Paramilitaries, lack of aid agreement blocking talks - Balasingham

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 February 2005, 20:50 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers’ political strategist and chief negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, told Norwegian facilitators Monday that the Sri Lankan government had to take steps to restore confidence in the peace process, in particular by disarming paramilitaries working alongside its armed forces and establish a joint mechanism with the LTTE for post-tsunami aid, sources said.
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Killing of Kousalyan has poisoned ceasefire - Akashi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2005, 07:50 GMT]
The killing of Kousalyan and his colleagues has "poisoned the cease fire atmosphere" in Sri Lanka, said Mr. Yasushi Akashi, Japan's Special Peace Envoy, speaking to the press after meeting the Liberation Tigers in Solaiyaham, near Kokkaddicholai Saturday. Referring to the distribution of Tsunami aid in Sri Lanka, Mr. Akashi said the "needs in East are probably biggest".
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Colombo should disarm all unauthorized armed groups- NPC

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2005, 17:55 GMT]
The National Peace Council in a media release issued Friday in Colombo said that "there needs to be confidence building and positive action at this time is imperative in view of consistent accusations by the LTTE of alleged military connivance in the activities of the Karuna group. We call on the government to ensure that all unauthorised armed groups are disarmed as required by the Ceasefire Agreement."
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Violence endangering CFA stability, TNA tells Akashi

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2005, 15:10 GMT]
"The violence unleashed against senior LTTE cadres and others on Monday the 7th in government controlled territory situated between two Army Camps, and in an area which has a strong armed forces presence, has raised grave questions in regard to the continued stability of the ceasefire," the Tamil National Alliance delegation led by its parliamentary group leader Mr Sampanthan told Mr Yasushi Akashi, the special envoy of the Japanese Government, when they met him Friday, a press release issued by the TNA in Colombo said.
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Government's ability to prevent killings limited, says Mangala Samaraweera

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2005, 07:46 GMT]
Cabinet Spokesman of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Freedom Alliance government Minister Mangala Samaraweera said Friday that although the government was taking all steps to prevent killings in the future, there was a limit to which it can prevent them. The killings took place between Sri Lanka army garrisons at Welikanda and Punanai on the Pollonnorawa-Batticaloa road Monday.
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Kousalyan, a symbol of Tamil unity - IFT

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 February 2005, 12:53 GMT]
The Geneva based International Federation of Tamils (IFT) recalling Mr. Kousalyan's address to thousands of Tamils from the Tamil diaspora in front of the United Nations Building last year, said in a press statement issued Thursday that Kausalyan was a symbol of Tamil unity. IFT appealed to International governments and donors to act decisively to prevent escalation of hostilities as it feared that continued "covert operations" will "wane the mutual trust, goodwill and confidence" between the Liberation Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka. IFT called upon the countries giving Sri Lanka military assistance to desist from doing so and instead to pressure them to seek a peaceful solution.
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Sri Lanka condemns killing of Kousalyan, ex-MP Nehru at Welikanda

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 February 2005, 14:51 GMT]
The government of Sri Lanka in a statement today condemned the killing six personnel, including Mr. E. Kousalyan, head of the LTTE Batticaloa-Amparai political division and former parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Mr. Ariyanayagam Chandra Nehru and said that it was a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
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Sri Lanka Navy rescues abandoned refugees

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 February 2005, 11:53 GMT]
Seventeen refugees rescued by Sri Lanka Navy from a sandbank at mid sea were produced in the Mannar court Monday. Indian refugee runners who had promised to illegally ferry them to Mannar abandoned them on one of the shifting sandbanks of the Adam’s Bridge in the early hours of Saturday morning. Mannar magistrate released the refugees.


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"Opportunities exist to strengthen peace process"- Donor co-chairs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 January 2005, 21:36 GMT]
In a joint press statement issued by the co-chairs after the Brussels meeting Tuesday, the Sri Lanka Donors ''welcomed the ongoing effective response by the GoSL and the LTTE in distributing humanitarian aid'' and urged the donors to ''ensure [that] the implementation of Tsunami assistance is sensitive to and strengthens the Peace Process.''
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Temporarily fixed Eastcoast causeway reopens

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 January 2005, 13:42 GMT]
Transport on the main coastal road between Kalmunai and Batticaloa resumed Monday, almost a month after the Tsunami ripped off sections of two causeways in Kallar, 28 kilometres south of the eastern town. The main gap in the Ondaatchi Madam-koddaikallar Causeway was spanned by a temporary bridge by the Road Development Authority (RDA). “The Sri Lankan government has to come up with big money to really repair this causeway. Otherwise this vital part of our district’s infrastructure would be damaged permanently”, an RDA engineer in Batticaloa told TamilNet.
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LTTE declares January 26 as National Day of Mourning

