Joint Mechanism means end of UPFA, warns JVP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 April 2005, 05:02 GMT]
At a time when the Norwegian facilitators indicated that the Government and the LTTE are coming close to enter into an agreement on the proposed Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami aid distribution in the North-East, the marxist extreme Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a major ally of the ruling UPFA coalition, warned on Tuesday that such a deal would mean the end of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government.
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Solheim meets Govt. Peace Secretariat head

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 April 2005, 17:24 GMT]
Mr.Erik Solheim, Norwegian special peace envoy Monday met with the Head of the Government Peace Secretariat, Dr Jayantha Dhanapala, and discussed in detail about resolving issues confronting the formation of the joint mechanism between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The joint mechanism is proposed to take forward the tsunami relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction programme in the northeast province, sources said.
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LTTE conducted clearing operation in its area-Elilan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 April 2005, 17:04 GMT]
Responding to a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that LTTE cadres had fired towards the SLA Mahindapura army camp which is located down south of Muttur area in the Trincomalee district Wednesday night, Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head said " Our cadres conducted a clearing operation on receipt of information that armed cadres of an unidentified group had entered from the side of army camp into the no-man zone".


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IDPs, tsunami victims celebrate New Year in camps, tents

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 April 2005, 10:59 GMT]
Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Tamil families affected by tsnunami and two decade old war Thursday celebrated another New Year in camps, welfare centres and make-shift structures as their own houses and agricultural lands in the Jaffna district are occupied by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), civil society sources said.


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Thamilchelvan meets Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 April 2005, 07:40 GMT]
LTTE Political Head Mr. S.P.Thamilchelvan and his delegation met Tuesday Human rights activist, Nobel laureate and Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa in Cape Town. The LTTE Political Head, who briefed the Nobel laureate on the current state of the CFA and post-tsunami humanitarian situation of the NorthEast, said that international engagement is significant for the proposed Joint Mechanism to become a reality. Desmond Tutu, who appreciated the LTTE for its commitment to the Norwegian facilitated Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), expressed his desire to visit NorthEast and see the plight of Tamil people, LTTE sources said.
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LTTE Political Head meets South African Deputy President

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 April 2005, 19:29 GMT]
Mr Thamilchelvan, head of LTTE political wing, told South African Deputy President Mr.Jacob Zuma that LTTE is committed to the CeaseFire Agreement and has expressed its readiness to recommence negotiations on the basis of the proposals submitted for the formation of an interim administration, when they met in Durban Monday, sources close to the LTTE said.


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SLMM official: ‘Government must disarm Karuna Group’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 April 2005, 17:03 GMT]
The Sunday Times this week published transcripts from the Presidential Commission into the killings of LTTE officials and supporters in Sri Lanka’s restive east, in which the head of the international ceasefire monitors in Batticaloa, Mr. Steen Joergensen, confirmed the presence of anti-LTTE paramilitaries in government-held areas. However, the Sri Lanka Army's senior most officer in Batticaloa, Brigadier Laksiri Amaratunge, denied the charge.
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SLMM says LTTE violated CFA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 April 2005, 12:24 GMT]
The LTTE has violated article 1.2 of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) which states “neither party shall engage in any offensive military operation," BBC Sinhala service quoted Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) spokeswoman Helen Maria Olafdottir as saying, referring to a recent incident where the Liberation Tigers were accused of firing a Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) patrol boat with an SLMM member on board in Trincomalee Bay off Upparu on 5 April 2005.
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SLA soldier captured in LTTE controlled Muttur village

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 April 2005, 10:43 GMT]
A soldier of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), armed with a rifle and a compass, was arrested Saturday morning around 11 AM by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The arrest took place in the village of Thanganagar in Muttur east, an LTTE controlled area south of the Trincomalee district.
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Truce monitors saw Karuna cadres in Army area - report

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 April 2005, 18:02 GMT]
The head of the international ceasefire monitors supervising Sri Lanka’s three year old ceasefire told a President Commission investigating deadly attacks on members and supporters LTTE that cadres of an anti-LTTE paramilitary group had been seen operating in a government-held area, a Reuters report said Friday.
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SLA yet to allow mechanized fishing in Ariyalai Sea

