Hartal observed in Trincomalee, Mannar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 February 2006, 11:56 GMT]
Tamil residents in the districts of Trincomalee and Mannar observed a general shut down on the Independence Day to protest against the harassment by the State armed forces. Towns of Trincomalee and Mannar came to a standstill as normalcy was disrupted due to the stoppage of state and private sector bus services, sources said.
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Reconstruction of 13,000 houses in NorthEast to begin

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 February 2006, 03:13 GMT]
The World Bank funded North East Housing Reconstruction Programme (NEHRP) has commenced the second phase reconstruction of 13000 houses for the war victim families in the NorthEast. NEHRP officials started distributing forms to collect necessary data to select qualified beneficiaries affected by the two decade-old war in the province to be included in the second phase, a press release of the NEHRP said.
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Protest against Batticaloa abductions held in Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 February 2006, 12:26 GMT]
A protest demonstration attended by residents of Mannar and workers of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) was held Thursday in Mannar demanding the immediate release of abducted TRO workers in the Batticaloa district. At the conclusion of the demonstration Mr.S.Jesuthasan, Mannar District Director of the TRO handed over memorandum to the district head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), District Government Agent, district heads of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, UNHCR, and the Bishop of Mannar Diocese, sources said.
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ILO funds computer center in Mannar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 January 2006, 19:19 GMT]
International Labor Organization (ILO) funded computer training center for Vellankulam area in Mannar district which will be adminstered by the NGO the Economic Consultancy House (TECH) was declared open on 25 January at 10 a.m.
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Pallimunai fishermen complain of SLN harassment

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 January 2006, 16:33 GMT]
Fishermen of Pallimunai in Mannar district are undergoing severe hardship due to restrictions imposed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in leaving for fishing and returning from sea. According to SLN directive fishermen could leave for fishing after 6 in the morning and return by 5.30 in the evening. But SLN soldiers are allowing the fishermen to leave the shore only around 9 in the morning after delaying deliberately conducting checks and other procedures, fishermen have complained to local fisheries officials, sources said.


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Live claymore mine recovered in Pesalai school

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 January 2006, 11:41 GMT]
Talaimannar police recovered and disarmed a live claymore mine concealed in a discarded water tank kept in the premises of the Pesalai St.Fatima Madhya Maha Vidiyalayam at 9.30 p.m. Thursday, sources in Mannar said. ol. The police rushed to the site and took steps to remove the explosive when notified of the mine's presence by the school's principal.


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Displaced families in Mannar camp to return to Killinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2006, 17:36 GMT]
Eight families with 38 members of the 211 families with 876 members staying since 1990 in Open Refugee Centre (ORC) in Pesalai, a village in Mannar district, have expressed their desire to return to their own district Killinochchi, Divisional Secretariat officials said.
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Mannar fishermen's sufferings spotlighted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2006, 17:33 GMT]
About twenty thousand fishermen in Mannar district have been directed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) to submit their application forms before January 31, with two photographs of each applicant authorized by their respective village level officers (Grama Sevaka Officers), fisheries inspectors and secretaries of fisheries societies, to obtain special permit for fishing in Mannar sea. Starting from February every fisherman should possess a permit before he goes out to sea to fish, SLN said.
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LTTE releases Sri Lanka Policeman

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 January 2006, 10:17 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eleam released Thursday one of the three Sri Lankan policemen held in custody since September 2005 for illegally entering into Liberation Tigers controlled area. S.Thangan, Deputy Head of the Political Wing handed over the policeman to Liaison Officer of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), LTTE sources in Kilinochchi said. The policeman was handed over Sri Lankan Government Security Forces in Vavuniya, the SLMM said.
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Civil group calls for probe into Pesalai civilian killings

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 20:40 GMT]
Pesalai Parish Pastoral Council and Mannar Citizen Committee through a joint memorandum Monday appealed to Sri Lanka's President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse to order an impartial inquest into the killing of four innocent civilians including a three-year old child by soldiers of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on December 23, and to pay compensation to the dependants of those killed, sources said.
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Hartal cripples Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 11:18 GMT]
Normal life in the Mannar island Monday came to a complete standstill when the Tamil speaking people observed general shut down in response to the call made by the Pesalai Tamil Peoples Forum to condemn the killing fo four members of two families by Sri Lankan Navy.
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SLA cordons, searches Kallikaddaikadu village

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 January 2006, 07:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers cordoned off Kallikaddaikadu village in the north western Mannar District and conducted house-to-house search operation Monday morning, sources in Mannar said. Nearly fifty families with about 180 members reside in Kallikaddaikadu which is a traditional Tamil village.
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Mannar Keeri village residents face displacement

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 January 2006, 11:10 GMT]
More than 350 Tamil families living in Keeri village along Mannar-Thalvupadu road are facing displacement any time following intimidation by state armed forces and as the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers are extending the front defense line of SLN's Sunny Village main camp located on the border of Keeri village, civil sources said.


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Two civilians killed in police fire, policeman wounded in grenade attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 January 2006, 08:57 GMT]
Two civilians were killed when policemen opened fire following a grenade attack at Chettikulam, where a policeman was wounded. The civilians killed were attackers, the Police claimed.
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SLA attempt to enter LTTE area in Mannar thwarted

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 January 2006, 08:30 GMT]
A seven-member group of the deep penetration unit of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fled leaving their bags inside the LTTE controlled Adampan area when members of the Civil Volunteers Unit and LTTE cadres counter-attacked them Saturday morning around 6:00 a.m., LTTE sources in Mannar said. The bag recovered by CVF volunteers and LTTE cadres was found with army uniforms, military boots and food packets, according to the sources.
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Sri Lanka continues to violate state obligations towards Tamils, say Tamil parties

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 January 2006, 00:20 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka not only failed to carry out proper investigations into the assasinations of reputed Tamil leaders, parliamentarians, journalists and activists, but it has also failed to take appropriate actions to prevent the recurrence of such crimes against the ordinary Tamil civilians, all four Tamil parties in the Lankan parliament charged in a joint memorandum sent to SL President Mahinda Rajapakse Friday. The joint statement was issued by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Upcountry Peoples' Front (UPF) and Western Province Peoples' Front (WPPF) that jointly staged a protest campaign within the chambers of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
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Tamil businessman abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 January 2006, 10:17 GMT]
A Mannar businessman involved in dried fish trade was abducted by an unknown group who came in a white van Friday morning at 8 a.m. in Crow Island Modara, Colombo, sources in Colombo said.
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Mannar Sinhala medical officers demand security

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 16:15 GMT]
Ten Sinhalese medical officers working in the Mannar general hospital left for Colombo Tuesday evening stating that they would not return for work until their security is guaranteed. Their action follows the grenade attack on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry located in the premises of the hospital which killed a SLA soldier, health department sources said.
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Deep-sea fishing ban endangers livelihood of Mannar fishermen

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 16:14 GMT]
Hundreds of fisher families in Mannar are in the risk of starvation as fishermen are not allowed to go for deep sea fishing, Pallimunai St.Lucia Fisheries Society said in a memorandum sent to the Mannar Government Agent and Mannar Bishop Wednesday. Deep-sea fishing is banned by the Sri Lanka Navy from the month of December last year, the memorandum said.
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Mannar playgrounds out of bound for sportspersons

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 13:02 GMT]
For more than six months the Mannar public playgrounds has been declared out of bound for students and youths because of the occupation of State armed forces. The gymnasium constructed in the playgrounds at a cost of about 2.5 million rupees with valuable sports equipments is idling as sports loving persons in the town fear to go there for practice, sports activists said.
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