Armed men, LTTE cadres clash in Vavunathivu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 08:01 GMT]
A group of men in military fatigues launched an ambush on an LTTE convoy in Vavunathivu, 5 kilometers west of Batticaloa Monday night. LTTE sources in the East said three of their cadres sustained injuries in the counterstrike. The clash took place at the entrance to the LTTE controlled area in Vavunathivu around 10:00 p.m. on Monday. Vavunathivu is located 5 km west of Batticaloa.
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JVP's economic policy criticized by Sri Lanka's FM

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 October 2005, 15:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister and the brother of SL President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge, Mr. Anura Bandaranaike, slammed at the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna's (JVP) economic policy and their stance with regard to the scuttled P-TOMS at a press briefing held at his official residence Visumpaya Monday morning.
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Sniper-rifle, ammunition found under bridge in Chilaw

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 October 2005, 12:56 GMT]
Police in Chilaw recovered a parcel containing sniper rifle, several other arms and ammunition under a bridge in the Maha Oya area around 8:30 am Monday after receiving a tip-off from a civilian, police sources said.
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Meesalai Spiritual Refuge ransacked, buildings damaged

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 October 2005, 10:37 GMT]
Buildings belonging to Sri Kayathiri Kamagodi spritual refuge ('Aachramam') in Meesalai in Thenmaradchy Jaffna, run by Swami Rajkumar, were damaged and the properties inside the refuge set on fire by an unknown group of persons Monday morning, sources said.
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Cycle of violence must end, LTTE tells SLMM

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2005, 16:42 GMT]
Pointing out that political killings "meticulously planned to apportion blame on [the LTTE]" in military occupied areas have reached a climax and that this "political vendetta" is claiming lives of innocent people, the Liberation Tigers in a letter to Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission [SLMM] Mr Hagrup Haukland, requested the SLMM to "act resolutely to end this cycle of violence and help save innocent lives and the integrity of the CFA."
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Court reprimands Mannar Police for violating Islamic custom

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 10:45 GMT]
Mannar Magistrate Mr.N.M.M.Abdullah Friday reprimanded the Mannar Police for taking into custody a Muslim woman while observing the islamic ritual " Iththa" after the death of her husband. The Magistrate immediately released the woman who was produced in courts by the Mannar Police to given evidence in the murder of her husband Mr Ramesh Rajah (42) and put off the inquest proceedings for November 11, legal sources said.
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School re-opens in Thenmaradchchi HSZ after six years

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 10:18 GMT]
Eluthumaduval North Government Tamil Mixed School located in the high security zone of Thenmaradchchi in Jaffna reopened in its own buildings, after six years. Students, teachers and well-wishers led by the Principal entered the school buildings Thursday and cleaned the class-rooms, sources said.
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Rajapakse, Wickremasinghe, eleven others contest presidential election

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 October 2005, 03:50 GMT]
Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister and Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, UNP leader and eleven others from other parties handed in their nominations to contest the forthcoming presidential election, which is fixed for November 17. Election Commissioner Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake issued a statement in this regard around 11.30 a. m. following the closure of nominations and after the expiry of the time for objections, election department sources said.
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Doyen of FP, uncompromising on Tamil National question

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 October 2005, 00:16 GMT]
Are leaders of Sinhala community prepared to share state power with Tamils? Mr. V. Navaratnam, the only surviving founder member of the Federal Party that provided political leadership to Tamils for more than three decades since it was formed in 1949, and described as the brain behind FP, shared with TamilNet his views on Tamil National struggle. The doyen of Tamil politics who negotiated with the father of the incumbent President Chandrika Kumaratunge and other Sri Lanka leaders for sharing state power within a federal framework for almost three decades turns 96-years this month in Montreal, Canada. He also inked the Bandaranaiyake Chelvanayagam pact.
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Kumarappa, Pulendran Eighteenth anniversary held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 10:27 GMT]
The eighteenth death anniversary of senior commanders of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Lt. Colonel Pulendran and Lt. Colonel Kumarappa and ten other cadres was observed in Munai in Vadamaradchchy, Jaffna Tuesday morning, sources in Jaffna said. The event took place in the Sri Lanka Army controlled area. Munai region Leader of auxilliary unit of the LTTE naval wing, Pathinather presided the event.
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NE Tamil medium teachers strike, schools closed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 05:20 GMT]
About twenty thousand Tamil medium teachers including principals in the northeast province Wednesday did not report for duty sending a sick note responding to the call of the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) as a token protest against the government's failure to take prompt steps to implement several demands which included the immediate withdrawal of government troops located within fifty meters from schools and to hand over all schools which are located within the high security zones to the Department of Education.
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Grenade lobbed at SLA sentry, one soldier injured

