Kumaratunga appoints EPDP to tsunami Task Force

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2005, 02:23 GMT]
Representatives of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) have been appointed to the District Task Force (DTF) established in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Amparai districts to coordinate relief and rehabilitation of tsunami victims who are sheltered in welfare centers, on a directive from Sri Lanka’s President, Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunga, civil sources said.
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Dismal state response reveals need for ISGA - TNA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 11:36 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government’s insensitive and ineffectual relief efforts in the Northeast in the wake of the Asian tsunami disaster has reinforced the need for an interim administration for the region as demanded by its residents, Tamil parliamentarians argued Sunday.
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Annan hails LTTE-led relief efforts

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 January 2005, 05:41 GMT]
UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, hailed the relief efforts led by the Liberation Tigers in the wake of the Asian tsunami of December 26th and expressed his disappointment over the Sri Lankan governments veto of his plans to visit LTTE held areas devastated by the waves, when he met Tamil parliamentarians Sunday.
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Colombo blocks Kofi Annan from touring LTTE held areas - UN officials

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 January 2005, 10:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka's government has stopped visiting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan from touring tsunami-ravaged areas controlled by the LTTE, despite his requests, a Reuters report filed from Hambantota said. Annan was quoted as saying: "I am here on a humanitarian mission. I would like to visit all the areas, but as you know I am here as a guest of the government and they set the itinerary". UN officials told Reuters that they had been striving to convince the government, but to no avail. "It is a relief visit, not a political one. The secretary general wanted to go, but it just didn't happen," said one official on condition of anonymity to Reuters.
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Tsunami ravaged community in northeast pleads with UN Secretary General

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 January 2005, 15:50 GMT]
Civil organizations and churches in the northeast have appealed to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to visit the tsunami hit regions in the LTTE controlled areas as he reached Colombo Friday 6.10 PM. Rt.Rev. Dr.Thomas Soundaranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna, Rt.Rev.Dr. J. Kingsley Swampillai, Bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa and Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar urged The Secretary General to visit Mullaithivu and meet LTTE leaders and discuss with them about the future rehabilitation of the Tsunami victims. Most of the appeals have highlighted the positive effects of his visit to LTTE controlled areas in promoting peace through negotiations.
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Powell and Lee see damages in the South

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 January 2005, 08:38 GMT]
US Secretary of State Colin Powell and South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-Chan arrived in Sri Lanka Friday morning and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is reaching Sri Lanka Friday afternoon. Colin Powell, upon his arrival, boarded on a helicopter to tsunami ravaged Southern harbour city Galle where US marines are stationed, a US embassy official said. Powell will be meeting President Chandrika Kumaratunga Friday. Powell is scheduled to leave to Nairobi later on Friday, sources said.
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Government claimed credit for relief supplies sent by CWC - Sellachamy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 January 2005, 17:52 GMT]
In the meeting called by the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge for all the parliamentarian in the Government coalition, held Wednesday at the Presidential Secretariat, Mr M S Selachamy, Deputy Minister for Social Development and Estate Infrastructure said, "I have received the details about relief supplies that had been sent by the Government to northeast. Government is accused of not sending relief supplies to northeast even five days after the tsunami disaster. Affected people have told me that Government had claimed credit for relief supplies sent by the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and used this for their propaganda."
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Tsunami victims flee as SLA moves into Trinco welfare centres

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 January 2005, 16:19 GMT]
Hundreds of Tsunami victims fled from welfare centres in the Sri Lanka government controlled areas in the Trincomalee district when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers carrying weapons entered the welfare centres to take over the management Thursday on a directive by Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, several volunteers said.


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TNA decries SLA's taking over of NorthEast Welfare camps

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 January 2005, 16:09 GMT]
"The Armed Forces taking over the management of the Welfare Camps in the Northeast would be counterproductive and would destabilize all arrangements hitherto made at the district level in the Northeast to address the several consequences of the calamity," said Mr. Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian in a letter addressed to the Sri Lanka President requesting her to rescind the order given to the Armed Forces to take over the management of the Welfare Camps in the Northeast.


