Rajapakse wants protests postponed, Tamil doctor abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 September 2006, 01:49 GMT]
A protest shut-down, scheduled to be held Tuesday against the recent abductions of Tamil civilians and businessmen in Colombo, organised by representatives from seven political parties, was called off Monday following Rajapakse government's "requests", during the weekend, urging the organisors to postpone the shut-down, informed political circles in Colomb said. Meanwhile, a Tamil medical doctor and owner of three medical businesses in Colombo, was allegedly abducted in his car in Maradana in Colombo Monday.
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Four civilians shot dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 23:26 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot and killed four Tamil civilians on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning in separate incidents in Jaffna district. Victims of the three incidents have been identified. The deceased in the fourth incident is yet to be identified.
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Civilian killings soaring under Rajapakse - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 19:26 GMT]
Pointing out that the killings of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan security forces and Army-backed paramilitary groups have shot up since President Mahinda Rajapakse assumed power last year, the Liberation Tigers said this week that in keeping with the agenda of Sinhala extremist forces, Rajapakse is determined to pursue the military option to the ethnic conflict. “All attempts by the LTTE to value, abide by and protect the CFA have been undermined by the military option pursued by the Rajapakse regime,” the LTTE said in a statement Monday.
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SLA, LTTE exchange rocket fire in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 19:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army soldiers and Liberation Tigers exchanged rocket fire in the eastern Batticaloa in the early hours of Monday. Fighting broke out when Sri Lankan government troops attempted to move from ‘Karuthapaalam’ (Black Bridge) in Chenkalady, through Badulla road in to areas held by the Liberation Tigers, around 2:30 a.m., Monday.
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Two youths shot dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 18:10 GMT]
Two Tamil civilians were shot dead in Jaffna district Sunday and Monday. In the first incident Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers took away a Tamil youth from his house and shot him dead in front of Kondavil Hindu Maha Vidiyalayam Sunday around 8.30 p.m., according to his relatives. In the second incident another civilian was shot dead by unidentified armed men Monday morning around 10 a.m. at Karaveddi.
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Muslims want STF out of Pottuvil

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 15:03 GMT]
Blaming the elite Special Task Force (STF) for the killings of 10 young Muslim men, the Muslim community in Pottuvil is demanding the unit be transferred out, the BBC reported. Earlier angry protestors stoned STF and police vehicles, rejecting Sri Lankan government accusations the Tamil Tigers were responsible for the killings near the Yala game reserve. Sri Lanka's police chief, Inspector-General Chandra Fernando is now in the eastern Amparai district for talks with senior Muslim politicians, the BBC also reported.
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Muslim protestors stone STF over Pottuvil massacre

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 10:29 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) personnel and Policemen who were deployed in Pottuvil fired several shots into the air to disperse the angry Muslim protestors who stoned STF and Police vehicles around 11:30 a.m. Monday following the massacre of 10 Muslim youths. All the slain Muslims were youths below 25 years. Two of the victims are 15-year-old boys. The bodies of the victims were taken to Periya Pallivasal Mosque in Pottuvil. Tension had re-surfaced in the area, a few days ago, when the dead body of a Sinhala person was brought to burial inside a Muslim cemetery, according to the sources at the Mosque.
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Tigers blame Sri Lanka for Pottuvil killings

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 07:22 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Amparai District Political Head, Mr. Jeya, has blamed Sri Lankan military for "indulging in sabotage activities." In a statement issued in Tamil Monday, the Tigers charged that the Sri Lankan counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) was behind the slayings and "sabotage activities" aimed at creating tension between the Tamil and Muslim communities in Amparai district. Conveying condolences to the Muslim victims in Pottuvil and expressing sympathies to their families, Mr. Jeya, urged the civilians "not to fall prey to the calculated propaganda of the Sri Lankan military till the truth behind the slayings is uncovered."
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10 Muslims massacred, one wounded, one missing in Pottuvil

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 September 2006, 05:38 GMT]
Ten Muslim workers who went Sunday to repair, Rattal Kulam, a water tank, 9 km south of Pottuvil in Amparai district, were found butchered to death, Monday morning, Police said. One person was recovered with wounds and another person is reported missing. The massacre has taken place near a Special Task Force (STF) training camp near Yala National Park. A dispute was present in the area regarding the repair of the reservoir between the Sinhalese and Muslim farmers, according to initial reports. Tension prevails in Pottuvil.
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UN rights body faces test over Sri Lanka, Darfur

