Policy study assesses Sri Lanka conflict

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 November 2007, 01:36 GMT]
A policy report on Sri Lanka conflict by East-West Center, a U.S think-tank based in Washington D.C, suggests "both LTTE terrorism and the ethnocentric nature of the Sri Lankan state, which resorts to its own forms of terrorism when fighting the civil war, need to be overcome if the island is to become a liberal democracy."
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Claymore explosion in Yala amid tightened security

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 20:21 GMT]
At least one construction worker was killed and another wounded in a Claymore mine explosion inside the Yala sanctuary, one of the island's main tourist attractions, Saturday evening around 6:45, Police said. The attack comes in the wake of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa advising his political adviser and brother, Basil Rajapaksa, a national list parliamentarian, to set a Joint Operations Command (JOC) in Thissamaharama. Mr. Basil Rajapaksa led a high-powered delegation to Thisssamaharama earlier in the day and decided to arm Sinhala farmers, in addition to setting up a JOC.
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Aussie doctor pays tribute to Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 12:24 GMT]
Queensland Pediatrician and Director of Townsville Hospital's Neonatal Unit, Dr John Whitehall, who taught in Kilinochchi in 2004, in a recorded statement sent to the Sydney memorial held to mark the death of LTTE Political Head, S.P. Thamilchelvan, said the young Tamil leader reminded him of Nelson Mandela for the absence of "vindictiveness and bitterness," and for Thamilchelvan's "determination and desire for the welfare of all people."
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Fear grips Sri Lanka's southern villages- paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 03:22 GMT]
"Villages bordering the Yala sanctuary had been living on the edge since 15 October," reported a Colombo daily, after the Liberation Tigers overran the Thalgasmankada Sri Lanka Army (SLA) unit killing six troopers and injuring many. In the last three weeks, three had gone missing, and bodies of five cattle-herders have been found with cut injuries in Thissemaharama division situated in the constituency of the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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Laborer abducted, two seek refuge at Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 02:53 GMT]
Two civilians sought protection at the offices of the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna Thursday, and Friday, due to threats for their lives from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and SLA-backed paramilitaries, officials at the HRC said. Meanwhile, a day laborer from Nallur Jaffna was abducted Wednesday, according to complaints by his relatives at the HRC offices.
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British MPs slam Thamilchelvan ‘assassination’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 01:28 GMT]
Parliamentarians from all of Britain’s main political parties this week condemned as an “assassination of a moderate Tamil leader” the killing of Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, head of the LTTE’s Politcial Wing, by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) last Friday. The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, which earlier this year had urged the UK government to invite Mr. Thamilchelvan to the British Parliament so that he could articulate the LTTE’s perspective, also called for peace talks.
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International community is letting war decide Tamils' fate - paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 November 2007, 14:15 GMT]
By allowing the Sri Lankan state free rein and supporting it to wage war, the international community has made any rights the Tamils secure depend entirely on the battlefield outcome, the Tamil Guardian newspaper said this week. "The military has for two years blasted villages, driven hundreds of thousands from their homes and continues to abduct, torture and murder…For all the noise about human rights (and much of that has dissipated now), the state actually wants for nothing. Ironically, the more the international community is convinced the LTTE can be defeated, the freer the hand it will have."
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LTTE political division member succumbs to wounds

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 November 2007, 09:27 GMT]
A Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) political division member who sustained injuries when LTTE's Political Head and Chief Negotiator Brigadier S.P. Thamilchelvan was killed last Friday in a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) targeted bombardment, succumbed to his wounds this Friday, LTTE officials in Ki'linochchi said. The Tigers have conferred Major rank to the political division member Sivalingam Aathavan alias Selvam.
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SLA steps up surveillance in A'pura Tamil suburb

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 20:09 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police have been frequently conducting cordon and search operation at Neeraaviyadi, a Tamil suburb located 6 km away from Anuradhapura military air base. The surveillance has been stepped up since the assumption of Major General Sarath Karunaratne as the Overall Commander of Anuradhapura district following the recent aerial and land attack on the Anuradhapura military air base by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE).
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2008 Budget debate to begin Friday

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 19:39 GMT]
The debate on the second reading of the 2008 Budget presented by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse in the capacity of Minister of Finance in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government is to begin Friday. The voting on the second reading would take place on November 19, parliamentary sources said.
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SLA deployed to beef up security around Yala sanctuary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 18:51 GMT]
More than two thousand soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have been deployed to conduct search operation in the Yala national sanctuary since the recovery of dead bodies of Sinhalese villagers. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and eight police sentries have been set up in villages in Tihssamaharama, around the sanctuary.
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HRW endorses restrictions on arms sales to Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 12:30 GMT]
In a letter sent to U.S. Representatives Nita M. Lowey and Frank R. Wolf on US foreign operations funding, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday: "there has also been a significant jump in abuses by government forces, such as indiscriminate shelling, extrajudicial executions, and forced disappearances...despite the creation of various new governmental bodies, there is little evidence that the Sri Lankan government is bringing the perpetrators of serious abuses to justice," and endorsed Senate's proposed conditions on "restricting the sale and transfer of arms to Sri Lanka."
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Two more bodies recovered in Thissamaharama

