Kodikamam residents hold human chain agitation

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 December 2004, 12:53 GMT]
Several hundreds of Tamil civilians Friday participated in the third phase human chain protest held at Kodikamam junction in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district urging the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to resume peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) without any more delay, sources said.
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Thousands form human chain protest in Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 December 2004, 11:13 GMT]
Thousands of Tamil civilians in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district held a human chain agitation campaign on either side of A-9 highway Monday morning demanding the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to resume peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the basis of Interim Self Governing Authority proposals (ISGA) by the latter. Protestors carried placards and shouted slogans holding hands along the A 9 Jaffna-Kandy road from Kodikamam to Kaithady, sources said. The campaign has been organized by the civil groups federation in Thenmaradchchi.
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Floodwaters uproot landmines in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 December 2004, 18:48 GMT]
Anti-personnel landmines made of plastic weighing around 100 -150g were observed floating in some areas close to SLA camps in Sithandy, Morakkoddanchenai and Pullumalai in the flood ravaged Batticaloa district, civil sources said. Some animals were killed or injured by landmine explosions during the last few days.
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Tyronne Fernando assumes duties as NE Governor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 December 2004, 17:22 GMT]
Mr.Tyronne Fernando, newly appointed Governor for the North East Province Wednesday assumed duties in the Governor's Secretariat which is located at Orr's Hill, a suburb in Trincomalee. Dignitaries of all faiths blessed him before he started his duties in his office. The Governor spoke in Sinhala first and then in English. His speech was not translated into Tamil language, sources said.
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CHA advocates signing Landmine ban treaty

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2004, 00:16 GMT]
"Sri Lanka government is not a signatory to the Ottawa convention on banning of land mines, but the Landmine Ban Advocacy Forum (LABF) sees the government participation at a recent review meeting as a step toward signing and complying with provisions of the conventions," said The Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) in a media release issued Friday.
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SC reserves order on Bindunuwewa massacre appeal

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2004, 09:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court reserved its order on the appeals made by the four accused against death sentence imposed on them by the Trial-at-Bar of the High Court in the Bindunuwewa rehabilitation camp massacre case, for a later date. The appeals were heard by specially constituted five member bench of the SC comprised Justices T.B.Weerasuriya, Nihal Jayasinghe, N.K.Udalagama, N.E.Dissanayake and Raja Fernando, legal sources said.
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Bomb threat delays flight to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 December 2004, 16:06 GMT]
An aircraft belonging to a private airline which was about to take off with 45 civilian passengers to Palaly in Jaffna district Friday morning at 8.30 a.m. from Ratmalana domestic airport was delayed for about 2 hours due to an anonymous telephone call that a bomb had been placed inside the craft, civil aviation sources said.
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Tamils won’t go against India’s strategic interests - MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 December 2004, 14:17 GMT]
‘The desire to draw limits on the Tamils’ right to self-determination makes the Sri Lankan State align itself with any power that is willing to play along, even to the extent of blatantly seeking the interference of super-powers that would compromise, and put in jeopardy, the strategic interests of India’, said Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna, speaking on the committee stage debate on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Parliament Friday. The Tamil people won't allow themselves to be used to upset the strategic balance of South Asia, the MP said.
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Mannar, Vavuniya paralysed by protest

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 December 2004, 05:35 GMT]
Vavuniya and Mannar towns were paralysed Thursday due to a general shut down (Hartal) called by several public organisations to protest against attacks on civilians by Sri Lankan armed forces. Protestors blocked roads and burnt tires in some parts of Vavuniya town Thursday morning. The A9 highway and the Omanthai entry/exit point in Omanthai, 15 kilometres north of Vavuniya were closed due to the hartal. There were no incidents in Mannar although the town was generally deserted, Police said.
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Vepankulam shooting, gross misuse of power- Judge

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 November 2004, 08:53 GMT]
Vavuniya district Judge M Ilancheliyan issued orders on Monday to Sri Lanka Army Commander of Vanni region and to the 211st Division Commander to assist the Police investigations relating to the shooting at the Tamil Marty’s Day celebrations in Verpankulam , legal sources said. Use of T-56 type weapons to disperse crowds when the Emergency Regulations is not in force will be seen as ''gross misuse of power,'' the Judge said.
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Trincomalee town under 18-hour curfew