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 September 2006, 17:48 GMT]
Days after Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court declared that rulings by the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Geneva can be ignored if they go against the country’s constitution, international rights activists said the UN body needs to take action on crises in Sri Lanka and Darfur to secure its credibility and usher in a new era of rights monitoring.
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Claymore explosion injures four in Thampalakamam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 September 2006, 14:17 GMT]
A soldier of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), a home guard and two civilians were injured in a claymore mine explosion that took place Sunday morning around 7.30 a.m. at Thampalakamam, a village located along Trincomalee Kandy highway about 24 km off southwest of east port town.
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SLN closes land route Jaffna islets

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 September 2006, 12:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) closed the only land route to Jaffna islets through Allaipiddy from Sunday morning, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Civilians are stranded on either side of the closed road, and with the shortage of essential items prevailing in Jaffna district, islets' residents will suffer further deterioration of living conditions, civil society members said.
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Bodies of three Varani victims exhumed, given decent burial

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 September 2006, 22:47 GMT]
Bodies of three civilians from Varani in Thenmaradchy district, two from the same family who died in artillery attack by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on 11 August, and a youth who was shot dead by the SLA on 13th August, were exhumed and given a decent burial after proper post-mortem examinations were carried out, sources in Jaffna said.
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Civilians brave Mannar seas to reach Jaffna by boat

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 September 2006, 01:07 GMT]
Thirteen Jaffna residents, stranded in Vavuniya due to the closure of the A9, took the perilous sea voyage in a hired boat from Thalai Mannar and reached the island of Delft on Thursday 14th night, civil sources in Jaffna said. The Delft police took the civilians into custody and transferred them to the Kayts police station on Friday, sources in Kayts said.
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Six civilians killed in 24-hours, fear grips Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 16:00 GMT]
"White van" squad allegedly operated by Sri Lanka Army, abducted a 19-year-old female, beat the victim to death and hung her Thursday night in Uduvil, Jaffna. The victim was the fiancee of a 23-year-old male who was abducted, shot into eyes and dumped in Innuvil Monday. Meanwhile, an eyewitness from the bar on Manipay Road in Jaffna, said Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were behind the killings at the bar where two youths from Punguduthivu were gunned down in execution style Thursday night. Another youth was killed in Anaikoddai, shot into his eyes. The other victims to die were a 28-year-old employee at a fuel station Thursday night in Kalviyankadu and a 25-year-old fisherman, Friday morning.
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SLN arrests 70 Trinco Tamils in Talaimannar coast

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 11:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Thursday evening arrested seventy members of seventeen Tamil families from Trincomalee district when they were waiting for fishing boats along the coast of Talaimannar to flee to South India, civil sources in Mannar said. The SLN also arrested two boatmen who were to take the refugees by Mannar Sea. The arrested civilians were handed over to Talaimannar Police for inquiry by the SLN, police sources said.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Valaichchenai

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 September 2006, 10:13 GMT]
Unidentified men shot dead a Tamil civilian Thursday night around 10:35 p.m. at Karuwakerni in Valaichchenai police division in Batticaloa district. The victim has been identified as Niranjan Vasantharajah, 28 and a father of two children, police sources said.
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SLA bars civilian travel through Uyilankulam checkpoint

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 16:08 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Thursday refused passage for stranded Tamil civilians in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mannar territories and in areas controlled by the Sri Lanka government to cross over through Uyilankulam SLA check point, civil sources said.
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17 wounded in grenade attack on meat shop

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 September 2006, 09:01 GMT]
17 civilians, including a woman, were wounded when an attacker lobbed a grenade into a chicken meat shop in Vavuniya town Wednesday around 10:50 a.m., Vavuniya Police said. Paramilitary cadres working with Sri Lanka military have been targeting traders and shop owners who refuse to pay ransom of cash.
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GoSL, LTTE should cease violence, resume talks - Co-chairs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 23:46 GMT]
The Co-Chairs are particularly concerned that even major cases of human rights’ abuses are not successfully investigated or prosecuted. "As in any modern state, the culture of impunity must stop," the Co-chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference on Sri Lanka said Tuesday. "There should be no change to the specific arrangements for the north and east which could endanger the achievement of peace," the statement alluded in response to the moves in the South aimed at de-merging the NorthEast.
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