Trond Furuhovde passes away

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 May 2006, 05:40 GMT]
Retired Major-General of Norwegian army and the first chief of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Trond Furuhovde, has passed away at 67, in Norway on Wednesday. Maj. Gen. Furuhovde made an outstanding contribution to the establishment of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and gave leadership to the monitoring mission through its crucial first year of operations.
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Youth shot by Karuna group gunmen dies

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 May 2006, 01:53 GMT]
Seenithamby Yogeswaran of Panichankerny, shot by Karuna group gunmen Tuesday around 10.30 a.m near Kayankerny Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp, succumbed to bullet wounds Tuesday night at Colombo hospital, medical sources said. Yogeswaran was transferred from Batticaloa hospital to Colombo Hospital Tuesday, his relatives said.
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Direct negotiations necessary to contain violence - Akashi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 15:21 GMT]
"It is important to have direct negotiations to de-escalate violence which have come very far", Japan's peace envoy to Sri Lanka Yasushi Akashi said Wednesday, speaking to journalists in Colombo before leaving to New Delhi. Meanwhile the Liberation Tigers have told the Japanese envoy that Colombo should cease all extra-judicial killings and stop deliberately creating obstacles to conduct a safe travel of their Eastern commanders.
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Colombo, LTTE friction intensifies after Thenmaradchy killings

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 May 2006, 10:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) in a message forwarded to the Liberation Tigers has informed that the A9 Road will be open "as soon as LTTE refrains the general public of Jaffna from agitating," indicating increasingly confrontational position being taken by the Government of Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the killings in Thenmaradchy, sources in Kilinochchi said. of eight civilians allegedly by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
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SLMM yet to inspect the crime site, Jaffna TNA MP complains

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 May 2006, 06:53 GMT]
"Almost 30 hours have passed since a crime against humanity has taken place at a temple site. The truce monitors from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in Jaffna are yet to visit the crime site or approach the area where the bodies are said to be found," accused S. Gajendran, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Jaffna district. The SLMM officials have explained that the delay was caused due to the lack of resources. There was no translator or driver available for the SLMM to visit the sites, according to the Director of the Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. S. Puleedevan, who said the SLMM delay was "too late."
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Colombo shuts down entry points in Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 May 2006, 04:57 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Monday morning closed down Uyilankulam and Madhu entry points to the Liberation Tigers controlled territory in the Mannar district.
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Jaffna Bishop appeals for urgent intervention of International Community

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 May 2006, 19:12 GMT]
"Tamil people are gripped with fear and insecurity due to the alarming escalation in Killings and abductions in NorthEast, including Jaffna, and in the South. People are scared of a major war exploding at any time. I appeal to the International Community to urgently intervene to pressure the parties involved to reduce the threat of war. In particular, the warring parties should be pressured to a implement the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) as agreed by both parties in Geneva," said Bishop of Jaffna, Rev. Fr Thomas Soundaranayagam, speaking to press in Colombo, Sunday.
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Colombo adopting Machiavellian approach to Karuna, inevitable- SLMM Head

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 May 2006, 12:33 GMT]
On Colombo disarming Karuna Group as agreed in the Geneva-I talks, the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Ulf Henricsson asked, "Well, I think they (Security Forces) will have a lot of problems, if they do it [disarm Karuna]. Further I don't see any reason for the government to do it. To be honest. If you have a warring faction against you and if your enemy is split why should you try to stop that. Have you read Machiavelli?," in an interview appeared in the latest edition of Sunday Observer.
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Tamil woman journalist released on bail

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 May 2006, 01:34 GMT]
The Colombo Additional Magistrate Mr.Vishantha Dassanayake on Friday ordered the release of Ms Sivaramya Sivanathan, relief-announcer of the State controlled Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) on personal bail when the Police told court that there was no evidence against her to file plaint, legal sources said. The Police arrested Ms Sivaramya Sivanathan last week when she was about to enter the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) to attend the first day proceeding of the World Press Freedom Day.


