Sooriyaarachchi killed in accident

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 February 2008, 08:38 GMT]
Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi, former Sri Lankan Port Development Minister and Chief Co-ordinator of Sri Lanka Freedom Party's (SLFP) Mahajana faction, a splinter group of SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa's SLFP, was killed Saturday at 1:40 p.m. when his vehicle met with an accident at Madegama on Anuradhapura Galgamuwa road, Police said. The driver of the vehicle and two of his personal guards were also killed in the accident when his vehicle, while speeding, slipped off the road and crashed against a tree, according to initial reports.
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15 Tamils, 5 Muslims arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 February 2008, 02:00 GMT]
Nineteen Tamils and five Muslims were taken into custody by the police in a cordon and search operation conducted in Gampaha town in the Colombo district from Thursday evening till Friday morning. The arrested are being detained in Gampaha police station and are being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division, Police sources in Gampaha said.
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Tamil businessman shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 February 2008, 16:17 GMT]
Two unknown men riding in a motorbike shot and killed a Tamil businessman, Pulendran Weerasubramaniam, in front of St. Lucias Church in Kotahena Police area Firday around 7:00 p.m. The businessman who hails from Pungkudutheevu in Jaffna was a friend of late Maheswaran MP who was assassinated inside Ponnampala Va'neasvarar temple while attending New Year eve prayers. Mr. Pulendran was shot dead while riding in a car. His wife, Umadevi was wounded and rushed to Colombo National hospital, Police said.
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Veeramunai NGO employees continue to be detained

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 February 2008, 13:54 GMT]
Six female employees at the Veeramunai office of a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) Social Welfare Organization of Ampaa'rai District (SWOAD), arrested by Sammanthurai police Tuesday afternoon are continued to be detained, civil society sources in Ampaa'rai said.
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Maheswaran killing inquiry resumes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2008, 16:20 GMT]
The Colombo Magistrate Mr.Ravindra Premaratne Thursday directed the police to submit the full report of the investigation into the killing of Colombo district United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Mr.T.Maheswaran to the Attorney General without delay. The Magistrate issued the directive to Criminal Investigation Department Senior Superintendent of Police Mr. Anura Senanayake when the latter informed court that his department is in possession of vital evidence against the sole suspect in the murder and also intends to record a statement from Mr.Keheliya Rambukwella, Defense Ministry Spokesman, legal sources said.
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Muslim men detained in Zoo bomb blast

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 00:15 GMT]
Three Muslim men have been arrested on suspicion of the Sunday bomb blast in Dehiwela Zoo and are being kept in detention, sources said.
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Ma'nalaa'ru, Padaviyaa schools closed indefinitely

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 14:13 GMT]
Schools in Weli Oya (Ma'nalaa'ru) educational Zones in North Central province (NCP) region will be closed indefinitely in response to requests of parents of students attending these schools, Bertie Premlal Dissanayake, Chief Minister (CM) of NCP said Tuesday. The schools will be reopened after the security of the region is tightened, Mr Dissanayake added.
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New TNA, UPFA parliamentarians take oaths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 12:38 GMT]
Mr.Raseen Mohamed Imam,60, was sworn in as the new national list parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) by the Speaker Mr.W.J.M.Lokkubandara in the parliament when it resumed its sittings Tuesday, A lawyer by profession 60 year-old Mr. Imam filled the vacancy created by the continuous absence of the Mr.M.K.Eelavventhan for more than three months, parliamentary sources said.
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'Hatching chicken from spoiled egg'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 04:15 GMT]
Ruling out any constitutional reform and upholding a 'single unitary state', the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his 60th Independence Day speech harped on 'bringing the provincial administration closer to the people within the framework of the constitution' to resolve the ethnic crisis of Sri Lanka. “The solution must be based on what could be implemented in this country. We cannot offer solutions that are experiments,” he said. The challenge he stressed was the 'defeat of terrorism'. “Impotent of laying new eggs, the president is duping Tamils, promising to hatch an egg rotten for 60-years,” said Selvam Adaikkalanathan, Member of Parliament and the leader of TELO.
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4 SLA soldiers killed in Buttala ambush

