Abductions, threat to peace, say US Congressmen

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 February 2006, 12:48 GMT]
United States Congressmen Sherrod Brown and Patrick Tiberi, in a letter to the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Ms Christina Rocca said that the "situation surrounding the remaining abductees [seven TRO staffers] greatly threatens any peace negotiations that are in process unless the matter can be resolved quickly."
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Action, not words is needed - paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 February 2006, 20:43 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government’s tardy response to the kidnapping of ten aid workers of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) have raised serious doubts about the prospects of peace talks, the Tamil Guardian newspaper said this week. Arguing that “last week’s optimism [about talks] was premature and, as many Tamils now feel, sorely misplaced,” the expatriate publication said “this incident has demonstrated exactly what the future of negotiations with President Rajapakse and his government is likely to be.”
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Protest against Batticaloa abductions held in Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 February 2006, 12:26 GMT]
A protest demonstration attended by residents of Mannar and workers of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) was held Thursday in Mannar demanding the immediate release of abducted TRO workers in the Batticaloa district. At the conclusion of the demonstration Mr.S.Jesuthasan, Mannar District Director of the TRO handed over memorandum to the district head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), District Government Agent, district heads of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, UNHCR, and the Bishop of Mannar Diocese, sources said.
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Sri Lankan Parliament adjourned till February 14

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 February 2006, 07:54 GMT]
Sri Lankan parliament sessions were brought to an abrupt end Thursday morning following a bomb scare within the Chambers of the House. The drama began ealry Thursday when sniffing dogs stopped near one of the benches and started sniffing there. Security officials found a parcel with some gum on the carpet and the Government Analyst's Department was called into examine the substance. Sittings beagn around 9.55 am after a dealy of about 25 minutes but were ended within less than a minute by Speaker W.J.M.Lokubandara. However, the sittings were adjoured till February 14th, after Tamil National Alliance MPs walked to the Well of the House in protest against the abductions in the east.
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Paramilitaries release two TRO workers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 February 2006, 11:54 GMT]
Two of the five pre-school teachers who were abducted by paramilitaries working with the assistance of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Sunday 8.00 p.m. were released unharmed and returned to their families in Batticaloa on Wednesday, TRO representatives in Batticaloa said. The fate of the remaining 8 persons abducted by the paramilitaries is not yet known.
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TNA MPs walk out of parliament in protest of killings, abduction

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 February 2006, 06:07 GMT]
If Colombo continued to allow provocative incidents take place in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas of the NorthEast, the peace talks planned between the Government and the LTTE would be in jeopardy, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has warned the Sri Lankan Parliament Wednesday. "This is a calculated move to disturb the talks to be held in Geneva between the Government and the LTTE. We demand that the Government to act urgently in this matter and take appropriate action to save the dialogue," Mavai Senathirajah, TNA MP for Jaffna District told a press conference after walking out of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
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Intelligence Chief Zacky in Jaffna to step up campaign

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 12:40 GMT]
Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) Brigadier Rizvy Zacky, a hardliner, has been recently posted as Brigadier General Staff Officer (GSO, Intelligence) at the Sri Lanka Army Head Quarters (SF HQ) Jaffna in a major reshuffle of the SLA and Intelligence apparatus. Execution-style killings of five students in Trincomalee and three women members of a family in Jaffna mark a stark change of pattern in the escalation of intensified serial killings of non-combatant civilians in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas in the NorthEast. The pattern of violence also marks the return of hardliners who seems to prefer terror to subdue a population.
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Amnesty International concerned about escalation of violence

