Mannar Bishop calls for end to violence

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 June 2006, 18:21 GMT]
Rt.Rev.Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar Diocese Friday said killings of civilians have increased several folds after the first round of Geneva peace talks and appealed to the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to resume the stalled peace talks immediately, with the facilitation of the international community and to put an end to these killings. The Bishop was addressing a meeting held in the premises of Mannar St.Mary's Cathedral, Friday morning.
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Japan, Switzerland condemn claymore attack on passenger bus

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 June 2006, 11:37 GMT]
Embassies of Japan and Switzerland in Colombo, in press releases issued Thursday, strongly condemned the attack on passenger bus in the region of Anuradhapura which killed several dozens of civilians including children and expressed condolences to the Sri Lankan people and the authorities.
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Elilan complains to SLMM on artillery fire in Muttur east

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 June 2006, 08:36 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday complained to the monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission who had been witnessing the multi-barrel artillery fire launched by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that the time has come for the SLMM to take a decisive decision on the indiscriminate artillery attack on Tamil civilian population in the Muttur east by the State armed forces., sources said.
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LTTE's Constitutional Affairs Committee meets in Oslo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 June 2006, 15:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) delegation led by its Political Head, S.P. Thamilchelvan met in Oslo with legal experts from the Tamil diaspora, Saturday, Tamil sources from Oslo said. The discussions focussed on the status quo between the Sri Lankan and the LTTE forces, including the territorial sea rights, and formulated recommendations to the LTTE leadership on the future course of action on these matters. Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) during Friday's meeting had confirmed SLMM's position on sea-activities that officials of the SLMM will not travel on board the Sri Lankan vessels until the sea dispute is resolved between the parties.


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LTTE issues Communiqué in Oslo

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2006, 15:24 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam issued a Communiqué on Friday after concluding meetings begun two days ago with Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the Norwegian facilitators in Oslo.
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India expresses deep concern over the failure of Oslo meeting

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2006, 13:36 GMT]
The Government of India, in a press release issued from the High Commission in Sri Lanka, said it was deeply concerned over the failure of the proposed meeting between the Government of Sri Lanka and representatives of the LTTE, aimed at strengthening the role of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and ensuring the security of its members.
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SLA soldiers massacre family of four in Vankalai, Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2006, 04:47 GMT]
SLA soldiers armed with bayonets and knives entered the house of a family of four and slaughtered 35-year-old father, 27-year-old mother, 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son Thursday midnight in Vankalai, 12 km southeast of Mannar. Eyewitnesses in the area, Thomaspuri Ward No 10 in Vankalai, have told Mannar Additional Magistrate that they could identify the soldiers involved in the massacre. Villagers alleged the mother was raped before the massacre. Tension prevails in Vankalai. Religious leaders including the Bishop of Mannar, parliamentarians and civil society members in Mannar have rushed to site. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials have visited the massacre site.
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Undue emphasis on direct talks sidelined key issues - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 June 2006, 23:46 GMT]
Preoccupied with bringing Sri Lankan government and the LTTE delegations to face-face talks, Norwegian facilitators had placed less emphasis on engaging with key issues at stake, and more on convincing the two sides to sit opposite to each other, the head of the LTTE’s Political Wing, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, told reporters Thursday evening.
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Norway writes to Rajapakse, Pirapaharan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 June 2006, 19:49 GMT]
Expressing concern over the grave situation in Sri Lanka, the Royal Norwegian Government said in a statement, Thursday, that it has taken "the unprecedented step of requesting both parties, through letters to President Mahinda Rajapakse and the LTTE leader Mr Vellupilai Prabhakaran, to provide responses in writing to five critical questions". "The responses by the parties to these questions will determine which steps will next have to be taken by the Royal Norwegian Government and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, in close partnership with other actors in the international community," the statement further said.
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Dispute over delegation makeup derails LTTE, GoSL meeting

