Sri Lanka Cease Fire becoming irrelevant – Tamil MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 November 2004, 10:30 GMT]
The Cease Fire Agreement would become increasingly irrelevant if there is not going to be any progress on the peace process, warned Tamil Parliamentarian Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam speaking on the on the second reading of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government’s first (2005) Budget on Saturday. “The Tamil people’s overwhelming desire for peace should not be allowed to be taken for granted. Our repeated recommitment to the ceasefire is being misinterpreted by this government to be a sign of weakness”, the MP said.
Full story >>

Police use teargas to disperse JVP protestors

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 November 2004, 12:32 GMT]
Trincomalee Police used teargas to disperse a group of about three hundred Sinhala demonstrators led by Trincomalee district Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarian Mr.Jayantha Wijesekara in front of the Trincomalee Police Headquarters, police sources said. A curfew imposed Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. in Trincomalee town after the incident but was lifted around 5 p.m. the same day.
Full story >>

ENDLF Rangappa gunned down in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2004, 18:04 GMT]
A senior member of the ENDLF, a Sri Lankan paramilitary group based in India, was gunned down by unidentified gunmen in Dematagoda, an outer suburb of Colombo, Thursday evening, Police said. The slain man was identified as Mr. Sonnyboy Occerz alias 'Rangappa'. Police said that little is known about his activities in Sri Lanka. 'Rangappa' is from the small Dutch Burgher community in Batticaloa town.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka torture victim slain before court appearance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 November 2004, 18:37 GMT]
G.M Perera, who was tortured in 2002 by Wattala police officers, died at the General Hospital in Colombo Wednesday from critical gunshot wounds he suffered Sunday from an unknown assailant, sources from Colombo said. Mr Perera was to appear in Negombo High Court on 2 December related to the criminal case against the seven police officers.
Full story >>

Dhanapala says happy about Mannar situation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 November 2004, 11:56 GMT]
“I am happy that in Mannar we have a relatively low number of cease fire violations that reflects very well the situation in Mannar”, said Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary General of the Sri Lankan government’s Peace Secretariat, speaking to journalists briefly during an official visit to Vavuniya Wednesday. However, he refused to take questions from the media. Accompanied by Maj. Gen. Parami Kulatunga, Sri Lankan armed forces commander for the Vanni, Mr. Dhanapala visited the main entry point on the line of control at Omanthai, 15 kilometres north Vavuniya.
Full story >>

ISGA must be basis for talks- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 2004, 00:31 GMT]
Speaking at a seminar on "Power Sharing for a lasting peace" held at the Social and Economic Development Center (SEDEC) in Colombo Saturday, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said, "Tamil people believe that an interim administration is an essential prerequisite to embarking on talks for a solution to the conflict...and they will not allow the LTTE to give up the right to secession before the parties reach agreements on the outstanding core issues."
Full story >>

Trincomalee town, suburbs' security strengthened

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 November 2004, 15:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Police have deployed more soldiers in strategic points in the Trincomalee town and several parts of the district under their control following several violent incidents that had taken place during the weekend, security sources said.
Full story >>

Powerful bombs thrown at LTTE political offices in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 November 2004, 03:59 GMT]
Two powerful bombs were thrown simultaneously at the political offices of the Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa town and Kaluwanchikudy close to midnight Saturday. The bombs, made of high power plastic explosives packed with shrapnel in plastic cans, did not explode due to faulty detonating mechanism, Police said. The bombs would have demolished the LTTE offices and caused extensive damage to the neighbourhoods, killing and wounding scores of people if the packed plastic explosives had exploded fully, Police said.
Full story >>

Book on Yogaswamy released in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 November 2004, 18:02 GMT]
A book titled "Yogaswamy and Kilinochchi: A Spiritual Journey" describing the spiritual association of the popular Columbuthurai, Jaffna, sage Yogaswamy with Kilinochchi district was released Friday at the Kilinochchi Cultural Center by Srimath Aathma Ganananthaji swamy from Colombo Ramakrishna Mission, sources in Vanni said.
Full story >>

Pak PM to discuss trade, regional security

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 November 2004, 13:26 GMT]
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Shaukat Aziz, is scheduled to arrive in Colombo on Sunday 21 November on a two-day visit. He will mainly hold talks on a free trade agreement between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. A press note issued by the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo Saturday noted that the Pakistan PM's discussions with his counterpart in Colombo "will also focus on enhancing trade as the current trade volume neither reflects the warm political relations between the two governments nor does it match the aspirations of the people".


