UPFA's May Day rally in Ampaarai

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 13:25 GMT]
The ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has decided to hold its May Day rally at Mahaweli Grounds in Dehiyatttakandiya in Ampaarai district. ": We have accepted the challenge to hold the rally outside Colombo for the first time," Minister Dallas Alahaperuma said at a press briefing held in Colombo Thursday, media sources said.
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SLA enters Madu shrine

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 11:55 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka on Friday officially admitted that the Sri Lanka Army had entered the Madu Shrine. Analysts in Colombo observed that the move, which comes in the wake of the SLA debacle in the Northern Front, was timed to divert increasing focus on recent SLA casualties prior to the provincial elections in the east. Meanwhile, Informed sources in Vanni told TamilNet that the SLA had been stationed 1.5 km away from the Shrine for weeks and it could have entered the Shrine at any time as LTTE defensive units were strictly kept away from the peace zone.
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Colombo bars journalists access to wounded soldiers

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 07:04 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) officials have barred photographers from entering hospitals in Colombo where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers injured in battle are being treated according to complaints received from four journalists, said Colombo based media watchdog Free Media Movement on Friday. Stating that only some foreign wire services and few news websites operating from Colombo reported the battle front casualties independent of government press releases, the FMM said the right of the public to know information and news related to the on going war is severely undermined by the restrictions placed on journalists.
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Tamil civilian reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 02:53 GMT]
A middle aged Tamil civilian resident of Weluvana road, Fatima Thoaddam in Dematogoda, has been missing since last week Thursday, the victim’s mother and sister stated in a complaint lodged at Dematagoda police station. They have also reported this incident to Upcountry People's Front (UPF) parliamentarian and Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for Vocational Training and Industrial Education, P. Rathakrishnan.
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24 disappeared, 25 abducted in Trinco in 2008

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 01:26 GMT]
During the first three months of this year 24 persons were arrested, 24 persons were reported missing, and 25 abducted in the Trincomalee district according to complaints received by Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) in Colombo.
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47 Tamil civilians arrested at Dehiwela, Chilaw

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 00:29 GMT]
42 Tamils including 4 women were arrested in Dehiwala, and five Tamils including 2 women wre arrested at Chilaw in two separate cordon and search operations conducted by the police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and are being detained in police stations in Colombo and Chilaw, reports from Colombo said.
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Army bars Gen. Janaka Perera for criticizing war

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 18:56 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government this week ordered the Army to bar a celebrated former general from henceforth setting foot into its camps. The move comes after Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera criticized the Rajapaksa government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tigers. Saying that the government’s self-imposed deadlines “were not realistic”, Gen. Perera last month questioned the wisdom of waging protracted war against the LTTE and warned that battle fatigue would set in and sap the military’s will to fight.
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SLA toll mounts, 'feint' said to have drawn troops into ambush

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 18:51 GMT]
Even before the Tamil Tigers handed back the bodies of 28 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers left behind by their retreating comrades following Wednesday’s pitched battle in the Jaffna peninsula, the bodies of 143 other soldiers had been brought to three funeral parlours in Colombo, a pro-opposition website reported. Meanwhile, CNN quoted 'highly placed' army sources as saying the SLA had been drawn into an ambush when it launched an offensive against LTTE positions Wednesday.
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Tigers hand over 28 SLA bodies to ICRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 10:52 GMT]
LTTE's NGO and U.N. Liaison Officer M. Pavarasan Thursday afternoon at 12:45 p.m. handed over 28 dead bodies of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers located by the Tigers in the Northern Front on Wednesday to ICRC representative Franche Roy at Ki'linochchi Central Playground. Tigers said there were still body parts and decomposed bodies lying in the no-man zone and provided identification details of 6 SLA soldiers in addition to the details of 14 SLA soldiers identification details provided on Wednesday.
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SLMC headquarters searched by Police in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 18:42 GMT]
The headquarters of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) located in Colombo was searched by the police Wednesday afternoon. Officer-in-Charge of the Fort Police Station, Jayaratne Manamperi told media persons that the SLMC headquarters had been searched on receipt of information that a member of the underworld criminal gang operating from Slave Island was hiding there.
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Internal strife forces JVP to abandon May Day procession

