Coconut trees in 20,000 acres destroyed in Trinco district

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 04:25 GMT]
The Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB) Tuesday inaugurated its seedling distribution to coconut growers in the Trincomalee district from its nursery after about twenty years. "Since 1983, coconut trees in more than twenty thousand acres of land have been destroyed in the two-decade-old war in the Trincomalee district," said the CCB’s Chairman, Mr. Lincoln Fernando, addressing the inaugural event held Tuesday in the premises of the CCB office at Kumburupiddy.
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UNF leaders prepare to welcome Sri Lanka’s PM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 03:26 GMT]
Leaders of the United National Front government are making elaborate arrangements to accord a rousing welcome to the Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, at the Katunayake International Airport (KIA) when he returns home Friday after a three day high profile official visit to the United States, UNF sources said.
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Sri Lanka crisis draws global media attention

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 2003, 00:10 GMT]
Tuesday’s sacking of key ministers of defense, interior and information by Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, and her prorogation of parliament and subsequent declaration of emergency have elicited concerns from several Western governments and prompted global coverage in leading newspapers.
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Unwanted and badly timed political crisis - NPC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 14:49 GMT]
Noting that the present alarming crisis in Sri Lanka is an end result of joint failure by both the opposition (PA) and the government (UNF), the National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo based Sri Lankan peace group, in a media release issued in Colombo today warned that the "situation of political turmoil will prevent progress being made in the peace process."
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Swiss-aided school rehabilitation programme begins in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 14:40 GMT]
The Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) Wednesday inaugurated a rehabilitation programme for several schools in the Jaffna district, which had been destroyed in the two decades old war, by laying the foundation for a two-storied building for the Chavakachcheri-Nunavil West Government Tamil School. The school was destroyed in 1990 when the Sri Lanka Army launched its military operation to take control of the peninsula, sources said.
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US warns of "negative effect on Peace Process"

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 12:50 GMT]
U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli expressed concern that President Kumaratunga’s decision to sack three government ministers, suspend parliament, and deploy troops around the capital “could have a negative effect on the peace process and talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam,” the Office of Public Diplomacy, Embassy of United States of America in Colombo said in a press release issued Wednesday.
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A9 highway to Jaffna not closed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 10:16 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers wednesday denied reports in Colombo that the A-9 road has been closed. Mr. Daya Master, the Media Co-ordinator of the LTTE told TamilNet that "the A9 road remains open, there is no truth in the reports that we have closed the road".
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State of Emergency to be declared in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 08:31 GMT]
State of emergency is to be declared in Sri Lanka, said informed sources in Colombo. The Emergency regulations invest the government with wide ranging powers to arrest and detain persons and ban political activity.
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Kadirgamar slams door on LTTE proposal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 07:44 GMT]
Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, advisor to President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s and Sri Lanka’s former foreign minister, slammed the Liberation Tigers’ proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority at a press conference in Colombo Wednesday to explain his party’s reaction to the LTTE’s suggestions. “We can in no way consider the LTTE’s proposal. It is totally unacceptable that they (Tigers) would have access rights to 2/3 of Sri Lanka’s coast. This is not negotiable”, the President’s confidante charged.
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Sri Lankan president moves to take over Ministry of Finance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 06:56 GMT]
In a fresh move to take control of Ministry of Finance, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has sacked the Finance Minister of the country, Mr.K.N.Choksy. Secretary to the Finance Ministry, Mr. Charitha Ratwatte, is also removed, said sources in Colombo. Presidential secretariat denied the move while officials at Ministry of Finance confirmed it.
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Struggle to take Sri Lanka Parliament gathers pace

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2003, 06:02 GMT]
Tamil and Muslim MPs and the Sinhala nationalist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna are set to play a key role as frantic efforts by President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People Alliance and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Front to cobble together a majority in Parliament before 19 November gathered momentum in Colombo Wednesday. Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Vanni told TamilNet: “We won’t go for horse deals. The TNA will take a principled stand in the interests of peace”.
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EU, UN, US express concern over SL situation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2003, 21:37 GMT]
The European Union has expressed its concern over the action of Sri Lanka’s President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Tuesday to sack three government ministers and the deployment of troops in Colombo. “The Presidency of the European Union and the European Commission believe that the recent developments in Sri Lanka may put at risk the spirit of cohabitation [between the President and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers] which has proven vital for the sustained forward momentum of the peace process," the EU said in a statement Tuesday.
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Sri Lanka's President sacks Ministers of Defense, Interior and Media

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2003, 08:32 GMT]
The Presidential Secretariat Tuesday in a press release said that the President, Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge, has removed Mr.Tilak Marapone, Mr.John Amaratunga and Mr.Imtiaz Bakeer Markar from their posts as Minister of defense, interior and media respectively.
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SLFP expresses "grave concern" over ISGA proposals

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2003, 07:54 GMT]
SLFP issued a long statement today condemning the Tamil proposal for Interim Self-Governing Authority. "The SLFP, and the millions who support it, will never be a party to robbing the people of Sri Lanka of their sovereignty. The SLFP will not allow any international consortium or “safety net”, in the name of a spurious, unjust peace, to foist on the people of Sri Lanka any extra Constitutional arrangement that is not acceptable to all the People, all the communities that inhabit our land" said the statement.
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Piling coal in Thampalakamam said cause of pollution

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2003, 17:42 GMT]
Many thousand metric tons of coal unloaded at the Trincomalee harbor and piled on a plot of land located in a residential area at Thampalakamam, a Tamil village about 24 km west of the Trincomalee town, before being taken to the Puttalam cement factory, has caused environmental problems to the residents of the village and crops, said Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian for Trincomalee, Mr.K.Thurairetnasingham, in a letter faxed to Environment and Natural Resources Minister, Mr.Rukman Senanayake, Monday.


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Hakim to prepare alternate proposals for Muslims

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2003, 13:42 GMT]
The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and Minister Mr.Rauff Hakim said Monday that he did not want to comment on the Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals made by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
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Hakim to meet his rival Athaullah on LTTE proposals

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2003, 11:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader and Minister Mr.Rauff Hakim on his return to Colombo Monday from Britain is scheduled to meet his rival and Minister Mr.A.L.M. Athaullah on Wednesday to discuss LTTE's proposal on the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA), political sources in Colombo said Sunday.


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U.S. Government supports resumption of peace negotiations

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2003, 10:20 GMT]
Applauding the Norwegian government for its ongoing facilitation efforts, the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka in a statement issued today in Colombo, said that it also believed that "it is possible for both sides to reach agreement on an interim administration which, over time, must lead into a permanent peace settlement".
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Sampanthan to address seminar on ISGA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2003, 18:03 GMT]
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is organizing a one-day seminar on Friday, November 7, on the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the Tamil dominated NorthEast province. Mr. R. Sampanthan, the parliamentary group leader of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is expected to speak on behalf of TNA, sources in Colombo said.


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SU demands Colombo to abandon peace process

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2003, 17:03 GMT]
Extreme Sinhala nationalist party, Sihala Urumaya (SU), Sunday appealed to the United National Front (UNF) Government to terminate the peace talks with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the basis of the contents of the proposals for interim self-governing authority (ISGA), which the SU said will lead to the formation of a separate state, media sources said.
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