Media should promote ISGA- paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 November 2004, 11:48 GMT]
Pointing out the declaration by South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) that said "ISGA proposal could serve as useful basis for the commencement of talks to map out an interim structure," and to the statement made by Prof Uyangoda that there is "imperative need for the Sinhala leadership to abandon its mindset vis-à-vis the State structure based on majoritarian hegemony," Tamil daily Thinakural in its Wednesday editorial said that the "regional and the national media organizations which have taken hardline positions on ISGA should adopt a positive, flexible attitude."
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Indian army commander visits line of control in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 November 2004, 07:04 GMT]
Indian army commander General N. C Vij Wednesday visited the main entry point to the territories held by the Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka's north. He saw the line of control and the forward defences of the Sri Lanka army at the Omanthai entry point on the A9 highway, 15 kilometres north of Vavuniya.
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TNA delegation meets Akashi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2004, 09:25 GMT]
The release of 4.5 billion dollars aid pledged at the Tokyo conference to Sri Lanka should not take place until the stalled peace talk with the Liberation Tigers resumes on the basis of Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals, delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians told Japanese special peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi during a discussion in Colombo Thursday, TNA sources said.
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Akashi to meet JVP leaders

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2004, 10:37 GMT]
Mr.Yasushi Akashi, Japanese special peace envoy who is scheduled to arrive in Colombo evening has agreed to meet the political leadership of the Sinhala nationalist-Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), major constituent of the United Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, during his seven day stay in Sri Lanka, State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) reported in its news bulletin Wednesday.
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Akashi to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 October 2004, 11:29 GMT]
Yasushi Akashi, Government of Japan's special peace envoy to Sri Lanka is to visit Sri Lanka Wednesday to meet with the leaders of Sri Lanka's main political parties and with the leaders of Liberation Tigers, said a press release from Embassy of Japan issued in Colombo Monday.
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Vavuniya hosts all island netball tournament

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 13:13 GMT]
Inauguration of the all ceylon women's netball championship in Vavuniya was delayed by more than an hour Saturday morning after some local groups objected to hoisting Sri Lanka's national flag and singing its national anthem at the two day sports event, Police said. Ms. Shiranthi Rajapaksha, wife of Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, was the chief guest at the inauguration of the tournament. The function, scheduled to start at 9.30 a.m. began late sans the Sri Lankan national flag and anthem.
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Jaffna Court orders inquiry into habeas corpus application

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 16:12 GMT]
Jaffna High Court Judge Mr.K.P.S.Varatharajah Monday referred the Habeas Corpus application filed by Mr.Kanapathipillai Velupillai seeking the production of his son Mr.Velupillai Uthayakumar who was reported disappeared after the arrest by Sri Lanka Army soldiers during 1996 period to the Chavakachcheri Magistrate for preliminary and report, legal sources said.


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UNF, TNA, JHU boycott SL President's Council on Peace

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 01:58 GMT]
United National Front (UNF), Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) boycotted the event as Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga inaugurated the National Advisory Council on Peace and Reconciliation (NACPR) Monday afternoon in Colombo. NAC has been publicized by the Sri Lanka Government as a mechanism to seek "wide spectrum of views" to resolve the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka.
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Tamil Language festival held in Trinco

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 October 2004, 01:14 GMT]
"Preliminary work on the establishment of a Tamil Research University in "Ariviyal Nagar" in Killinochchi is underway under the direction of LTTE leader Pirapaharan," said Mr.Kavi Anban, Trincomalee district head of the Educational Development Board of Thamileelam when he spoke at the Zonal Tamil Language Day celebrations held at Trincomalee St.Joseph's College auditorium Thursday under the auspices of the Trincomalee Zonal Educational Department, sources said.
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Refugee children's drawings express anger, frustration

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 17:37 GMT]
“It is sad that there are some parts of our country where children can only dream of a normal life”, said Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, chairperson of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission speaking at an art exhibition by refugee children to mark ‘World Children Day’ in Colombo Friday. Drawings by children from 307 refugee camps, mostly from the northeast, were on exhibit. Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Mr. Mahinda Rajapksha, also spoke at the exhibition, titled 'Can a Colour Pencil Talk?' Friday afternoon.


