Amnesty fears for safety of Tamil villagers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 December 2000, 02:32 GMT]
Amnesty International in a statement published yesterday said that it fears for safety of villagers of Gopalapuram in Trincomalee district from Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel. The statement was issued following the torture and murder, allegedly by the navy, of two young Tamil men, Mahalingam Thamiran and Shanmugarajan Sornahasan, who were previously threatened after the villagers protested against the killing of several villagers by the navy.
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Two soldiers shot dead

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2000, 08:01 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army soldiers attached to the SLA's military intelligence unit were shot dead by suspected members of the Liberation Tigers in the high security zone of Mannar town around 11.10 a.m. Tuesday, security sources said. Two soldiers were also wounded in the incident.
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SLA asked to assist murder investigation

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 December 2000, 15:43 GMT]
The Vavuniya district judge M.Ilancheliyan Monday directed the commander of the Sri Lanka army units in the Cheddikulam region to assist the court in the investigation into the murder of Kanapathipillai Selvakumar (42) of Maniarkulam who was abducted by armed persons from his home on Saturday. Selvakumar's body was found by the village reservoir yesterday.
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Landmines injure forty two in Jaffna - UNDP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 December 2000, 16:45 GMT]
Forty two civilians in Jaffna lost their limbs to land mines this year said Mr. Elmo Fernando, Director for Mine Clearing Operations funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
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Shelling kills one, injures 2

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 December 2000, 10:34 GMT]
A sixteen year old girl was killed and two others were wounded when shells fired by Sri Lankan police hit 5th district Eravur, 12 km. north of Batticaloa, around 10 p.m. Saturday night, residents said.
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'Negotiations cannot be held under conditions of war' - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 December 2000, 14:19 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Saturday called on the international community to use its good offices “to persuade the Sri Lankan government to abandon its hardline militarist approach and to seek a negotiated political settlement in a climate of peace and goodwill”. A press release from the organisation’s London offices quoted a statement it released Saturday in the Vanni expressing the LTTE’s “deep disappointment” over the “categorical rejection” by Sri Lanka of its call for a process of de-escalation of the armed conflict prior to peace talks. The LTTE also welcomed the “positive” proposals for “mutually reciprocated confidence building goodwill measures” suggested by the Government of Norway to be undertaken on both sides.
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Peace efforts at impasse - paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 December 2000, 12:03 GMT]
(News Feature) The Sri Lankan government's refusal to lift its economic embargo on Tamil areas not held by its military and Colombo's imposition of fresh conditions for negotiations threaten to stall Norwegian efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution of the island's protracted conflict, the London-based Tamil Guardian said this week. "The Sri Lankan government is well aware that adopting this position effectively creates an impasse," the paper said in the editorial column of its latest issue, which hit news stands Friday.
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Two civilians killed in SLN ambush

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 17:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel lying in ambush in Iqbal Nagar, north of Trincomalee shot and killed two Tamil civilians around 5 p.m. Wednesday. The victims, Shanmugaraja Swarnahasan and Mahalingam Thamiran, were returning to their village, Gopalapuram, on a motorbike from Trincomalee town when they shot at, sources said.
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Blast kills four

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2000, 08:45 GMT]
Two policemen and two civilians were killed when a bomb exploded in the eastern Batticaloa around 8.25 a.m. Thursday, security sources said. Two policemen were also wounded in the blast.
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Sri Lanka rejects de-escalation before talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 December 2000, 03:29 GMT]
(News Feature) The Sri Lankan government said Tuesday that it would not accept the Liberation Tigers' call for a de-escalation of the war prior to unconditional negotiations to end the island’s protracted conflict, as the call was “proposed almost as a precondition for talks.” The government instead said de-escalation must be accompanied by talks on a permanent solution, which must be preceded by the Liberation Tigers agreeing the core issues to be covered in any negotiations. The government also re-iterated that any talks must be completed within a definite time frame.
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Father of three shot dead