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2008, 10:47 GMT]
Four Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and three wounded in a Claymore ambush that targeted their tractor at Galge, 25 km southeast of Bhuttala town in Uva Province around 1:50 p.m., informed military sources in Colombo said. The attackers detonated a Claymore mine and opened fire at the tractor on Buttala - Kathirkaamam (Kataragama) Road.
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17 Tamils arrested in Nugegoda

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2008, 02:50 GMT]
Seventeen Tamil civilians, majority of them workers at business establishments and staying in lodges, were taken into custody in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka government security forces at Nugegoda, a suburb in Colombo, from Sunday evening till early morning Monday, sources said.
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U.S. condemns bomb attacks in South

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 16:36 GMT]
The United States Embassy in Colombo has condemned the bomb attacks at Fort Railway Station and Dehiwala zoo in Colombo and in Dambulla on Saturday. Stating that the attacks bear "all the hallmarks of the LTTE," the U.S. press release said the attacks targeted innocent civilians to foster an atmosphere of fear prior to Sri Lanka's Independence Day celebrations.
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Jaffna to Colombo flights suspended

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 15:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna suspended all six daily flights to Colombo from Palaali air base in Jaffna until Tuesday, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA Jaffna requested Jaffna peninsula residents to celebrate the 60th Independence Day, hoisting the Sri Lanka's national Lion flag in all public, private institutions, the sources added.
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14 killed, 103 wounded in Colombo train blast

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 08:45 GMT]
Fourteen civilians, including 6 students of D.S. Senayakaye vidyalaya and a baseball teacher were killed and around 100 people wounded in a bomb explosion at the platform of Colombo Fort Railway station while Matara-Vavuniyaa train reached the 3rd platform the station, situated in the High Security Zone in Sri Lanka's capital Sunday at 2:10 p.m. All train services have been suspended, the Fort station was cordoned off and a search operation by the Sri Lankan armed forces was launched. The blast comes a day before Sri Lanka's 60th Independence Day celebrations amid speculations of Colombo embarking on a full fledged war on Vanni, stepping up aerial bombardment and artillery barrage.
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Travel between North, South suspended

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 07:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka police in Vavuniya Sunday early morning suspended all passenger services between south and north until further notice due to security reasons. All trains from Colombo to Vavuniya Saturday night were stopped at Madawaachchi while all travel services from Vavuniya to north were stopped at Vavuniya.
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Explosion in Dehiwala zoo, 6 wounded

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 05:15 GMT]
Unknown attackers detonated a bomb inside the Dehiwala zoo in Colombo Sunday around 10:30 a.m., according to Sri Lanka Army sources. Six persons, including a pregnant mother, sustained minor injuries and were taken to Kalubowila hospital. The blast in Dehiwala zoo, one of the major attractions in Colombo, comes in the wake of a number of blasts and killings in Sri Lanka's most popular wildlife sanctuaries.
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Colombo-Vavuniyaa train services suspended

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 03:52 GMT]
Train services from Colombo to Vavuniyaa have been suspended at Madawaachchi until further notice due to security reasons. Trains leave from Colombo Fort from Sunday will stop at Madawaachchi, Sri Lanka Railways sources said Sunday.
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Public Transport crisis looms in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 00:09 GMT]
Shortage of tires for buses operated by Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) in the North has reached a critical situation and may soon cripple the services on many routes in the peninsula, a high official of SLTB Point Pedro bus depot said Saturday.
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East elections, perversion of democracy, says Tamil Arasu Kadchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 February 2008, 04:19 GMT]
Outlining the reasons for not participating in the forthcoming local elections in the east, a press release issued by Mavai Senathirajah, General Secretary, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) in Colombo Wednesday, said: TMVP, an armed paramilitary group which is aligning with the ruling party in the forthcoming elections is openly brandishing weapons and has a strong presence in Batticalo district. The release added that in this climate of fear, elections will be a perversion of democracy, and ITAK has decided not to participate.
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Conflict headed for bloody, decisive phase- Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 February 2008, 01:16 GMT]
"With the umbilical cord between Sri Lanka’s conflict-management process and the international community, in the form of the CFA, having been severed, both parties are now relatively free to conduct the war in the way they feel suitable, with no external pressures regarding human rights or humanitarian consequences. In the coming months, the conflict will become a war without checks or balances, a war without inhibition," Prof. Uyangoda says in a dispassionate analysis that appeared in a southasian monthly, Himal, on the reasons and aftermath of the formal abrogation of CeaseFire Agreement.
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