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 January 2005, 16:42 GMT]
"Liberation Tigers declare 26th January as a National Day of Mourning to remember those who lost their lives in the Tsunami disaster in Tamil Homelands and in other regions of South Asia. Let us all participate in the grief and sorrow of all who have lost their loved ones on this day," said Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in a press release issued from its Kilinochchi political offices Sunday.
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IFT urges Donors to support NorthEast apex mechanism

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 January 2005, 15:03 GMT]
The Geneva based International Federation of Tamils (IFT), a consortium of more than 150 expatriate Tamil organizations, has called on the co-chairs of Tokyo Doner conference (Sri Lanka) to express support for an effective aid distibution apex mechanism to Northeastern region of Sri Lanka. IFT called the attention of the International Community and the Co-Chairs to examine the current post -Tsunami situation in northeastern region. Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka is scheduled to be held in Brussels in January 2005.
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Canadian PM meets with TNA, TRO delegations

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 January 2005, 14:30 GMT]
Mr. Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada, met with delegations of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) Monday at Colombo Hilton Hotel at 2.30 PM. The TNA delegation urged that all international aid, including Canadian aid, to be channeled through International Non-Governmental Organizations till a proper mechanism is set up to deal with the post Tsunami situation in the Northeast. The TNA told the Canadian Prime Minister that there was total centralization of all rehabilitation, resettlement, reconstruction and development activities in Colombo, and that this was totally inconsistent with the wishes expressed by the people of Northeast.
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Centralization, control by armed forces, and equitable aid are incompatible, TNA tells ADB president

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 January 2005, 06:58 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation met the president of Asia Development Bank (ADB), Mr. Tadao Chino, on Sunday and highlighted the context and the developments in the country that are detrimental to the equitable distribution of tsunami relief. The TNA, which has 22 of the 31 parliamentary seats from the northeast, told the president of ADB that the present activities of the government did not represent the democratic will of the people of the northeast and urged the ADB president to ensure that international aid was equitably distributed.
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SLMM head witnesses army harassing Elilan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2005, 14:32 GMT]
Monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) led by their head Major General (Retd) Trond Furuhovde personally came to the rescue of LTTE Trincomalee district political head Mr.S.Elilan when the latter was stopped by the Sri Lanka military police at Kaddaiparichchan army camp Thursday around noon for about thirty minutes for failing to get down from his vehicle and showed his identity and his baggage at the checkpoint. This incident took place after about one hour Mr.Elilan complained to SLMM head about the harassment by army during the talks SLMM head held with LTTE Trincomalee district military commander Colonel Sornam, sources said.
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Indian returnees in Trinco protest demanding Tsunami relief

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 January 2005, 13:48 GMT]
Hundreds of Tamil refugee families who returned from South India some years ago and currently sheltered in a welfare centre at Alles Garden, north of Trincomalee, demonstrated in front of their camp Wednesday morning till noon, demanding that they should also be provided with relief and permanent shelters as the recent Tsunami had destroyed part of their camp and their livelihood, sources said.
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Kumaratunga appoints EPDP to tsunami Task Force

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2005, 02:23 GMT]
Representatives of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) have been appointed to the District Task Force (DTF) established in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Amparai districts to coordinate relief and rehabilitation of tsunami victims who are sheltered in welfare centers, on a directive from Sri Lanka’s President, Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunga, civil sources said.
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Navalady - A village turned graveyard

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 January 2005, 15:45 GMT]
What used to be Navalady village is today an earthen stage containing the corpses of the villagers the sea claimed on Boxing Day as it swept into the land. And the villagers who remain struggle to cope with the shock, distress and pain of the effects of that day. They speak of one fisherman, Ravi, who saved at least a hundred people. And they remember the families they lost in minutes.
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Tsunami victims flee as SLA moves into Trinco welfare centres

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 January 2005, 16:19 GMT]
Hundreds of Tsunami victims fled from welfare centres in the Sri Lanka government controlled areas in the Trincomalee district when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers carrying weapons entered the welfare centres to take over the management Thursday on a directive by Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge, several volunteers said.


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Ranil visits Tsunami affected areas in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 January 2005, 09:50 GMT]
Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, former Prime Minister and the leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) paid a visit to Jaffna and witnessed the destruction caused to several coastal villages in the last year Tsunami. He held discussion with local leaders at the office of the Tsunami Disaster Rehabilitation Task Force in Vadamaradchchi division Wednesday afternoon around 1 pm.
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