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 December 2000, 22:03 GMT]
A father of three children Sivanayagam Ilango,29 of Thiruperunthurai in the Batticaloa district was shot dead and two others were injured Sunday night when they were returning home after making a complaint at the nearby Air force checkpoint about a robbery, said sources.
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Hospital employees to stage demonstration

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 December 2000, 19:07 GMT]
Doctors, nurses and other employees of Batticaloa General Hospital have planned to stage a protest march in Batticaloa town tomorrow morning demanding that Security Forces engaged in battle in the North and East should not use civilians as human shields and that no armed personnel should travel in vehicles carrying civilian passengers, hospital sources said.
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Blast kills 4

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2000, 11:30 GMT]
A Sri Lankan policeman and three civilians were killed when a bus was hit by a mine at Sathurokkondan 5 km. North of Batticaloa around 1.15 p.m. Wednesday, police sources said. Twenty other passengers were also wounded in the incident. The bus was travelling behind a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) convoy to Polonnaruwa the sources said.
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Tigers attack Thoppur police station

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2000, 05:17 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked and overran the Police Station at Thoppur in the Mutur area, 25 km. south of Trincomalee around 5.30 Tuesday morning. Local residents said the Liberation Tigers remained in control of the police station, and removed arms and other military equipment from the Police station.
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Jaffna University street play condemns Devananda

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 December 2000, 18:44 GMT]
The arts faculty students of the Jaffna University performed a street play Monday in which Sri Lankan cabinet minister Douglas Devananda was portrayed as a heinous oppressor of civilians in the north. Hundreds of students and people watched the play named "that which is not spoken of" (Pesaapporul). The performance started around 4.30 p.m this afternoon inside the campus. The play ended with the likeness of Mr.Devananda being torn to pieces by the people of Jaffna.
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Sri Lanka determined to continue war - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2000, 22:38 GMT]
(News Feature) The Sri Lankan government's continued silence on Liberation Tigers' offer of unconditional peace talks last week cast doubt on Colombo's commitment to peacefully resolving the conflict, Anton Balasingham, the LTTE's theoretician and political advisor said Saturday. Sri Lanka's President Kumaratunge seemed determined to prosecute the war, he said in his Heroes' Day address in London. Nevertheless, the Liberation Tigers were seriously considering a Norwegian proposal for staggered and gradual de-escalation of the conflict, he said.
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SLA accused of using civilians as human shields

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2000, 14:22 GMT]
Residents of Jaffna accused Sri Lankan Army (SLA) of transporting civilians with SLA troops, after 750 of 1250 people scheduled to travel on the MV Lanka Muditha, a government run passenger service from Jaffna to Trincomalee, were replaced by armed soldiers.
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4 killed in ambush

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 November 2000, 14:58 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers ambushed a truck of the Sri Lanka Navy, killing 4 personnel and injuring 4 others around 11.50 am on Thursday, security sources said.. The attack took place between Perkar and Kuchchaveli, about 30 km. north of Trincomalee town.
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Clashes near Nagarkovil

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 November 2000, 01:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army soldiers and Liberation Tigers clashed in the Vadamaradchi East sector on the north-eastern coast of the Jaffna peninsula in the early hours of Wednesday, security and civilian sources said.
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Tigers call for "unconditional talks in conducive climate"

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 November 2000, 12:57 GMT]
In his annual Heroes Day speech, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Mr.Velupillai Pirapaharan declared Monday that his organisation is prepared for unconditional peace talks with the Sri Lanka government but insisted on a process of de-escalation of war and the creation of a conducive climate of goodwill and normalcy in the Tamil homeland to facilitate such talks. A translation of Mr. Pirapahran's speech released by the LTTE from its London offices quoted him as saying that by normalcy he meant "the restoration of normal civilian life by removing the economic blockade and other restrictions imposed on the Tamil people".
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