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Sri Lanka Armed Forces take over refuges, harass TRO

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 January 2005, 07:30 GMT]
In a sudden move, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces are manning the refugee camps in Amparai, Batticaloa and Trincomalee since Tuesday. The Special Task Force (STF) in Thirukovil, Amparai have hijacked two tractors of TRO relief supplies and distributed them after removing the TRO labels. "The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Special Task Force (STF) have stepped up their harassment of workers of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)", Mr.K.P.Reggie, Executive Director of the TRO, told TamilNet on Wednesday. The TRO has called for an urgent Press Conference today at 6pm at its Colombo office.
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UK naval ship also arrives in Colombo for tsunami relief

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 January 2005, 14:20 GMT]
A naval ship of the British naval fleet, HMS Chatham, has arrived in Colombo harbour Monday evening with a group a sailors and two light helicopters. The ship has been sent to Sri Lanka following a request made by the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, defence sources said.
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Pakistan Navy to assist tsunami-hit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 January 2005, 07:09 GMT]
Pakistan has decided to send two ships from its Naval fleet, two helicopters along with 400 military personnel to join the international bandwagon in assisting Sri Lankan government to carry out the tsunami relief and rescue operation, Pakistan Embassy sources said. Pakistan has taken this decision on the request made by the government of Sri Lanka, led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga. A 150-member team of Engineering Task Force (ETF) of the Pakistan army is also scheduled to come to Colombo soon for the urgent reconstruction work. The Frigate is expected in Colombo before Friday evening, sources added.
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Relief supplies hijacked and relabelled in Moratuwa - Colombo paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 January 2005, 10:39 GMT]
The radical Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a major coalition partner in the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, has been accused of hijacking relief supplies sent to welfare camps and re-distributing them as supplies from the JVP, reported The Sunday Leader, a Colombo based English weekly in its latest issue.
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Sri Lanka mourns

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 January 2005, 08:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka observed Friday as a national mourning day to express shock and grief to the deaths due to Sunday's Tsunami that hit the coastal areas in the northeast and the south killing about 30, 000 and rendering around one million homeless. Sri Lanka's National Flag was flown half-mast on government buildings and Thamileelam National Flag was flown half-mast on all political secretariat offices of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the North East, sources said.
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Bush telephones Ms Kumaratunge to express shock, concern

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 December 2004, 11:22 GMT]
US President George W. Bush has telephoned President Chandrika Kumaratunga Wednesday and conveyed his shock and concern at the disaster wrought by the tsunamis in Sri Lanka, a statement from the President's office said Thursday. The US President has also inquired as to how the US could be of assistance.
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Kumaratunga bans house construction close to sea coast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 December 2004, 10:03 GMT]
Visiting the tsunami hit areas in the Southern Province, President Chandrika Kumaratunga said Wednesday that "in the future as a safety measure construction of houses would not be allowed in areas close to the sea coast."
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Harim Peiris, UPFA Minister visit Jaffna to view damages

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 December 2004, 12:18 GMT]
Mr.Harim Peiris, Presidential Advisor, accompanied by Mr.D.E.W.Gunasekara, Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, arrived in Jaffna Wednesday to see the devastation of the Jaffna peninsula after Sunday's Tsunami, political sources in Jaffna said.
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New GoSL 'agenda' for talks with LTTE called smokescreen

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 December 2004, 02:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga’s claims of a ‘new agenda’ for the resumption of peace talks with the Liberation Tigers through the Norwegian facilitators must be viewed in the context of the hurdle she faces in winning a two-thirds majority in parliament for the constitutional changes to abolish the executive presidency that she plans to table in January 2005, said the Jaffna-based Tamil language daily, Uthayan, in its editorial Wednesday.
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SL President leaves for UK

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 December 2004, 19:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge left for United Kingdom Wednesday after noon on a private visit, Presidential secretariat sources said.
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Thousands form human chain protest in Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 December 2004, 11:13 GMT]
Thousands of Tamil civilians in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district held a human chain agitation campaign on either side of A-9 highway Monday morning demanding the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to resume peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the basis of Interim Self Governing Authority proposals (ISGA) by the latter. Protestors carried placards and shouted slogans holding hands along the A 9 Jaffna-Kandy road from Kodikamam to Kaithady, sources said. The campaign has been organized by the civil groups federation in Thenmaradchchi.
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