Paramilitaries handover weapons partly

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 March 2002, 20:50 GMT]
Tamil paramilitary groups operating with the Sri Lanka army began handing over a section of the weapons in their possession from Sunday in Jaffna, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa. The EPDP, a close ally of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, turned in the largest number of weapons to the SLA on Sunday, including mortars and Rocket Propelled Grenades. Addressing the function to mark the handing over of weapons by the EPDP Sunday, Sri Lanka's Security Forces Commander for Jaffna said that the group had rendered yeoman service to the army to fight the war in the north.
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Unenthused paramilitary turns in some weapons

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 March 2002, 19:49 GMT]
The People's Liberation Organization of Thamil Eelam (PLOTE), a paramilitary group operating with the Sri Lanka army, handed over some of its weapons in Batticaloa, Friday under the terms of the cease-fire agreement between the Liberation Tigers and Colombo. Mr. Raj Maama, the PLOTE chief in the eastern district told TamilNet that the weapons handed over today were from the group's camp at the Black Bridge entry point 18 kilometres north of Batticaloa.
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Vavuniya Tamil groups ordered to hand over firearms

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 March 2002, 17:49 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Saturday ordered all Tamil paramilitary groups in Vavuniya district to surrender their firearms before 10 a.m. on Monday. At a conference held Saturday at the Vavuniya SLA headquarters, the Vanni SLA commander told the representatives of the Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) wing that all firearms they possess should be handed over to the SLA within forty-eight hours from Saturday morning.
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Despondent paramilitaries mull arms surrender

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 February 2002, 15:48 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army has given 48 hours to Tamil paramilitary groups operating in the Batticaloa district to disarm or join the military and serve outside the Northeast, the regional Tamil daily, Thinakathir reported Tuesday, quoting sources in SLA's 23-3 Brigade Headquarters in the eastern town.
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President threatens to cancel ceasefire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 February 2002, 11:56 GMT]
(News Feature) Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga Monday threatened to derail the permanent ceasefire between the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers with a single letter to the Army commander, a press report said Tuesday. President Kumaratunga also stepped up the war of words with the UNF government of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, dealing a heavy blow to the latter’s efforts to sustain governance by ‘cohabitation’ between Parliament and the office of the President, the Daily Mirror reported. Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA), along with the Janatha Vimukthi Pramuna (JVP) and the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) intend to mount a legal challenge to the permanent ceasefire, press reports said Monday.
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'PTA will not be repealed' -Prime Minister

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 February 2002, 12:00 GMT]
"We cannot be too rigid in regard to the talks. We have to first bring the LTTE to the negotiating table. We should not put too many prohibitions, too many restrictions, and too many conditions that would prevent them from coming to the negotiating table.
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Fishermen's protest shuts down Jaffna secretariat

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2002, 12:03 GMT]
More than a seven hundred fishermen began a protest sit in front of the Jaffna district secretariat Wednesday morning from 7.30 a.m. The fishermen blocked government officials from entering the Jaffna district secretariat. They vowed to continue the protest if the government doesnít take steps to lift the ban and restrictions imposed by the Sri Lankan security forces on fishing in Jaffna.
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EPDP MP further remanded for Kayts murder

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2002, 18:05 GMT]
The non-summary proceedings in the Naranthanai election murder case commenced Tuesday before the Jaffna Magistrate Mr. R. T. Viknaraja. Three persons, including Mr. N. Mathanarajan, the Eelam People's Democratic Party MP for Jaffna, have been charged on 29 counts including murder, attempted murder, causing grievous hurt by assaulting candidates and supporters of the Tamil National Alliance with iron rods, weapons and clubs and unlawful assembly in Naranthanai in the island of Kayts off Jaffna on November 28.
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Opposition mounts to lifting of LTTE ban

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2002, 01:54 GMT]
(News Feature) Sri Lanka’s Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP), the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and the Sinhala right wing MEP, a constituent of the main opposition People’s Alliance (PA) are to jointly campaign against the de-proscription of the Liberation Tigers, The Island newspaper said Friday. The day after Sri Lanka’s newly elected United National Front (UNF) government said “deep thought” should be given to de-proscription, the JVP - the third force in Sri Lankan politics - said that they have initiated talks with the PA to oppose such a move, the paper added.
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EPDP MP wanted for murder surrenders

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2002, 19:56 GMT]
Mr. Nadarajah Mathanarajah of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) who was elected as a Member of Parliament for Jaffna at the general elections on 5 December last year surrendered to the Jaffna court Monday. Mr. Mathanarajah, a close confidante of the EPDP leader Mr. Douglas Devananda was wanted by the courts in connection with the attack on Tamil National Alliance candidates and supporters on 28 November in which two were killed. The EPDP is a key coalition partner of President Chandrika Kumaratiunga's People's Alliance. It has two seats in the Sri Lankan Parliament.
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Ranil urged to disarm EPDP

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 December 2001, 19:57 GMT]
The Jaffna University Students' Union (JUSU) Friday requested the Prime Minister to take immediate steps to disarm all para military Tamil groups including the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in areas held by government troops. "The retention of arms by such para military groups, including EPDP constitutes imminent danger to Tamil civilians and journalists in the Jaffna district," the JUSU said in a memorandum sent Friday to the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe.
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Missing youths' parents paralyse Jaffna Kachcheri

