Christian prelates meet LTTE in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 December 2005, 10:05 GMT]
Bishops and Senior Clergymen from different districts across Sri Lanka met with the Liberation Tigers leadership in Kilinochchi Peace Secretariat at 11.45 a.m. Friday. Discussions focussed on exploring ways to return normalcy to the NorthEast which has witnessed increasing levels of violence in the last few weeks, sources in Kilinochchi said. Prelates expressed their deep desire that peace return to NorthEast.
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SLA imposes restrictions on Thiruketheeswaram residents

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 December 2005, 18:33 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has imposed restriction and close surveillance on the movement of about forty families residing in the surrounding of the historic Thiruketheeswaram Sivan Temple following several explosions and violent incidents in other parts of the Mannar district. These families are among several hundred families displaced in the year 1990 due to violence. They were allowed to resettle to assist reconstruction work on the damaged temple.
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Claymore discovery, a deception by SLN, SLA, says LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 December 2005, 11:49 GMT]
The alleged discovery of claymore mines by the Sri Lanka security forces in Mannar Pattithottam area and along Mannar-Madavachchi road is a canard concocted by the Security forces to create a war atmosphere in the area, said the Mannar district Political Wing of the Liberation Tigers in a press release issued Friday. "We deny any involvement in the planting of these mines and condemn the Sri Lanka security forces for creating conditions where Mannar residents can be subjected to further harassment and indiscriminate attacks," said the release.
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SLN's restrictions strip Mannar fishermen of livelihood- Selvam

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 December 2005, 10:50 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Thursday appealed to Sri Lanka's President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse by a memorandum to take immediate steps to lift the ban on using boats with 30 HP engines and restrictions in taking kerosene by fishermen of Mannar district. He said the restrictions imposed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) after the violent incidents of December 22 have deprived the livelihood of many local fishermen.


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Four claymore mines recovered in Mannar - SLA, SLN

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 December 2005, 10:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) troopers recovered two Claymore mines and Sri Lanka Army (SLN) soldiers recovered two more Claymore mines Thursday in Mannar according to the Police in Mannar. The mines were tied to trees, sources added.
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Bishops, clergy to meet LTTE political head

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2005, 18:51 GMT]
Clergy and Bishops from various parts of the island are scheduled to meet with Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, on Friday to discuss the current political situation following the slaying of senior Tamil politician Joseph Pararajasingam, sources in Colombo said. Bishops from Colombo, Kandy and Kurunagala were expected to attend the meeting with the Bishops of Jaffna and Mannar, the sources said.
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SLMM chief reiterates call for direct dialogue

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2005, 09:35 GMT]
Hagrup Haukland, the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, in a press statement issued from Colombo on Thursday, condemning the claymore attack on the Sril Lanka Army vehicle on Tuesday as well as all other attacks, has called the parties for direct dialogue. The spiral of violence is not conducive to a such high-level meeting, he said, clarifying that his monitors were still operating in Jaffna-, Mannar-, Vavuniya-, Trincomalee-, Batticaloa- and Ampara districts. However, the Nordic monitors cannot operate in an insecure environment that has made the work increasingly difficult for his monitors, the SLMM chief has warned.
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Grenade attack on SLA sentry, soldiers assault civilians in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2005, 08:43 GMT]
Unidentified men lobbed a grenade at a Sri Lanka Army sentry, which is located in Mannar playgrounds Wednesday night around 9:30 p.m. No one was injured in the incident. More than hundred SLA soldiers, following the explosion, launched a search operation in areas, Moor Street, Sinnakadai and Uppukulam. The soldiers fired in air at random and assaulted civilian travellers waiting in the Mannar bus stand, sources said.
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Mannar observes hartal condemning Pararajasingham killing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 December 2005, 18:44 GMT]
A general shutdown was observed in the Mannar district Wednesday, condemning the killing of the late Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham. Mannar District Tamil Resurgence Movement organized the hartal. Normal life in Mannar town and its suburbs was completely paralyzed, sources said.