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 June 2006, 18:22 GMT]
Head of the LTTE’s Political Wing, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, met top Norwegian officials and the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for over an hour Thursday evening. Mr. Thamilchelvan told TamilNet that the LTTE had come to Oslo to discuss the future of the SLMM with Norway. However, although Head of the LTTE’s Peace Secretariat, S. Puleedevan, was prepared to meet his counterpart, Palitha Kohona, heading the Sri Lankan delegation, but as Colombo continued to insist senior members of the LTTE be included in LTTE delegation, the LTTE-GoSL meeting did not take place, Thamilchelvan said.
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LTTE in discussions with Norway on SLMM - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 June 2006, 12:58 GMT]
The LTTE delegation in Oslo is involved in discussions with the Norwegian facilitators on key issues, including the role of international truce monitors, the head of the LTTE's Political Wing, S. P. Thamilchelvan said Thursday. Responding to media reports that the LTTE was refusing to sit with the Sri Lankan government (GoSL) delegation, Mr. Thamilchelvan said "discussions on the monitors at this crucial juncture would be productive and progressive when the [LTTE and government] delegations raise the issues separately with the Norwegian facilitators, giving room for them to devise approaches to resolve these issues."
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EU ban, one-sided and counterproductive - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 June 2006, 09:25 GMT]
The EU ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is "extremely harsh, unfair, untimely and one-sided unlike the Donor Co-chairs declaration," LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and Political Ideologue, Mr. Anton Balasingham, has told the Colombo based weekly, The Sunday Times. It is a "misguided strategy," to assume that international proscriptions will "encourage" the penalised organisations to pursue the road maps and guidelines prescribed by the international actors, Mr. Balasingam said adding that the "anti-terrorist age," ban on the Tigers, ignoring the political context, historical background, was counterproductive and created serious obstacle to productive engagement.
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US: Tigers have ‘legitimate goals, unacceptable methods’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 June 2006, 00:48 GMT]
Reiterating the United States’ opposition to the Liberation Tigers’ use of arms, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, also said the US recognises the Tamils’ “legitimate desire … to govern themselves in their own homeland.” Furthermore, “they (Tigers) need to focus their vision on how to achieve their legitimate goals through a legitimate process of negotiation [rather than arms],” he said.


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LTTE officials in Amparai meet SLMM, raise STF harassment issues

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 June 2006, 06:04 GMT]
Amparai District Political Head of the Liberation Tigers, Jeya, in a meeting with the Head of the Amparai District Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Butti Ercisson, on Friday, raised concern over the recent threats issued to civilian co-operative managements in Thanidiyadi, Thankavelauthapuram and Kanchikudichcharu. STF troopers allegedly thretened the co-operative managements to shut down their services in the villages. Around thousand families were benefiting of the services being offered by the co-operatives, according to a co-operative official in the district.
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SLMM Head visits Sea Tiger base in Mullaithivu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 May 2006, 23:56 GMT]
"Unless the SLMM is present in LTTE vessels, the monitors would not be able to make clear judgements on the disputes that may arise between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in the seas," Col. Soosai, the special commander of the LTTE told Maj. Gen. Ulf Henricsson, who was on a familiarising trip to LTTE controlled areas this week. The Sea Tiger Special Commander received the Head of Mission in Mullaithivu on Wednesday.
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Sri Lankan Government must make dramatic political changes - Co-chairs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 May 2006, 09:05 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka must show that it will address the legitamate grievances of the Tamils and the Tamil Tigers must re-enter the negotiating process, renounce terrorism and violence, said Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference. Colombo must immediately prevent groups based in its territory from carrying out violence and acts of terrorism. It must protect the rights and security of Tamils, ensure violators are prosecuted and must show that it is ready to make the dramatic political changes to bring about a new system of governance. The international community will support such steps; failure to take such steps will diminish international support, said the strong worded statement.
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Toronto protest draws the largest crowd despite a transit strike

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 May 2006, 07:09 GMT]
Tens of thousands of Canadian Tamils thronged Mel Lastman Square in Toronto Canada Monday inspite of a transit strike in the city to protest against the human rights abuses committed by the Government of Sri Lanka against their relatives in the North and East. The rally in Toronto was the largest of in worldwide demonstrations that were held simultaneously from New Zealand to Canada. The larger venue overflowed and the people stayed on adjoining streets.
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Peace activists rally in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 May 2006, 13:23 GMT]
More than one thousand peace activists from National Peace Council (NPC), representatives from its branches in all districts, and members from organizations that advocate, peace, democracy and human rights, belonging to all ethnic communities protested against the killing of innocents in a deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka that is leading towards war, at Lipton Circle Monday between 11:00 a.m. and 01:00 p.m, sources in Colombo said.
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Vehicle blast in Wilpattu national park, 8 feared dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2006, 16:51 GMT]
A tourist vehicle with eight persons on board was feared blown in a bomb blast Saturday noon, northwest of Willpattu national park, fellow tourists from Colombo have complained to Nochchiyagama Police. Wilpattu, the largest national park and a refuge for elephants and leopards, was re-opened after the 2002 Ceasefire agreement. Sri Lanka Army sources in Colombo, confirmed the blast, and said casualty details were not known.
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Colombo imposes embargo on cement, steel, limits fuel supply to North

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2006, 09:44 GMT]
Sri Lankan defense authorities, on Friday, banned the transportation of cement and steel to North. Government Agents (GAs) in Jaffna and Vavuniya have been informed of the decision by the Defense Ministry in contravention of the provisions in the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement, political sources said. More than 20 lorries loaded with cement have been stopped at Omanthai checkpost Friday and are being held at the checkpost awaiting instructions from Defense Ministry, sources said.
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