Ilamparithy meets Norway Foreign Ministry Officials in Oslo

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2004, 11:53 GMT]
Liberation Tigers' Head of Jaffna District Political Wing, Mr.Illamparithy, who is currently on a tour of European countries met with Norwegian Foreign Ministry officials at the Oslo Foreign Ministry Building Tuesday, 6 January at 11 am, sources in Oslo said. Norway's special peace envoy, Eric Solheim, Advisor to Norway Foreign Ministry, Lisa Golden, and Official of Foreign Ministry, Erik Giercshy were involved in the discussions, sources added.
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2003: The year in review

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2003, 18:58 GMT]
The widespread optimism on peace that greeted the dawn of 2003 has evaporated and the power struggle between Sri Lanka's Prime Minister and President that threatens the peace process now occupies the center stage of politics in Colombo. High Security Zones (HSZ) in Jaffna continue to deny displaced Tamils their fundamental rights. Colombo's unwillingness and inability to disburse funds stalls development and rehabilitation in NorthEast, as international aid remains blocked, awaiting concrete signs of progress in peace.
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HSZs not a matter for GA - Maj. Gen. Chandrapala

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 08:10 GMT]
Maj. Gen. Susil Chandrapala, the new Sri Lankan security forces commander for Jaffna, told TamilNet Wednesday that the question of Sri Lanka army high security zones in Jaffna is not a matter for the district’s Government Agent but it is one that’s under his purview. He was speaking to the local press after a meeting between civilian officials and the military at the Jaffna District Secretariat Wednesday morning.
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LTTE meets Swiss Foreign Ministry Official in Geneva

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2003, 13:17 GMT]
The Deputy Head of the Political Section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Jaffna District, Mr. S. Ilamparithi, who is currently visiting European cities, met with Swiss Foreign Ministry Director in-charge of Sri Lanka Affairs, Mr. Markus Heiniger, on Wednesday at 1.00 pm for 90 minutes, at the Swiss Foreign Office in Geneva, Switzerland, Tamil expatriate sources in Switzerland said.
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Supreme Court directs AG to enlighten on Jaffna HSZ legality

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 18:20 GMT]
The Supreme Court Thursday directed the Attorney General to take immediate measures to enlighten the court on the legality of the high security zones in the Jaffna peninsula in response to the fundamental rights applications filed by three persons including Jaffna district parliamentarian Mr. Mavai Senathirajah. The inquiry into the applications would be taken up for inquiry on December 19, legal sources said.
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LTTE Education Council spotlights NE shortcomings

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 00:01 GMT]
" We earnestly request the international agencies and other authorities to take effective measures to remove the Sri Lanka Army from the areas in the northeast province where schools are located in the high security zones and from the vicinity of schools, so that they can function in a favorable and peaceful atmosphere," the LTTE's Education Council of Thamileelam said in a paper presented at the workshop held in Trincomalee Thursday.
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SLN occupies Thampalakamam grazing land

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2003, 19:16 GMT]
The Trincomalee district Parliamentarian, Mr.Sampanthan, has made representations to Sri Lanka’s President, Prime Minister and Defence Ministry officials to take urgent action to release Attavaniakulam pastureland in Thampalakamam for cattle grazing. Cattle breeders in Thampalakamam say the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) High command has barred cattle grazing in the village, saying it comes under their High Security Zone (HSZ). Attavanaikulam is situated about 8 k.m. from Kalmuttian Kulam SLN camp.
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SLA hands back Amban hospital, library

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2003, 18:33 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army Friday handed back to civil authorities a hospital and public library it had been occupying for more than three years in Amban, a village on Jaffna’s southeastern coast.
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Two villagers in remand for entering HSZ in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 2003, 17:35 GMT]
The Chavakachcheri Magistrate, Mr.P.Subramaniam, Monday ordered the court registrar to inform the parents of Mr. Mahalingam Ratnarajan of Tharmapuram in the Kilinochchi district, that he has been in remand for the last two months in Jaffna prison, legal sources said.
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Villager remanded for entering HSZ in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 2003, 15:29 GMT]
The Chavakachcheri Magistrate, Mr.B.Subramanian, Friday remanded a villager, Mr.Jeyathasan Selvarajah, when he was produced on a report that he had entered the high security zone of the Sri Lanka Army located in Nagarkovil in Vadamaradchi east division in the Jaffna district, legal sources said.
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Book on "Ceasefire 2001-Lessons for the present” released

