Tamil Conference begins in Batticaloa amidst bomb explosion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 August 2005, 10:35 GMT]
A district level conference supporting the Tamil National Resurgence convention held in Vavuniya on July 27, ceremonially began at 4:15 p.m. at the grounds of Batticaloa Hindu College in Batticaloa town Tuesday. More than 1500 participants from various parts of the districts, comprising Tamil national activists including academics, writers, religious dignitaries, representatives of civil organisations and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs are participating in the conference amidst threats from paramilitary cadres operating in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) held Batticaloa town. A powerful time-bomb exploded 50 meters from the grounds at 2:30 p.m., according to the Batticaloa Police.
Full story >>

US's strategic interests in Sri Lanka- Taraki

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 July 2005, 18:45 GMT]
What are the US government’s strategic interests in Sri Lanka? If the US has specific strategic interests in the island, then what are the means and modes by which it was and is securing them? Dharmaretnam Sivaram, popular military analyst and senior editor at TamilNet was working on this feature when he was abducted and killed on 28 April 2005.
Full story >>

Tamileelam TV to begin broadcasts to SouthEast Asia

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 July 2005, 04:12 GMT]
"The importance given to nurturing the electronic and printed media by the Tamil Eelam leader Pirapaharan is why we are now able to extend our Television services to countries in Asia," said K Veera of National Television of Tamileelam (NTT), speaking at an event held Friday 10 am at the Media Co-ordinating office in Kilinochchi to mark the inauguration of television broadcasts to southeast asian countries on 1st August, sources in Kilinochchi said.
Full story >>

Key provisions in US Patriot Act struck down third time

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 July 2005, 00:50 GMT]
U.S. District Court Judge Audrey Collins ruled Thursday that a key provision in the USA Patriot Act criminalizing the provision of "expert advice or assistance" to designated foreign terrorist groups is unconstitutional, despite an attempt by Congress to fix the problems in the 2004 Intelligence Reform Act. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) based in New York originally filed the case on behalf of Humanitarian Law Project, a human rights organization and several Tamil-American organizations that seek to support the lawful activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, especially in areas affected by the 2004 tsunami.
Full story >>

SLMM meets LTTE, TNA parliamentarians in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 23:47 GMT]
Members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) met with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians Sivanathan Kishor and Sivasakthi Ananthan at 2.30 pm Friday at the SLMM offices in Vavuniya, and had another meeting with Vavuniya district Head of LTTE political wing Gnanam and Peace Secretariat co-ordinator for Vavuniya Mr Kumaravel at 3.30 pm at the LTTE political offices, sources in Vavuniya said. Discussions centered on Thursday's Thirunavatkulam grenade explosion and the recent increase in threats of violence, according to sources.
Full story >>

Colombo requests SC to remove P-TOMS stay order

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 16:25 GMT]
Mr.M.S.Jayasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court requesting for the removal of its restraining order from implementing four clauses of the P-TOMS (Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure) till its final determination on the Fundamental Rights application filed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarians. The SC made the restraining order on July 15 when the FR application came up for inquiry, the State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) reported in its Friday night news bulletin quoting legal sources.
Full story >>

Fish vendors complain harassment at Muhamalai SLA checkpoint

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 15:49 GMT]
Vendors engaged in the sale of fish in Jaffna district have complained to civil authorities that they are harassed by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army at Muhamalai checkpoint when bringing fish from Vadamaradchchi east division. They are asked to wait several hours at the Muhamalai checkpoint before entering the government-controlled areas in Jaffna district, civil sources said.
Full story >>

NE Bishops meet LTTE's Political Head

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 15:12 GMT]
The Rev. Dr. Kingsley Swampillai, Bishop of Batticaloa and Trincomalee, Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar and the Rev. Dr. Thomas Savundranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna met with LTTE's Pollitical Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan in Kilinochchi Friday at the LTTE Peace Secretariat, LTTE's website said.
Full story >>

LTTE office in Vavuniya attacked

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 17:22 GMT]
Two unidentified gunmen lobbed grenades at the Administrative Office of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vavuniya around 10:00 p.m. Thursday. No one was injured in the attack. The attackers, who came in a motorbike, fired into the building after charging two grenades, Mr. Tharmendra, LTTE's deputy head of political affairs in Vavuniya, told TamilNet. The office is located at Thirunavatkulam, two kilometers north of Vavuniya town. There are two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoints, each located 100 meters away from the office.
Full story >>

