Police action threatens freedom of expression- IFJ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 2004, 12:06 GMT]
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), a global organisation representing over 500,000 journalists worldwide, has today condemned recent actions by the Sri Lankan police threatening freedom of expression in Sri Lanka.
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FMM voices concern over intimidation of journalists

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 2004, 10:07 GMT]
In media release distributed in Colombo today the Free Media Movement (FMM) said that it viewed with concern "the police search of the residence of journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram for the second time in a short period of time," and the statement by the Sri Lanka Government that "Mr. Sivaram will be interrogated on the news item posted on the Tamil Net" to reveal the source of the news. "FMM requests you to halt the tactics of intimidation," added the media release.
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Helgesen meets Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 2004, 09:47 GMT]
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, met with LTTE Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, at the LTTE Political Head Quarters in Kilinochchi Monday morning, for discussions on the stand of the LTTE regarding the recommencement of peace negotiations with the Government of Sri Lanka, LTTE's peace secretariat website said.
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Not a principled apology- Elilan

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 2004, 01:33 GMT]
"We regard Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge's public apology for the 1983 pogrom against the Tamils as a deceptive attempt, driven by political expediency rather than principles, to placate the Tamils," said Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) speaking as the chief guest at a public meeting in Trincomalee Sunday evening held at the Welikada Martyrs Memorial Hall in Trincomalee to remember the 21st anniversary of Black July.
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Dissidents within Karuna group killed associates –LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 15:01 GMT]
In a media release Sunday, the Liberation Tigers said that dissidents within the renegade Karuna group killed seven associates of Mr. Vinyagamoorthy Muraleetharan (“Karuna”) because of differences within the group. The dissidents then escaped and surrendered to the Tigers in the Amparai district on Sunday morning, the release said.
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Tamil conference slams Indo-Lanka defence pact

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 13:11 GMT]
The World Tamils Confederation came out strongly Sunday against any move for a defence pact between India and Sri Lanka, cautioning that New Delhi was being lured into a "trap to use its army to crush" Tamils in the island.
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World Bank to avoid LTTE - paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 10:58 GMT]
The World Bank would not provide direct funding to the LTTE and would continue its stance that all funding would be channeled through the Sri Lankan government, the Sunday Times reported this week. The Bank was responding to concerns raised by Sinhala nationalists, the paper said.
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Sri Lanka Police find eight dead in safe house

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 07:46 GMT]
Sr Lanka Police Sunday afternoon found eight bodies of persons believed to be close associates of renegade LTTE commander Karuna in a safe house in the interior of Kottawa, an outer suburb of Colombo. The house in Kristal Terrace, Malabe Road, Kottawa, Pannipittiya, was rented by the persons believed to be key Karuna associates two weeks ago residents said. A car belonging to the dead men was parked in front of the house, journalists said.
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North East Tamils mourn ‘Black July’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 07:12 GMT]
Tamils in northeast province Sunday observed a day of mourning to mark the pogrom against Tamils by Sinhala extremists assisted by the then Sri Lanka Government twenty one years ago on 23rd July, 1983. Several Tamil and civil group organizations in Jaffna called for people to close down shops and conduct prayers. More than thousand innocent Tamils in the southern part of the country, majority of them in Colombo were killed, many burnt alive or hacked to death, in daylight in the presence of State security forces during the ‘Black July’.
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Karuna associates said killed in Colombo attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 02:45 GMT]
More than six key associates of the renegade LTTE commander Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna) were killed in a pre-dawn attack on their safe house in the outskirts of Colombo Sunday, well informed sources in the eastern town of Batticaloa said. However, a senior Police officer in Colombo denied knowledge of any such attack in the city. But journalists from local and foreign media said they located the safe house that was attacked in the general area of Kottawa, an outer suburb of Colombo, around noon.
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Karuna meets with Sri Lankan ministers, US officials- paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 00:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s tourism minister and brother of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mr. Anura Bandaranaike, escorted the renegade LTTE commander, Karuna, to Singapore to address US officials on combating terrorism, The Sunday Leader reported this week, quoting government sources. Another government minister and a close confidante of President Kumaratunga, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, is to meet with Karuna, the paper also said.
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RSF fears for Tamil journalist's safety

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 July 2004, 00:35 GMT]
"A dozen [Sri Lanka] police without a warrant searched the Colombo home of Dharmaretnam Sivaram, editor of the news website TamilNet.com for the second time in three months on 23 July," said Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in a press release published on its website. "Reporters Without Borders deplored the post-midnight raid as unjustified and said it was worried about his safety," the report added.
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EPDP protests against Norway

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 2004, 13:27 GMT]
More than a hundred persons demonstrated in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo Friday. The demo was organised by the EPDP, a close ally of Sri Lankan President Kumaratunga, to protest against the killing of one of its cadres in Akkaraipattu on the island's Southeastern coast Wednesday. The protestors brought the body of the dead cadre in a coffin.
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Tamils cannot be divided and ruled -TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 2004, 08:31 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan state and military are using armed groups to divide and rule Tamil society in Batticaloa. They did it in the past. My people will never fall prey to the machinations of divisive forces because they have made immense sacrifices for the Tamil cause", said Mr. Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy, Tamil National Alliance MP for Batticaloa, speaking at a press conference by TNA regarding the current situation in the east.
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SLMM head to meet LTTE political leadership Thursday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 July 2004, 23:31 GMT]
The Norwegian Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General (retd) Trond Furuhovde, is scheduled to hold talks with Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, Thursday morning at Killinochchi Peace Secretariat, SLMM sources said.
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Journalists thwart Police attempt to stop demo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 July 2004, 10:11 GMT]
Journalists Wednesday thwarted an attempt to prevent them from holding a demonstration against Sri Lanka Police brutality in Kosgoda, a town in Sri Lanka’s southern coast. Several media organisations led by the Free Media Movement protested in front of the Kosgoda Police station Wednesday afternoon for brutally assaulting four journalists who were covering a public protest against the Police in the southern town last week.
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PTA was big blunder by Tamil politicians - TNA MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 July 2004, 16:46 GMT]
“Tamil Parliamentarians committed a great blunder by not opposing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). It was wrong on our part for not objecting or raising our voices against the draconian bill”, said Mr. Nadarajah Raviraj, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna, speaking Monday at a public meeting in Colombo to mark the 25th anniversary of the PTA and to launch a campaign for its repeal. The meeting was organised at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo jointly by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD).
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German FM in Colombo to lobby for UN security council seat

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 July 2004, 17:39 GMT]
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer arrived in Sri Lanka Saturday night for a two-day visit as part of his ten- day tour in Asia. He is scheduled to meet several Sri Lankan leaders, including President Kumaratunga, during his short visit. Garnering support for Germany's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council is on top of Fischer's agenda, a press note on his visit said.
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SL Prime Minister leaves for India

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 July 2004, 16:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse Saturday night left for India on a two day official visit at the invitation of his counterpart Dr.Manmohan Singh. This is Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse's first official visit abroad after he became the Prime Minister.
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UPFA, UNF draw battle lines to prove Parliamentary majority

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 July 2004, 00:53 GMT]
With three days to go for the next session of parliament, the minority ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the main opposition United National Front (UNF) are making frenzied efforts to prove their majority. The UNF still claims it has 114 members of the 225 member parliament. But the ruling UPFA says that there would be a dramatic turn in the power struggle in favour of the government after its sweeping victory in the six provincial councils' poll last Saturday, political sources said.


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