Sexual assault at Kopay SLA camp suspected, says TNA MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 February 2006, 02:25 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarian S Gajendran brought to the attention of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse that residents in Kopay strongly suspect sexual assaults on women are taking place inside a Kopay Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp, the parliamentarian told the local media, Tuesday. Several residents of the area had complained to the parliamentarian that they had heard a woman screaming for several minutes inside the camp at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
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More UNP Pradeshya Sabha members cross over to SLFP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 January 2006, 12:27 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) members of Pradeshya Sabhas from Navalapitiya and other areas obtained membership in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in a simple ceremony held at the Temple trees, office of the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse, Tuesday, parliamentary sources in Colombo said.
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Indian Air Force Chief arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 January 2006, 14:04 GMT]
The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal S.P.Tyagi arrived Monday in Sri Lanka on a five-day official visit, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) officials in Colombo said. During his stay in Sri Lanka, he is scheduled to meet SL President Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse, Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Daya Sandagiri and the commanders of the three forces.
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Three vie for Jaffna campus VC post

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 January 2006, 15:12 GMT]
The Jaffna University Senate Saturday decided to send the names of three Professors for the post of Vice Chancellor which is to fall vacant on March 12 when the incumbent, Professor S.Mohanathas, leaves office. Jaffna University Senate, which met Saturday afternoon, selected three out of six professors who contested for the post and decided to send these names to the President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse for his choice through the University Grants Commission (UGC), sources said.


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Holding local elections to face legal action

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 January 2006, 16:38 GMT]
Holding elections to three hundred and sixty local government institutions based on the 2004 Voters' List has become a contentious issue among political parties and election monitoring institutions. The main opposition United National Party (UNP) has already filed a petition seeking the Court of Appeal to order the Commissioner of Election Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake not to hold the local government elections on the 2004 Voters' List. The UNP alleges that this list deprives about three hundred thousand voters of their franchise, legal sources said.
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Two UNP parliamentarians cross over

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 17:00 GMT]
Two senior opposition United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians have crossed over to the SL Government. Sri Lanka's Opposition Leader Mr. Ranil Wickremesighe on Monday has told Mr. Erik Solheim, the visiting Norwegian Peace Envoy, that he will withdraw his support for peace efforts if Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse tried to buy UNP members, sources in Colombo said.
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LTTE, GoSL to hold talks on truce implementation in Geneva

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 08:23 GMT]
Liberation Tigers said Wednesday that they have agreed to hold talks in Geneva with the Government of Sri Lanka on "smooth implementation" of the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement. Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Anton Balasingham, told reporters that the talks, expected to begin in mid-February, would be limited to the implementation of the truce which has come under increasing strain recently. Talks on further matters could only take place after complete cessation of the Sri Lankan military's violent repression of the population in Government held areas of the Northeast, he said.
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Civil group calls for probe into Pesalai civilian killings

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 20:40 GMT]
Pesalai Parish Pastoral Council and Mannar Citizen Committee through a joint memorandum Monday appealed to Sri Lanka's President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse to order an impartial inquest into the killing of four innocent civilians including a three-year old child by soldiers of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on December 23, and to pay compensation to the dependants of those killed, sources said.
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"Back to war"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 January 2006, 21:06 GMT]
"Unlike Indonesia Sri Lanka has failed to usher in peace. Every opportunity for rapprochement has been squandered after the Tsunami...The Sri Lankan government and the LTTE are steeped in mutual suspicion and contempt and will not arrive at any resolution on their own. A new heavy weight mediator must join Norway's Herculean but waning peacemaking efforts, one whom both parties can respect as an honest broker," said an independent analysis that appeared in the Sunday online edition of "The News" of Jang Group.
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Balasingham to arrive in Kilinochchi on Monday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 January 2006, 15:13 GMT]
Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and his wife Adele Balasingham will arrive in Kilinochchi Monday morning between 9 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. and will be received by Head of LTTE Political Wing, S.P Thamilchelvan, LTTE officials in Kilinochchi said. A Norwegian Embassy official will accompany the Balasinghams in a Norwegian Embassy facilitated transport in a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter, LTTE sources said.
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Retired Navy Chief of Staff appointed NorthEast Governor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 January 2006, 12:18 GMT]
Retired Rear Admiral Mohan Wijeyawickrema Friday assumed duties as the sixth Governor of the NorthEast Province at the sub-office of the Governor's Secretariat in Colombo. Mr Wijewickrema retired as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) prematurely as his seniority was overlooked when Ms Kumaratunge appointed Rear Admiral Vasantha Karanagoda as the Commander of the SLN in 2005. The new Governor is scheduled to pay his first official visit to the Secretariat located in Trincomalee facing the Trincomalee harbor next week, officials of the Secretariat said.
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Home guard, driver shot dead in Serunuwara

