Colombo blocks WFP supply ship scheduled to reach Vanni Tuesday

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 17:29 GMT]
Sri Lankan authorities have put off the departure of a ship with WFP supplies scheduled to reach Vanni on Tuesday despite the local civil officials in Vanni indicated the coordinates for the new landing point, Vavuniyaa District Secretariat officials told TamilNet Tuesday evening. Starvation-stricken civilians have long been waiting for humanitarian supplies to arrive and the officials urged the WFP to impress upon the government of Sri Lanka not to delay the humanitarian supply ship, the sources further said.
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16 Tamil youths arrested in the suburbs of Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 15:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and police took into custody Tuesday morning sixteen Tamil youths in searches conducted in the streets of Negombo and Minuwangoda, according to complaints made to Deputy Minister, P. Rathakrishnan by the youths' relatives.
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Contradicting figures raise fears of disappearances

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 15:05 GMT]
While the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) claimed Monday that 30,000 civilians had reached territory under its control from the so-called safety zone, civil officials in Vavuniyaa and in Jaffna reported Tuesday that only 8,500 have arrived in the districts. However, SLA officers in Jaffna gave contradicting figures ranging between 5,000 and 12,000 in the custody of the army in Vanni, waiting to be evacuated. Meanwhile, over 1,000 civilian casualties were reported from reliable sources in Vanni Monday. In addition a large number of injured were also in the custody of the SLA. Unconfirmed reports put the casualty figure much higher. It seems at least one in ten suffered either death or injury in the SLA's operation to capture the civilians on Monday.
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'Empty statements of IC evoke fury in the diaspora': Oslo hunger striker

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 14:57 GMT]
The whole concept of peace facilitation will become a mockery and no peace facilitation will hereafter be seen with credibility in the world, if Norway fails in its ‘responsibility’ in stopping civilian tragedy in Sri Lanka, said 51 years old Sri Navaratnam, the leader of Norway Tamil Sangam (association), who commenced an indefinite fast in Oslo, Monday, demanding Norway bringing out immediate ceasefire, negotiations between LTTE and GoSL, not sending civilians to camps but resettling them and Norway recognizing the self-determination of Eezham Tamils. Mr. Navaratnam was furious of empty statements coming from IC and said such statements without action only infuriate the already traumatised people.
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Perfect opportunity for US to prove credentials: ICG, Asia Director

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 12:44 GMT]
"Barack Obama's administration has said it is committed to the principals of international law and humanitarian protection. Sri Lanka is the perfect opportunity for the new U.S. president to show that this is not empty rhetoric," says an article by Robert Templer of the International Crisis Group. "Urgent, determined, and united international action is necessary to ensure the safety of the innocent -- by the United Nations Security Council, other multilateral organizations, and individual countries that have relations with Sri Lanka, including India and Japan. Only international supervision, unhindered by the government, can provide the necessary level of protection," writes the author, reflecting the changing and opportunistic perspectives of the IC, but elusive on the crux of the crisis – the Tamil national aspirations.
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Schools closed down for a week in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 10:42 GMT]
Directed by the Ministry of Education, Northern Province Education Ministry Secretary instructed Jaffna Education Officials to postpone the start of the second term of all schools in the peninsula Tuesday for a week so that they could be used to lodge the civilians fleeing war in Vanni, sources in Jaffna said. Government officials, directed by their superiors to be ready to receive Vanni civilians in their thousands, had dispatched a large number of buses to bring them to the peninsula Monday. But so far no one has been brought to Jaffna peninsula, the sources added.
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TNA MP in Vanni fears mass slaughter amidst starvation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 10:33 GMT]
The Tamil Natonal Alliance (TNA) MP for Vanni, Sathasivam Kanagaratnam, who talked to TamilNet correspondent in Vanni on Monday blamed the Sri Lankan military for planning to cause a mass slaughter of civilians as Colombo announced a 24-hour ultimatum of surrender to the LTTE. Colombo has warned of concerted attacks into the so-called 'safety zone' starting from Tuesday noon. "The remaining area in the south of safe zone is full of civilians as many more have fled in recent days," Mr. Kanagratnam said fearing an unprecedented civilian carnage.
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'SLA advances behind human shield, act fast to rescue civilians,' Puleedevan urges UN