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 December 2001, 15:25 GMT]
Protesting parents paralyse Jaffna District SecretariatThe Jaffna District Secretariat was stopped from functioning by more than a hundred parents of missing Tamil youth who sat across the entrance of the district secretariat from Monday early morning 6.30 to 4 p.m. in the afternoon, blocking government officials from entering the premises. The parents of the youth who went missing after they were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in 1997 in Jaffna sat in heavy monsoon shower, demanding that the Government Agent for Jaffna should get a reply from Colombo about the fate of their children in 20 days. The parents rejected an offer by the government to grant death certificates and compensation to 167 youth who went missing in 1997 after being arrested and detained by the Sri Lanka army. The death certificates claim that the youth were killed due to general violence.
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TNA Vadamaradchi office attacked

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 December 2001, 13:01 GMT]
A grenade was lobbed on the Tamil National Alliance office for the Vadamaradchi division of Jaffna Sunday night around 8.30. The office was damaged in the attack. The TNA’s chief organiser for the Vadamaradchi division, Mr. S. Aravindan told Tamilnet that he was the target of the grenade attack. He said that gunmen from the Eelam People’s Demoratic Party, a key coalition partner of the President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s defeated People’s Alliance, had lobbed the grenade. The TNA’s Vadamaradchi regional office is located in the Nelliyadi town.
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EPDP abandons PA for UNF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 December 2001, 00:41 GMT]
The paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a key Parliamentary ally of the former People's Alliance (PA) government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga is offering to switch sides and support the newly elected United National Front (UNF), press reports said. The Gulf News reported Wednesday that the EPDP, widely accused of violence and intimidation in support of the former administration before and during the December 5 polls is now offering to assist the UNF's ìefforts at forming a government of national government.î Last week The Island newspaper reported that the EPDP was offering its military support to the new government against the Liberation Tigers, arguing that it had always done so with successive Sri Lankan governments.
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Ban on Tamil journalists' awards lifted

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 December 2001, 18:58 GMT]
The ban on conferring the Governor's Award to two Tamil journalists Mr. P. Manickavasagam, President of the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance and Mr. A. Nadesan, the Tamil daily Virakesari's Batticaloa correspondent, at the annual Northeast Provincial Tamil Literary Festival has been lifted, NE Provincial Council sources said.
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US, EU endorse Sri Lanka polls as 'free and fair'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 December 2001, 12:00 GMT]
The United States Friday condemned the violence during the Sri Lankan elections Wednesday, and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. The State Department said however, the result of the polls, in which the main opposition United National Party swept the former ruling People's Alliance from power, was "basically free and fair."
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Coalition blues lie ahead for UNP

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 December 2001, 16:27 GMT]
Governing may not be smooth for the United National Party once the euphoria over a victory that evaded the party for seven years settles and the realities of a slim majority upheld with the aid of its coalition partners begin to unravel. The UNP has 15 minority coalition partners. They are the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, (11 MPs), the Ceylon Workers' Congress (3 MPs) and the Up Country People's Front (one MP). Six SLMC members who contested under the UNP symbol have been elected to Parliament. The SLMC got thee seats in Ampara and one seat in Batticaloa. It secured a national seat as well on the total votes it scored countrywide. The UNP has already called the PLOTE leader for a "discussion", sources said.
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UNP, SLMC coalition faces slim majority

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 December 2001, 11:03 GMT]
The United National Party won 89 seats islandwide, except the electoral district of Kandy, according to the final results released Friday afternoon in Colombo. The PA got 62, the JVP 12, the Tamil National Alliance 14, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 5, the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) 2 and the People's Liberation Organisation 1.
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Two EPDP in Jaffna, one PLOTE in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 December 2001, 18:20 GMT]
The TNA got 102324 votes in Jaffna, 86284 in Batticaloa and 41959 in the Vanni electoral district, election officials said Thursday. It got more than forty four thousand votes in the Ampara (Digamadulla) district, according to votes counted so far. Only two EPDP MPs were elected in Jaffna with 57208 votes. The EPDP, a close ally of President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s regime, was routed in all other districts of the north and east. Mr. Dharmalingam Sitharthan, the leader of the PLOTE, which came third in the Vanni with 9614 votes, was elected the sole MP from the group. The PLOTE too demands the lifting of Colombo’s ban on the Tigers and starting peace talks with them. The TNA lost the fourth seat in the Vanni by about 1200 votes, a spokesman for the Alliance said.
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Results of Jaffna electorates

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 December 2001, 10:21 GMT]
The TNA got more than hundred thousand votes in the eleven electorates of the Jaffna electoral district. The southern sector of the electorate of Chavakachcheri is under the control of the Liberation Tigers. Kilinochchi, an administrative district in north which is an electorate of Jaffna, is under the total control of the Liberation Tigers. Only a few persons displaced from Kilinochchi by the war since 1996 were eligible to vote. The EPDP scored highest in the Kayts electorate, which comprises all the islands under its military influence. The ballots of Jaffna voters displaced in Puttalam and Colombo are yet to be counted.
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