Gunmen loot travellers in Mannampitiya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 June 2005, 08:41 GMT]
Two armed men in military fatigue blocked vehicles travelling towards Batticaloa via Polannaruwa-Batticaloa road around 3.30 AM Tuesday morning at Mannampitiya and looted money and valuables worth Rs 300,000 from passengers in at least two vehicles, sources said. The armed men were standing 200 meters away from a military checkpoint for almost two hours.
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Protest march held in Vadamaradchchi supporting aid deal

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 June 2005, 11:28 GMT]
Thousands of people participated in the protest march held Monday in the Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district demanding the immediate implementation of the joint mechanism structure and withdrawal of the government troops from their land. The Vadamaradchchi fisheries societies federation organized the protest march, sources said.
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"Rise to rout Buddhist Sinhala chauvinism"- Jaffna Undergrads

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 June 2005, 10:51 GMT]
"We, the Tamil people declare that we will defeat Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism and regain our traditional homeland from the occupation of armed forces. We will exercise our right to self determination in our land with our own strength," said a declaration of students of Jaffna campus read at the conclusion of a renaissance event "Voice of Tamil Nation" held Sunday at the Kailasapathy Auditorium.
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Mannar LTTE offices come under attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 June 2005, 16:51 GMT]
Two offices of the Liberation Tigers in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled area of Mannar have been simultaneously attacked by suspected gunmen belonging to Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) around 9.45 pm Saturday with grenades and gunfire, sources in Mannar said. Sounds of grenade explosions and gunfire were heard near the political office of the LTTE, located in Mannar-Thalaimannar Road and LTTE's administrative office located in Mannar Moor street. TamilNet has not confirmed whether a third office in Moor street of LTTE's financial division was also attacked, sources added.
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SLMM vehicle damaged in Trinco violence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 June 2005, 11:15 GMT]
A vehicle belonging to Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee was damaged by a group of persons around 8.30 a.m., Saturday, at Hali Oluwa, a predominantly Sinhala suburb, located south of Trincomalee. Meanwhile, police in the eastern port town said several violent incidents against Tamils had taken place in Serunuwara and Hali Oluwa areas in the wake of the the killing of Police intelligence officer, Friday. Several lorries transporting cadjan and fishing boats were attacked by Sinhala youth. Tamil civilians who were using the Hali Oluwa junction for travelling to their areas were also assaulted, civilian sources said.


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Lanka customs slaps $1m duty on Oxfam relief vehicles

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 17:19 GMT]
British charity Oxfam had to pay Sri Lanka customs US$1 million as tax to clear 25 four-wheel drive vehicles imported for tsunami duty, a BBC report said.
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SLAF helicopter takes LTTE commanders to Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 13:11 GMT]
Batticaloa-Amparai LTTE military commanders and Head of LTTE's Batticaloa-Amparai Political Wing, Mr. Ilanthirayan, returned to Batticaloa from Kilinochchi in a Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) Helicopter Friday morning, sources in Batticaloa said. LTTE's Batticaloa-Amparai Special Commander Col. Banu, Batticaloa-Amparai Commander Ram, Commander Janarathan of LTTE's armed forces in Amparai and Commander Shanthan of the Jeyanthan Regiment were held up in Kilinochchi for some weeks as Colombo earlier refused to provide transport arrangements.
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Aid deal not final, says Kumaratunga

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 10:28 GMT]
Responding to a letter from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which listed JVP's reasons for quitting the alliance, Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga said Thursday that a final document for the Joint Mechanism has not been formulated. She added that the proposed mechanism does not go beyond the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed by Ranil Wickremesinghe and that the mechanism will not in any way jeopardize the sovereignty or integrity of Sri Lanka. Political observers in Colombo noted that as no time frame has been fixed for signing the proposal, more political maneuvering and delay in finalizing the aid deal can be expected.
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Donor pressure ‘breached Buddhist hegemony’- paper

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 00:05 GMT]
Hailing the international donor community’s insistence on a joint mechanism for tsunami aid, the Tamil Guardian newspaper this week said this had forced Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga to face down powerful Buddhist clergy and Sinhala ultranationalists. “This breach in Buddhist hegemony must be widened … if peace and, in particular, ethnic reconciliation is to be possible in Sri Lanka,” the paper argued in its latest editorial.
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Police move to stop fast to death campaign

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 17:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police moved to disrupt the fast unto death campaign led by Ven Dambara Amila Thera, the president of the extremist National Bhikku Front (NBF) Wednesday afternoon at 6.30 PM, sources in Colombo said. Police with the support of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) carried the monk from his campaign location in front of Colombo Fort Railway station to a waiting ambulance and drove him to Colombo General Hospital for treatment.
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LTTE's Trincomalee commander returns

