where four Muslim worshippers were killed, said Daya Mohan.
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Key Karuna Group operative, 3 paramilitary cadres killed in East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 December 2005, 02:56 GMT]
A key operative of the paramilitary Karuna Group, Iniyabarathy alias Barathy, was killed Monday night when the Liberation Tigers launched a counter attack on a group of paramilitary cadres who were on an ambush mission towards Kanjikudichcha Aaru forward defence post of the Tigers, Mr. Daya Mohan, LTTE's political head in Amparai told TamilNet Tuesday. Iniyabarathy was killed with three other paramilitary cadres in the no-man zone between the Sri Lanka Army held Manthoddam and the LTTE held Kanjikudichcha Aaru, located 5 km east of Siyambalanduwa near the border of the Moneragala and Amparai Districts.
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Colombo cancels Muhamalai meet

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 December 2005, 14:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials informed the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) representatives who were present at Muhamalai Monday evening that the Sri Lanka's Peace Secretariat in Colombo had declined permission to the SLA Jaffna Commander, Maj. Gen. Sunil Tennakoon, to attend the proposed meeting with the LTTE, sources at the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi told TamilNet.
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SLA soldier killed in Chavakacheri, civilians attacked in reprisal

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 December 2005, 16:10 GMT]
One Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier was killed when a tractor carrying SLA soldiers came under gunfire from unknown gunmen near Chavakacheri Hindu College Saturday evening, sources in Jaffna said. Three SLA soldiers were injured in three other grenade attacks in Meesalai located 3 km from Chavakachcheri. The injured soldiers were first taken to Puttur SLA camp by road and from there they were airlifted to Palaly military hospital. SLA troopers stationed along the A9 highway between Meesalai and Chavakacheri attacked civilan travellers with gun butts. Smashed motorbikes were seen on both sides along the highway, travellers who escaped from the site told TamilNet.
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Sovereignty fears

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 November 2005, 01:33 GMT]
The definition "supreme authority within a territory," captures the essential notion of sovereignty used to describe political authority of modern nation states. The origins of Sri Lanka’s long festering conflict lie in its unitary constitution which vests the exercise of sovereignty solely in the hands of Sinhala Buddhists. But Colombo wields no sovereign authority over nearly seventy percent of the island’s NorthEast. Radical Sinhala groups view the denial of their state’s sovereignty in areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers with extreme chagrin. Over the years, other events too have challenged Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.
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Heroes' day commemorations begin

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 November 2005, 15:57 GMT]
Three days of events marking Heroes' day that falls on the 27 November began in Kilinochchi and other parts of the NorthEast Friday. Liberation Tiger cadres, officials, parents of fighters killed in war and workers participated in the newly opened Lt Col Malathy Memorial Hall, Charles Antony Memorial and at the Peace Secretariat building in Kilinochchi.
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