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 2003, 17:17 GMT]
"The time has come for all the lovers of peace to engage in a serious dialogue by contributing their share in solving this vexed [ethnic] problem by studying the [LTTE's] proposal and arriving at a consensus to implement it,” said Professor S.K.Sitrampalam, Professor of History and Dean for Graduate Studies at the University of Jaffna, addressing the introductory event of the book “ Ceasefire 2001-Lessons for the present” held at the Colombo Sri Lanka Foundation Institute Friday evening, sources said.
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"Peace Process absolutely irreversible" - British Don

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 2003, 12:58 GMT]
"Tamil issue has always been a political football in the grounds of the Southern political discourse, but this time around the situation is entirely different. Transparency of talks and the high level of international engagement make the current Peace Process absolutely irreversible," said Sri Lanka expert Prof. Chris Smith, Director of Center for South Asia studies at the International Policy Institute, King's College, London when TamilNet asked him to comment on the recent constitutional crisis, precipitated by Sri Lanka's President Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge.
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HRC holds inquiry into IDP's complaint

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2003, 19:29 GMT]
A team of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC) Monday visited the Kuppilan village in the Valigamam north division in Jaffna district and conducted an inquiry into the complaint made by the head of an internally displaced family that he had been refused permission by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to resettle in his house which is located six hundred meters outside the boundary of the high security zone, HRC sources said.
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NorthEast sportsmen endure sinhala only Kurunagala meet

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2003, 21:13 GMT]
The 29th annual National Sports Festival organized by the Ministry of Sports which ended in Kurunagala in the north western province Sunday evening disappointed hundreds of sportsmen and women from the NorthEast province as all announcements were in Sinhala language only and no Tamil word was heard or seen in print during the festival, sports sources said.


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Navy occupation leaves cattle on the road

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2003, 01:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy has barred cattle from grazing in Attavaniakulam pastureland in Thampalakamam in Trincomalee district as the pastureland falls within the newly expanded High Security Zone (HSZ), security sources said. While the cattle breeders bemoan the loss of prime grazing area, farmers are scrambling to safeguard their paddy crops in more than 5000 acres from wandering cattle.
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Confronting collisions in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2003, 00:11 GMT]
In the wake of several recent accidents in the Jaffna peninsula in which the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was involved, resulting in death or injury to Tamil civilians, the question being raised by the people of Jaffna is whether these accidents are caused merely by the suddenly ‘aggressive' driving of the SLA soldiers, or if this is a continuing pattern of behavior that started when the SLA brought the Jaffna peninsula under its control in 1995.
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Subsidy to Thenmaradchi farmers refused

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2003, 04:41 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's Department of Agrarian Services has refused to provide subsidies for seed paddy and fertilizer to farmers to cultivate paddy lands adjoining the high security zones in the Thenmaradchi division in the Jaffna district, as the Sri Lanka Army has not officially informed the department of its decision to release one fifth of the roughly five thousand acres of land in the HSZ, representatives of several farmers organizations said Monday.
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Norwegian Advisor on Gender Issues visits Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2003, 15:34 GMT]
Dr. Astrid N. Heiberg, the Advisor to the Subcommittee on Gender Issues (SGI) and Ms. Kjersti of the Norwegian High Commission in Colombo, visited the women’s secretariat in Kilinochchi Thursday morning and held discussions about women’s issues throughout the day, sources in the Vanni said.
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Wickremesinghe said to agree in principle to IDPs' resettlement in HSZ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 October 2003, 16:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, in a meeting with a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday, accepted 'in principle' that all internally displaced families are entitled to resettlement in their own lands and houses in the northeast province, regardless of whether those lands or houses come under areas declared as high security zones (HSZ) by the Sri Lanka Army, TNA sources said.
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‘SLA, Police should vacate Batticaloa MC offices’

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 October 2003, 04:12 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army should remove its 23-3 brigade headquarters operating at the Batticaloa Municipal Council (MC) buildings and government employees’ quarters, and return the buildings to their rightful owners, the Tax Payers Association of Batticaloa (TPAB) has demanded in a letter to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, sources in Batticaloa said.
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