Scrap CFA, oust Norway, Weerawanse urges SC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 October 2006, 09:07 GMT]
Wimal Weerawanse, the parliamentarian and propaganda secretary of the Sinhala nationalist Jantha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), welcoming the Monday verdict of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court (SC) ruling that the merged Northeastern province was unconstitutional, invalid and illegal, told the press in Colombo Monday that the SC should declare the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) illegal and oust Norway from its facilitator role.
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Abducted Hindu priest released in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 October 2006, 03:28 GMT]
Unidentified armed men abducted the Hindu priest of Colombo Kochikadai Ponnambalavaneswara temple Saturday around 2:00 p.m at the Fort bus stop and released him Monday 5:00 a.m at the Five Lamps junction in Colombo, said civil sources in Colombo.
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Military installations "legitimate targets" when Colombo bombs locations far off FDLs, says LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 October 2006, 13:24 GMT]
LTTE's Military Spokesman, Irasiah Ilanthirayan, ruling out the possibility of "suicide mission" as the mode of attack on Sri Lanka Navy in Habarana Monday, declined to reject Tigers regarding the military targets outside the Forward Defence Line (FDL) localities as legitimate targets if and when Sri Lankan military continued to engage in aerial bombardment and artillery shelling far beyond the defence line localities into LTTE territory.
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Bomb blast in Habarana targets SLN vehicles, 99 killed, 150 wounded

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 October 2006, 09:15 GMT]
A Canter vehicle with explosives blasted in an open space where more than 24 Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) vehicles and buses with more than 340 SLN troopers were parked, killing 99, around 1:40 p.m. Monday. At least 150 sailors were wounded in the attack, according to Sri Lanka military sources in Colombo. The attack took place near Digampatana junction in Habarana, a predominantly Sinhala area, 80 km southwest of Trincomalee. About 87 bodies are lying in Dambulla hospital.
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Akashi arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 October 2006, 05:02 GMT]
Yashushi Akashi, Japanese special peace envoy arrived in Colombo Sunday night around 10 p.m. at Katunayake International Airport on a five day stay. He is scheduled to meet Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse Monday morning and Minister Nimal Sripala de Silva this afternoon at the latter's office regarding the proposed peace talks scheduled to be held on October 28 and 29 in Geneva.
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Post-mortem on aid workers' bodies to be held this week

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 October 2006, 11:53 GMT]
The remaining fifteen bodies of the seventeen aid workers of the French based non-governmental organization "Action against Hunger" (ACF) in Muthur, killed in August, are scheduled to be exhumed on Wednesday (October 18) at four cemeteries in Trincomalee town in the presence of Anuradhapura Magistrate, four Judicial Medical Officers (JMO) and ACF officials, legal sources said. Two bodies earlier exhumed on the orders of the Anuradhapura Magistrate are now stored in Police morgue in Colombo.
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Observer Editor's sacking politically motivated, say Media Groups

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 October 2006, 11:48 GMT]
Five main journalists associations in Sri Lanka condemned the sacking of Rajpal Abeynayake from the Editorship of Sri Lanka's weekly broadsheet, Observer, and said the politically motivated act portends danger to Press Freedom in Sri Lanka, in a press release issued Saturday. Mr Abeynayake wrote a column critical of the Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapakse's speech to Sri Lankan diplomats in Colombo, in the Observer's 8th October edition.
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29 reported missing in Colombo - Civil Monitoring Committee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 October 2006, 08:33 GMT]
The Civil Monitoring Committee (CMC), formed recently in Colombo by involved Tamil and Sinhala politicians, to monitor extra judicial killings, abductions and disappearances, based on the records registered so far, reported Friday that 29 persons were still missing in Colombo. Six persons were reported killed. Eight persons were released, according to the list compiled from the details become public and from the people who are willing to talk.
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LTTE hands over 74 SLA bodies to ICRC

