Sinhala Nation, refusing to share national wealth- Taraki

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 May 2005, 11:46 GMT]
Liberation Tigers' demand for an independent administrative arrangement and funds to rehabilitate and rebuild the infrastructure of the Tamil homeland is rooted on the fact that for the past 56 years the Sinhala Nation has resolutely exercised its monopoly power on island's national wealth and refused to accept Tamil's right to a fair share of the wealth, argues late Dharmeratnam Sivaram, in a column which appeared in Virakesari of 21 November 2004. This feature provides an English translation.
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Sri Lanka Red Cross wins Spanish award

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 May 2005, 10:54 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) was awarded the prestigious Spanish Red Cross Society Gold medal for 2005 in recognition of its outstanding work towards the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Mr. Jagath Abeyasinghe, President of SLRCS received the award on behalf of thousands of SLRCS volunteers at the ceremony chaired by Her Majestic Queen Sofia of Spain in Madrid on the 10th of May, SLRCS sources said.
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Pro-peace groups receive death threats

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 May 2005, 13:46 GMT]
Leaders of civil society organisations calling for a peaceful solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict have received death threats from an extreme Sinhala nationalist group calling itself ‘Theraputtabhaya force.’ The letter, which claimed responsibility for the murder of journalist Sivaram Dharmeratnam, says that all traitors should be ready to become "fertiliser for the motherland" if they continue to betray it.
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Muttur Tamils protest against SLA embargo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 May 2005, 16:58 GMT]
About five thousand Tamil civilians Wednesday held a protest march from Poonagar in the LTTE controlled Eachchilampathu division in the Muttur area to the Mahindapura Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp demanding the removal of ban on the transportation of cement, building materials, petrol and diesel urgently needed for tsunami reconstruction work and agricultural purposes, sources said.
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Civil Group advocates changes to US Terrorism Laws

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 May 2005, 14:48 GMT]
Drawing from the experience gained in watching victims of tsunami suffer without adequate help in the east of Sri Lanka, Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, Mr Ahilan Arulanantham, during a testimony 10 May 2005 before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime Terrorism and Homeland Security, argued for amending material support laws in USA PATRIOT Act and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act to allow vital humanitarian work to go unimpeded without undermining US's safety.
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Convincing donors, Kumaratunge's goal- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 May 2005, 00:45 GMT]
Accusing Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge for not taking constructive steps to establish the Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction of NorthEast, Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers (LTTE), S.P Thamilchelvan, in a recent interview with TamilNet, dismissed Ms Kumaratunge's positive statements on the Joint Mechanism as a mere tactic to influence the donors in the forthcoming aid conference to take decisions in her favor, and to attract international assistance.
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LTTE ‘no threat to India’ - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 May 2005, 16:34 GMT]
Any capability acquired by the Liberation Tigers is solely for the protection of the Tamil people and not a threat to India or any other country, the head of the LTTE’s political wing, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, said this week in response to concern expressed by Indian officials over the movement’s naval force and reports it had acquired aircraft
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Northeast shuts down over checkpoint gunfire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 May 2005, 10:59 GMT]
The normal life was disrupted in several parts of the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, in the Northeast province Tuesday following a hartal (general shut down) condemning the attack on protesting civilians by Sri Lankan security forces at Santhiveli in Batticaloa, Monday, in which one person was killed and more than 15 others, including 5 school children were injured.
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Tamil scepticism mounts as aid deal drifts

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 May 2005, 18:20 GMT]
As the proposed joint mechanism for aid distribution urged by international donors between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers remains mired in Sinhala political manoeuvring, deep scepticism has replaced early optimism amongst the Tamils. More ominously, a belief is rapidly taking root that Colombo is playing for time and keeping the Northeast in the economic and social doldrums whilst developing the Sri Lankan military for a new war.
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Jaffna fishermen oppose SLA issued ID cards

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 May 2005, 17:42 GMT]
Ten thousand member strong Jaffna District Fishermen Co-operative Unions' Federation (JDFCUF) in a memorandum to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) protested against Sri Lanka Army's (SLA's) decision to issue special identity cards to their members. The JDFCUF urged its members to refrain from obtaining special identity cards from the SLA, sources said.
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SLA, LTTE discuss Trincomalee ground situation