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Solheim calls for urgent talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 December 2005, 11:25 GMT]
Norwegian Development Minister Mr. Erik Solheim on Tuesday expressed concern at the recent acts of violence including shooting of civilians near Jaffna University, attacks on Sri Lankan Military personnel and civilians, Claymore attacks, violence against Muslims and the assassination of parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham during Mass on Christmas Eve, and urged the two parties to meet urgently to strengthen the CeaseFire Agreement. Attending a one-year Tsunami remembrance event in Oslo on Monday, Erik Solheim has gone on record saying that "Norway was even prepared to take the parties to the moon" if that was the only venue left for talks.
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Seven persons missing in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 17:44 GMT]
Three fishermen who went to Mannar seas for fishing last Thursday and four other persons, including three who were arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA)in various parts of Jaffna, have been reported missing in Jaffna.
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Refugee homes gutted by fire in Pesalai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 16:05 GMT]
Eleven temporary shelters with cadjan roof tops, out of more than one hundred such huts in the open refugee camp (ORC) located in the premises of the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation in Pesalai in Mannar district, were gutted by fire Tuesday afternoon around 2.30 p.m. The families have lost all their belongings and have been given shelter in the Vettrimatha Church, which is now housing several families driven out of the One Hundred Housing Scheme following the claymore mine attack on Sri Lanka Navy personnel, sources said.
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SLMM member denied entry to tsunami event

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 December 2005, 17:07 GMT]
Soldiers manning the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) check point Monday morning refused permission for a woman monitor of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) based in Mannar to attend the one year tsunami remembrance religious event held at Madhu church in the LTTE held area, sources said.
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Mannar Army sergeant shot dead by fellow soldier

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 December 2005, 14:41 GMT]
Sergeant Kappukotowa of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stationed in the Parapaankandal camp in the Mannar district was shot dead Sunday morning at about 8.30 a.m by a fellow soldier, security sources said. Personal enmity between the two was speculated to be the motivation behind the killing. The incident took place inside the camp, Police sources said.
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SLN soldier's body washed ashore in Mannar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 December 2005, 14:36 GMT]
The body of Mr.G.S.Paranavitharene, a Petty Officer attached to the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) who had been reported missing since December 22 following a firefight between the LTTE and SLN in Pallimunai Sea was washed ashore near South bar in Mannar in decomposed state Sunday morning, Mannar Police said.


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Civilians burnt to death in Pesalai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 December 2005, 10:25 GMT]
Remains of burnt bodies including a four-year-old boy were discovered inside a house of the Victoria Hundred Houses resettlement in Pesalai Sunday at 10:30 a.m. by residents who reached the site for the first time following Friday's revenge attacks on the civilians by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN). Soldiers blocked residents from searching for two other missing persons in parts of surrounding area. Three houses and a shop were burnt and almost all the houses were found looted. The victims were burnt using madras, kajan leaves and palmyrah stems, sources said. The exact number of victims killed in the revenge attacks is not known yet.
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Mannar fisherman abducted

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 December 2005, 12:36 GMT]
Ms Vigneswary (29) of Vankalai Saturday complained to the Mannar Citizen Committee that whereabouts of her husband, Nadarajah Yogeswaran (33), was abducted by a group of ten armed masked men Friday early morning from her home. She has sought the assistance of the Mannar Citizens Committee to trace him, sources said.
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28 wounded, 13 hospitalized in SLN revenge attack on IDPs

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 16:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers Friday evening around 5:30 p.m. entered the settlement of Internally Displaced People (IDP), the Victoria Hundred Houses scheme, and attacked the civilians with batons, bike-chains and shoes after tying their hands and legs. Eleven persons, 9 males and 2 females, were admitted to the Peripheral Medical unit in Pesalai and two men requiring further medical care were rushed to Mannar General Hospital. Another 15 persons, with minor injuries, have returned after treatment at OPD (Out Patients Department), medical sources said. Meanwhile, more than 100 families living along Talaimannar-Pesalai Road have moved into the Vetrimatha Church in Pesalai for safety.
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Co-Chairs representatives to meet LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 15:20 GMT]
A top level diplomatic team representing the Co-Chairs of the peace process in Sri Lanka are scheduled to visit Kilinochchi and meet the LTTE's Political Head Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan on Saturday to discuss the situation following the recent escalation of violence in Jaffna and Mannar districts, sources in Kilinochchi told TamilNet.
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Thirteen SLN troopers killed in Claymore attack in Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 09:21 GMT]
Thirteen Sri Lanka Navy sailors were killed and more than fifteen sailors were wounded in a Claymore attack on their bus in Pesalai 15 km northwest of Mannar around 1:30 p.m. Friday, SLN sources said. The vehicle, a bus, sustained heavy damage and has burned down, according to civilian sources. Sri Lanka Military has blocked all traffic.
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