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 October 2005, 06:36 GMT]
An unidentified bicycle-riding man lobbed a grenade into a Sri Lanka Army sentry and road-block, police said. The incident took place at Mankerny in Valaichenai Monday around 9:30 p.m. An SLA soldier sustained serious wounds and was rushed to the Polannarwa Hospital.
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Will EU declaration help Sri Lanka's peace?

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 October 2005, 02:54 GMT]
The European Union’s (EU’s) announcement that it "will not receive members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in its member states until further notice," and is considering formally listing the LTTE as a terrorist organization has raised both controversy and questions over whether the move will aid or hurt the island’s stalled peace process.
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CWC to support Wickremasinghe for President

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 October 2005, 12:40 GMT]
The decision of the Ceylon Workers Congress led by Arumugam Thondaman to support the Presidential candidate of the UNP, Ranil Wickremasinghe, is almost conclusive, informed sources said.
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Defence takes lion’s share of 2006 budget - report

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 October 2005, 03:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s has substantially increased its defence budget for next year to almost US$700 million, the Sunday Times said this week. The rise of over 20% comes amid a stepping up of violence in the island’s east between Army-backed paramilitaries and the Liberation Tigers.
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Kumaratunge leaves for Paris

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2005, 12:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge left for Paris Saturday morning to attend the 33rd session of the UNESCO General Conference to be held on 3 October, sources in Colombo said. UNESCO website said "The world's Ministers of Education will meet during UNESCO's General Conference in October to explore practical ways to address Education for All challenges by building on positive examples from different parts of the world."
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Thousands attend Jaffna Pongu Thamil rally, seek Army withdrawal

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 September 2005, 14:51 GMT]
An estimated two hundred thousand people attended the Tamil Resurgence celebrations in Jaffna Friday at Jaffna University Grounds, calling for the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to vacate the Tamil homeland and declaring that the Tamils right to self-determination is non-negotiable. Speakers at the rally said the event recognizes the Vavuniya proclamation and condemned the one-sided punitive measures taken by the European Union against the Liberation Tigers.
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Newspaper distributor killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 September 2005, 08:06 GMT]
Two unidentified gunmen shot and killed Mr. Yogakumar Krishnapillai the distributor of the Batticaloa-Eelanatham newspaper. The killing took place in the heart of Batticaloa town on Central Road in front of HNB Bank, a high security area of Sri Lanka Army, Friday morning around 7:30 a.m. Batticaloa Eelanatham, the only newspaper in Batticaloa, is printed in the LTTE held Kokkadichholai. On 10 September, Sri Lankan Special Task Force soldiers blocked the sales of the Eelanatham paper in SLA controlled areas of Batticaloa and Amparai districts.
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Morning fire guts SLMM's Mannar residence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 September 2005, 23:05 GMT]
An electric short circuit was blamed for an early morning fire Thursday that gutted the luxury house located along Field Road in Mannar town rented by members of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), sources in Mannar said. The short circuit was traced to an air conditioning unit in the basement of the house. Three members of the SLMM who were asleep escaped unhurt, Mannar police said.
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EU Declaration shatters peace hopes - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 September 2005, 09:18 GMT]
Warning that the European Union's declaration will be interpreted by Colombo as providing tacit support to its policies and therefore will likely harden Colombo's views and approach to the peace process, Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, S. P. Thamilchelvan, told TamilNet Wednesday that the announced restriction on receiving LTTE delegations in EU countries, has ruined the trust Tamil people had in the EU, and has caused irreparable damage to prospects for peace.
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