6000 parcels to Jaffna shipped, another 5000 remain

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 March 2007, 11:26 GMT]
The vessel "Merc Yala" carried six thousand parcels, a portion of the backlog of parcels lying in the Trincomalee general post office since January 13, when the ship left Trincomalee port Wednesday. About two thousand parcels were returned back to the post office due to lack of space in the vessel, which has also been taking a consignment of cement and flour to Jaffna district, postal departmental sources said.


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13 Tamils arrested in Mt.Lavinia

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 March 2007, 11:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and Police arrested thirteen Tamils from North and Eastern provinces in a pre-dawn search conducted Thursday in Hathuduwa area in Mt.Lavinia, a suburb of Colombo city, police said.
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SLFP dissidents allege financial scandal in arms deals

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 March 2007, 01:52 GMT]
Sacked ministers, Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, Wednesday requested the Commission on Bribery and Corruption of Sri Lanka to initiate an independent inquiry into the allegations of a financial scandal involving Rs.600 million in the purchase of Russian-made MIG planes and weapons.
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UK calls for truce, backs Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 March 2007, 23:13 GMT]
British Prime Minister Tony Blair Wednesday called for the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) to be implemented as a first step towards ending Sri Lanka’s conflict. “The only realistic way to get a solution is to come back to the 2002 agreement and make sure that it is implemented,” Mr. Blair said. Meanwhile British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told her Sri Lankan counterpart, Rohitha Bogollagama, “there can be no military solution alone to the conflict.” The emphasis on ‘alone’ is seen by some as British preparedness to endorse the Colombo’s war against the Tigers, provided a political solution is offered also.
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U.S. grants LKR 51 million for petroleum exploration in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 March 2007, 17:01 GMT]
U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded 51 million rupees ($474,000) to Sri Lanka Wednesday. Promoting energy security in Sri Lanka through the development of oil and gas sector is the goal of the grant, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Colombo. U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake and Sri Lankan Secretary for the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, signed the agreement Wednesday.


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Colombo lodges, boarding houses to be closely monitored

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 21:44 GMT]
The law enforcement authority under the direction of Sri Lanka Defence Ministry has formulated a scheme to closely monitor the activities of lodges and boarding houses to strengthen the security in Colombo city. As a first step the Ministry is suspending the registration of new lodges, and is planning to order closure of lodges which fail to provide basic facilities, and to identify lodges which are suspected of having close links with undesirable persons.
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Documentary on Black Tigers premiered in Oslo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 13:05 GMT]
For the first time the Tamil Tigers have allowed a foreign film team to "hand-pick, follow, interview and dig deep," into the lives and faiths of two female Black Tigers, according to the producers of a documentary film titled "My daughter the terrorist," which made its World Premiere to a full house at Parkteatret in the Norwegian capital Oslo Monday.
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Colombo Rights body meets German Ambassador

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 12:21 GMT]
Delegation of Civil Monitoring Commission (CMC), a human rights watch dog based in Colombo, met German Ambassador Juergen Weerth in Colombo Tuesday and discussed the Human Rights situation in Colombo and NorthEast, civil society sources in Colombo said.
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SL parliamentary delegation leaves for Japan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 10:59 GMT]
A parliamentary delegation comprising four parliamentarians led by Speaker W.J.M.Lokkubandara left for Japan on an official visit Sunday night. Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Mr.Vajira Abeyawardene and Mr.T.B.Ekanayake, Highways Minister are the other members of the delegation, sources said.
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13 Tamil civilians arrested in Kohuwela

