Furuhovde arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 October 2005, 12:55 GMT]
The Special Representative of the Norwegian Government and former Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General (Ret.) Trond Furuhovde arrived in Colombo Monday from Oslo to evaluate the current state of the ceasefire.
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Meesalai Spiritual Refuge ransacked, buildings damaged

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 October 2005, 10:37 GMT]
Buildings belonging to Sri Kayathiri Kamagodi spritual refuge ('Aachramam') in Meesalai in Thenmaradchy Jaffna, run by Swami Rajkumar, were damaged and the properties inside the refuge set on fire by an unknown group of persons Monday morning, sources said.
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NorthEast teachers, principals felicitated on World Teachers Day

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 11:17 GMT]
131 teachers, 35 principals and 14 in-service advisors selected from all the twenty four education zones in the eight districts of the northeast province were felicitated for their services towards the development of education, at an event organized by the Provincial Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Colombo Ministry of Education and held Thursday at Trincomalee St.Mary's Girls College auditorium, sources said.


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Court reprimands Mannar Police for violating Islamic custom

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 10:45 GMT]
Mannar Magistrate Mr.N.M.M.Abdullah Friday reprimanded the Mannar Police for taking into custody a Muslim woman while observing the islamic ritual " Iththa" after the death of her husband. The Magistrate immediately released the woman who was produced in courts by the Mannar Police to given evidence in the murder of her husband Mr Ramesh Rajah (42) and put off the inquest proceedings for November 11, legal sources said.
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Hindu Cultural Ministry Official Shot Dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 06:50 GMT]
A forty year old man was shot dead, Friday morning, while returning home after dropping his son at school. Kanthasamy Senthilkumaran was on his motorbike when he was attacked on the Sebastian Road around 9:15 a.m, near Bishop’s House, Jaffna, Police said.
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Norwegian Special Representative Furuhovde to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 04:04 GMT]
Major General (ret'd) Trond Furuhovde, former head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, will visit Sri Lanka on Monday as a Special Reprsentative of the Norwegian Government to consult with the parties. As a meeting between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to discuss the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement is not likely to occur in the near future, the visit of the Special Representative would provide an opportunity for both parties to propose measures for strengthening the implementation of the agreement, a press release issued by the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo said Friday.
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Rajapakse, Wickremasinghe, eleven others contest presidential election

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 03:50 GMT]
Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister and Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, UNP leader and eleven others from other parties handed in their nominations to contest the forthcoming presidential election, which is fixed for November 17. Election Commissioner Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake issued a statement in this regard around 11.30 a. m. following the closure of nominations and after the expiry of the time for objections, election department sources said.
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EU’s "criminalizing of Tamil cause hurts peace process" - paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 00:47 GMT]
The European Union’s one-sided criticism of the Liberation Tigers for the ongoing violence in the east, has “reduced the complex security milieu in Sri Lanka to the dangerously simple logic of petulant aggression on the LTTE’s part,” the Tamil Guardian said in its editorial this week.
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Norwegian Ambassador meets LTTE Political Head

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2005, 09:30 GMT]
Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar met with LTTE Head of the Political Wing, Mr S P Thamilchelvan, at the Liberation Tigers Peace Secretariat, Kilinochchi, Thursday, sources in Kilinochchi said. The discussions centered on the recent EU Statement and its effect on the peace process. Mr. Brattskar also explored the possibility of resuming peace negotiations early.
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Time bomb explodes in EPDP vehicle in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2005, 05:20 GMT]
A time bomb placed inside the vehicle of Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP) official Mr Anthonipillai Jeyaraja, a personal assistant of EPDP leader Mr. Douglas Devananda, exploded around 7:45 a.m. Thursday, Police said. The explosion occured at No. 16 Nelson Place Wellawatte, north of Colombo. A clerical staff member of Devananda's Ministry, Mr Sudarsing Vijayakanth, 26, sustained minor injuries in the explosion, sources said.
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Doyen of FP, uncompromising on Tamil National question