UN Sub-Commission urged to protect human rights in the NorthEast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 09:54 GMT]
Outlining the bias in the Sri Lankan judicial system against Tamils, the Tamil Centre for Human Rights (TCHR), a France based Tamil rights group, in a letter handed over to Mr. Vladimir Kartashkin, the chairperson of the UN Sub-Commission On Promotiion and Protection of Human Rights, said: "Justice has been denied to Tamils systematically, over several decades, in all aspects of life. They have suffered systematic human rights violations of genocidal proportions, the perpetrators of which have not been brought to book." The UN Sub-Commission opened its fifty-seventh session on Monday.
Full story >>

US should facilitate equitable, expeditious aid distribution- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 00:39 GMT]
Speaking at a Members' briefing organized by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus Wednesday at the Rayburn building of the Capitol Hill Washington D.C on "Sri-Lanka: Challenges and Efforts to Effectively Deliver Humanitarian Relief in the Wake of the Tsunami," Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Gajendrakumar urged the United States Government to "resolve any legal issues that prevent the US government from directly, equitably and expeditiously providing all forms of assistance to all parts of the Northeast," sources in Washington said.


Full story >>

LTTE: "no need to renegotiate ceasefire"

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 19:06 GMT]
Rejecting a call by the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga inviting the Liberation Tigers for top-level talks to review and restructure the February 2002 ceasefire agreement, the Tigers this week urged the Sri Lankan government to implement the clauses and obligations of the truce without delay, so as to "consolidate the conditions of peace and normalcy in the Tamil homeland."
Full story >>

Tamil convention demands immediate withdrawal of SL military

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 14:45 GMT]
Proclaiming that an environment must be created to enable Tamils to decide their political destiny, the Tamil National Resurgence Convention held in Vavuniya, demanded that the occupying Sinhala forces must vacate the land and seas of the NorthEast with immediate effect. The proclamation concluded urging the International Community to recognise the "basic rights and life of freedom with peace on the basis of our traditional homeland, our nationhood and self rule and struggle for sovereignty."


Full story >>

Tamil National Resurgence Convention begins in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 09:37 GMT]
A Tamil national resurgence conference with more than one thousand Tamil national activists comprising academics, writers, religious dignitaries, representatives of civil organisations and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs from Amparai, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna, Vanni and Mannar, began in Vavuniya at 10:30 a.m on Wednesday at Vairavapuliyankulam Children's Park. Leaders of the Up-Country Peoples Front (UPF) and the Western Province Peoples' Front (WPPF) are also participating in the conference, sources in Vavuniya said.
Full story >>

SL President convenes meeting of top military brass

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 15:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga convened a meeting of senior officers of all three armed forces in Colombo at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) Tuesday, and spoke on the current political trends, sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

"Sri Lanka's Judiciary consistently denied justice to Tamils" - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 15:21 GMT]
"We have seen how the Judiciary of Sri Lanka aided the oppression of Tamil people during the period of war, and we have recently witnessed how Colombo's Supreme Court crippled the Agreement on Joint Mechanism accepted by the President of Sri Lanka," LTTE's Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan said in his key note address delivered in Kilinochchi at the ceremony to mark the opening of the new building for Legislation Secretariat of the Judicial Administrative Unit of the Tamil Eelam on Tuesday. "The Sinhala Nation has failed to seize the opportunity during this three and a half year period of absence of war to resolve the Tamil national question," LTTE's Political Head said.
Full story >>

P-TOMS Court action, a true tragedy - Prof Plate

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 15:52 GMT]
Expressing his view that that the stay order by Sri Lanka's Supreme Court suspending four key provisions of the Post Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) "a true tragedy," Prof Tom Plate of University of California, Los Angeles, told TamilNet that he is optimistic that aid dollars will still go to NorthEast.
Full story >>

Kumaratunge meets Tokyo co-chairs

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 15:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga met with diplomatic representatives of the four Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference Monday to discuss the current state of the peace process and the status of the CeaseFire Agreement (CFA), a media release issued by SL President's Office said. On 15 July the co-chairs issued a statement expressing alarm at the escalating violence, and called on the LTTE to stop killings, and the Government of Sri Lanka to disarm all paramilitaries and to guarantee security to unarmed LTTE cadres.
Full story >>

SLN releases arrested Pt.Pedro fishermen

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 04:05 GMT]
Three fishermen of Supparmadam in Point Pedro in Jaffna district arrested by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers Friday morning for venturing into LTTE controlled Vadamaradchchi east division were released after fellow fishermen protested to the Point Pedro Police, sources in Vadamarachy said.
Full story >>

IOM provides transition homes to Kallady villagers

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 July 2005, 03:50 GMT]
Ms Mary Sheehan, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Friday handed over 148 transition homes to tsunami hit villagers of Kallady, a fishing hamlet in the Eachchilampathu division, down south of Trincomalee district. In addition the IOM has provided livelihood assistance to these families, sources said.
Full story >>