Fein seeks SL Defence Ministry approval to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 June 2008, 02:37 GMT]
Responding to Sri Lanka Defence Ministry posting that labeled U.S. based attorney for a Tamil activist group, Bruce Fein, as "Carrion Bird of LTTE Terrorism," Fein said in a letter to Sri Lanka's President Rajapakse that he accepts Sri Lanka Defence Ministry's invitation to "any interested party to visit Sri Lanka and see how the people of all ethnicities live in harmony in this country," and requested the Ministry to inform him the travel dates allowing him to obtain "direct and candid testimony of Tamil sentiments toward a unitary state as opposed to separate Tamil statehood."
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Don't visit Colombo, Ganesan tells NorthEast Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2008, 16:58 GMT]
Accusing both the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers for action irrationally, Mano Ganesan, leader of Western People’s Front (WPF) and the Convener of Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC) said in a media release Saturday, "[n]either the government nor the LTTE have any control over blasts going on in the respective territories under their own control," and appealed to the Tamil civilians travelling from NorthEast to stay away from Colombo and the South as both areas are "unsafe and insecure for Tamil civilians."
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4 SLA killed, 7 wounded in Vavuniyaa, SLA offensive thwarted - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2008, 13:53 GMT]
At least 4 Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and more than 7 wounded Saturday when the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) put up heavy resistance against the SLA that attempted to advance through three fronts targeting Kugnchukku'lam in Vavuniyaa district, LTTE officials told media in Vanni. The SLA's attempt to advance was thwarted after five-hours heavy fighting, the Tigers said. Meanwhile, residents in Vavuniyaa - Mullaiththeevu district border said more people were displaced by the artillery shelling stepped up by the SLA in recent days.
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Australia asks citizens not to travel to North, NorthCentral, East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2008, 10:07 GMT]
Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in a reviewed and reissued travel advisory for Sri Lanka, asking citizens not to travel to "Northern, north central and eastern areas (including Cultural Triangle, Wilpattu and Yala National Parks),...because of the very high risk of politically motivated violence. " The advisory added that "[a]ttacks in Colombo have become more frequent and have killed many civilians. Recent attacks have been directed against public buses and trains. Further attacks can happen at any time, anywhere in Sri Lanka. Australians could inadvertently become victims of violence directed at others.
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Amnesty Australia exhibits photos on Sri Lankan rights abuses

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 June 2008, 09:21 GMT]
Amnesty International Australia held a photo exhibition, Cries of the Voiceless, over two days in central Sydney city, at the Martin Place Amphitheatre on 5-6 June 2008, o highlighting human rights abuses and violence against journalists in Sri Lanka. The photos taken with a rented camera by a 23-year-old man in Sri Lanka and explore life as a child in a conflict situation.
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Two civilians killed in DPU Claymore attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2008, 16:58 GMT]
A 45-year-old man and a 24-year-old youth were killed on the spot Thursday morning when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) set off a Claymore mine targeting a tractor carrying Internally Displaced Persons who were on their way to relocated their personal belongings from the houses in Maanthai West in Mannaar district to Maanthai East in Mullaiththeevu district, Tamileelam Police officials said.
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138 military personnel killed, 549 injured in May - Wikremanayaka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2008, 16:48 GMT]
During the third session of Sri Lanka's parliament which commenced Thursday morning after a month long prorogation by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa using his executive powers, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake stated that during May 138 members of the three armed forces and police were killed and 549 were injured in confrontation with the LTTE. 63 civilians were also killed during that period, according to Wickremanayaka.
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Sea Tiger Marines raid SLA posts in Naakarkoayil

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2008, 07:20 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials in Ki'linochchi on Thursday said that the Sea Tiger Marines of the LTTE's naval force launched a sea-borne raid on Sri Lanka Army positions along the coast of Naakarkoayil in the Northern Front at 6:00 a.m. Thursday, destroying 3 posts and causing damage to 5 posts.
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10 SLA killed in Vavuniyaa fighting - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 June 2008, 23:06 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials have claimed that the Sri Lanka Army had suffered casualties, at least 10 killed and more than 18 wounded, on Wednesday, when the LTTE fighters at Paalamoaddai in Vavuniyaa district confronted the SLA that attempted to break into LTTE FDL.
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SLA mortar base neutralised in artillery fire - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 June 2008, 10:41 GMT]
A key Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp with its mortar launchpad at Ezhuthumadduvaa'l in the Northern Front was targeted by Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) artillery guns Wednesday morning from 10:00 a.m., LTTE officials in Vanni told media. Claiming that the mortar launchpad was neutralised in the attack, the Tigers said that the SLA had suffered heavy casualties in the artillery barrage.
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Colombo conspires Tamil - Muslim divide: Vaiko