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Gunmen fire on SLA troopers in Jaffna, 2 soldiers wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 May 2006, 07:56 GMT]
An unidentified attacker, armed with a handgun, fired on Sri Lanka Army soldier who was guarding policemen providing security to Uthayan newspaper office located on Kasthuriar Road in Jaffna. The incident took place around 12:15 p.m. Saturday. Meanwhile, another gunman in Vadamaradchi, shot and wounded an SLA soldier around 1:00 p.m.
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UNP loses legal battle to contest CMC in party's name

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 May 2006, 02:12 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) Friday lost the legal battle to contest the election for the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) under UNP banner. The UNP has now been forced to contest the election through an independent group, which was accepted by the Returning Officer on the nomination day. The election to the CMC is fixed for May 20 with other twenty local councils, legal sources said.
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Sri Lanka seeks cluster bombs, MBRLs, sea mines - report

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 May 2006, 00:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka has placed orders with Pakistan for cluster bombs, deep penetration bombs and rockets and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), the Indian Express newspaper reported Saturday. Sri Lanka has turned to Pakistan for “a comprehensive list of weapons and other military hardware it wants to procure after India kept it waiting,” the paper said.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Kantalai

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 May 2006, 15:13 GMT]
Unidentified men who came in motor bike shot dead a Tamil youth, Sivagnanam Theepan, in Kantalai Friday evening around 4 p.m. The dead youth worked in sand mining and transportation of sand for the construction industry. Kantalai is located about 39 km off southwest of Trincomalee town along Trincomalee-Colombo highway.
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Colombo version of Nelliady killings false, says TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 May 2006, 14:19 GMT]
The Parliamentary group of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a letter sent to all foreign missions in Sri Lanka said that the Sri Lanka Government's version of the killings of seven youths in Nelliady, that the youths were "cadres belonging to the LTTE, and were killed in retaliatory fire immediately after the attack on the Military Camp," was false as there is evidence that youths were in bar during the time of the grenade attack on the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp.
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International Community should protect Tamil media - TMF

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 May 2006, 11:04 GMT]
"The threats, attacks, and killings of Tamil journalists carried out by the Sri Lanka Security Forces and the collaborating paramilitary have reached unprecedented levels. The entire Tamil media is being targeted and intimidated by Security Forces," said the Tamil Media Forum in its memorandum to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse handed over to Killinochchi Government Agent (GA) Mr. T. Rasanayagam Thursday at 11.30 a.m, said sources from Kilinochchi.


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Indiscriminate Attacks strengthen case for Tamil self-rule- Aussie MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 May 2006, 10:10 GMT]
"Whatever the provocation, targeting Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan Government clearly demonstrates that it does not regard the Tamil people to be part of its population. It thus strengthens, in my view, the Tamil people's case for self determination," said Australian parliamentarion John Murphy, Member for the Federal State of Lowe, in a media release issued Friday.
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SLN sinks boat off Kalpitti

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 May 2006, 08:29 GMT]
A suspicious boat that came under gunfire from a Sri Lanka Navy vessel in the seas off Kalpitti between the Kuthiraimalai shore and Vathalankunru islet, took fire and sank, according to police sources in Puttalam. The incident took place around 9:20 a.m. Friday. Meanwhile, military sources in Colombo said SLN attack vessels had destroyed an LTTE boat in Palugahathurai in Bathalangunduwa in Kalpitti lagoon
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Tamil female journalist arrested at UNESCO Freedom event

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 May 2006, 11:03 GMT]
Sivaramya Sivanathan, a Tamil female journalist attached to state owned Sri Lanka Broadcasting Cooperation (SLBC) as a relief announcer, was questioned by the Sri Lanka police at the entrance of the conference and arrested despite her producing her identity card given by the SLBC, a media release issued by the Free Media Movement (FMM) said. The FMM urged the Sri Lanka government to "instruct the police to speed up the investigations and release Ms. Sivaramya Sivanathan if she is proved innocent."


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CPJ condemns killing of Tamil-Language daily staffers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 May 2006, 23:33 GMT]
Condemning the killing of two journalists at Tamil Language daily Uthayan, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a media release issued Tuesday, called on Government of Sri Lanka to "fully investigate the attack and take measures to ensure the security of all media workers as more attacks undermine the increasingly unstable truce since planned peace talks faltered in April."
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SLTMA extends plea to save Tamil Journalists on Press Freedom Day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 May 2006, 12:10 GMT]
"The killings of the two Uthayan staffs and the extensive damage to the Uthayan office and equipments by paramilitary cadres directed by the Sri Lanka government (GOSL), pose serious threat to the media in Sri Lanka," said the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) in its statement released Tuesday. The GoSL conducts "customary eyewash inquiries," into the killings of several Tamil journalists, the statement added.
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