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 08:20 GMT]
Director of Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Peace Secretariat S. Puleedevan on Tuesday told TamilNet that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has started to move on two fronts at Valaignar-madam and at Maaththa'lan using a section of the civilians who were caught by the SLA on Monday as human shields. When asked how the SLA was advancing, Mr. Puleedevan said the Sri Lankan military has forced hundreds of civilians to walk through LTTE defece line at gun point and was moving its troops under the cover of the civilians. "These are serious war crimes and the Sri Lankan government and the head of the armed forces are direct responsible for this carnage," Puleedevan said in a statement.
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ANC calls for ceasefire, supports independent Tamil homeland

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 April 2009, 21:58 GMT]
The ruling party of the government of South Africa (ANC) have reiterated calls for a permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka and acknowledged the need for an independent Tamil homeland. ANC MP and chairmen of the Solidarity Group of Peace and Equality Sisa Njikelana in an interview with Tamilnet, Saturday, has stressed the need for bilateral talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, an organisation that articulates the aspirations of the people. “This Government believes that by defeating the LTTE, the Tamils will just automatically fall for any offer given. I look at that with a nice cynical smile”, he said.
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Nadesan denies reports of human bomb, blames Colombo for deploying banned weapons

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 April 2009, 17:06 GMT]
Political Head of the LTTE, B Nadesan categorically denied reports in Sri Lankan and the Indian media that Tamil Tiger human bombs blew themselves up to prevent civilians fleeing the so-called safe-zone. "The LTTE denies these fabricated stories that seek to discredit us and divert attention away from the suffering of the Tamil people," he said when contacted by TamilNet Monday night. Sri Lankan forces have deployed three types of internationally banned weapons such as cluster shells, napalm bombs and phosphorus bombs against civilians, causing heavy casualties among civilians. He said nearly one thousand civilians were killed and many more wounded in SLA attacks.
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Casualties cross 1000 in SLA's attempt to capture civilians

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 April 2009, 13:18 GMT]
Hundreds of dead bodies and wounded civilians were still lying in Maaththa'lan and Pokka'nai, and more than 600 seriously wounded have been brought to a makeshift hospital functioning at a school in Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal in LTTE held area throughout Monday, TamilNet correspondent reports from Vanni. The correspondent personally witnessed nearly 300 dead bodies while fleeing from the area. Cluster shells and smoke or white-dust-emitting shells that made people to faint were widely deployed on civilians by the Sri Lanka Army in its effort to capture them. However, a large majority of the civilians fled towards LTTE held areas while around 8,000 were trapped and captured by the SLA.
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Expel Norwegian Ambassador from Colombo – Wimal Weerawansa

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 April 2009, 11:31 GMT]
National Freedom Front (NFF) supporters led by its leader Wimal Weerawansa and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Buddhist Monks political party parliamentarians staged a protest demonstration Monday from 10:00 a.m till 11:30 a.m in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Ward Place in Colombo demanding the removal of the Norwegian Embassy from Sri Lanka and to expel its Ambassador, sources in Colombo said. The demonstrators shouted slogans accusing Norway being partial to Liberation Tigers and that it is trying to save the leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which is on the verge of being defeated, the sources added.
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LTTE welcomes US initiative, asks Sri Lanka to listen to IC