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 January 2006, 10:29 GMT]
Unidentified men shot and killed Nilantha Madugalle aged 26, a home guard and Mahinda Navaretna aged 34, a three wheel driver Saturday morning around 8.35 a.m. at Serunuwara police division when they were going towards Mavilaru area, police sources said.
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Sri Lanka continues to violate state obligations towards Tamils, say Tamil parties

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 January 2006, 00:20 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka not only failed to carry out proper investigations into the assasinations of reputed Tamil leaders, parliamentarians, journalists and activists, but it has also failed to take appropriate actions to prevent the recurrence of such crimes against the ordinary Tamil civilians, all four Tamil parties in the Lankan parliament charged in a joint memorandum sent to SL President Mahinda Rajapakse Friday. The joint statement was issued by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Upcountry Peoples' Front (UPF) and Western Province Peoples' Front (WPPF) that jointly staged a protest campaign within the chambers of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
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Ratwatte, sons released, 5 sentenced to death in Udathalawinne case

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 January 2006, 10:25 GMT]
High Court judges sentenced to death five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and released former Deputy Defense Minister, Anurudha Ratwatte, his two sons, Rohan and Chanuka in the Udathalawinne case the verdict of which was released Friday morning, legal sources said. Other eight SLA soldiers were also released.
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Journalists complain to SL Defense Ministry about harassment

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 January 2006, 16:28 GMT]
The official media accreditation issued by the Government Information Department has been disregarded, under Emergency Regulations, not only when detaining Tamil media journalists but also when they carry out their official duties, five media organisations said in a joint memorandum urging the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry's Secretary, Gothapaya Rajapakse, the brother of the SL President Mahinda Rajapakse, to provide an opportunity to meet him and place before him the harassment meted out to Tamil media journalists under the Emergency Regulations, media sources said.
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JHU demands Colombo to stop Balasingham's visit

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 11:30 GMT]
The Sinhala nationalist party of Buddhist monks, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Wednesday demanded the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to stop the visit of Chief negotiator and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr.Anton Balasingham , to Killinochchi. Venerable Athuraliya Rathana Thera, parliamentary group leader of the JHU addressing a press briefing Wednesday in the parliamentary complex said the present government is also trying to hand over the sovereignty of the country to the LTTE in the cover of peace process, parliamentary sources said.
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Balasingham to visit Vanni next week

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 11:33 GMT]
Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), will visit the LTTE held region of Vanni, northern Sri Lanka, on 23rd January in a fresh effort to resume the peace process. Mr. Balasingham will assist the LTTE leader, Mr. V. Pirapaharan, during the forthcoming meeting next week between Mr. Erik Solheim, the Norwegian Minister of International Development, and the LTTE leadership.
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Tamil Civil Group calls off hartal in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 January 2006, 02:44 GMT]
Trincomalee District Tamil Resurgence Forum (TRF) Sunday evening called off the general shut down, and the closure of government departments, and state, private sector banks in the district with effect from Monday, civil society sources said. The decision to call off hartal was taken after Mr.Mahinda Balasuriya, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police for the North-East and Anuradhapura district, gave assurances during a meeting between a group of leading citizens and the members of armed forces that he would implement decisions taken to normalize the situation in the east port town from Monday. sources said.


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SL Parliament to debate extending Emergency

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 January 2006, 15:51 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group is to meet Tuesday to prepare for a full debate on the extension of the State of Emergency following allegations that Emergency Regulations (ER) are being used by Sri Lankan police and armed forces to harass Tamil civilians, TNA sources said. The extension motion of the State of Emergency for another month is to be debated in parliament Thursday.
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DIG orders inquiry into grenade attack on Tamil family in Trinco

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 January 2006, 15:32 GMT]
Mr.Mahinda Balasuriya, Senior Deputy Inspector of Police in charge of North-East Province and Anuradhapura district has ordered full investigation into the grenade attack on a residential quarter of the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC) which caused serious injuries to a whole Tamil family Saturday evening. The UC residential quarters' complex is located between Abeyapura, Sinhala settlement and Anpuvallipuram, Tamil settlement on Trincomalee-Kandy main road, about three km off west south of east port town, police sources said.


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