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'Police acting partially'-Mannar MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2004, 07:54 GMT]
"The Police in Mannar are acting in a partial manner in bringing the situation under control", said Vanni Tamil National Alliance MP Mr. Vino Noharathalingam, Friday. "I brought the matter to the notice of the Deputy Inspector General of Police for Vanni when I met him in Mannar this morning", he said. An emergency meeting was convened Friday morning by at the truce monitoring mission office in Mannar to restore peace in the town.
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Mass meditation in Colombo for Peace Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2004, 13:03 GMT]
Hundreds of Buddhist monks and other religious leaders participated in a peace meditation to mark Universal Peace Day on the Bandarnaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) grounds in Colombo Tuesday. The meditation was organized by Sarvodaya and other civil society groups.
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Sri Lanka to buy second Indian OPV

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2004, 08:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s navy is to buy a second Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) from India, press reports said Thursday, quoting newly-appointed Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri.
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Solheim meets Government Peace Secretariat Head

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 16:18 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Eric Solheim Tuesday held wide range of discussion with Dr.Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat of the Government of Sri Lanka regarding the prospects of resuming peace talks between the GOSL and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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Norwegian peace envoy arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 04:45 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Eric Solheim arrived in Colombo Monday evening on a five-day visit to hold talks with the leaders of Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) with the aim to a make a headway in the resumption of stalled peace talks, political sources said.
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Sri Lanka President says will discuss peace with all

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2004, 16:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga said Saturday that she would invite all parties and organisations concerned in the peace process for discussions on how to take forward negotiations with the Liberation Tigers in two weeks. She was addressing a rally in Galle, a large provincial town on the island’s southern coast, to mark the 53rd anniversary of her Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which was founded by her father, Mr. Solomon Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike. Speaking in Singhalese, President Kumaratunga vowed to do her best to bring the Liberation Tigers back to the negotiating table.
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Bill criticized as disenfranchising many Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 14:28 GMT]
''The passage of 'Elections Special Provisions' Bill in Sri Lanka's parliament compelling citizens of Sri Lanka to produce National Identity Cards (NIC) to exercise his or her vote would tantamount to disenfranchising a large number of Tamil people, and would cause them irreparable political harm,'' said Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a letter faxed to Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse through the Secretary General of the Parliament Thursday.
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Sri Lanka's PM visits military frontline

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 August 2004, 16:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha Tuesday visited the military frontlines of Weli Oya. He inspected defences on the Forward Defence Lines that separate areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) in this disputed region in the southern corner of the Mullaithivu district. Prime Minister Rajapaksha spoke to Sri Lanka army officers and the Sinhala settlers in Weli Oya during his visit. SLA drove out Tamils from fourteen villages in this region overnight in 1984. GOSL then armed and settled Sinhala convicts here amidst SLA camps.
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Jaffna court postpones Habeas Corpus inquiry

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 August 2004, 02:04 GMT]
The Jaffna High Court Judge, Mr.K.P.S.Varatharajah, Monday put off the inquiry into a Habeas Corpus application filed by the father of a disappeared youth, after being arrested by the Sri Lanka Army in 1997, for October 18 as the defense submitted that the accused, Lieutenant Colonel Mahindaretna of the Sri Lanka Army, has been warded in the military hospital for kidney operation, legal sources said.
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Army officials' committee holds inquiry into Tamil journalist's complaint

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 August 2004, 13:39 GMT]
A three-member committee comprising military officials of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commenced inquiry Tuesday into the complaint made by journalist Mr.Velupillai Thavachelvam that he had been threatened with death by a military officer when he was covering the visit of a leading Buddhist prelate to Jaffna during the early part of this year.
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