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 June 2008, 12:47 GMT]
The General Secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Vaiko, on Monday strongly condemned the Sri Lankan minister Keheliya Rambukwelle for distorting his comments made in Oslo in April, to sound anti-Muslim. It was part of the 'scheming machination' of the Sri Lankan government to divide Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka, especially in the East, said Vaiko in a statement issued in Tamil.
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6 civilians killed in SLA claymore attack - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 June 2008, 18:09 GMT]
Six devotees including two children on their way to Naakathampiraan Temple in Maangku'lam were killed and 4 wounded, including 2 children, in a claymore mine explosion in Vanni Monday night. LTTE's Director of Peace Secretariat S. Puleedevan blamed the Deep Penetration Unit operated by the Sri Lanka Army for the attack on civilian target.
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Tigers counter-attack SLA ambush unit, seize weapons -LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 June 2008, 15:30 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials on Monday said their fighters in Vavuniyaa, who launched a counter-attack on a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) ambush unit that attempted to engage in covert operation close to LTTE Forward Defence Line at Kugnchukku'lam, have seized an assault rifle, claymore mines and other military accessories.
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Complicit in silence- Kumar David

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 May 2008, 22:38 GMT]
Pointing out that Rajapakse regime's "human rights record renders it undeserving of a seat on the UNHR Council," Prof. Kumar David, in a column in Lakbima, notes that a more worrying side to this state of affairs is that "significant majority of Sinhalese people are willing to look aside and allow human rights violations to proliferate, so long as the victims are Tamils, or persons suspected of LTTE sympathy, or journalists who expose military setbacks and lies, or as tit-for-tat replies to LTTE bomb blasts...the complicity of silence, on the part of a people in the crimes of its regime, the decay that will eventually corrode the fabric of that whole nation will be hideous."
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Couple, homeguard shot dead in Vilpattu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 May 2008, 06:01 GMT]
Unidentified attackers Friday evening opened fire at villagers at Rajanganaya Zone 18, a settlement bordering Vilpattu national park in the North Central Province, killing a couple and a Civil Defence Force cadre.
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28 SLA killed, 52 wounded in Mannaar, Vavuniyaa - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 May 2008, 20:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials on Friday said they confronted Sri Lanka Army in Mannaar and Vavuniyaa fronts throughout the day thwarting the repeated attempts by the SLA to advance into LTTE territory. A ground movement by the SLA from Ma'likaiththidal towards Theanudaiyaan in Mannaar, launched at 5:30 a.m. Friday was defeated around 12:40 p.m. 25 SLA soldiers were killed when they again launched the move at 1:00 p.m. 47 SLA soldiers were wounded in the confrontation that lasted till 6:15 p.m. when the SLA was pushed back, the Tigers said. Meanwhile, 3 SLA soldiers were killed in a confrontation that lasted for 90 minutes from 4:10 p.m.
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3 SLA troops killed, 7 injured in clashes in Vavuniyaa FDL

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 May 2008, 16:52 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters repulsed more than eight attempts by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops to advance into LTTE held areas in Paalamoaddai and Kunchchukkulam areas in Vavuniyaa Front Defence Line (FDL) positions from Friday 3:00 a.m until evening, LTTE Vavuniyaa Field Command said. 3 SLA troops were killed and 4 seriously injured in clashes at Kunchchukku’lam between 4:00 p.m and 5:30 p.m, while 3 troops lost their legs in the combat Friday early morning at Paalamoaddai between 3:00 a.m and 3:30 a.m, the source added.
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Development untenable without peace - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 May 2008, 11:42 GMT]
"Development is possible only when there is permanent peace. To achieve peace the International Community (IC) should engage seriously in restoring the status quo which the IC itself has disturbed in recent times, and should pressurise the Sri Lankan government to come to terms with a negotiated settlement," said Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan, in an exclusive interview to TamilNet on Friday, while responding to a question on LTTE's position on International involvement in Colombo's 'development-agenda'. "Recognition of Tamil sovereignty and right to self-determination are key issues in creating a climate for a negotiated settlement," Nadesan added.
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Sixth civilian dies in shelling after LTTE raid

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 17:13 GMT]
The husband of the woman and the father of two sons killed in Thursday early morning shelling launched on the coastal villages of Jaffna, succumbed to his wounds in Jaffna Teaching Hospital Thursday afternoon. The number of casualties in the shelling has risen to six with his death.
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Court denies bail for journalist Tissanayagam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 11:14 GMT]
Journalist J.S.Tissanayagam, Vettivel Yaseeharan and Vadivel Valarmathi were produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Nishantha Kapuarachchi Wednesday for the first time after their arrest. They were ordered further detention with the Terrorist Investigation Unit (TID) till June 6 on an application made the TID that the inquiry conducted so far against the suspects had revealed that the suspects were involved in LTTE activities and that the TID needed more time to conduct further investigations, legal sources said.
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