'Sangaree issue' to be decided Sunday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 2003, 21:05 GMT]
Thirty-six member central working committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), a major constituent of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will be meeting Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Colombo headquarters of the TULF to discuss the prevailing political situation and to decide on its leadership issue, party sources said.
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Pirapaharan discusses Colombo crisis, CFA with Patten

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 07:09 GMT]
"Our leader Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan told Mr. Patten it is not at all in the hands of the Liberation Tigers to ensure that there is no return to violence and that it is completely up to the Sinhala polity to see there is no return to war. Mr. Pirapaharan very clearly explained to Mr. Patten that we remain committed to resolving the conflict peacefully," said Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, speaking to media following the meeting between the leader of the Liberation Tigers and the European Union’s Commissioner for External Relations Wednesday in Kilinochchi.


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Great Heroes' Day celebrations begin in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 2003, 00:01 GMT]
The Great Heroes Day celebrations began in Trincomalee town Tuesday morning with paying homage to LTTE martyrs of Trincomalee whose photographs have been kept in the gaily decorated Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall, which is located along the Inner Harbour Road facing the harbour. TEEDOR Trincomalee district head Mr.S.Tharman declared open the event by cutting the ribbon.
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“Defense and ceasefire must flow from single authority”-TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 2003, 18:00 GMT]
“It is the considered view of the Tamil people and of the fifteen Members of Parliament of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that the responsibility on the part of the government to sustain the ceasefire, and to continue with the peace process, must flow from one single authority," said the TNA parliamentary group leader, Mr.R.Sampanthan, speaking in the budget debate in parliament Monday.
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LTTE honors parents of martyrs in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 2003, 04:30 GMT]
The practice of honoring fighters who sacrifice their lives for their homeland even during periods of war, and honoring the parents of the fighters on-going now in the NorthEast, is not seen in other parts of the world and is unique to the Tamil homeland, said Mr. S. Ezhilan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vavuniya, speaking at an event held at Sastrikoolankulam in the Vavuniya district to honor parents of LTTE martyrs Saturday, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Army-students clash averted in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2003, 06:26 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army Saturday night deliberately destroyed a decorated structure constructed by the students and civilians at the Parameswara junction along the Jaffna Palaly trunk road in connection with Great Heroes Day celebration by crashing their heavy vehicle against the structure. A group of army soldiers at the scene had reported to have loaded their guns when a group of students at the site objected to the army's action, police said. High tension prevailed at the site when a gunshot was heard.
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Jaffna celebrates Heroes Day amid SLA harassment

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2003, 14:25 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army Saturday continued their interference with Tamil civilians who have been erecting arches, festoons and other decorations in Jaffna district in connection with the Great Heroes Day celebrations, civil sources said.
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SLMM defuses tension in Jaffna over SLA's interference

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2003, 18:19 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Friday afternoon stopped officials of the Jaffna district consumers' co-operative societies federation from hoisting the LTTE flag at the event held in the federation’s premises as a part of the Great Heroes' (Maveerar) Day celebrations. However, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials in Jaffna rushed to the site and defused the tension in the area following the SLA's action, civil sources said.
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EU external relations commissioner to meet LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2003, 17:01 GMT]
The Commissioner of External Relations of the European Commission, Mr. Chris Patten, will visit Sri Lanka next week and meet the Liberation Tigers, President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, according to a press release issued by the Delegation of the European Commission to Sri Lanka Thursday.
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LTTE, SLA discuss Heroes’ Day in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2003, 08:30 GMT]
“Sri Lanka army officers told us their troops won’t object to anything with the Tiger insignia being used in decorations put up by the people for the Great Heroes’ Day in Jaffna”, said Mr. S. Thangan, the deputy leader of the political division of the Liberation Tigers after a meeting with Maj. Gen. Ratnasabapathy, deputy Sri Lankan security forces commander for Jaffna and senior Sri Lankan Police officials in the northern town Thursday.
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Japan renovates war-destroyed community building in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 2003, 20:37 GMT]
The First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Sri Lanka, Mr. Hideyuki Onishi, Wednesday afternoon declared open the renovated building of the Madduvil Srivetpillai Community Center in Chavakachcheri in the Jaffna district at a cost of one million rupees funded by the people and the Government of Japan as a token of friendship and cooperation between Japan and Sri Lanka. The implementing agency was the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA), sources said.
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Political stability necessary for talks - Pirapaharan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 2003, 06:33 GMT]
"Mr. Pirapaharan sought guarantees from the Norwegians that the Sri Lankan government would continue its commitment to the cease fire and for the safety of the LTTE’s political activists in areas controlled by the Sri Lanka army," Mr. Thamilchelvan said, after the meeting between the Norwegian delegation and the leaders of the Liberation Tigers concluded in Kilinochchi Thursday morning.
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Pirapaharan, Norwegians discuss peace, Colombo crisis

