Student leader decries Colombo's military buildup

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 December 2004, 21:00 GMT]
"The Government of Sri Lanka is strengthening its military in preparation for renewed hostilities. The Liberation Tigers are ready to confront war if it is thrust on us and are prepared to liberate the occupied lands and people," said Mr Subash, Vavuniya district president of Consortium of Tamileelam students, addressing the audience in a book release ceremony held at the Muthaiah Hall in Vavuniya Friday afternoon, sources from Vavuniya said.
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South gambles with Sri Lanka's destiny- NLF

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 December 2004, 11:40 GMT]
"The most urgent need today is not to cave in to the antics of the [Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna] JVP," said Mr. Thirunavukarasu, polit bureau member of the New Left Front (NLF) Saturday, political sources in Colombo said. He noted that the deadlock reached in the peace process is not of recent origin, but represents the "cumulative effect of the manner in which the ruling classes have handled the Tamil National issue since the 1950s" and said that the time has come for the two main parties to "shed their predilection just for power and one-upmanship."
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NorthEast Bishops appeal for permanent peace

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 December 2004, 06:09 GMT]
Bishops of Jaffna, Trincomalee-Batticaloa and Mannar Dioceses Bishop Thomas Soundaranayagam, Bishop Dr. Kingsely Swampillai and Bishop Rayappu Joseph in their Christmas Messages appealed to all communities, the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers to work hard to sustain the ceasefire agreement and to ensure permanent peace.


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NGOs condemn U.S. military analysts’ visit to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 December 2004, 04:25 GMT]
Several people’s organizations in the Jaffna district have strongly condemned what they said was a secret visit by a group of U.S. military analysts to Jaffna with Sri Lanka's Army to study the security situation of SLA's frontline positions in the district. The organizations have sent letters to register their protest to the U.S. Embassy in Colombo and other international organizations, according to media reports in Sri Lanka and in the North-East.
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Dhanapala visits Amparai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 December 2004, 05:33 GMT]
Mr.Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary General of Sri Lanka's Peace Secretariat and Senior Advisor to Sri Lanka's President, visited Ampara on Wednesday "in pursuance of a policy of visiting the six district offices of the SLMM for the purpose of ensuring the smooth implementation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA)," a media release from the Secretariat said Wednesday.
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US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission visits Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 December 2004, 19:30 GMT]
"Every one in Sri Lanka should work hard to see that the ceasefire now in force is not broken. People must ensure that war is past," said Mr.James F.Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Sri Lanka Tuesday addressing meetings in Trincomalee and Namalwatte in Morawewa division in the Trincomalee district. Mr.Entwistle visited six projects funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which ranged from a vocational training centre to programs that provide water to formerly displaced persons.
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PNM wants CFA annulled

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 December 2004, 16:54 GMT]
The Patriotic National Movement (PNM), a sinhala nationalist organization, decided at its 19th annual convention of its branches, to annul the ceasefire agreement (CFA) and to remove Norway from its facilitation role in the peace talks, political sources in Colombo said. PNM further decided that peace talks should not resume on the basis of the Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals of the LTTE. The convention was held Tuesday evening at the Colombo Town hall.
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CTTU discusses Jaffna HSZ issue with SL President

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 December 2004, 03:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, told a delegation of the Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) Friday that the Sri Lankan security forces continue to believe that Liberation Tiger cadres would infiltrate into the high security zones if the internally displaced families were allowed to resettle, according to CTTU general secretary Mr.T.Mahasivam.
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Solheim meets President Chandrika

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 December 2004, 16:19 GMT]
Mr.Erik Solheim, Norwegian special peace envoy Thursday urged the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to exercise the maximum restraint and refrain from actions that could be interpreted as provocations, especially at a time when peace negotiations were not taking place, states a press release issued by the Presidential Secretariat following the talks between the facilitator and President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge.
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Batticaloa NGOs, Humanitarian Agencies appeal for peace

