Ten youths arrested at Nittambuwa

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 10:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka police took into custody ten youths including three Tamils, six Sinhalese, and one Muslim in a cordon and search operation conducted in Nittambuwa from dawn to dusk on Saturday. All of the arrested were from other districts and had been staying in Nittambuwa seeking employment, reports said.
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Condemn Colombo for targeting Human Rights defenders: LTTE urges IC

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 06:51 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan State has targeted a human rights defender who worked for the welfare of the people," Political Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), charged in a statement issued on Monday, and urged the international human rights bodies and the international community to condemn the continued gross human rights violations of the Sri Lankan state, and take actions without further delay to bring an end to the continuing human rights violations by the State.
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Threat to Jaffna journalists from SLA, paramilitaries

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 04:20 GMT]
Journalists in Jaffna face continued threats to their lives and harassment from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers and SLA-backed paramilitaries, severely impacting news coverage, and the deteriorating media freedom may lead to a complete breakdown of newspaper publications in the North, sources close to Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians told TamilNet Sunday.
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TID arrests principal, deputy principal, teacher in Nawalapitiya

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 02:00 GMT]
A special team from the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID) of Sri Lanka Police went from Colombo and arrested principal Visuvanathan, deputy principal Poopalasingham, and a former teacher Ramachandran of Demston Tamil school in Hatton in Nuwara Eliya district Sunday. TID team had brought them to Colombo for further interrogation and are being detained in TID Colombo headquarters, reports from Colombo said.
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JVP dissident parliamentarians meet Buddhist prelates

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 05:05 GMT]
Eleven dissident parliamentarians of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led by Wimal Weerawanse Sunday morning paid homage to the Dalada Maligaawa in Kandy, capital of the central province for the first time after the split in the party. Later they met the Mahanayake Thera of Malwatte Chapter and Asgiriya Mahanayake Thera separately and explained their position in the current politics following the split in the JVP, reports from Kandy said.
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Ferial Ashraff dismayed over appointment of Sinhala Education Secretary

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 01:10 GMT]
Ms Ferial Ashraff, a minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, is alleged to have expressed dissatisfaction over the appointment of a Sinhalese officer as the Secretary to the East Provincial Education Ministry at a time when the east provincial council election is to take place, political sources in Colombo said.
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SLA suspends KKS-Trincomalee passenger ship service

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 19:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Palaali Military High Command has allegedly issued a directive informing the public that the passenger ship service between Kaangkeasanthurai (KKS) and Trincomalee will be suspended from Sunday until further notice, informed sources in Jaffna said. The military cited security situation as the reason for the suspension. However, Jaffna Government Agent (GA) K. Ganesh has not issued any formal statements regarding this matter until Saturday night, civil socitey sources in Jaffna said.
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Court places 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen, 6 civilians in remand

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 16:59 GMT]
Kayts Court Magistrate, Joy Mahatheva, directed Kayts police Thursday to continue to detain the 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested in Kachchaitheevu seas and the 6 civilians arrested in Neduntheevu seas on their way to Tamil Nadu as refugees, in Jaffna Prison, atleast until the law enforcement authorities receive instructions from Attorney General’s office in Colombo, legal sources in Kayts said.
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34 security personnel killed, 236 injured in 17 days - SLA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 09:04 GMT]
During the last seventeen days 34 soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have been killed and 263 others were injured in the war front, media reports quoted SLA military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakara as saying at Thursday press briefing held at Media Centre for National Security in Colombo.
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UNP cancels May Day rally citing security reasons

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 02:07 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) has cancelled its main May Day rally and public meeting citing current volatile security situation, according to its general secretary Tissa Attanayake, party sources in Colombo said. The UNP earlier decided to hold its official May Day rally and public meeting at Kurunagala town in the northwestern province.
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India should organize peace talks: Karunanidhi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 16:46 GMT]
"India should organize negotiations between the warring parties in Sri Lanka to bring peace to the island nation," said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi in an exclusive interview to the Times of India on Friday. His statement comes at a time when India has chosen to ignore all calls to mediate between Colombo and the Tamil Tigers and has satisfied itself with playing behind-the-scene roles.
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Indian PM denies arms supply to Sri Lanka: Vaiko