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 April 2009, 07:35 GMT]
The LTTE on Monday, in a significant statement, recognized and welcomed a refreshing attitude in US, different from the other countries. It pleaded the Sri Lanka government to listen to international opinion, to stop the war and enter into negotiations. But at the same time it warned Colombo of dire consequences if the war is continued. "The LTTE and the fight for our freedom will also continue. The methods may vary but Sri Lanka will never be able to live in peace as it imagines a military victory will bring. However, for the record, the LTTE would like to emphasize again that it is always ready to explore peaceful means to resolve the conflict”, the LTTE statement issued from the political headquarters in Vanni, read.
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Chaos and carnage as SLA enters 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 April 2009, 06:19 GMT]
Several hundreds of civilians are feared killed and injured and total chaos prevails among civilians as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) advanced into the so-called 'safety zone' in Pokka'nai Monday morning 11:00 a.m., according to latest reports from Vanni. Heavy fighting was reported along the bunds of the lagoon and patients in the Puthumaaththa'lan makeshift hospital were forced to run away as Rocket Propelled Grenades launched by the SLA hit the hospital. A few medical staff remaining in the hospital are hiding in bunkers. People were seen running in panic as dead and injured were seen lying scattered everywhere, eyewitnesses told TamilNet.
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Youth abducted in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 April 2009, 03:06 GMT]
Unidentified armed men on motor cycles forcibly took away a youth riding on his motor cycle near Kalladdi Pi’laiyaar Koayil in Jaffna Wednesday, according to the complaint registered with Jaffna Human Rights Commission office by his wife S. Sasibarathi.
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'Starvation poised for worse killings than shelling'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 April 2009, 17:42 GMT]
While around 60 civilians killed Friday and Saturday by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling, civilians have already started dying and many more thousands are at the verge of death due to starvation that is silently taking its toll within the so-called safety zone, TamilNet correspondent reported Saturday. The imminent victims are elderly, children and women. "Gruel has become the staple food to keep soul and body together for a vast majority of the civilians for weeks now. If there is no instant action, more starvation casualties can be expected in the next few days than the hitherto known total of casualties caused by shelling," warns TamilNet correspondent citing health and administrative officials staying inside the so-called safety zone.
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Transport of goods through A9 route to Jaffna falters

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 April 2009, 16:03 GMT]
The transport of goods to Jaffna through the newly opened A9 route had only been possible three times, in 56 lorries, since the launch of this procedure amidst much government publicity last month, sources in Jaffna said. The Defence Ministry does not permit the transport through A9 route because of the security risk of the goods and personnel involved, Jaffna Traders’ Union (JTU) sources said. The sources further expressed concern that the goods they wanted to bring from Colombo to Jaffna in lorries had first to be handed over to the SLA controlled Government Stores in Welisara where they have been delayed for weeks.
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Largest UN, New York rally fills Times Square

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 April 2009, 11:04 GMT]
In one of the largest rallies held by the American Tamils in New York, more than 5000 protesters from different parts of the United States and Canada converged in New York in the park on 47th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues near the UN, and a smaller group in the permitted area 43rd Street park directly across from the Secretariat Building between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Friday, and urged the UN to take urgent steps to stop the carnage unfolding in the coastal villages of Mullaiththeevu where the Government of Sri Lanka is slaughtering hundreds of Tamil civilians daily under the pretext of cornering the LTTE leadership. The protesters then marched westward to the Times Square, one mile from the UN, and continued the protest until 5:00 p.m., according to the organizers.
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Colombo shouldn’t block UN visiting safety zone: Nadesan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 April 2009, 09:28 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka should not block UN Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar visiting the safety zone and acquainting himself of the conditions of the civilians, said LTTE political head, B. Nadesan when contacted by TamilNet on Saturday after reports of Sri Lanka rejecting UN appeal for ceasefire. "The GoSL is not making arrangements for his visit, to prevent him from knowing the nature and magnitude of its offensive and to prevent first hand verifications of the truth reaching the UN," he said.
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Security beefed up in Western Province

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 April 2009, 07:20 GMT]
Security measures in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha and Ka’luththu’rai have been beefed up in view of the Western Provincial Council Saturday 25 April, sources in Colombo said. All leaves given to police personnel have been cancelled with effect from 18 Saturday April by the Police Department.
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