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 December 2004, 17:18 GMT]
A group of non-governmental organizations (NGO) and humanitarian agencies based in Batticaloa district in a press statement released Wednesday urged all those responsible for the maintenance of peace and stability in Batticaloa District to bring to a close the pattern of violence.
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GoSL entirely responsible for resuming talks - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 December 2004, 11:07 GMT]
"The responsibility of resurrecting the stalled peace process is entirely with the government in ensuring that its coalition partners reflect the thinking of the president, if she is in fact really sincere, and her military refrains from coercive and provocative actions", Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Head of the Political Wing of the LTTE told the Norwegian facilitators Wednesday in Kilinochchi. "Norwegian delegation was unable to give assurance that Sri Lanka Government will take any constructive steps to take the peace process forward" Thamilchelvan told the Press after the meeting.
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‘No Karuna group, only SLA psy ops’ –Kausalyan

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 December 2004, 04:47 GMT]
“Sri Lanka military intelligence has from time to time unleashed brutal state terror in the East, using individuals and paramilitary groups such as PLOTE Mohan and Razeek group. There is no Karuna group operating in the East now. The recent violence in the East in the name of ‘Karuna group’ is a continuation of this state terror by the SLA,” said Mr. E. Kausalyan, the political wing leader of the Liberation Tigers in the East, speaking to journalists at the LTTE secretariat in Kokkadicholai Saturday.
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Human rights of Tamils denied in "No war, No peace situation" - JDCHA

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 December 2004, 14:38 GMT]
The Jaffna District Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (JDCHA) Friday accused the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) that it has failed to address the needs of aggrieved persons in the NorthEast. JDCHA reminded that the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is a signatory to the UN optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The need of the hour is a pragmatic approach by the HRCSL to arrest the deteriorating law and order, it noted.
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Women protest against new army sentry points in Trinco

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 December 2004, 04:42 GMT]
Hundreds of Tamil women in Trincomalee Thursday protested in front of the Trincomalee office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) demanding the removal of new sentry points established by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) following the violent incidents on 2 December in the east port town, sources said.
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Halt the drift and resume peace process, NPC tells GoSL, LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2004, 14:19 GMT]
''The danger in the present situation is the possibility of escalation that suddenly goes out of control of both sides and plunges the country into inadvertent war...We also call upon the two parties to make a concerted effort to ensure that the safeguards in the Ceasefire Agreement are functional,'' said the National Peace Council, in a press release issued in Colombo Thursday.
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New SLA sentry points in Trincomalee violate CFA- Elilan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 2004, 13:28 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has established several sentry points in the Trincomalee town and its suburbs after December 2nd in violation of the Ceasefire Agreement signed by the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, SLMM sources said.
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CFA in danger of collapse, Prof Peiris says

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 2004, 12:20 GMT]
''The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has demanded that the Norwegian facilitators engaged in the peace process should quit, whereas the President insists that they should continue to be the facilitators. It is evident that contradictions within the Sri Lanka's ruling coalition have reached the highest point...On the peace front, given the amplitude of contradictions within the Government, the ceasefire agreement (CFA) suffers erosion day by day,'' said UNP spokesperson, Prof., G.L. Pieris, M.P. at a media conference held today wednesday the Opposition Leaders's office.
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Muttur Tamil villages ignored in rural electrification

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 December 2004, 15:16 GMT]
Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham, Tamil National Alliance Trincomalee district parliamentarian speaking during the committee stage debate in Parliament said that although several villages in Muttur have been selected as part of Rural Electrification project no Tamil villages are included in the scheme, parliamentary sources said.
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Massive rise in Sri Lankan firepower amid peace

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2004, 19:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s armed forces substantially expanded their offensive capability after the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers was signed in February 2002, a book published by a senior United States military analyst says. The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has doubled its manpower and acquired twenty new aircraft, while the Army (SLA) has tripled its tanks and doubled its artillery firepower.
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Counter proposals not conducive to peace- Vanni MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2004, 17:03 GMT]
"The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) should desist from placing counter proposals before resuming negotiations. GoSL should be prepared to resume talks on the basis of Interim Self-Governing Authority proposals. Any further delay has the potential to lead Sri Lanka into another dark period of war and destruction. I urge the Sinhala parties speak with a unified, consistent voice, and enter peace talks," said Tamil national Alliance (TNA) Vanni District MP Mr Sathasivam Kanagaratnam when TamilNet talked to him Saturday.
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