Three SLN sailors died in Mannar sea - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 December 2005, 18:45 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have informed the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that their cadres had returned fire for self-protection on Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) boats that intercepted and attacked three LTTE vessels in the seas of Mannar Thursday morning. Two SLN sailors were found dead inside a boat that was abandoned by the SLN fleet, and another sailor, seriously wounded and rescued by the Tigers, later drowned in a Tiger boat that had sustained extensive damage, the LTTE said. One LTTE cadre was wounded in the clash, the Tigers said adding that their cadres were continuing to travel in the seas with arms for self-defence in accordance with their earlier announcement.
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WPPF leader meets Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 December 2005, 16:36 GMT]
Leader of Western Province People's Front (WPPF), Mano Ganeshan, met with Head of LTTE's Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, in Kilinochchi Thursday morning sources in Kilinochchi said. "Forming a united front of all Tamil parties to secure a formidable bargaining position in Sri Lanka parliament was the basis of our discussion today," Mr.Ganeshan told the reporters after his meeting.


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LTTE urges Norway to initiate steps to restore normalcy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 December 2005, 06:15 GMT]
Noting that the Tamil people have been highly pertubed over the brutal rape and the murder of Tharshini Ilayathamby in Punguduthivu, and the military-unleashed violence on the peaceful demonstration where the Vice Chancellor of the Jaffna Univeristy was attacked and a lecturer was shot, has created "tension, panic and uncontrollable civilian unrest," the Political Head of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. S.P.Thamilchelvan has called for meaningful steps on the part of the Norwegian facilitators and the International Community in a letter addressed to the Norwegian Ambassador, Mr. Hans Brattskar on Wednesday.
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SLA assault on VC, Arts Dean worrisome sign - NPC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 11:02 GMT]
National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo based NGO, in a Media release issued on Wednesday condemned the security forces for attacking non-violent protests of students and staff of Jaffna campus, including Vice Chancellor and the Dean of Arts. The violence began when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers attacked the students marching to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) offices against the killing of Ilyathamby Tharsini (20) in Punguduthivu near an Sri Lanka Navy post. Postmortem examination has revealed that Tharsini was raped before being strangled to death.


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RSF dismayed by arrests of Tamil journalists

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 03:14 GMT]
Noting the escalating political tension in Sri Lanka where a Tamil journalist was arrested and three assaulted in a two-day period, Reporters Without Borders (RSF- Reporters Sans Frontieres) in media release said, "Instead of calming down the situation, the police and the army are carrying out unjustified arrests that only stir up resentments. The security forces and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) should guarantee the safety of Sri Lankan journalists whatever their origin."
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LTTE, SLMM meet in Pallai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 01:03 GMT]
Recent attacks by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers on unarmed civilians have made Tamil people lose all confidence in the peace process and in the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), C.Ilamparithy, Jaffna district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday told a two-member delegation of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Tuesday at the LTTE's political secretariat in Pallai. The pattern of attacks clearly indicates that the attacks were premeditated, Ilamparithy further told the SLMM.
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World concerned over escalation of violence, Solheim calls for urgent talks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 18:24 GMT]
The global community is gravely concerned over the rising tide of violence in the Jaffna peninsula and calling for urgent talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers to de-escalate the conflict. This message was conveyed to the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and theoretician, Mr. Anton Balasingham when a high level Norwegian delegation met him at his London residence Tuesday morning, sources told TamilNet.
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Remand extended for Sri Lanka policemen

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 12:03 GMT]
Tamil Eelam district court, Kilinochchi ordered further remand for three Sri Lankan policemen until 3rd January when inquiry into the case of the policemen accused of illegally crossing into Liberation Tigers controlled areas was taken up for inquiry Tuesday, legal sources said.
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GoSL handling of paramilitaries, LTTE violence, key issues for Sri Lanka peace, say Co-Chairs

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 December 2005, 21:39 GMT]
The Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference in the final statement after the conclusion of their meeting in Brussels Monday said they recognized that activities of the paramilitary groups are among the causes for the deteriorating situation and urged “the Government to ensure that such groups cease their paramilitary activities, as a demonstration of its commitment to a peaceful way forward.” They also called on the LTTE “to put an immediate end to their on-going campaign of violence and again urge the LTTE to demonstrate their commitment to the Ceasefire Agreement and the peace process,” and warned, “Failure to demonstrate a willingness to change would not be without serious consequences.”
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LTTE confers National Patriot title to sportsman Gunaratnam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 December 2005, 17:01 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sunday conferred "Nattupattalar" (National Patriot) title on the departed veteran sportsman Mr.A.S.Gunaratnam. Attorney-at-Law Mr.K.Sivapalan read out the statement issued by the LTTE Trincomalee district political secretariat conferring the title at an event held Sunday morning at Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall where the body of late Mr.Gunaratnam was kept for paying last respects by the people of the east port city, sources said.
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Norway best venue for truce talks - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 December 2005, 09:57 GMT]
Reiterating that they wished to engage in talks on the effective implementation of the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement with Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers suggested Saturday that Norway would be the ideal venue to host such talks as Oslo was not only the facilitator of the peace process, but leading the monitoring mission supervising the truce. “Based on a mutual consent, a suitable venue for peace negotiations could be selected following the successful conclusion of the CFA talks,” he said pointing out that Norway has earlier extended invitation to the parties to hold talks on the implementation of the CFA.
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Formation of united Tamil front, a strategic need- Thondaman