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 October 2006, 03:07 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) handed over 74 bodies of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in black body bags to ICRC Thursday evening in Kilinochchi. Another soldier's body was brought to Kilinochchi Thursday evening. More than fifty bodies of SLA soldiers are strewn around in the battlefield in unidentifiable state, according to LTTE officials. 133 SLA soldiers were killed in action or reported missing according to the official figures released by the Sri Lankan defence ministry media co-ordinating centre Thursday. More than 200 SLA soldiers were killed when LTTE defense formations under Special Commander Col. Theepan defeated the SLA forces Wednesday, LTTE officials claimed.
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Budget support conditional on peace agenda- Wickremasinghe

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 October 2006, 01:34 GMT]
"We will not oppose the Budget of the government once the peace process is on the track moving forward," said Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) addressing a press conference held at Cambridge Place Thursday. The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government is to table its Budget for the year 2007 in the second week of November, parliamentary sources in Colombo said.
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Tamil media subjected to intimidation, says Press Group

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 October 2006, 00:05 GMT]
Tamil media persons and Tamil media institutions in Sri Lanka have been subjected to intimidation and harassment said an International Press Delegation in its press briefing at Galle Face Hotel Wednesday at the conclusion of the International Mission's three-day visit to Colombo, sources in Colombo said.
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Co-chairs must act to stop war- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 October 2006, 18:30 GMT]
"Co-chairs and the International community should go beyond making statements by taking concrete steps to pressure the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to stop waging an aggressive war and to compel the GoSL to engage in meaningful talks with the Liberation Tigers," said Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, at a press meet held Thursday morning in Colombo Renuka Hotel, TNA sources in Colombo said.
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Rajapakse-Wickremasinghe MoU to be signed late October

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 October 2006, 11:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse and leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremasinghe, Thursday met and discussed in detail regarding the implementation of six point programme agreed upon by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the UNP following four rounds of talks, political sources in Colombo said.
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"Cease violence, foster a conducive environment for talks," US urges GoSL, LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 October 2006, 11:43 GMT]
The United States is deeply concerned that ongoing violence in Sri Lanka is putting the agreement to return to talks in Geneva in October 28-29 at risk, the US Embassy in Colombo said in a press release issued on Wednesday. "We call on both sides to cease hostilities immediately and foster an environment that is conducive to holding productive discussions in Geneva," the statement said.
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Muslim worker shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 October 2006, 09:56 GMT]
A Muslim worker from Kattankudy in Batticaloa district, employed at the Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) in Colombo, was shot shot dead by unknown gunmen riding in a three-wheeler at 8:45 p.m. Thursday in Maradana, sources in Colombo said.
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A.J. Kanagarathna, a pioneer journalist, passes away

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 October 2006, 02:01 GMT]
A long term journalist, previously attached to Saturday Review in Jaffa, A.J. Kanagarathna, 74, passed away in Colombo Wednesday morning.
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Rajapakse, Wickremasinghe to meet Thursday to finalize MoU

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 October 2006, 01:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe are scheduled to meet Thursday to finalize the draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will outline the understandings reached between the two parties in resolving national issues. Members of the delegations of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) who participated in the four rounds of talks will also attend the discussions, political sources in Colombo said.
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Bauer to visit Colombo next week

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 October 2006, 01:26 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer is expected to visit Colombo next week to meet government and LTTE leaders to finalize arrangement for the proposed peace talks scheduled for October 28 and 29 in Geneva, Colombo media sources said.
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LTTE captures SLA soldier, locates 75 dead bodies of Lankan troopers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 October 2006, 13:48 GMT]
LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan Wednesday evening told media that the Tigers had repulsed the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive Wednesday. SLA troopers who broke through the LTTE Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions in Kilali and Muhamalai were defeated, leaving around 75 dead bodies of Sri Lankan soldiers inside the LTTE territory in Kilali. A soldier was captured alive by the Tigers, he said. Three tanks were damaged and one destroyed, according to LTTE military spokesman. Meanwhile, SLA sources in Colombo claimed 35 were killed and more than 300 wounded in the Sri Lankan offensive.
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Vessel leaves Trinco taking stranded passengers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 October 2006, 11:24 GMT]
About five hundred stranded Tamil civilians in Vavuniya Wednesday left from Trincomalee port by a vessel "Sakthi" chartered by the Sri Lanka security forces. The civilians were brought to Trincomalee from Vavuniya by several buses Tuesday evening and they spent Tuesday night on board the vessel, port sources said.
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