20,000 quit SLA since truce - General

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 May 2005, 13:56 GMT]
Revealing that over 20,000 soldiers had quit the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) since the February 2002 ceasefire, a top general blamed lack of appreciation of the military by the public and other departments of the state as key reasons for soldiers deserting their posts in the army, press reports in Colombo said. Officers also blamed poor infrastructure in camps and difficulties in obtaining home leave from duties in forward defence areas also as contributing to low morale.
Full story >>

Media colleagues pay tribute to Sivaram

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 May 2005, 02:02 GMT]
Several colleagues from Colombo media, friends and relatives attended the memorial service held Saturday in honor of Dharmeratnam Sivaram, popular military analyst and senior member of TamilNet editorial board who was abducted and killed 28 April. The event was held at the St. Andrew's Scots Kirk Church in Colpetty, Colombo.
Full story >>

Clinton urges Sri Lankan political parties to support Joint Mechanism

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 May 2005, 18:34 GMT]
Meeting the local and foreign media personnel in Colombo at the end of his tightly-scheduled two-day visit, Clinton said that he fully backs the proposed Joint Mechanism‚ as it could also lead to peace and reconciliation. Former US President Bill Clinton, who is also the UN special envoy for co-ordinating tsunami rebuilding process, on Saturday urged the political parties in the South to extend their support for the establishment of such a mechanism "to build a common future for everyone". Appreciating the ceasefire which is continuing for the past three years, Clinton said that Norway was facilitating and all the Sri Lankans should support the peace process.
Full story >>

Clinton meets TRO Director in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 May 2005, 15:24 GMT]
Mr. K.P. Regi, Executive Director of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), met with former US President Bill Clinton at a meeting of the UN agencies and Civil Society organisations working in Sri Lanka Saturday, sources in Colombo said. The meeting took place at Trans Asia Hotel at 4.30 PM in Colombo.
Full story >>

Clinton expresses support for Joint Mechanism

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 May 2005, 11:05 GMT]
Expressing shock at the scale of damage caused by tsunami devastation, visiting UN's Special Envoy on tsunami relief, former US President Bill Clinton expressed support for the urgent need for a Joint Mechanism on Saturday when he met with North East Provincial Governor Mr.Tyronne Fernando, Ministers, Government officials and the representatives from local and foreign NGOs at Carmel Fatima College in Kalmunai. Security measures were tightened in Kalmunai. Dialog Cellphone links were cut off in Kalmunai from 19.00 PM Friday till 2 PM Saturday in Kalmunai, Police sources told TamilNet.
Full story >>

Mines clearing worker injured in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 May 2005, 10:34 GMT]
Vethanayagam Lenin (22), a worker belonging to Halo's Trust, engaged in clearing mine in Urumpirai, a village located 8 km from Jaffna town was injured when a mine exploded in the 250 square meter area that was being cleared and has been admitted to Jaffna teaching hospital, hospital sources said.
Full story >>

SLA troops attacked in Nelliady

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 May 2005, 10:22 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army sergeant was injured when a group of people threw stones at troops in Nelliady in Jaffna Thursday night, the SLA said. A petrol bomb was thrown at another Army detachment in the area earlier in the evening, the Army said.
Full story >>

New group to agitate for return of Thenmaradchi HSZ lands

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 May 2005, 10:46 GMT]
Jaffna district residents formed a Special Action Committee (SAC) to work for the release of agricultural lands and houses now being occupied by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and located inside the high security zone from Eluthumaduval to Kilali in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district, sources said.
Full story >>

Muttur residents protest against SLA's embargo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 May 2005, 05:53 GMT]
A large number of Tamil civilians participated in protest marches held Wednesday in areas of LTTE controlled Muttur east and Eachchilampathu division in the sourthern Trincomalee district, demanding the immediate removal of ban on transporting cement, building materials and fuel through Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoints at Kaddaiparichchan and Mahindapura, sources said.
Full story >>