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 January 2006, 22:01 GMT]
Amnesty International has appealed to the parties to halt the killings, abductions and "disappearances," being reported daily from the north and east of Sri Lanka. The Amnesty International, in a public statement issued on Wednesday said it was appalled by the news of the killing by unidentified attackers of Member of Parliament Joseph Pararajasingam, while he attended mass at St Mary's Church, Batticaloa on Christmas Eve. The deteriorating security situation will also drastically effect aid and relief operations to those displaced by the tsunami and by years of conflict who see no hope of returning to their homes, Amnesty has warned.
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Key Karuna Group operative, 3 paramilitary cadres killed in East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 December 2005, 02:56 GMT]
A key operative of the paramilitary Karuna Group, Iniyabarathy alias Barathy, was killed Monday night when the Liberation Tigers launched a counter attack on a group of paramilitary cadres who were on an ambush mission towards Kanjikudichcha Aaru forward defence post of the Tigers, Mr. Daya Mohan, LTTE's political head in Amparai told TamilNet Tuesday. Iniyabarathy was killed with three other paramilitary cadres in the no-man zone between the Sri Lanka Army held Manthoddam and the LTTE held Kanjikudichcha Aaru, located 5 km east of Siyambalanduwa near the border of the Moneragala and Amparai Districts.
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HRW laments Tamil killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2005, 04:57 GMT]
Saying that ongoing killings and abductions throughout Sri Lanka have created “a climate of fear among Tamils across the country,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday called for “the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the killings and abductions in order to identify those responsible and recommend measures to end the abuses.”
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U.S Congressman speaks on Sri Lanka violence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 02:06 GMT]
Republican Iowa Congressman James A. Leach, chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific of the House International Relations Committee, expressed concern about the rising level of political violence in Sri Lanka and called for a resumption of the peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in a statement before the U.S House of Representatives issued October 7 and distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.
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Peace key to assisting children affected by war- UNICEF

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 September 2004, 11:23 GMT]
Under the Action Plan, the only signed human rights agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, "close to 7,000 children enrolled back to school and more than 43,000 children received catch-up-education classes in the first half of the 2004 alone. 241 school buildings damaged or destroyed in the war were repaired or reconstructed, and 580 child soldiers and their families received social work assessments," the UNICEF said in a press release issued in Colombo today.
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EU urges early recommencement of talks

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 August 2004, 18:03 GMT]
While noting that the meeting with the LTTE was constructive and the matters were discussed in a frank and open manner, the EU in a press statement issued on Monday called upon the LTTE for the earliest resumption of peace talks and stated that the peace process and the development process are inter-linked.
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Death at noon creates crack in Sri Lanka's defences

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 August 2004, 02:31 GMT]
Mr. Kandaiah Yoharasa alias PLOTE Mohan was the most dreaded Tamil paramilitary operative that ever worked with the Sri Lankan armed forces in their war against the Liberation Tigers. His name once evoked terror among the people of Batticaloa. He was an invaluable if not indispensable part of Sri Lanka's intelligence and counter insurgency operations against the LTTE.
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Thamilchelvan conveys LTTE’s stand on CFA, talks to Solheim

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 June 2004, 08:37 GMT]
“If the Sri Lankan President and government are serious about the cease-fire agreement and peace talks they should stop sheltering Karuna and backing the murder and mayhem in which some of his henchmen are indulging Batticaloa. This is what we told the Norwegian facilitators today”, said Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, head of the LTTE’s political division, speaking to the press after meeting Norway’s special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim Wednesday in Kilinochchi.
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Vavuniya Police commended for action against crimes

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 May 2004, 14:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police in Vavuniya has arrested fifteen suspects in connection with armed robberies, house-breaks, murders and abductions in Vavuniya town and surrounding areas, and recovered jewelry and cash worth 3 million rupees. The Police are also seeking the arrest of three hardcore criminals involved in the incidents who are currently working with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna, police sources in Vavuniya said Friday.
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Ellalan Army kills youth in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 May 2004, 16:42 GMT]
Police found the body of a person identified as Subramaniam Chandralalith, 22, shot dead in Jaffna town in the early hours of Sunday morning. He was abducted in a van by unknown persons the day before, Police sources in the northern town said. In a note found near his body, a group calling itself Ellalan Army claimed that it had killed Chandralalith and punished five others for criminal activities including robbery, rape, abduction, extortion, fraud and child molestation.
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Teleffsen meets with SLA, ex-militants in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 August 2003, 11:51 GMT]
The Norwegian head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General Triggve Teleffsen travelled to Batticaloa Thursday morning and held discussions with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials and political leaders of ex-militant groups, (SLMM) sources said. The SLMM head is scheduled to meet Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Commander Ramesh this afternoon.
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Hartal in Muslim areas in Ampara

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 August 2003, 15:17 GMT]
A Muslim community vigilantes' group organized a general shut down (hartal) in Ampara Thursday to condemn the disappearance of two Muslim youths from Sainthamaruthu in the Ampara district, and to seek their release if anyone had abducted them, sources said.
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Hakeem to meet Sri Lankan PM on Muslims' security

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 August 2003, 01:03 GMT]
Mr.Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and Minister in Sri Lanka’s United National Front government, said Sunday that he would meet the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, Monday, on the question of providing maximum security to Muslims in the eastern province especially in Muttur area.
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