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 May 2005, 16:30 GMT]
Officials of the Sri Lanka Government security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Trincomalee district met for discussions on the ground situation and to review complaints made by both parties to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) over recent firing incidents, sources said. The hour long meeting was held at the SLMM Trincomalee office in the presence of Mr.Jan Ledang, Trincomalee head of the SLMM.
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Troops fire on Valaichenai protestors, 1 killed

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 May 2005, 10:51 GMT]
A 65 year old man was killed and at least 15 other civilians were wounded when Sri Lankan security forces opened fire on large crowds of people protesting Monday, demanding removal of new Army checkpoints set up near a school in the Batticaloa district. Five women were among those wounded when soldiers and police fired assault rifles for over 10 minutes at Santhiveli, 27 km. north of Batticaloa on the Valaichenai road, sources said. International ceasefire monitors and reporters witnessed the incident, they said.
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SLA embargo on cement, fuel to Muttur east still continues -Elilan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 May 2005, 14:45 GMT]
"It is meaningless to speak of a negotiated political solution and the proposed joint mechanism at a time when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is still continuing the embargo on the transportation of cement, fuel and building materials to the LTTE held Muttur east in the Trincomalee district to rebuild tsunami destroyed coastal villages," said Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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‘Sivaram’s phone still ringing, but where?’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 May 2005, 13:44 GMT]
More than a week after he was abducted and murdered, the mobile phone of one of Sri Lanka’s best known political columnists continues to ring, weekend press reports said. And despite the technology which can allow law enforcement agencies to pinpoint a cellular phone’s location using its relative proximity to local base stations, Sri Lanka’s police claim they have no idea where Mr. Sivaram’s phone might be.
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World Bank will support Joint Mechanism- Peter Harrold

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 May 2005, 17:12 GMT]
Mr.Peter Harrold, World Bank Country Representative in Sri Lanka, Friday said in Puttalam, a Muslim dominated town in the north of Western Province, that the World Bank extends its full support to the implementation of the Joint Mechanism proposed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for tsunami rehabilitation in the northeast.
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Civil Groups appeal to reopen Nagarkovil Road

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 May 2005, 14:39 GMT]
Nagarkovil Civil Groups Consortium in Vadamaradchchi east division in the Jaffna district Friday sent a memorandum to Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge to take immediate steps to open the Nagarkovil Road located in the high security zone (HSZ), sources said. The road is currently closed for public use.


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SLA fire damages Muttur east LTTE sentry point- Elilan

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 May 2005, 14:10 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Friday morning lodged a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the east port town that the Sri Lanka Army soldiers located in Kaddaiparichchan camp had fired at the LTTE sentry in the LTTE controlled Muttur east. LTTE sentry point was damaged in the attack, Mr.Elilan said.
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‘Sivaram killing a blow against peace’ – US don

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 May 2005, 17:46 GMT]
The abduction and murder last Thursday of political columnist and military analyst, Dharmeratnam Sivaram by suspected Sri Lankan state agents “will hinder peace and promote war” in Sri Lanka, writes Prof. Tom Plate, Director of Asia Pacific Media Network, in a op-ed published Thursday in the Korean Times. “The anguish felt worldwide perhaps surprised the morally suspect government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga,” Prof. Plate, who is with the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote.
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Four soldiers injured, artillery gun destroyed in SLA armoury explosion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 May 2005, 03:41 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has launched a full-scale investigation into the sudden explosion in its armoury located in Thanankilappu in Thenmaradchchi division in the Jaffna district Wednesday morning around 11 a.m where four SLA soldiers were seriously injured and an artillery gun was destroyed, the State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) and private electronic media reported in news bulletins quoting army spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake.
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‘Taraki died defending the Tamil cause’- paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 May 2005, 03:26 GMT]
Condemning the abduction and murder last week of political columnist and military analyst Dharmeratnam Sivaram, the Tamil Guardian newspaper this week reproached those who sought to rationalise his killing on the basis of his support for the Tamil struggle. “Yes, he was a Tamil patriot. [But] in a field laden with hyperbole and zeal, Taraki’s writing compelled prevailing understandings to be questioned rather than simply foist his own views on readers. His death will sadden those on all sides prepared to listen to rational, even if contrary, arguments,” the paper said.


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