JVP wants Norway out of peace facilitator role

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 21:37 GMT]
"Norway is an accomplice to the Liberation Tigers in the LTTE's Nationalist struggle and fight for secession. We demand the Sri Lanka Government to relieve Norway from facilitator role," said Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) the Sinhala nationalist ally of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, in a memorandum sent to Colombo press Wednesday, sources in Colombo said. The memorandum was written in Sinhala.
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Auxilliary force training camp opening ceremony held in Thalaiyadi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 12:52 GMT]
Opening event of training camp for Sea Tigers' auxilliary force at the Lt.Col.Maravan camp in Thalaiyady, Vadamaradchy east was held at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, sources from Vadamaradchy said. More than one hundred auxilliary forces cadres from Thalaiyadi area are enrolled in this phase of training, according to officials of the Sea Tigers.
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Sri Lanka Government's opening statement at Geneva

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 12:21 GMT]
"Ceasefire Agreement entered into between the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mr. V. Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE on the 22nd February 2002 is contrary to our Constitution and law," declared Nimal Sripala De Silva, Head of the Sri Lankan delegation at the opening session of the talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka.
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Switzerland assures impartial support to resolve SL conflict

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 10:41 GMT]
Pointing out that the decision to hold talks itself has "substantially decreased" violence in Sri Lanka, Urs Ziswiler, Political Affairs Director, Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, said in his opening remarks that "Switzerland aims at providing impartial support for conflict transformation in Sri Lanka," and the crucial goal of the teams is to "jointly ensure the human security of ordinary Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim people in Sri Lanka."


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Ceasefire Agreement is foundation of peace and must be implemented - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 10:19 GMT]
Describing the February 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA) as the “most constructive achievement” of the Norwegian peace process and “the foundation upon which the process has to be built,” the Liberation Tigers’ Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist, Anton Balasingham said Wednesday the CFA had been agreed upon by both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE after “careful and meticulous scrutiny” and crafted with the skilled assistance of the Norwegian facilitators.
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LTTE Auxiliary Force cadre killed in East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 February 2006, 05:44 GMT]
Six gunmen who entered the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled area in Pulipaynthakal, 500 meters beyond the no-go zone from Kiran, 25 km north of Batticaloa, shot and killed an LTTE National Auxiliary Force cadre around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, LTTE's Batticaloa Political Head Daya Mohan told media. The attackers, wearing military fatigues, had come from the Kiran SLA base, he added. The attack was reported three hours before the commencement of talks in Geneva aimed at implmenting the Cease Fire Agreement between the parties to the conflict, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the LTTE.
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European Union welcomes Geneva talks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 February 2006, 11:51 GMT]
European Commission Delegation in Sri Lanka in a press release issued Tuesday, welcomed the February 22- 23 discussions between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and described the talks as "an opportunity to restore confidence in the Ceasefire Agreement and move forward towards a peaceful future."
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Balasingham arrives in Geneva

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 February 2006, 21:27 GMT]
Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Mr. Anton Balasingham arrived in Geneva at 7:50 p.m. Monday from London. Mr. Balasingham who was accompanied by his wife Ms. Adele Balasingham, was received by Swiss officials at the airport. The LTTE delegation departed to talks venue in Bossey, 22 km northwest of Geneva from the Airport, sources in Geneva said.
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Lankan Deep Penetration Unit retreats leaving behind Claymore mine - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 February 2006, 14:31 GMT]
A team of Sri Lanka Army soldiers who entered LTTE controlled Mahilankulam 25 km southeast of Mannar near Iluppaikulam withdrew from the site when intercepted by an LTTE patrol, Media Coordinator of the Liberation Tigers, Daya Master told media Monday evening. The Sri Lankan soldiers had left behind a claymore mine when they withdrew from the site, he added.
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Kinniya Muslim, Tamil leaders meet Elilan

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 February 2006, 00:05 GMT]
Mr.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Saturday held a discussion with representatives of Muslim and Tamil communities in the Kinniya secretariat division in the Trincomalee district. The discussion was aimed at promoting better understanding between the two communities and to resolve problems they are currently facing in the division, sources said.
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Limited press access to talks at Geneva Ecumenical Institute