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 December 2005, 07:37 GMT]
The leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Mr. Arumugam Thondaman, Saturday held discussions with the LTTE's Political Head Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan at the LTTE Peace Secretariat on his plans to form a united effort among the Upcountry and Western Province Tamil political parties. The Upcountry politician said that his party, CWC and the LTTE discussed the strategic need to form a broad Tamil front to meet the challenges from the Southern polity and to further the common aspirations of both the Tamil communities in the Northeast and the Upcountry.
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Ground rules for peace engangement to be clarified during Solheim visit

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 December 2005, 16:34 GMT]
Norwegian Development Minister Erik Solheim is expected to visit Sri Lanka to meet officials of Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam soon. An NTB report filed from Hong Kong on Thursday said that the "ground rules" for the process forward would be decided during this visit.
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Adampan hospital reopens after fifteen years

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 December 2005, 03:52 GMT]
The newly constructed government hospital at a cost of about twenty million rupees at Adampan in Mannar district was declared open for the use of civilians residing in the villages of Aandankulam, Palaiyady, Puthukulam, Parapukadanthan, Vaddakandal, and Karukkaikulam held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) with religious observances. Adampan is located in the LTTE held area. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) project carried out the project, sources said.
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Self-employment assistance centers open in Pooneryn

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 December 2005, 03:13 GMT]
Opening event for a Sewing Training Center and a Center for Animal Husbandry Training built with financial aid from Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and International Labor Organization (ILO) was held in Pooneryn Monday. Planning Director for ILO, Mr Janarthanan presided the event. The Economic Consultancy House (TECH), an NGO working exclusively in the NorthEast on employment generation projects, will adminstrator the two centers.
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Vavuniya abduction discussed in LTTE, SLMM meet

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 December 2005, 11:53 GMT]
Members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) met with representatives of the Liberation Tigers in the Puliyankulam office of the LTTE 5 p.m. Monday and again at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The discussions centered on the disappearance of Sinnathamby Ganeshalingam alias Farook, a senior cader of PLOTE on Monday 1.30 p.m. Vavuniya. Vavuniya district Political Head of the LTTE, Gnanam, said that he had told the SLMM that LTTE has no involvement in the reported abduction.
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"STF, SL Ministers complicit in paramilitary operations, Karuna in India"

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 December 2005, 17:12 GMT]
The two paramilitary cadres who surrendered to the Tigers in Amparai disclosed that Karuna operates from India and that Pillayan was leading the Karuna group operating in the east. They also revealed that Sri Lankan Government Ministers A L M Athaullah, Douglas Devananda and Maithripala Sirisena are complicit in helping paramilitaries operating in the east, during a press conference held at Thenakam guest house in LTTE controlled Karadiyanaru Monday. The cadres also said that the paramilitaries were involved in violence against Muslims to create dissension between Tamil and Muslim communities.
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Claymore attack on unmanned SLA post in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 December 2005, 06:12 GMT]
A claymore mine went off Monday morning around 7:00 a.m. at an unmanned SLA post on Vavuniya - Mannar road at Varikuddiyoor, 12 km northwest of Vavuniya town, poice said. Additional troopers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Special Task Force (STF) and policemen were deployed and the security was beefed up in Vavuniya on Monday.
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Colombo blocks Akashi from visiting Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 December 2005, 22:04 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has prevented Japanese Special Peace Envoy, Yasushi Akashi, from visiting Kilinochchi to meet the political wing leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to discuss matters related to peace process. Denying media reports in Colombo that Japan wanted to become partner of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Akashi said Japan has no intention of becoming a partner to the SLMM and applauded the Scandinavian countries for their effective work.
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LTTE's Human Rights engagement on constructive track - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 December 2005, 11:21 GMT]
“While Colombo has been increasingly engaged in portraying Tamils’ struggle for self-determination as ‘terrorism’ in international fora taking advantage of the changed political climate following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the consequent war on terrorism, Liberation Tigers have exhibited genuine desire to adhere to the international human rights standards by closely engaging with UN agencies,” said Political Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) , S.P. Thamilchelvan, during his keynote address on Human Rights day event organized by the NorthEast Secretariat On Human Rights (NESOHR) in Kilinochchi Saturday.
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