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 2003, 05:36 GMT]
Norwegian Deputy Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, special envoy Eric Solheim, Norway’s Ambassador for Sri Lanka, Mr. Hans Brattskar met the Leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, for discussions about the peace process and the current political crisis in Colombo in Kilinochchi Thursday morning.
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"SL President's lack of sincerity will hamper peace efforts" -TNA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 2003, 12:34 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Tuesday told the Norwegian peace envoys that defense arrangements of the country should be left in the hands of one party that is dedicated to take forward the current peace process with sincerity. Sri Lanka's President's past actions of not responding to LTTE's unilateral ceasefire in December 2000 and her attempts to sideline Norway's peace envoy Eric Soleheim reflect her lack of sincerity and leaving the Peace Process in her command will damage peace efforts, TNA delegation added.
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WFP, TEEDOR help Muslims resettle in Mullaithivu

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 10:40 GMT]
Muslims who returned to Mullaithivu after a decade began rebuilding their homes and clearing their lands for cultivation with the assistance of the World Food Program (WFP) and the Thamil Eelam Economic Development Organisation (TEEDOR) of the Liberation Tigers, sources in Kilinochchi said.
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UNF prepared to face snap elections - Peiris

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 2003, 09:37 GMT]
The UNF spokesman and Minister of Constitutional Affairs Mr. G.L.Peiris said Monday that the Prime Minister Mr. Wickremsinghe and his government are prepared to face a snap election, media sources said. It is logical to assume that we have to resolve the "threshold issue" before anything else, Mr. Peiris is reported to have told the media. The Prime Minister's office denied earlier reports on the talks being postponed. The decision is to be taken after the LTTE's views are received through the Norwegian Foreign Deputy Mr.Helgesen, who is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka today.
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SL Security forces remove speed breakers in Kodikamam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2003, 16:20 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army along with police personnel Monday night removed the speed breakers which had been constructed in front of the Kodikamam Maveerar Thuyilum Illam (mausoleum) in the Thenmaradchchi division of the Jaffna district as a precautionary measure to avoid accidents, civil sources said Tuesday.
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Tamil festival to be held in Manmunai

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 2003, 15:43 GMT]
The Manmunai West Cultural Federation will hold the ‘Muthamil Vizha’ (Tamil festival) Tuesday at the assembly hall of the Kannankudah Maha Vidiyalayam in Batticaloa, sources said.
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Sangaree's attempt to pass confidence motion foiled

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2003, 12:42 GMT]
The attempt made by the President of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), main constituent of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Mr.V.Ananadasangaree to pass a vote of confidence on him at a prayer meeting held at the Jaffna district secretariat of the TULF Sunday was foiled when the participants walked out of the hall, sources in Jaffna said.


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Documentary Video on Women Tigers released

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2003, 00:04 GMT]
A documentary video production labelled Akkini Paravaikal ('Volcanic Birds') depicting the evolutionary growth of the women tiger movement, including the early experiences in the battle field, training methods used and social difficulties faced by fighters within the conservative Tamil society, was released in Kilinochchi at 5pm Saturday, LTTE sources in Vanni said.


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