Corpse of Indian citizen washed ashore in Nedunththeevu (Delft)

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2008, 17:27 GMT]
Nedunththeevu police recovered the body of a 77-year-old Indian citizen found washed ashore Sunday at Nedunththeevu, an islet of Jaffna, on information given by local residents. Monday evening another corpse, suspected to be that of a Tamil person from Mannaar fleeing to Tamil Nadu by boat which had capsized mid-sea, was found on Queen’s Tower beach in Nedunththeevu by local residents, Nedunththeevu police said.
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UN expects LTTE to provide safe passage to its convoy

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2008, 15:42 GMT]
The United Nations office of the Resident / Humanitarian Coordinator for Sri Lanka, in a statement issued on Monday in Colombo, said it intends to move remaining UN and humanitarian agency staff in a single convoy at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday and that it expects the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to provide safe passage to the convoy towards Oamanthai crossing.
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EU calls for respect of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2008, 12:05 GMT]
Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, has expressed his grave concern over the escalation of the conflict in Sri Lanka and the effects on innocent civilians. The Commissioner, in a press release issued on Monday, stressed that both parties to the conflict should respect their obligations under international humanitarian law. These include not just ensuring the safety and free movement of civilians - but also ensuring that humanitarian aid reaches people in need.
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STF killed in Tiger shelling in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2008, 10:59 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) trooper was killed and five sustained injuries Sunday around 7:00 a.m. when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) fired shells targeted Udumpangku'lam STF camp in Kanghikudichchaa'ru, according to informed sources in the East.
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Heavy fighting in Akkaraayan, arms seized, 4 SLA bodies recovered - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2008, 10:41 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials in Vanni told media that their forces were engaged in a stiff fighting with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that launched a fresh attempt to advance in the south of Akkaraayan Monday while the SLA shelling reached the A9 highway. The Tigers said their fighters have located dead bodies of four SLA soldiers and seized weapons including six RPG launchers, nine LMGs and more than 20 assault rifles from the battlefield, causing heavy casualties to the SLA.
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2 SLA killed in Maha Oya, arms seized - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2008, 10:24 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) ambushed a motorbike patrol of the SLA in Maha Oya area, situated between Batticaloa district and Badulla district Monday morning around 7:30 a.m., the Tigers said adding that they seized a AK-47 and a T-56-type-2 assault rifles from the SLA with ammunitions.
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India: While taking action against LTTE, steps should also be taken to protect civilians

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2008, 09:30 GMT]
India's Defence Minister A K Antony was quoted by Press Trust of India (PTI) on Monday as saying: "While taking action against the LTTE, steps should also be taken to protect the civilian Tamils in Sri Lanka and ensure their safety and security." The statement by the Indian Defence Minister has come in the wake of reports that Indian military personnel were involved in providing military support to the Sri Lankan forces.
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History rejects military defeat of liberation movements- Gajendrakumar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 September 2008, 18:22 GMT]
Responding to a question on year-end dead line set by the Government of Sri Lanka to defeat the Liberation Tigers, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian from Jaffna said, "We have been told many times and by many governments of Sri Lanka that the war will be won and that the LTTE will be defeated...I am yet to come across an instance when a national liberation movement in any part of the world has been militarily defeated," in an interview published in Colombo weekly the Sunday Leader 14th edition.
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Armed men in Black suit kill two Tamil villagers in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 September 2008, 10:46 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot and killed two Tamil villagers, 50 years and 27 years of age, Saturday night at Kappalthu'rai in Chinabay Police division in Trincomalee district. The armed men entered the village Saturday night dressed in black suit and had shot dead the victims in their houses.
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Australian NGO Director warns of Humanitarian Disaster in the absence of foreign aid workers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 September 2008, 09:42 GMT]
The extreme humanitarian situation of Internally Displaced Persons, including thousands of children, who are already malnourished, would deteriorate dramatically as clean water is not available for all the IDPs and they have been deprived of medicine by the Sri Lankan government, said Executive Director Paul O'Callaghan of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), which has 25 member organisations working in Sri Lanka over many decades. He has expressed fear of a blood bath as foreign aid workers of UN agencies and NGOs packed their bags following the orders by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to leave the Vanni region last week.
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Building contractor shot dead in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 September 2008, 07:45 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen alleged to be Tamil paramilitary persons following a building contrator on motor cycle shot and killed him Saturday around 5:30 p.m at Charava'nai Kaa'li Koayiladi in Veala’nai, in the islets of Jaffna, sources in Oorkaavattu’rai (Kayts) said. The victim’s two brothers who had been combatants in militant groups had died in the past, the sources added.
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2 Tamils abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 September 2008, 19:24 GMT]
Two Tamil civilians were abducted in Colombo in two separate incidents. The latest abduction was reported from Colombo where a 35 year-old Sahathevan Uthayakumar, a native of Nalloor in Jaffna district had been missing since Friday morning. He had been residing in Sea Street along with his father. He had been working in Colombo as a motor mechanic. He was allegedly taken by force by some unidentified armed men when he was returning home after work, according to complaints made to the Police by his father.
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Outsiders quit Colombo, tells Defence Secretary

