LTTE urged to bring upcountry parties together

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 October 2003, 12:26 GMT]
“The Liberation Tigers should help bring together the Up Country People’s front (UPF) and the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC). All the Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka should be united”, said Mr. P. Chandrasekeran MP, Minister for Social Development, speaking to the press after meeting Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, the head of the Tigers’ political division, for a briefing and discussion on the LTTE’s Interim Administration proposal Sunday.
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Batticaloa TULF tells ‘Sangaree’ to step down

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 October 2003, 11:33 GMT]
The Batticaloa branch of the Tamil United Liberation Front resolved Sunday that the party’s leader Mr. V. Anandasangaree MP should step down. “If he fails to do so the secretary general of the TULF should convene the central committee and take necessary measures to remove him from his position as the party leader”, states a resolution passed Sunday by this politically strategic branch in the east.
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SLMC delegation leaves for London to study devolution

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 2003, 18:39 GMT]
A delegation of Muslim politicians and intelligentsia, led by Mr.Rauff Hakeem, left for London, United Kingdom, Saturday at the invitation of the British government on an official visit to study the constitutional arrangements in Ireland and Scotland, sources said.
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Norwegian Advisor on Gender Issues visits Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2003, 15:34 GMT]
Dr. Astrid N. Heiberg, the Advisor to the Subcommittee on Gender Issues (SGI) and Ms. Kjersti of the Norwegian High Commission in Colombo, visited the women’s secretariat in Kilinochchi Thursday morning and held discussions about women’s issues throughout the day, sources in the Vanni said.
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SLFP demonstrates against "betrayal of Sinhala nation"

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2003, 14:17 GMT]
Thousands of people participated in the demonstration organized by the main constituent of the opposition People’s Alliance, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), against the United National Front (UNF) government of Sri Lanka Friday in Colombo, saying the UNF has 'betrayed' the 'Sinhala nation,' sources said.
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SLFP to hold anti-UNF demo on Deepavali day

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2003, 18:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, who is also the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), rejected appeals made by Tamil parliamentarians and Hindu organizations against holding the SLFP’s demonstration against the United National Front government in Colombo on the Deepavali day, Friday, sources said.
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Hindus celebrate Deepavali

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2003, 17:05 GMT]
Hindus in Colombo celebrated the Deepavali Festival, the festival of lights, at the New Kathiresan hall in Bambalapitiya Thursday.
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JVP holds meeting to publish 'National Program'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 October 2003, 15:07 GMT]
The Marxist and Sinhala Nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) today held a public council meeting and produced what it called a ‘National Program’ for building up the country at the open theater inside the Viharamahadevi Park in downtown Colombo.
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Girls' sports champion hailed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 October 2003, 20:42 GMT]
The women’s wing of the Liberation Tigers has commended Miss.Tharani Seevaratnam, a student at the Akkarayankulam Maha Vidiyalayam in Kilinochchi, who was placed second in Discus Throw and third in Shot Putt in the under-15 category, in an island-wide competition held at the Sugathadasa stadium in Colombo in September, sources said.
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Maj. Gen. Fonseka reproves Jaffna media

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 October 2003, 11:36 GMT]
Commander of Sri Lankan armed forces in Jaffna, Maj. Gen. Sarath Foneseka told a group of northern journalists Tuesday that newspapers in the peninsula publish “half information’ and distorted reports intended to make people angry at the military. Speaking to representatives of the North Ceylon Journalists’ Association about recent attacks on media persons in Jaffna by Sri Lankan armed forces soldiers, he said: “We are not hundred percent happy about the way media people in Jaffna are carrying out their jobs”.
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Nimalarajan murder suspect remanded

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2003, 19:05 GMT]
The Jaffna Magistrate, Mr.R.T.Viknarajah, Monday ordered remand for a suspect in the murder of Jaffna based journalist, Mr.M.Nimalarajan, till Tuesday, legal sources said.
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LTTE delegation returns from Dublin, European meetings

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 October 2003, 12:04 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) delegation, led by its Head of Political Wing S.P.Thamilchelvan, which had been to Dublin Ireland to finalize LTTE's proposals on Interim Administration to Northeast returned to Sri Lanka Saturday. Senior Commander Karuna arrived at the Illupadichenai Sports Grounds at 10.30 am in a special military helicopter, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Hindu Religious Ministry to celebrate Deepavali

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 October 2003, 16:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Hindu Religious Affairs Ministry has released 1.5 million rupees to Administrators of thirty five institutions such as orphanages, homes of the aged, children homes and women welfare centres in the northeast to purchase and supply new clothes to celebrate Deepavali (Festival of Lights) which falls on October 24th Friday, said a ministry media unit press release Saturday.


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Hakeem meets Indian Foreign Minister

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 October 2003, 18:51 GMT]
Mr. Rauff Hakeem, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and a Minister in the United National Front Government, met with the visiting Indian Foreign Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, Tuesday evening, and told the latter that it was of paramount importance to safeguard Muslim interests in the proposed Interim Administration for the Northeast, sources said.
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Security and land Tamils' chief concern – Minister

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 October 2003, 17:13 GMT]
“The Singhalese should decide whether we are going to have a united Sri Lanka or Eelam and Sri Lanka. The peace process may take years. But the conflict should be resolved before the next elections”, said Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Lands, speaking at a workshop on ‘Devolution of Power: To what extent in Sri Lanka – Lessons Learnt in Europe’, in Colombo Thursday.
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Wickremesinghe said to agree in principle to IDPs' resettlement in HSZ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 October 2003, 16:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, in a meeting with a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday, accepted 'in principle' that all internally displaced families are entitled to resettlement in their own lands and houses in the northeast province, regardless of whether those lands or houses come under areas declared as high security zones (HSZ) by the Sri Lanka Army, TNA sources said.
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Dead whale washed ashore in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 October 2003, 16:06 GMT]
A large dead humpback whale was found washed ashore at the Bambalapitiya beach in Colombo Wednesday. Curious onlookers, including school children, gathered at the beach to see the mammal, sources said.
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Maligawa bombing accused sentenced to death

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 October 2003, 07:20 GMT]
The Kandy High Court Wednesday sentenced to death three persons accused of involvement in the bombing of Dalada Maligawa, the Buddhist temple of the tooth, on January 25, 1998. The judge, Mr. D. S. D Lekamwasam, gave 680 years each to Mr. Subramaniam Raveendran and Mr. Krishnasamy Ramachandran, two of them and 490 years to the third. The fourth accused, Mr. Muthulingam Jeevarajah, was acquitted.
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Northern Principals propose fully empowered IA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 17:00 GMT]
The Northern Province Principals' Association (NPPA) said Tuesday that it has sent a memorandum to Mr. Velupillai Pirapakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers, urging him to ensure that the proposed Interim Administration (IA) for the Northeast is vested with fiscal, executive and judicial powers.
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SLPA ignores Point Pedro harbour workers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 15:26 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) is not paying hundreds of workers who are engaged in loading and unloading of cargo in Point Pedro harbor regularly. A sum of 1.7 million rupees has accumulated as salary arrears to be paid for the workers since June this year, port trade union sources allege.
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