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 17:33 GMT]
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has decided not to hold May Day procession this year due to prevailing volatile security situation and internal party squabble. JVP high command however decided to hold a public meeting at Colombo municipal grounds, party sources said.
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150 SLA killed, Tigers locate 30 SLA bodies in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 11:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officials in Ki'linochchi said the Tigers have located more than 30 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers in the clearing mission so far in the Northern Front after a major operation by the SLA was thwarted by them. 28 dead bodies were brought to Ki'linochchi. Meanwhile, a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) source, which didn't wish to be named, verified that 104 dead bodies were initially recovered by the army and more than 400 were wounded. The source further said at least 150 soldiers were killed in action. In the meantime, a Colombo bound passenger said he had seen 12 bus loads of dead and wounded soldiers being rushed to the runway in Palaali military complex.
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New monitoring group warns east electioneering undemocratic

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 10:40 GMT]
The newly formed monitoring group Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) in its first press briefing held at the auditorium of the National Library Services Board in Colombo on Tuesday warned that the electioneering in eastern province is already turning out be an undemocratic one. CAFFE comprises several civil groups such as Women's Organization for Democracy and Peace (WODP) Organization for Democratic Rights and International Organization for Defense.
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LTTE thwarts offensive in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 07:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) units that attempted to break the Forward Defence Line of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Ki'laali, Mukamaalai and on several other positions were forced to retreat, leaving behind dead bodies of their troopers, according to LTTE's Northern Forces Operations Command. Heavy fighting lasted till 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The SLA has suffered heavy casualties as the Tigers put up stiff resistance.
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Ganesan meets with Danish diplomats on Rights issues

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 02:09 GMT]
Mano Ganesan, Leader of Western People’s Front and Convener of Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC) met with Deputy Head of Mission at the Danish Embassy Danny Annan and Human Rights Ambassador, Hans Grunnet, Tuesday evening in Colombo and discussed matters related to human rights and political situation in Sri Lanka, a media release issued by Ganesan's office said. Mr Ganesan's personal security issues and the recent exit from Sri Lanka of the group of International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) were also discussed in the meeting.
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Washington to remain engaged with Colombo, hopes for progress on Human Rights

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 13:35 GMT]
Don Camp, the principal assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, visited Colombo this week and met with Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama, SL Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe, Secretary to the SL Ministry of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. "Many of the issues we discuss are difficult ones, particularly on human rights and the resolution of the conflict, but the U.S. will remain engaged in the hope of seeing progress." Mr. Camp was quoted by the U.S. Embassy.
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Court releases Trincomalee JVP parliamentarian on bail

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 08:39 GMT]
Jayantha Wijesekara, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Trincomalee district parliamentarian was released on cash and surety bail by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Monday. He surrendered to the Welikada police on April 11 following a complaint that he had been involved in the hijacking of official vehicles belonged to dissident JVP parliamentarians Piyasiri Wijenaike and Achchala Jagoda from parliamentary complex. He was produced in court and remanded, legal sources said.
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Abductions increase in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 08:35 GMT]
Four Tamils were abducted by unknown persons at Peliyagoda, Kotahena in Colombo and in Negombo. One of them was later released at Peliyagoda. Relatives of those abducted have lodged complaints with the respective police stations.
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EPDP involvement in Maheswaran killing under inquiry - Police

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 08:18 GMT]
The police informed Colombo Magistrate Monday that inquiry into the statement made by defense ministry spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella involving the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in the killing of Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, Colombo district United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian has been continuing, legal sources said.
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Norway condemns killing of NESoHR Chairman

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 06:33 GMT]
The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo on Tuesday said that Norway condemned the killing of Rev. Fr. M.X. Karunaratnam, the chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat On Human Rights (NESoHR), who was slain in a Claymore attack that targeted his vehicle. The killing further adds to the already far too high civilian toll of the ongoing conflict, the press statement said. NESoHR was launched, in July 2004, as part of the Norwegian-facilitated 2002 Peace Process to strengthen the human rights protection mechanisms in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka.
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