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 10:54 GMT]
Thirteen Tamil civilians were arrested Monday night in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police at Kohuwela, a suburb in Colombo city. All including three women are natives of North East province and were temporarily staying with friends and family members in their homes and in lodges in Kohuwela when they were arrested, sources said.
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4 disappearances, 4 abductions in 48 hours in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 March 2007, 16:42 GMT]
Human Rights Commission (HRC) offices in Jaffna reported Sunday that four youths have disappeared and four others have been abducted from their houses by armed men wearing black uniforms in the last 48 hours, sources in Jaffna said. Jaffna residents are gripped with fear as abductions by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and SLA-backed paramilitaries under Mahinda Rajapakse Government have exceeded the dangerous levels witnessed during Colombo's 1997 counter-insurgency campaign, civil society sources said.
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Sri Lanka's gross violations of Human Rights must stop- Selvy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 March 2007, 10:37 GMT]
Humanitarian Spokesperson of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), N. Selvy, Saturday expressed dismay at International Community's discourse with Colombo by failing to adopt a humanitarian strategy to end the culture of impunity in Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) administered territory. Despite expressing reservations on the effectiveness of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIEGP) according to the terms and reference of Colombo, Selvy said: "if the monitoring system could discipline the Sri Lankan state and bring the culprits to book, it would be worthwhile."
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SLFP dissidents, JVP predict demise of Rajapakse regime

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 March 2007, 17:29 GMT]
Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, sacked minister from the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government said Saturday that a new government will be informed in Sri Lanka shortly, and Mangala Samaraweera, another sacked minister will play a vital role in that government. He didn't reveal any other details. Meanwhile, separately, the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Saturday said the life span of the present United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) agreement will last only for fifteen months.
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Court releases 8 Tamil detainees, SLN arrests 4 in Negombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 March 2007, 12:45 GMT]
Colombo magistrate court Thursday and Friday released twelve civilians, eight of them Tamils, who were arrested in cordon and search operations in Colombo and its suburbs and detained in Boosa detention camp located in Galle in southern province. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) arrested four in Negombo suspected of attacking fishing boats, sources in Colombo said.
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6 Tamils detained in Dambulla, 3 remanded, 29 released

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 March 2007, 00:38 GMT]
Of the 38 civilians arrested in Dambulla and its suburbs in north central province Thursday, six civilians, all Tamils have been detained in police station for further investigation. Three were produced in Dambulla magistrate court Friday and remanded, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Court extends remand for detained woman Journalist, waits AG report

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 March 2007, 23:06 GMT]
Colombo Chief Magistrate Ms Sarojini Kusala Abeyawardene Friday ordered further remand till March 23 for Mounasamy Parameswary, a journalist of Sinhala weekly Mawbima, waiting for the report of the Attorney General. Parameswary was produced in court Friday, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Anuradhapura SLA commander killed in ambush

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 March 2007, 14:15 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army commander of the Anuradhapura Saliyapura Gajaba Regimental HeadQuarters, Colonel Jayantha Shurawera, and three of his men inlcuding a Major, and four national park employees were killed in a gunfire ambush inside the Wilpattu wildlife sanctuary around 10:30 a.m. Friday, military officials in Colombo said.
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40,000 civilians displaced in two days in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 March 2007, 13:09 GMT]
More than 40,000 civilians were displaced within the last 48 hours in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Paduvankarai area as heavy artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher fire by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued, forcing the civilians to flee from Kokkaddicholai and the surrounding villages. "Batticaloa is experiencing another tragic humanitarian crisis without the attention of the International Community," charged Batticaloa district parliamentarian S. Jeyanandamoorthy. Meanwhile, a third front, opened by the Sri Lankan Special Task Force troopers at Pullumalai, 31 km southwest of Batticaloa, was thwarted by the Tigers, according to the LTTE.
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Protest held in Colombo against abductions

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 March 2007, 12:45 GMT]
The Committee for Finding the Disappeared Persons of New Democratic Front (NDF) held a protest campaign at Company Street Junction in Colombo around 4:00 p.m. Thursday demanding the immediate stop to human rights violations and disappearances. More than hundred activists including the relatives of the disappeared participated in the one-hour long event. More than ten children carried the portraits of their disappeared fathers, sources in Colombo said.
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Elderly Tamil trader abducted in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 March 2007, 09:49 GMT]
Unidentified armed men in a white van abducted an elderly Tamil trader Thursday night at Fussels Lane in Wellawatte, Colombo, according to a complaint made to Wellawatte Police.
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