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 November 2004, 06:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police clamped a curfew for eighteen-hours in Trincomalee town and its suburbs from Monday noon till Tuesday morning 6 a.m. following sporadic violent incidents reported from various parts of the town during the general shut down called by the Tamil Peoples Forum of the Trincomalee district in protest to the killings and assault on Tamil civilians in the Tamil districts of the northeast by members of the State armed forces.
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Court delays Mirusuvil massacre inquiry

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 November 2004, 01:20 GMT]
The Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar inquiry into the Mirusuvil massacre case which was to resume Monday, 22 November, is to be delayed further with the murder of the High Court Judge Mr.Sarath Ambepitiya, legal sources said.


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Trincomalee to observe general shut down

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 November 2004, 12:13 GMT]
Tamil Peoples Forum of Trincomalee District Sunday issued an appeal to the Tamils in the east port town to observe a one-day general shut down Monday condemning violent attacks on innocent Tamil civilians during the Maveerar Week celebrations in the Tamil districts of northeast province by members of State armed forces and chauvinist elements, sources said.
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Sampanthan's son, aide injured in attack by Sinhala group

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 November 2004, 17:31 GMT]
Ramesh Senthooran, youngest son of Mr.R.Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader and his aide Mr.Gopal were injured in an attack by a group of Sinhalese believed to be members of a Sinhala political party, at Srimavopura, a Sinhala settlement located about 2 km off north of east port town in Uppuveli area on Saturday night around 7 p.m. The injured were warded in the Trincomalee general hospital, police said.
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TNA faults SLA for violence in Tamil districts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 November 2004, 15:53 GMT]
"Unwarranted interference by the armed forces in the lives of the Tamil civilian population in the North-East must be brought to an end," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group in a statement of national public importance tabled in Parliament Saturday in regard to several violent incidents that had taken place in the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya and in Trincomalee during Heroes Day week.
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Two injured in Kaithady attack

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 November 2004, 18:56 GMT]
Two persons believed to be members of the Intelligence Wing of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) attacked by unknown assailants were rescued from an isolated area about five hundred meters from Nunavil Junction in Chavakachcheri with serious knife inflicted wounds, around 7pm Friday, security sources in Jaffna said. The injured were admitted to the Palay Army Hospital.
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Police use teargas to disperse JVP protestors

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 November 2004, 12:32 GMT]
Trincomalee Police used teargas to disperse a group of about three hundred Sinhala demonstrators led by Trincomalee district Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian Mr.Jayantha Wijesekara in front of the Trincomalee Police Headquarters, police sources said. A curfew imposed Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. in Trincomalee town after the incident but was lifted around 5 p.m. the same day.
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Sri Lanka army fires into crowd in Vavuniya, six injured

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2004, 14:16 GMT]
Six civilians were injured when Sri Lanka army opened fire indiscriminately on a crowd of people at Veppankulam Junction in Vavuniya town Thursday around 5.15 p.m. A civilian was seriously injured in the shooting. SLA troops fired directly into the crowds that were in front of the Pillaiyar temple where earlier in the morning the Thamil Eelam flag had been hoisted, according to the injured civilians. SLA troops pulled down the flagpole, tore up the flag and assaulted people who were in the area.
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Mannar situation calamitous- Thamilchelvan tells SLMM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2004, 13:02 GMT]
Head of Liberation Tigers Political Wing, S.P Thamilchelvan, in an urgent message to Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Maj. Gen (retd) Trond Furuhovde described the situation in Mannar as "calamitous" that will lead to public unrest which is "totally undesirable" during the period of ceasefire and martyrs' day celebrations.
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Sri Lanka Parliament adjourned after Tamil MPs protest

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2004, 12:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Parliament was adjourned Thursday after Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs sat in the well of the house in protest against military attacks on civilians in Mannar. The protesting TNA Parliamentarians refused to allow sittings to proceed until their demand that the Sri Lanka army should be withdrawn to barracks in the affected areas was met. The Tamil MPs rejected an explanation by Minister for Trade and Commerce, Mr. Jeyaraj Fernandopillai that the military had no hand in the Mannar troubles.
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