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 April 2005, 14:58 GMT]
Fisheries societies sources said that even after elapse of three years from the signing of a ceasefire agreement (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stationed in the Jaffna district have yet to allow fishermen of Ariyalai area, a suburb of Jaffna town, to use fishing crafts fitted with outboard engines.
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Security Forces' harassment of civilians on the rise, SLMM told

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 April 2005, 14:16 GMT]
Citing a recent incident where a navy soldier had entered the house of a Tamil civilian and harassed and intimidated him under the pretext of holding inquiry, Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Friday requested the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the east port town to take immediate steps to stop the intimidation and harassment of Tamil civilians by members of government security forces, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Army circular creates stir in Jaffna education circle

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2005, 14:39 GMT]
Major General Sunil Tennekon, Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Wednesday instructed all Zonal Directors of Education in the Jaffna district in writing to submit their explanation in regard to the participation of students in school uniform during public agitations held so far. In response Jaffna education establishment has said that the army has no right to call for explanation from education officials except the education ministry, education sources said.
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NPC urges Colombo to disprove Government support to Karuna group

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2005, 09:36 GMT]
Pointing out the existence of a camp manned by militants of the Karuna group in Government-controlled territory that borders the north east, the National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo based Sri Lankan peace group, in a media release issued on Thursday, called on the Government to disprove the allegations regarding its support for the Karuna group immediately and ensure that no such camps are permitted to exist in the territory it controls. Cease Fire Agreement between the GoSL and the LTTE in its clause 1.8 prohibits armed paramilitaries in the NorthEast. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has been accused of collaborating with paramilitaries to promote internecine violence in the east.
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Tamil journalists still feel insecure - SLTMA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 March 2005, 10:28 GMT]
"Tamil media journalists still feel insecure in the ceasefire situation and also they are facing discrimination language wise", said Mr.R.Barathi, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) in his annual report tabled at the annual general meeting of the SLTMA held during the weekend in Colombo.
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Resettled families urge not to stop issue of dry ration

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 March 2005, 15:05 GMT]
Hundreds of residents of Islets in the Jaffna district Monday held a demonstration in front of the Velanai divisional secretariat demanding that they should be provided with dry ration without interruption instead of taking steps to suspend it, civil sources said.
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SLA assures protection to Jaffna journalists

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 March 2005, 17:41 GMT]
Major General Sunil Tennekon, Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army Sunday assured the Jaffna media personnel that his command is prepared to provide security to them and their equipments when they discharge their duties on the ground. He held a wide-ranging discussion, which lasted for about an hour with a delegation of Jaffna District Media Association (JDMA) at the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) following allegations that soldiers had attacked journalists in Jaffna in recent times when they were performing their duties.
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Tamils risk turning violence inwards- Prof Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 March 2005, 11:20 GMT]
Although the three years of relative peace after the signing of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between the United National Party (UNP) and the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) has demonstrated that violence and war is not necessary to mediate relations between warring parties, the same period has "also proved that Tamil society ran the risk of turning violence inwards, against itself," writes Prof Uyangoda in an article appearing in the Saturday edition of Daily Mirror.
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"No hope for Tamils within a united Sri Lanka" - Verena Graf tells UN Commission

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 March 2005, 21:28 GMT]
"The developments during the last three years compounded by the post-tsunami experiences raise the specter that time is running out; that there is no hope for the Tamils within a united Sri Lanka, that their only chance lies in fighting for external self-determination," Ms. Verena Graf, Secretary General of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples, a Geneva based NGO with Special Consultative Status at the United Nations, said in her oral statement on Friday at UN Commission's 61st session on Human Rights.
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Norway slams Colombo media report

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 March 2005, 12:00 GMT]
Norway Tuesday slammed a Colombo media report that it has conveyed a warning to the Government of Sri Lanka and international donors that it is considering a suspension of its role as facilitator to the Peace Process. The Norwegian embassy in Colombo categorically denied the report. Daily Mirror published from Colombo in a lead story Tuesday quoting "informed sources" said: "the LTTE may withdraw from the ceasefire agreement and Norway may suspend its role as facilitator if the government fails to set up a joint mechanism with the LTTE before the end of April to handle tsunami rebuilding in the northeast".
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