WHO to donate eight ambulances to NE

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 January 2003, 01:41 GMT]
The World Health Organization (WHO) is to donate eight ambulances, each costing about Rs 1.8 million, to the North East Provincial Council to conduct mobile medical services in remote villages and difficult areas in the northeast province, provincial health ministry sources in Trincomalee said.
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Public angered as police removes billboard

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 January 2003, 05:23 GMT]
The police in Batticaloa in the early morning hours Wednesday removed the billboard erected by the public near the Pillaiyar temple located at the entrance to the Batticaloa town, with the sign "Welcome to the land where courage grows," sources said
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Mirusuvil massacre accused remanded, warrant on witnesses

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 January 2003, 01:00 GMT]
The trial-at-bar comprising three judges of the Colombo High Court in the Mirusuvil massacre case Wednesday ordered remand for the five accused soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and issued warrant on four vital witnesses who had intimated through the State Counsel from Jaffna their inability to attend the trial due to fear, legal sources in Colombo said.
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GOSL, LTTE and WB to meet again in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 January 2003, 23:38 GMT]
The delegations of the Government of Sri Lanka, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and World Bank are scheduled to meet Thursday (30.1.2003) in Colombo to hold discussions related to the funds pledged at the donor conference in Oslo, Norway last year. Minister and Cabinet spokesman Professor G.L.Peiris informed this at a press briefing held Wednesday.
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De-mining in Jaffna said big business, as mines claim more

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 January 2003, 22:04 GMT]
A woodcutter, Sinnathambi Sinnathurai, 50, was seriously injured Tuesday while chopping fire wood with a relative in Mayilankoodal, Erlalai South, Jaffna, when his axe struck a landmine. He was admitted to the Jaffna hospital. Landmines continue to claim lives and limbs of civilians in Jaffna despite much publicised de-mining programs by international NGOs in the war torn northern peninsula.
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'LTTE, IRA have political goals' - British Minister

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 January 2003, 15:39 GMT]
British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said Wednesday that the global war against terrorism may be long drawn out because the Al Qaeda has an agenda with which there cannot be negotiations, unlike the LTTE and the IRA who have political goals. He was speaking on 'New Threats to International Security' at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo Wednesday.
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"Sri Lankan peace process holds lessons for the world" - British Minister

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 January 2003, 12:50 GMT]
The Sri Lanka peace process holds a lesson for the world, that long-lasting conflicts can be resolved if both sides have the courage to put bitterness and mistrust behind them, and find the flexibility and generosity of spirit to reach a compromise which can satisfy all sides, writes British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien who arrived in Colombo today for a two-day visit.
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LTTE rejects Indian General's terms on HSZs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 January 2003, 08:33 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will not accept recommendations from international military experts that link the "critical humanitarian issue" of resettling internally displaced persons and refugees in Jaffna to disarming of its cadres and de-commissioning of its weapons, the movement's chief negotiator and political strategist, Mr Anton Balasingham, told the Tamil Guardian newspaper Monday. The Tigers "will fiercely oppose and reject any proposal that makes resettlement of refugees conditional upon de-commissioning of LTTE weapons," he said further.


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'Decommissioning of arms after finding political solution'- PM

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 January 2003, 17:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe said this is not opportune time, before finding a lasting political solution, to demand decommissing of arms from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), when addressing the annual convention of the pro-government Sri Lanka Estate Workers Union at Sri Kotha, United National Party headquarters, in Colombo Saturday.
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New SLA camp in Chavakchcheri displaces resettlers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 January 2003, 14:42 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, is building a new camp in an outer suburb of the war ravaged town where refugee families that fled the war more than two years resettled recently, residents said. Three families, which resettled in their homes by the Kandy Road two months ago, vacated their houses Friday as ordered by the SLA. Four resettled families here left Saturday out of fear, sources in Chavakachcheri said.