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 September 2008, 15:03 GMT]
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse told the State run Daily News Saturday that thousands who stay in Colombo "without any valid reason" should return to their villages as they are creating a huge security concern. "We must be prepared for this. That is why wer doing human control measures. People criticise us for fundamental rights violations when we do these things," paper quoted Gotabhaya as saying.
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Ambushes kill 2 policemen in Batticaloa, 7 wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 September 2008, 06:40 GMT]
An ambush team of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) attacked a sentry post at Thimilatheevu in Batticaloa district in the early hours of Saturday at 4:30 a.m., killing a Sri Lankan policeman at the post. Meanwhile, a Claymore attack on Ma'ndoor Vellaave'li Road targeted a truck, killing a policeman and causing serious injuries to four Sri Lankan policemen at 9:30 a.m., according to LTTE officials in the East. Sri Lankan police sources also confirmed that two of their policemen were killed in two separate attacks and said seven police personnel, including two female police, were wounded in the Claymore attack, according tot he Police sources.
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A family's search for justice

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 September 2008, 00:09 GMT]
From the day after the new year in 2006, when college-bound Ragihar was murdered execution style along with four of his 20-year old friends opposite the Dutch Bay sea beach in Trincomalee, his father Dr Kasippillai Manoharan, has made bringing the perpetrators to justice his life's mission. Dr. Manoharan's efforts drew death threats from Sri Lanka military, widely acknowledged to be responsible for the crime, forcing the family to flee Sri Lanka, and seek safety in the U.K. While the family struggles to begin a new life in an unfamiliar environment, Dr Manoharan's focus has turned to the new judicial paths available in the West to prosecute his son's killers.
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Jaffna youth gone missing in Monaraagala

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2008, 19:31 GMT]
A Tamil youth from Alvaay area in Vadamaradchi had gone missing in Ve’l’lavaaya area in Monaraagala district 21 August, according to a complaint lodged by his parents to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna Friday. He was last seen after sending money to his parents from the bank in Ve’l’lavaaya, where he had been employed in the shop of his relative, the parents said in their complaint to HRC.
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IDPs urge foreign aid workers not to leave Vanni, block convoy

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2008, 16:50 GMT]
Internally Displaced Persons, who gathered Friday morning in front of the UNHCR office at Karadippoakku junction in Ki'linochchi, pleaded with the remaining officials of the UN and International NGOs not to leave Ki'linochchi as their presence was critical, not only for humanitarian assistance, but also to sustain a secure zone to escape. They said they feared that in the coming days Sri Lanka military will employ Colombo’s scorched earth policy to destroy key Vanni towns using aerial and artillery bombardment. Meanwhile, a group of IDPs blocked the convoy of NGO vehicles in a peaceful protest from 6:00 a.m, forcing the NGOs to abandon their trip on Friday.
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Veteran Nathaswaram exponent Kaanamoorthy passes away

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2008, 11:50 GMT]
V.K.Kaanamoorthy, an exponent in Eezham Nathaswaram music passed away Wednesday night in Jaffna Teaching Hospital after a brief illness at 60 years of age. Kaanamoorthy with his younger brother Panchamoorthy, excelled in playing Nathaswaram not only in Sri Lanka but also in Tamil Nadu in South India, Singapore and Malaysia for more than three decades.
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White van gunmen abduct Tamil trader in Matale

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2008, 11:48 GMT]
A 36-year old Tamil trader was abducted at Ukkuwala in Matale police division Wednesday night by armed men who arrived in a white van. The trader was returning home by foot after closing shop for the day when he was forced into the van and driven away, according to complaints lodged with the Matale police by his relatives Thursday evening.
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LTTE leader pays tribute to Black Tiger commandos on Vavuniyaa mission

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2008, 04:16 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Leader Velupillai Pirapaharan on Thursday paid his last respects to the ten Black Tiger commandos, who laid down their lives during the Tiger operation on the Vanni headquarters of the Sri Lankan forces (SF HQ). LTTE officials told media that the LTTE leader paid his last respects with garlanding the photographs of the Black Tigers and by lighting the flame of sacrifice at an undisclosed location in Vanni. The Tiger mission destroyed the infrastructure of the joint operations command of the Sri Lankan forces in Vanni in the early hours of Tuesday.
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