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2005, 00:16 GMT]
Are leaders of Sinhala community prepared to share state power with Tamils? Mr. V. Navaratnam, the only surviving founder member of the Federal Party that provided political leadership to Tamils for more than three decades since it was formed in 1949, and described as the brain behind FP, shared with TamilNet his views on Tamil National struggle. The doyen of Tamil politics who negotiated with the father of the incumbent President Chandrika Kumaratunge and other Sri Lanka leaders for sharing state power within a federal framework for almost three decades turns 96-years this month in Montreal, Canada. He also inked the Bandaranaiyake Chelvanayagam pact.
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UPF to support Ranil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 20:55 GMT]
The Upcountry People's Front (UPF) Wednesday announced that it has decided to support Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe in the forthcoming general election. Mr.P.Chandrasekaran, Leader of the UPF told media persons in Colombo that he held several rounds of talks with UNP leaders, including Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe regarding UPF proposals to be included in the new government agenda. He released party's 30 proposals, Wednesday.
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Kumarappa, Pulendran Eighteenth anniversary held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 10:27 GMT]
The eighteenth death anniversary of senior commanders of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Lt. Colonel Pulendran and Lt. Colonel Kumarappa and ten other cadres was observed in Munai in Vadamaradchchy, Jaffna Tuesday morning, sources in Jaffna said. The event took place in the Sri Lanka Army controlled area. Munai region Leader of auxilliary unit of the LTTE naval wing, Pathinather presided the event.
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CWC ministers to resign, extend support to Ranil

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 05:13 GMT]
Mr.Armugam Thondaman, CWC leader said at a media briefing Wednesday morning that the party's two ministers would tender their resignations from the UPFA government. He said the CWC has decided to support UNP leader Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe in the forthcoming presidential election. The CWC further announced the 19 proposals that should be included in the agenda by the new Government. One of the proposals has urged the new government to resolve the ethnic problem through extensive power-sharing mechanism. Mr.Thondaman said that the UNP has accepted the 19 demands of the CWC in this regard.
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CWC to announce its stand on presidential election

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 04:16 GMT]
The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), leading political party in the hill country representing upcountry Tamils is to officially announce its position in the forthcoming presidential election Wednesday morning at a media briefing held at Trans Asia Hotel, Colombo. The CWC is a constituent of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government.
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Vilankulam families benefit from housing project

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 October 2005, 11:10 GMT]
Internally displaced families who fled from Vilankulam, a Tamil village located on the Trincomalee-Kandy highway about 13 km off southwest of the east port city, twenty years ago following ethnic disturbances are slowly resettling back in their own lands. The Trincomalee Rotary Club (TRC) has been implementing a low-cost housing project for these resettled families. Mr.Nihal Bogahalande, Sri Lanka's District Rotary Governor handed over the first house under this project to a beneficiary family on the twentieth anniversary of their displacement last weekend.


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Will EU declaration help Sri Lanka's peace?

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 October 2005, 02:54 GMT]
The European Union’s (EU’s) announcement that it "will not receive members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in its member states until further notice," and is considering formally listing the LTTE as a terrorist organization has raised both controversy and questions over whether the move will aid or hurt the island’s stalled peace process.
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CTTU to strike on Teachers Day

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 October 2005, 18:24 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) gave notice to Dr Tara de Mel, Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher education, that its members will go on one day sick leave as a token trade union action on October 5 as the Education Ministry has failed to fulfill its promises regarding its twenty five demands. The CTTU said that it will be compelled to go on continuous strike from October 24 if the demands are not met.


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Kumaratunge leaves for Paris

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2005, 12:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge left for Paris Saturday morning to attend the 33rd session of the UNESCO General Conference to be held on 3 October, sources in Colombo said. UNESCO website said "The world's Ministers of Education will meet during UNESCO's General Conference in October to explore practical ways to address Education for All challenges by building on positive examples from different parts of the world."
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NLF supports Tamil Resurgence Conventions

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2005, 12:34 GMT]
The New Left Front (NLF) in a statement released Saturday in Colombo expressed its wholehearted support for the Tamil National Resurgence Convention being held in the northeast province. "We wish Tamil people to work hard for their liberation. Tamil National Resurgence Convention has been contributing very much to the Tamil liberation struggle," said Mr.Wickremabahu Karunaratne, leader of the NLF in a statement.


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