Mortar attack prompts search operation in Morawewa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 18:38 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) with police Tuesday morning conducted a combined cordon and search operation in Morawewa area located about 24 km Northwest of Trincomalee along Trincomalee-Anuradhapura road. The operation followed a mortar attack on the SLAF camp located in Morawewa by LTTE cadres Tuesday early morning, security sources said.
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Court issues summons on Colombo TRO officials

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 17:19 GMT]
The Colombo Chief Magistrate Tuesday ordered to issue summons on three key officials of the Colombo office of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) to appear in court on February 7. The court made this order when the case filed against the TRO by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was taken up for further inquiry Tuesday, legal sources said.
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IFJ mounts campaign to free journalist Parameshwary

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 12:13 GMT]
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Free Media Movement (FMM) together with other journalists organisations Monday launched an International and national campaign to release journalist Parameshawary who has been detained in Sri Lanka prison for seventy days without trial, civil sources in Colombo said. She was arrested under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism (PTA) act. The authorities have filed no charges and have failed to establish any links with terrorist activity, the letter of appeal says.


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27 civilians arrested in Colombo north

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 11:07 GMT]
27 civilians including three women, majority of them Tamils, were arrested Tuesday in Colombo north police division in the western province during a search operation on vehicles plying to and from Kandy and Colombo, conducted by the police. They have been detained in Gampaha police station and are being interrogated, sources in Colombo said.
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Monks' party to join UPFA government

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 10:36 GMT]
The parliamentary group of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), all monks' party in Sri Lanka parliament is to take a decision late Tuesday on a proposal to join the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UNP) government and accept minister post.
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TRO staffers disappearance reaches one-year anniversary

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 January 2007, 01:07 GMT]
Seven staffers of Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), an NGO registered with the Government of Sri Lanka, were abducted on 29th and 30th January 2006, by armed paramilitiaries inside Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled area in Polannaruwa. In a press release issued from Colombo offices, the TRO said: "To date the Sri Lanka Police have yet to conduct any meaningful investigation or inquiry into these disappearances. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka investigated this case and made a report to its head that has never been released."


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9 Tamil civilians arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 January 2007, 10:03 GMT]
Nine Tamil civilians were arrested Sunday evening in a cordon and search conducted in several lodges located in Fort area in Colombo city. All of them are natives of North-East, sources said.
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Number of Cabinet rank ministers swells to 52

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2007, 17:19 GMT]
The number of cabinet rank ministers in United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government of Sri Lanka rose to fifty-two with the swearing in of Amarasiri Dodangoda who took oaths as Minister of Justice before Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse Sunday afternoon, political sources in Colombo said. Fifty-one cabinet rank ministers took oaths Sunday morning in the Presidential Secretariat. 38 parliamentarians have been appointed non-cabinet ministers and 16 deputy ministers. Including the cabinet rank ministers, total number of ministers and deputies in the UPFA government is 103.
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International Community's flawed approach assists Colombo- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2007, 15:07 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan, in an Interview to TamilNet Sunday, said the passive stance adopted by the International Community, which he characterized as “unconstructive engagement,” is encouraging Colombo to pursue its power-centric politics and aggressive military agenda. The International Community, while making statements that a military solution is not possible, is either unable to, or unwilling to, exert its formidable muscle to force Colombo out of the current military path, despite the patience shown by the Tigers, he said.


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Defections annul MoU with SLFP- UNP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2007, 10:16 GMT]
Rukman Senanayake, Chairman of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) has informed the government that the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government will come to end with the accommodation of party dissident group in the cabinet.
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18 Tamil civilians arrested in Moratuwa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2007, 09:27 GMT]
Eighteen Tamils, including 11 women were arrested by the Police during a cordon and search operation conducted in houses and lodges at Soysapuram in Moratuwa from 10:00 p.m Saturday until 5:00 a.m Sunday. They are detained in Moratuwa and Galkisse police stations and are being interrogated.
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Confusion amidst harbour attack black out

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 January 2007, 20:29 GMT]
Conflicting details are emerging about the attack off the seas of Colombo harbour, Saturday morning. An informed source told TamilNet Saturday evening that four vessels were destroyed by the attackers, while the SLN authorities said they have destroyed 3 “suspicious boats”. SLN sources said Saturday evening that they have captured 9 "suspects" who were "fleeing" from the Harbour area.
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FMM condemns prolonged detention of woman journalist

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 January 2007, 02:34 GMT]
Questioning the Court's decision to prolong journalist Mawnasamy Parameswary's detention by a further 90 days without any charges against her, the Free Media Movement (FMM), in a press release Wednesday, condemned the continued custody as "deeply disturbing" and "an example of the flagrant violation of fundamental rights in an increasingly militaristic state." Parameswary has already been in custody for 60 days.
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Attack boats enter Harbour of Colombo, SLN claims destroying 3 boats

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 January 2007, 02:24 GMT]
Three to five attack boats Saturday morning entered the outer harbour waters of Colombo Harbour and launched attacks on Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) vessels. Big explosions were heard, according to the crew members of a cargo ship. SLN claimed to have attacked and destroyed 3 "suspicious boats" moving towards restricted waters off Colombo, around 5:40 a.m. Shock waves from the explosion slightly damaged a Panama registered container vessel PELOPONESIAN PRIDE, approaching the harbour. A search operation was launched by the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) after the explosions, that comes 3 months after an attack on Galle Harbour.
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Detained journalist files FR application

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2007, 17:32 GMT]
Journalist Mounasamy Parameswary working in a Mawbima, Sinhala weekly newspaper Friday filed a Fundamental Rights application in the Supreme Court against her arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). She in her petition said that her arrest is illegal and violating her fundamental rights.
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Indian Envoy's help sought in resettling displaced civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2007, 09:25 GMT]
A delegation of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians met the Indian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Alok Prasad and his deputy Manickam in Colombo at 10:00 am Thursday morning at the official residence of the envoy and appealed to him for help in resettling the recently displaced Tamil civilians in East, TNA sources in Colombo said,
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Gunfire ambush kills Sub-Inspector in Mannar, civilian killed in Police fire

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2007, 06:29 GMT]
A 19-year-old Sinhala bus passenger was killed when Sri Lankan police opened fire after a group of attackers launched a gunfire-ambush killing a Sub-Inspector of Police at a police post, 27 km southeast of Mannar town, along the Mannar Madawachchi Road around 8:15 a.m. Friday. Two civilians, seated in the Mannar Colombo bus, were wounded.
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Wickremasinghe leaves for Nepal, India

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2007, 12:36 GMT]
Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), leaves Thursday on a nine-day tour to two countries, Nepal and India amid speculation in Colombo political circles that a group of dissident UNP parliamentarians are expected to be sworn in as ministers in President Mahinda Rajapakse cabinet during the weekend, media sources said.
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116 Tamil civilians held in Boosa detention camp

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2007, 11:51 GMT]
116 Tamil civilians including eight women are being detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in the Boosa Detention Camp located in Galle. The detainees were arrested in Colombo and other parts of the country during cordon and search operations. Majority of them are natives of North-East.
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11 Tamils arrested in Dehiwela

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2007, 09:23 GMT]
Eleven Tamil civilians were taken into custody by Sri Lanka Police in a cordon and search operations conducted in Dehiwela in Colombo city from Wednesday midnight till dawn Thursday. Most of those arrested are aged between 25 and 40, and have been staying in Dehiwela with their relatives and friends, and are natives of districts in North-East.
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