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 14:17 GMT]
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told Vaiko who met him Thursday in New Delhi that there is no truth in reports on Indian supply of arms to Sri Lanka. Vaiko met Indian PM to brief him on his meeting with Erik Solheim and Jon Hanssen-Bauer in Oslo and the outcome of the conference organised by the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) in Norway's capital last week. The Indian PM further told Vaiko that he was aware of Pakistan and China supplying arms to Sri Lanka. The general secretary of Marumalarchchi Dravida Munneatta Kazhakam (MDMK) also met Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Thursday night.
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JVP parliamentarian further remanded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2008, 10:41 GMT]
Court ordered Jayantha Wijesekara, Trincomalee district Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian, for further remand till April 21 when he was produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate Thursday morning in connection with the alleged unlawful removal of official vehicles belongs to two dissident MPs of the JVP from the premises of parliamentary complex, legal sources said.
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Court extends remand for suspects in Raviraj, Maheswaran killings

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2008, 02:46 GMT]
Suspects in the killings of former Colombo district parliamentarian Thiyagarajah Maheswaran and former Jaffna district parliamentarian Nadaraja Raviraj were ordered further remand till April 21 and April 23 by the Colombo Magistrate's Court when they were produced in court separately Tuesday, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Tamil trader abducted in Kotahena

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2008, 02:21 GMT]
Unidentified men arriving in a white van abducted a Tamil trader Tuesday night around 7:30 p.m. from his residence located along Jampettah Road at Kotahena in Colombo city, according to a complaint lodged Wednesday by his wife with the Kotahena Police, media sources said.
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3 Tamils abducted in Colombo suburb

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 16:22 GMT]
Three men in military uniform and two in civil clothes in a white van abducted a trader from his house in Kotahena (Koddaagncheanai) Wednesday around 6:00 a.m, according to complaint made by the victim's wife to Upcountry People's Front parliamentarian and Sri Lankan Deputy Minister, P. Rathakrishnan. Meanwhile, unknown men in white van abducted two family men Friday in Kotahena in front of Viyaakula Maathaa Church on New Chetty street, the relatives of the two men, who were from Jaffna, complained to Mr. P. Rathakrishnan and Western Peoples’ Front Colombo District Parliamentarian, Mano Ganesan.
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SLA imposes travel restrictions on Mannaar Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 05:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has recently imposed travel restrictions on Tamils traveling to and from Mannaar. Tamils who leave Mannaar are only allowed to travel in train from Mathavaachchi while the Tamils, returning to Mannaar from other areas are filtered by their native and residential addresses and refused entry into Mannaar if they carry a National Identity Card with a residential address in South at Kaddaiyadampan SLA checkpost, located between Madu Road junction and Murungkan, on Mannaar Mathavaachchi Road. Family members are separated and refused entry, residents complain.
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IIGEP: Colombo lacks political will to investigate Human Rights violations

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 April 2008, 22:51 GMT]
The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), which terminates its observation mission reasoning that the proceedings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) setup by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to investigate and inquire into serious violations of Human Rights, have not been transparent and not satisfied basic international norms and standards, in its concluding public report on Tuesday blamed the Government of Sri Lanka for "absence of will" in the present Inquiry to "investigate cases with vigour, where the conduct of its own forces has been called into question."
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Senior SLA Commander injured in LTTE sniper fire

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 April 2008, 15:47 GMT]
Lt.Col.Jagath Ratnayake, Commander of the 4th Gemunu Watch division of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) responsible for the Forward Defense Lines (FDLs) at Muhamaalai was seriously injured by sniper fire of the Liberation Tigers, Sinhala daily Lankadeepa reported. The Commander was first transported by Military helicopter to Palaali Military Hospital, and later transferred to Colombo National Hospital, according to the same paper.
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Two Tamil civilians abducted in Kotahena

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 April 2008, 03:35 GMT]
Unidentified men operating in a white van abducted two civilians along New Chetty Street, Kotahena (Koddaagncheanai), Colombo Friday noon in front of Our Lady of Sorrow church, the relatives of the abducted men told Kotahena police.
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