Full story >>

Trinco resettled IDPs' plight spotlighted

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 November 2004, 03:29 GMT]
"No one can talk about peace and reconciliation when thousands suffer for want of shelter, food and clothes. Peace and reconciliation are only of secondary concern for them," said Mr.T.Thavasilingam, Chairman of the Consortium of Non-Governmental Organizations in Trincomalee district presiding over the meeting of Eastern Forum of Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHU).
Full story >>

Jaffna undergrads urge India not to support Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 November 2004, 17:47 GMT]
Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) Friday wrote to the Indian Prime Minister Mr.Manmohan Singh not to extend his Government's support to Sri Lanka government in its attempts to crush the freedom struggle of Eelam Tamils by providing financial assistance for the implementation of the Palaly airbase runway project in Jaffna district, sources in Jaffna said.


Full story >>

High court judge gunned down in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 November 2004, 10:18 GMT]
A high court judge was shot dead at his residence by unidentified gunmen in Colombo Friday afternoon. The gunmen had entered the residence of the judge, Mr. Sarath Ambepitiya, after firing at his security guard. The guard who is also Mr. Ambepitiya's driver was killed , Police said. The judge was killed on the spot when the gunmen opened fire on him, according to Police.
Full story >>

Expression of Unified position vital- Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 November 2004, 16:21 GMT]
''Sri Lanka's President must candidly discuss the peace process with leaders of Janatha Vimukthy Preramana (JVP) and arrive at a common position acceptable to both President Kumaratunge and the JVP,'' said opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at the United National Party (UNP) New members intake meeting on Tuesday evening, held at UNP party Head office, political sources in Colombo said.


Full story >>

JVP slams WB, IMF on eve of Sri Lanka budget

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 November 2004, 14:07 GMT]
A trade union of the Marxist, Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s main coalition partner, put up thousands of posters in Colombo Wednesday warning that her government’s maiden budget, which is to be presented Thursday in Parliament, should not fall prey to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. The JVP is stridently opposed to the influence that World Bank and IMF have had on Sri Lanka’s fiscal policies since the country’s economy was deregulated in 1977.


Full story >>

"Collective Agreement, a violation of democracy"

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 November 2004, 11:36 GMT]
The President of the Kandy Human Development Organisation (HDO), Mr. P.P. Sivapragasam, said at a media conference held at the Brighton Hotel, Colombo Monday that the Collective Agreement (CA) entered into between the Employers' Federation and some Trade Unions on wage increase to the Plantation workers, was a violation of democracy.
Full story >>

TRO organizes Pre-School teacher training in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 November 2004, 09:00 GMT]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) is conducting training programmes to pre school teachers and pre school development coordinators jointly with Forut and SCiSL throughout NorthEast covering all the communities through a bottom up organization, Pre-School Education Development Centre, TRO sources said.


Full story >>

Jaffna man killed by Police fire in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 November 2004, 06:58 GMT]
A sixty year old man from Jaffna who was returning from Colombo in a van with relatives from Germany was shot dead by Police in Anuradhapura around 3.15 a.m Tuesday. Anuradhapura Police said that the van was fired at because it did not stop when it was signalled to do so. However, the van driver told Vavuniya Police that he did not stop because the person who signalled at Jaffna Junction in Anuradhapura town was not in Police uniform.
Full story >>

'Sinhala consensus is a perfidious mirage'- MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 November 2004, 15:46 GMT]
"Sinhala parties will never come to a consensus on a political settlement to the ethnic conflict. It won't happen even if we Tamils wait patiently for another fifty years in deference to the wishes of the international community. The so called 'Sinhala Consensus' is a perfidious mirage. It is now time for the Tamil people to call the bluff and prepare to forge ahead on their own", said Mr. Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy, TNA MP for Batticaloa, speaking to TamilNet Monday about Colombo's reaction to the latest proposal by the LTTE to restart the long stalled peace talks in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Lions club joins in Trinco cleanup

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 November 2004, 20:37 GMT]
"Mosquitoes spreading dengue fever are found all parts of Trincomalee town and its suburbs. About 31 positive cases have been detected and one died following the second outbreak of the epidemic in east port town since October this year. In the first outbreak in March this year one died," said Regional Epidemiologist Dr.T.Thavakodirajah. The Trinco Urban Council has solicited the help of Lions Club and volunteers to remove uncollected solid waste in Trincomalee, civil sources said.


Full story >>