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 06:12 GMT]
Commander of the Liberation Tigers' forces in Trincomalee, Col. Sornam, arrived in Sampur in Trincomalee Wednesday at 10.30 AM in a in a SLAF Helicopter facilitated by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), LTTE officials said.
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Civil group fights against Upper Kotmale Hydro Project

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 June 2005, 05:10 GMT]
Mr E Thambiah, an opponent of the Upper Kotmale hydropower scheme and organizer of People's Campaign Against Upper Kotmale Project (PCAUKP), a countrywide grassroots organization with members from all communities, recently spoke to TamilNet on the reasons for their campaign to stop the project. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), however, believes that the project is necessary to fuel economic growth of Sri Lanka.
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Thenmaradchchi displaced hold sit-in-protest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 June 2005, 15:35 GMT]
Large number of displaced persons in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district Saturday morning held a one-hour sit-in-protest in front of the 55 Brigade Sri Lanka Army camp located in Mirusuvil Asaipillaiyettam demanding to vacate their houses and agricultural lands. SLA has been occupying many houses in areas demarcated as high security zones. The sit-in protest blocked the traffic on A 9 Jaffna Kandy for about an hour, sources said.
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Claymore attack kills Intelligence officer, EPDP cadre in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 June 2005, 06:35 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence Officer, Lance Corporal Ellaperuma Rukman Edward,31, and an Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) cadre, Mr. Gnanakumar Kannan, 28, were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked Kurumankadu EPDP camp located 1.5 km west of Vavuniya Saturday at 11.16 AM. Five paramilitary cadres and another SLA intelligence officer, Mr. Ajith De Silva, 30, were injured in the attack. The attackers used a Claymore mine on the wall of the camp, Vavuniya Police said. The cadres and the camp belonged to EPRLF-Varathar Group until the cadres converted to EPDP a few weeks ago, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Japanese students hold Sivaram memorial

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 June 2005, 00:06 GMT]
Students at a Tokyo university where Tamil political columnist and military analyst Dharmeratnam Sivaram was scheduled to speak shortly before he was abducted and murdered by unidentified gunmen in Colombo on April 28 held a memorial Tuesday this week.
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Civilian killed in gunfire at Chenkalady market

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 June 2005, 08:08 GMT]
A 40 year old civilian, Mr. Thadchanamoorthy Karunamoorthy, was killed on the spot as Sri Lankan Army soldiers returned fire on gunmen who shot at an EPDP cadre Thursday morning around 10.30 AM, according to eyewitnesses in Chenkalady market. The EPDP cadre, Mr. Tharmaratnam Elamaran Ravi, 30, who was in-charge of the Chenkalady EPDP office, and an SLA corporal Mr. Piremathilake, 35, were wounded in the attack by the gunmen.
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Two LTTE cadres killed in claymore attack in East

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 June 2005, 13:10 GMT]
Two LTTE cadres, Mr. Niveharan (22) and Mr. Sutharanjan (23), were killed in a claymore landmine attack in no-man zone at Sangamankandy, between Pottuvil and Komari at 12.35 PM Wednesday, sources said. The attack took place at Sangamankandy 2 km from Thandiyadi Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoint while the cadres were walking with their punctured motorbike from Kanjirankuda LTTE base towards LTTE political office in Komari, Mr. Daya Mohan, Deputy Head of LTTE's Batticaloa-Amparai Political Division told TamilNet. Mr. Daya Mohan blamed Special Task Force (STF) soldiers and paramilitary cadres working with the STF for the attack.
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Archaeologists enter Omanthai statue dispute

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 June 2005, 18:08 GMT]
The controversy over the Buddha statue installed by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the historic Pillaiyar Temple premises in Omanthai, a strategic point located at the southern border of LTTE held Vanni region, took a perplexing turn when a group of three archaeologists visited the site on the direction of Sri Lanka government authorities in Colombo to investigate "archaeological findings" in the area. The group was given police protection, sources said.


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Japanese diplomacy boosts JVP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 June 2005, 14:27 GMT]
Leaders of Sri Lanka’s ultra-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP) wound up a ten day visit to Japan last week, having had a strong of meetings with top officials, former prime ministers and no less than four conferences with Yasushi Akashi, Japan’s Peace Envoy to Sri Lanka, sources said. JVP leader Somawanse Amarasinghe and his delegation were invited to Japan with a view to persuading them to cease their resistance to the internationally-backed peace process in Sri Lanka, but, the diplomatic initiative failed, as the party remains adamantly opposed to the joint mechanism, the sources said.
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Trinco airstrip, a canard to justify Muttur embargo- Elilan

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 June 2005, 19:20 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday brought to the notice of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that reports published in a section of the media quoting a report from the state intelligence agency that LTTE is engaged in constructing an airstrip in Sampoor, Muttur east, is a figment of imagination, sources said.
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