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 February 2006, 00:41 GMT]
Talks on Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam scheduled for 22-23rd February are to be held at Conference center of Ecumenical Institute, Chateau de Bossey located 22 km northwest of Geneva. Press access to the talks are limited to the opening statements on Wednesday and to the media briefing immediately after the adjournment of the talks on Thursday, a press release from the Swiss officials said.
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Swiss officials welcome LTTE delegation in Geneva

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 February 2006, 15:47 GMT]
The 12-member Liberation Tigers delegation arrived at the Geneva airport at 4.30 a.m. Saturday morning to attend the peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka on 22-23rd February, and was met at the air port by the Swiss Foreign Ministry officials headed by Ms. Sidonia Gabriel (Programme officer, Peace Policy, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs), sources in Geneva said. Liberation Tigers Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist Mr. Anton Balasingham is expected to join the delegation on Monday afternoon, according to LTTE sources.
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LTTE releases second Sri Lanka policeman

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 February 2006, 11:56 GMT]
Following the Sri Lanka Government facilitated release of four LTTE sea tiger cadres in Trincomalee, Liberation Tigers released a policeman held in custody for more than five months as a goodwill gesture ahead of Geneva Talks, Daya Master from the media section of the LTTE said from Kilinochchi Saturday.
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Trinco court releases four LTTE cadres

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 12:37 GMT]
Mr.V.Ramakamalan, Trincomalee Magistrate Friday ordered the release of four LTTE cadres who were arrested in 2005 by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) when they were traveling in a boat in the Trincomalee Sea on bail. Four LTTE cadres, S.Shanmugaraj, Xavier Ranjit, S.Vijayakumar and Luxmanan Aravinthan were immediately taken to Wanni under the escort of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), legal sources said.


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Lt Col Ponnamman's 19th anniversary celebrated

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 12:28 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers, V Pirapaharan, paid respects to LTTE's Senior Commander Lt Col Ponnamman at an undisclosed LTTE camp in Vanni Friday, at the ninteenth rememberance anniversary, sources in Kilinochchi said.
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NGOs in Kilinochchi demand release of TRO staffers

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 11:23 GMT]
The Kilinochchi Federation of NGOs staged a peace protest march Friday 17th in Kilinochchi at 10 am, demanding the release of the seven employees of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), abducted at gun point and held captive for more than 20 days in the Wellikanda region by paramilitaries. The marchers condemned the abductors and demanded that the TRO staffers be released immediately.
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LTTE delegation leaves Kilinochchi for Geneva

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 11:21 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation left Kilinochchi Friday morning to participate in negotiations with Government of Sri Lanka(GOSL) facilitated by the Norwegian Government in Geneva, Switzerland scheduled to be held February 22-23. Head of LTTE Political Wing, Mr Thamilchelvan, told the media before leaving Kilinochchi that the talks will discuss ways to implement February 2002 Truce agreement between the parties who are meeting for direct talk after more than three years. The delegation departed Kilinochchi grounds in a Sri Lanka Air Force( SLAF) helicopter around 9:00 am Friday.
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The Importance of ‘Rearbase’: Taraki, 1989

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 02:05 GMT]
In the 29 October 1989 issue of Sri Lanka's English daily, Island International, late Dharmeratnam Sivaram, popular journalist and Senior editor at TamilNet, writes on the waning importance of a rear base in Tamil Nadu after the end of Eelam war I in 1987. "That a multipurpose comfortable rearbase would in the long term erode the conviction to fight and play into the hands of India was an opinion expressed in 1983. Finally the rearbase started becoming a factor that threatened to undermine the control various leaders had over their fighting cadres," Sivaram wrote.
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Health Center opened in Vakarai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 February 2006, 14:14 GMT]
The opening of a Day-Care Center with Nutritious Park constructed by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) at a cost of two million rupees and a Health Center with the funding of Tamil Cultural Society of Manitoba (Canada) and Hindu Society of Manitoba (Canada) and implemented by Trincomalee TRO took place Wednesday at Vakarai village in the Batticaloa district at two separate events.
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ITAK uncontested in Verugal local council

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 February 2006, 11:41 GMT]
Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) was elected uncontested in the Verugal Pradesiya Sabah in the Trincomalee district when submission of nomination lists for the thirteen local authorities closed Thursday at noon. Mr.Bandara Mapa, Assistant Commissioner of Elections said the Commissioner of Elections would take further steps regarding the appointment of chairman and vice chairman for the Verugal PS soon, election department sources said.


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