India to refit Navy flagship at no cost

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2005, 21:06 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) said an Indian naval delegation consisting of top engineers and architects is visiting the island to discuss the refitting of the SLN flagship ‘Sayura.’ The ship is to be refitted in a naval dockyard in India, the SLN said.
Full story >>

HRW laments Tamil killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2005, 04:57 GMT]
Saying that ongoing killings and abductions throughout Sri Lanka have created “a climate of fear among Tamils across the country,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday called for “the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the killings and abductions in order to identify those responsible and recommend measures to end the abuses.”
Full story >>

Aid money stuck in Sri Lanka – World Bank

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 May 2005, 04:46 GMT]
Aid money given to rebuild Sri Lanka after December's devastating tsunami is getting held up on the ground, to the frustration of governments and donors, World Bank Vice President Praful Patel told Reuters in an interview this week.
Full story >>

Army intelligence not to be questioned in Sivaram killing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 May 2005, 23:03 GMT]
The senior police officer tasked with investigating the abduction and murder last month of Tamil political columnist and military analyst, Dharmeratnam Sivaram, said Tuesday that he would not interview military officials simply on the basis of allegations. Senior Superintendent of Police, Crime Division, Sarath Lugoda, was apathetic over the high profile murder, listeners to his interview by the BBC (Sinhala) service said.
Full story >>

Trinco LTTE political activists threatened by soldiers- Elilan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 May 2005, 17:20 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission in the Trincomalee district that a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) had threatened two cadres of the LTTE when they were engaged in political activities in Orr's Hill area, a suburb in the east port town Tuesday afternoon, sources said.
Full story >>

"Horrendous consequences if peace process collapses"- TNA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 May 2005, 10:39 GMT]
"The forces who opposed negotiations with the LTTE are forces committed tocontinuing the present structure of governance in this country, who want a unitary structure of government to continue, who want majority hegemony to continue. If these forces succeed, the peace process must inevitably collapse with all its horrendous consequences," said Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a recent one-day debate on the current state of the peace process, parliamentary sources said.
Full story >>

Tellipallai Cancer Hospital to be reopened

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 May 2005, 10:18 GMT]
Cancer Hospital located within the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) demarcated High Security Zone (HSZ) in Tellipallai, Jaffna, is to be reopened on 27 May, Hospital sources said. For the past several years the SLA refused permission for the hospital to function nand cancer patients in Jaffna often had to travel to Colombo to obtain life saving treatment in Maharagama.
Full story >>

Attempt to erect another Buddha statue foiled

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 May 2005, 15:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army and Police Sunday morning around 11 a.m. jointly removed the Buddha statue that was erected overnight Saturday on the roadside along Ehambaram Street in Kerniyady, a suburb in Trincomalee town, Police said. Building materials left behind by unidentified persons to build a shrine were also removed by the Police. Kerniyady is situated about one km off north of Trincomalee-Uppuveli road in close proximity of Sinnathoduvai Pillaiyar Kovil and Trincomalee Railway Station.
Full story >>

The Idea of Eelam- Taraki

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 May 2005, 13:59 GMT]
In the 14th March 1990 issue of Sri Lanka's English daily, Island International, popular journalist and military analyst, late Dharmeratnam Sivaram, provided insight into how the concept of Eelam in its various interpretations were adopted or dismantled as the basis of the armed struggle of different Tamil liberation movements.
Full story >>

Woman's skeleton found in Kudathanai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 May 2005, 18:28 GMT]
Skeletal remains of a middle-aged woman was recovered by workers when they were removing sand in an area located near an abandoned Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp in Kudathanai village in Vadamaradchchi east Division in Jaffna district Friday, Police said.
Full story >>

SLA to hold Vesak celebration in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 May 2005, 18:09 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna is making elaborate arrangements to conduct Vesak celebration in in the northern town, next week. Vesak is a festival of lights celebrated by Buddhists to mark the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha.
Full story >>