MP demands removal of Periyaneelavanai checkpoint

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 March 2003, 17:00 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament (MP) from the Ampara district, Mr. A. Chandraneru, has requested in a letter to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, that the police checkpoint operating from the Cultivation Services Office at Periyaneelavanai in the Ampara district should be removed, sources said.
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Trinco Methodist College holds prize giving

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 February 2003, 21:00 GMT]
One hundred and eighty three years old Trincomalee Methodist Girls College, popularly known as the Vembadi school, held its annual prize giving celebration Thursday with the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affairs, Mr.S.Thillainadarajah, as the chief guest.
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Muslim parliamentarians meet Sri Lanka's PM

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 February 2003, 02:30 GMT]
A delegation of Muslim parliamentarians Thursday requested Sri Lanka's Prime Minister (PM), Ranil Wickremasinghe, for an opportunity for the Muslims to participate as an independent group in the peace talks now being held between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources said.
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PM to visit India tomorrow

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 February 2003, 16:08 GMT]
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe will make an official visit to India tomorrow, Sri Lankan foreign ministry officials said. Mr. Wickremasinghe will stay in India for three days and meet with Indian Prime Minister, B. Vajpayee, Foreign Affairs minister, Jaswant Sinha and Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani.
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District-wide protests in Batticaloa over Manipay attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 February 2003, 15:33 GMT]
Massive processions and a campaign of wearing black waist-belts were held Wednesday in all Tamil regions of the Batticaloa district to protest the attack on February 12 in Manipay, where the Sri Lanka Army personnel and the paramilitary EPDP group assaulted unarmed women political cadres of the LTTE, civilians and journalists
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Jaffna journalists to conduct black band demonstration

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 February 2003, 12:01 GMT]
The Jaffna Journalists Association (JJA) Thursday informed the Media Minister by a letter that a non-violent black band demonstration will be held in front of the office of the Information Department in Jaffna on February 17 at about ten o'clock in the morning, sources said.


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Japanese special peace envoy meets Buddhist prelates

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 February 2003, 06:50 GMT]
The Japanese special peace envoy Mr. Yasusi Akashi arrived Colombo Wednesday early morning on a four-day visit. He immediately rushed to Kandy, capital of the central province and held vital discussions with the Mahanayake Theras of Malwatte Chapter Venerable Vipassi and Venerable Palipane Buddharakita Thera, sources said.
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France to send constitutional experts to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 February 2003, 19:00 GMT]
French foreign minister Dr.Renaud Muselier Wednesday said the people of Jaffna expect a political solution to their conflict with internal self-determination. French minister said this at media briefing Wednesday before leaving Colombo after a three-day visit to Sri Lanka.
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Only peace will permit development - Minister

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 February 2003, 15:33 GMT]
Only because of the prevailing climate of peace and the progress that is being achieved in the on-going talks between the Government of SriLanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that we are able to visit here and actively engage in promoting industrial development, said Industries Minister Rohitha Bogollagama of the ruling United National Front (UNF) government, speaking at Manmuni North regional Secretariat in Batticaloa district, Friday, sources in the east said.


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'Peace talks enter crucial stage'- Ranil

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 January 2003, 17:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Friday said in parliament that the peace talks between his government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has entered a crucial stage. Concluding the debate in parliament on his presentation during the aid conference in Oslo, he said his government would not allow the peace talks to be derailed at any cost.


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'Decommissioning of arms after finding political solution'- PM

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 January 2003, 17:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe said this is not opportune time, before finding a lasting political solution, to demand decommissing of arms from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), when addressing the annual convention of the pro-government Sri Lanka Estate Workers Union at Sri Kotha, United National Party headquarters, in Colombo Saturday.
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Sri Lanka's PM briefs Chandrika on peace talks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 January 2003, 18:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Tuesday briefed President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge about the progress of the fourth round peace talks held in Thailand. Minister Mr.Milinda Morogoda associated with the Prime Minister in the talks, government sources said.
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French artist visits Vakarai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 January 2003, 03:24 GMT]
Didier Bayle, a noted French artist, on his first visit to Vakarai, met with local students and taught them the intricacies of the subject of art. He, through art, encouraged the children to express their inner feelings to discover the psychological impact of war on children, sources said.


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Committee to activate Trincomalee university campus

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 January 2003, 15:31 GMT]
The Prime Minister has appointed a high level committee to activate the functions of the Trincomalee campus of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka following request made by the Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan. Mr. Sampanthan requested the PM to take immediate steps to develop the Trincomalee campus providing all facilities as it has been ignored by the authorities, sources said.
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Akashi in Sri Lanka to promote peace building

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 January 2003, 11:52 GMT]
Mr. Yasuka Akashi, the Representative of the Government of Japan, is in Sri Lanka from the 15th to 19th to continue his mission of peace building, rehabilitation and reconstruction in Sri Lanka, a press release from the Embassy of Japan said. Mr. Akashi will visit Kilinochi, Matara and Hambantota during his visit and will attend the meeting of Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs (SIHRN)
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TNA demands compensation to Tamil victims of police violence

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 January 2003, 19:14 GMT]
Following a request Tuesday by the Tamil National Alliance that the relatives of the dead and injured during police violence should be paid compensation, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, directed the Interior Ministry to submit a report about the victims of violence that took place at Kanjirankuda in Ampara district, an eastern port town in the outskirts of Trincomalee district, and Nelliayadi in the Jaffna district last year.
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TNA protests new Buddhist shrine in Tamil village

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 January 2003, 19:12 GMT]
A Tamil National Alliance delegation, headed by Mr.R.Sampanthan, Tuesday met with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, and protested the construction of a new Buddhist shrine in Vilankulam, a historically Tamil a village, and the ban on renovating the historic Hindu temple at Kanniya, in Trincomalee, which had been destroyed by the war, sources said.
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SLA cannot deny the rights of IDPs to resettle in HSZ - TNA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 January 2003, 12:50 GMT]
The United National Front (UNF) government Tuesday gave assurances to the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that it would take steps to resettle displaced inside the high security zone (HSZ) in Jaffna once the Indian defence expert submits a report on that issue, sources said. TNA stressed that although SLA is empowered by the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to prevent Liberation Tigers (LTTE) from entering the HSZ, SLA cannot deny the rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from resettling in their own homes in their own land, sources said.
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Sri Lanka judiciary's failure led Tamils to take arms - Ranil

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 January 2003, 17:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe said Friday that the failure of the country's judiciary to fulfill its duties and responsibilities to safeguard the right of various ethnic groups has led the Tamils to launch an armed struggle for a separate state.
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Japanese Foreign Minister visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 January 2003, 14:01 GMT]
The Japanese Foreign Minister Ms Yoriko Kawguchi Monday flew to Jaffna by special aircraft and surveyed the progress of resettlement and humanitarian projects in the northern peninsula implemented with Japanese aid. This was the first visit of a Japanese Foreign Minister to the war torn Jaffna district. She also toured Chavakachcheri and Sarasalai areas in Thenmaradchchi areas, worst affected by the war in the district, sources said.
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