Parents of missing Jaffna youth to meet Sri Lanka’s President

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 14:13 GMT]
The parents and relatives of the young men and women who went missing after they were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in Jaffna in 1996-97 have been invited by President Chandrika Kumaratunga for a meeting with her on 31 December, a spokesperson for the Missing Persons Guardian Association (MPGA) said Wednesday. Members of the MPGA and the Jaffna Mother’s Front will travel to Colombo in a bus provided by Sri Lanka’s Minister for Hindu Affairs, Mr. T. Maheswaran.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka's new IGP sworn in

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 10:25 GMT]
Mr. Indra de Silva was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new Inspector General of Police (IGP) at an official function held at the Police headquarters, Monday. He will function as the IGP till his retirement in February next year, police sources said.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka’s IGP controversy resolved

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2003, 17:10 GMT]
Mr.Indra de Silva, who has been acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Sri Lanka since the post fell vacant when the previous IGP, Mr.T.E.Anandarajah, retired from the service last month, is to be appointed as the new IGP. The Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka (CCS) that met Thursday afternoon at the parliamentary complex confirmed Mr.Indra de Silva in the IGP post, parliamentary sources said.
Full story >>

Peiris warns of Sri Lanka losing foreign aid

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2003, 15:03 GMT]
The media spokesman and Constitutional Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka's United National Front (UNF) government, Mr. G.L.Peiris, Thursday warned that the country is at risk of losing millions of dollars in aid because of the feud between the executive presidency and parliamentary legislature, which followed the take-over of three key ministries by the President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, last month.
Full story >>

PA media spokesman meets Jaffna journalists

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2003, 16:44 GMT]
The media spokesman of the main opposition People's Alliance, Dr.Sarath Amunugama, Wednesday met with a group of Jaffna-based journalists at the parliamentary complex and answered several questions posed to him on the current political situation.
Full story >>

Sinhala Nationalists demand arrest of Sri Lanka’s PM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2003, 16:20 GMT]
The Patriotic National Movement (PNM) of Sri Lanka, an alliance of Sinhala nationalists and hardline Buddhist monks, Tuesday held a demonstration in Colombo and handed over a letter to Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, saying that the Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, and all persons responsible for the police raid on the Millennium City military safe house should be arrested immediately and punished.
Full story >>

Tamils warned to prepare for snap election

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 December 2003, 16:45 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan Sunday said Tamil people should rally round under one banner to increase their parliamentary strength if the current crisis between Sri Lanka's President and the Prime Minister precipitates a snap election. “The LTTE leadership has endorsed this stand,” said Mr.Sampanthan.


Full story >>

SLMM Chief grounded in Oslo - Paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2003, 22:24 GMT]
For the last one and a half months, since he was declared persona non grata by the Sri Lankan President the chief of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General (ret.) Tryggve Tellefsen (62), is forced to work from Oslo Norway with remaining members of SLMM in Sri Lanka, using telephone and e-mail, writes the Norwegian daily Aftenposten in its Saturday issue. The paper adds that the situation is unsatisfactory that the likelihood of Tellefsen resigning from his post cannot be ruled out.


Full story >>

Supreme Court directs AG to enlighten on Jaffna HSZ legality

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 18:20 GMT]
The Supreme Court Thursday directed the Attorney General to take immediate measures to enlighten the court on the legality of the high security zones in the Jaffna peninsula in response to the fundamental rights applications filed by three persons including Jaffna district parliamentarian Mr. Mavai Senathirajah. The inquiry into the applications would be taken up for inquiry on December 19, legal sources said.
Full story >>

PA lays condition for returning defense ministry

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 15:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s main opposition Peoples Alliance Friday called on the ruling United National Front government (UNF) to bring a proposal for the abolition of the executive presidency if the UNF insists on taking control over the defense ministry for taking the peace process forward.


Full story >>

Sri Lanka President, PM talks inconclusive on peace

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 09:07 GMT]
Crucial talks between Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Wednesday failed to reach any consensus on how Colombo is going to restart peace negotiations with the Liberation Tigers, sources said.
Full story >>

Parents of Jaffna missing protest against HRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 08:33 GMT]
The Jaffna Missing Persons Association and Mothers’ Front held a protest in front of the office of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC) in the northern town Wednesday. The protesting parents of the 234 young Jaffna men and women who went missing after they were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in 1996 and 97 accused the HRC of sidelining their issue in its recent work on the human rights situation in the northern province.
Full story >>

TNA parliamentarians meet LTTE political leadership

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 09:08 GMT]
Talks between Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians and the political leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began Tuesday morning around 11 a.m. at the Killinochchi LTTE political secretariat, Vanni sources said.
Full story >>

SLFP-JVP undecided on political alliance

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2003, 03:53 GMT]
Another round of talks held between the leaders of the Sri Lanka Freedom party (SLFP), chief constituent of the main opposition People's Alliance, and the Sinhala nationalist cum Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which is the third largest party in the current parliament, Monday night concluded without fixing a date for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to forge a political alliance, political sources said.
Full story >>

SL embarrassed by Kadirgamar's Commonwealth defeat

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2003, 17:59 GMT]
Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, the former foreign minister of Sri Lanka who broke the Commonwealth tradition to challenge the incumbent Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Mr. Don McKinnon, was defeated in a ballot last week, with only 11 of the 52 nations voting for him, despite initial claims in the Sri Lankan and Indian Press that he would pose a spirited challenge.


Full story >>

Displaced Kinniya Tamils want permanent solution

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2003, 15:12 GMT]
Hundreds of displaced Tamil families from Kadaloor and Upparu in Kinniya division in Trincomalee district, who have been staying as refugees at the Eechantivu Vipulananda Tamil Vidiyalayam, Sunday complained to the Trincomalee district parliamentarians, Messrs R.Sampanthan and K.Thurairetnasingham, that they should find a permanent solution to their problems as they had been displaced due to threat and violence thrice since 1990.
Full story >>

SL President-PM talks fail to reach consensus

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 December 2003, 16:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, and Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, held talks on the cohabitation crisis Friday, but did not reach any consensus. They agreed to meet again on December 10 and terminate their talks on or before December 15, ruling United National Front sources said.
Full story >>

Japan reiterates its continued support to the peace process

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 December 2003, 13:20 GMT]
In a statement released on Thursday, Japan's minister for foreign affairs, Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, said her government welcomed the continued commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to the ceasefire, and expressed hope that the question of who on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka is responsible for the peace process would be resolved through talks between Sri Lanka's President and the Prime Minister.
Full story >>

Buddhist monks protest against LTTE’s proposals

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 December 2003, 17:36 GMT]
Hundreds of Buddhist monks from the National Bhikku Front held a demonstration and protest march against the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals of the Liberation Tigersof Tamil Eleam (LTTE) Thursday afternoon in Colombo, sources said.
Full story >>

TNA questions Kadirgamar's competence for Commonwealth post

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 December 2003, 15:02 GMT]
Commenting on the reported candidacy of Mr.Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka's former foreign minister and a confidante of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, for the post of Commonwealth Secretary General, the Tamil National Alliance in a statement Thursday highlighted several grave human rights abuses of his government and said, "... Kadirgamar’s misrepresentations in regard to [such] incidents, which constituted a flagrant violation of human rights, are a severe indictment on his capacity to be impartial and truthful."
Full story >>