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 10:05 GMT]
Thissemaharama Police has recovered two more dead bodies of Sinhalese cattle herders with cut injuries at Bambarawa in Yala sanctuary in southern Sri Lanka Wednesday night. Earlier on Monday, the police recovered 3 bodies at the same location with cut injuries. Thissemaharama division is situated in the constituency of the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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Peace keeper's silence regretted - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 06:07 GMT]
The official silence of the peace facilitator Norway, in regard to the killing of Thamilchelvan, is viewed with serious concern and is regretted by the Tamil population and the Tigers, said B. Nadesan, the new political head of the LTTE, to TamilNet. The Head of SLMM, Major General Lars Johan Solvberg, was invited by the LTTE to Ki'linochchi to convey this message to the Government of Norway for necessary action, he said after the meeting, Thursday morning. Tamils all over the world closely watch Norway and other members of the International Community for their open responses and for what they are going to openly tell the Sri Lanka government, he further said.
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TN police arrests protesters picketing SL consulate in Chennai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 21:30 GMT]
Tamil Nadu police arrested several demonstrators at the entrance of the Sri Lanka consulate when hundreds of Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam (TPDK) members led by its leader Kulaththoor Mani, marched Tuesday around 11:00 a.m in protest condemning the assassination of S. P. Tamilchelvan, Political Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), to the Sri Lanka Consulate in Chennai. Demonstrators were shouting slogans demanding Indian Government to lift the ban on LTTE and not to provide military assistance to Sri Lanka government.
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A'pura Magistrate wants full report on airbase attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 16:39 GMT]
The Anuradhapura Magistrate Wasantha Jinadasa Tuesday directed the Area Commanding Officer of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) to submit a comprehensive report on the destruction and damage caused to the Anuradhapura airbase due to the pre-dawn land and air attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The police told court while making this request that ten aircraft were destroyed and 16 damaged in the recent LTTE attack on the Anuradhapura air base. The buildings and machinery had been extensively damaged in the predawn attack.
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Rajapaksa claims victory in isolating Tigers Internationally

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 14:33 GMT]
Claiming that Sri Lanka has managed to curb overseas operations of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) with the assistance of many countries, the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, presenting the 2008 Budget in the Sri Lankan parliament Wednesday, vowed to "completely eradicate terrorism," if an environment in which a "political solution upholding human rights" in the interest of those who are "still in the grips of terrorists" is to be created. This could not be achieved by taking a divided approach by defaming each other [in the south], by neglecting the needs of the security forces or by ignoring their advise, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa told the Parliament.
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Canadian MPs pay tribute to Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 03:21 GMT]
Several Members of Parliament (MPs) in Canada expressed their solidarity with the Tamil community in Toronto, taking part in a memorial event Monday night to pay respects to the slain Political Head and Chief Negotiator of the Liberation Tigers, S.P. Thamilselvan. Thousands of Canadian Tamils from Greater Toronto Area (GTA) braving pouring rain gathered in Markham Fair grounds to pay their respects to S. P. Thamilselvan, the public face of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), killed in an air strike by Sri Lankan authorities last Friday.
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Tigers thwart offensive in Jaffna, 23 SLA killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 02:38 GMT]
Liberation Tigers have repulsed a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) ground operation towards the Northern Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions between Ki'laali and Mukamaalai in the early hours of Wednesday, Irasiah Ilanthirayan, the military spokesman of the Liberation Tigers told TamilNet. The ground operation, launched by the SLA with heavy artillery, Multi Barrel Rocket Fire and with the support of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter gunships at 5:20 a.m. was thwarted around 7:30 a.m., after intense fighting, he said claiming that more than 100 SLA troops were wounded and at least 16 killed in the attack. A military source in Jaffna confirmed that 23 soldiers were killed and 150 wounded.
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Hartal observed in Batticaloa Muslim areas

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 02:37 GMT]
Residents of Muslim areas in Batticaloa district observed Tuesday the shut down called by the Federation of Mosques in Batticaloa district demanding the immediate release of a Muslim trader abducted Wednesday in Chiththaandi area, allegedly by Karuna paramilitary group, sources in Batticaloa said. The protesters marched from Oattamaavadi Bazar mosque to Maavadicheanai mosque.
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