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GOSL-LTTE leaders brief diplomats in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 January 2003, 19:16 GMT]
Representatives of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) met in Colombo at a well-guarded five star hotel for the first time in twelve years Thursday morning, and briefed the international donor countries on the immediate humanitarian needs.
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Ratwatte's bail petition denied

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 January 2003, 19:14 GMT]
The three-member bench of the High Court hearing the Udathalawinne massacre case Thursday rejected the bail application made by the defence and ordered that former Deputy defence Minister General Anurudha Ratwatte should be remanded till the trial is over.
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Shortened fifth round of talks in Europe

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 January 2003, 11:59 GMT]
The fifth round of direct talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government will be held in Europe on 7-8 February, the Norwegian government said Thursday. The duration of the round has been shortened to enable the LTTE to complete internal consultations before the next stage of the peace process, the statement said. Heavy flooding and the risk of virulent infectious diseases had prevented the LTTE Chief Negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, from travelling to the Vanni, it added.
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Downward trend in ceasefire violations seen - SLMM

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 January 2003, 13:02 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Commission (SLMM) in a press release issued today observed that the positive and ongoing development in the ceasefire during the last several months has been the decrease in the number of ceasefire violations. Most number of violations occurred in December was in Batticaloa(61) followed by Jaffna(46), Vavuniya(16), Ampara(7) and Trincomalee(1), the release said.
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Udathalawinne massacre accused remanded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 January 2003, 12:16 GMT]
The three-member bench of the High Court Tuesday rejected the preliminary objections raised by the defence in the Udathalawinne massacre case. The High Court further ordered all the accused including former Deputy Defence Minister General Anurudha Ratwatte and his two sons Lohan and Chanuka be remanded till tomorrow (Wednesday), legal sources inColombo said.


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French artist visits Vakarai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 January 2003, 03:24 GMT]
Didier Bayle, a noted French artist, on his first visit to Vakarai, met with local students and taught them the intricacies of the subject of art. He, through art, encouraged the children to express their inner feelings to discover the psychological impact of war on children, sources said.


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World Bank to launch needs assessment survey in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 January 2003, 17:40 GMT]
The World Bank said Sunday it is to launch a comprehensive needs assessment survey on Monday (January 20) in partnership with the United Nations and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to identify problems related to housing, education, infrastructure development, resettlement and employment in the northeast province, Colombo sources said.


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'Federalism will unite divided Sri Lanka' – Jaffna don

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 January 2003, 12:48 GMT]
“This country is already divided. This is the ground reality. The Sinhalese people have to be told this. There is no point in talking about history now. The Indo-Lanka Accord, the Banda-Chelva Pact and the Dudley Chelva Pact have recognized the separate distinct identity of the Tamils in the past. The Sinhalese have to be told that the divided country can be united by granting a federal solution," said Prof. S. K Sittampalam, a senior historian, speaking at a seminar on ‘Federalizing the Sri Lankan State’ in the University of Jaffna Sunday.


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'Govt. to take final decision on HSZ soon'-Peiris

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 January 2003, 17:38 GMT]
Prof. G.L.Peiris, a senior minister in the United National Front government (UNF) and the leader of Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) peace delegation, Friday said that he expected the report of the Indian defence expert Sathish Nambiar within next few days on the question of resettling displaced in the high security zones (HSZ) in the Jaffna peninsula. Minister Mr.Peiris told diplomats that the government would take a final decision on the resettlement of displaced in HSZ once it received Nambiar report, sources in Colombo said.
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Pirapaharan welcomes Japanese envoy, President cancels meeting

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 January 2003, 12:07 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Pirapaharan, sent his greetings through LTTE's political head, ThamilChelvan, to the visiting World bank Vice president, Ms Meiko Nishimizu, Special peace envoy of the Government of Japan, Mr.Yasushi Akashi, World Bank Country Director Mr. Peter Harold and other delegates to the meeting of the Sub Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation (SIHRN) which met in Kilinochchi, Voice of Tigers (VoT), reported in its late night broadcast yesterday.


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