SLA demolishes homes in Jaffna suburbs

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2001, 19:53 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army has demolished more than three hundred homes in the southwestern coastal suburbs of Jaffna town to construct large military facilities, said residents who visited the area this week. An official of a local NGO who went to inspect his home in Colombuthurai told TamilNet that coconut plantations in these suburbs were also destroyed.
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No faith in Colombo say Tamil parties

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 January 2001, 19:47 GMT]
"We doubt that the Sri Lankan government really wants to bring about peace. We have sought the good offices of the international community because we have lost faith in the Sri Lankan government and because we suspect its motives", representatives of Tamil political parties told the ambassadors of Norway and the European Union (EU) in Colombo during discussions Thursday. Senior politicians and MPs of seven Tamil political parties, including the Tamil United Liberation front, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, the National Workers Congress and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, took part in the discussions.
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Heavy casualties in Jaffna fighting

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2001, 19:02 GMT]
Airstrikes and heavy exchanges or artillery rocked the Jaffna peninsula Wednesday as the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued to face determined resistance from the Liberation Tigers, sources close to the LTTE said. Over 100 SLA troops and 70 Tigers have been killed in the past two days, sources close to the LTTE said Thursday evening. Over 400 SLA troops have been wounded, they added.
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'Pongu Thamil' demos in Batticaloa and Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2001, 17:09 GMT]
Demonstrations were held Wednesday in Vavuniya and Batticaloa in support of the Pongu Thamil rally in Jaffna. Hundreds of undergraduates of the Eastern University in Batticaloa and the College of Education in Vavuniya gathered for peaceful rallies urging the Sri Lankan government to start peace talks with the Liberation Tigers and to recognize the Tamil people's right of self determination.
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Arrest of journalist raises doubts - SLTMA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 January 2001, 15:44 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police refused to let relatives visit the Jaffna journalist, Nadarajah Thiruchelvam, who was arrested and detained on 2 January in Colombo. The journalist is being held by the Terrorism Investigation Unit (TID) of the Sri Lankan Police. The Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists’ Association in a statement issued Sunday questioned the real motive behind the indefinite detention of Mr.Thiruchelvam.
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RSF protests journalist's arrest

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 January 2001, 16:04 GMT]
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Media, Mangala Samaraweera, on Friday, Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders - RSF) protested against the detention since 2 January 2001 of Subramaniam Thiruchelvan, a journalist from Jaffna, by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). RSF asked the Minister to inform it of the reasons for this detention.
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Army planning 'all-out' offensive - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 January 2001, 07:33 GMT]
Exploiting the Liberation Tigers' unilateral ceasefire, the Sri Lanka Army is inducting fresh troops, armour and artillery into the Jaffna offensive in preparation for an "all-out" offensive in the Kilali-Nagerkoil, the LTTE said Friday. In an interview with the London-based Tamil Guardian, the LTTE's chief negotiator warned that the Army's "strategy will result in a major escalation of the war."
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Peace activists slam SLA warning

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 January 2001, 16:44 GMT]
The Bishop of the Trincomalee -Batticaloa diocese of the Catholic Church, Rt.Rev.Kingsley Swampillai protested against the Sri Lanka Army's proclamation that it will punish people urging the Sri Lankan government to start peace talks with the Liberations Tigers when he met the military Co-ordinating Officer for the Batticaloa district, Brigadier V.R.Anthonis Thursday. "It is a dangerous development that people who say the war ought to be stopped and call for peace in Sri Lanka should be considered offenders by the army", the bishop said.
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Pandemonium in SL Parliament

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 22:12 GMT]
Pandemonium reigned in the Sri Lankan Parliament Wednesday morning when ruling party members tried to shout down opposition ranks that were protesting over Police breaking up a demonstration by the radical Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna in downtown Colombo on Monday.
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Urge President too, suggests British HC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 22:11 GMT]
Britain welcomes the unilateral cease-fire by the Liberation Tigers as a positive move in the right direction towards finding a negotiated political solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic problem, the British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Ms Linda Duffield, told a delegation of Tamil political parties that met her Wednesday in Colombo. The Tamil parties urged the British HC to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to positively respond to the cease-fire unilaterally declared by the Liberation Tigers as a goodwill measure last month.
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Solheim meets Indian HC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 18:00 GMT]
Mr. Eric Solheim, Norway's peace envoy, had discussions Wednesday afternoon with the High Commissioner for India in Colombo, Mr.Gopalakrishna Gandhi, and the Co-leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Mr.Rauf Hakeem who is a minister in the People's Alliance Cabinet. The Norwegian envoy arrived Wednesday morning in Colombo in an apparent attempt to restart the peace initiative run aground after the Sri Lankan government rejected a month long unilateral cease-fire declared last month by the Liberation Tigers as a 'goodwill' gesture.
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Trainee SLA soldier raped and murdered

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 14:45 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army trainee was found raped and killed Tuesday near his detachment in Mirusuvil in Jaffna. SLA military Police sources said that a lance corporal identified as Wijeyananda and a private have been arrested in connection with the rape and murder. The trainee soldier, K.R.K Karunaratna, was reported missing after a party at the armoured corps unit in Mirusuvil on 6 January, according to the Military Police.
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Tamil detainees appeal for safety guarantees

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 January 2001, 13:00 GMT]
Tamil Political detainees held at Kalutara prison have appealed to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to take measures to guarantee their security in the prison. The detainees have also complained about quality of food, medical facilities and prolonged detention.
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"Stop war, start talks" - TULF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2001, 21:49 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Tuesday demanded the Sri Lankan Government immediately stop the war and commence negotiations with the Liberation Tigers so as to find a political solution to the island's protracted ethnic conflict. Mr. V. Anandasangari, Vice President of the TULF was speaking at the swearing in of Nadarajah Raviraj as the new Mayor of Jaffna Municipal Council.
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Tamil parties seek Dutch pressure

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2001, 21:48 GMT]
A deputation comprising representatives of several Tamil political parties met the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Colombo Tuesday morning and appealed to him to use his good offices to exert pressure on the Sri Lanka government to reciprocate the unilateral cease-fire offered by the LTTE, Tamil party sources said.
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President rejects LTTE ceasefire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2001, 00:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga Monday rejected Liberation Tigers' month-long unilateral cease-fire during a televised speech to people in the northern Jaffna peninsula, in her first public response to the LTTE "goodwill" offer last month.
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Protesters injured as police open fire

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 January 2001, 16:02 GMT]
At least ten people, including a member of the Western Provincial Council, were wounded when police opened fire to disperse crowd protesting against rising cost of living and the Norwegian backed peace process, in Colombo Monday evening. The protest was organised by radical Marxist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, the third largest party in the Sri Lankan parliament.
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Colombo categorically rejects Tiger cease-fire

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2001, 15:29 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government will not in anyway respond to the cease-fire unilaterally declared by the Liberation Tigers last month said Sri Lanka's Minister for Media, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, addressing a press conference in Colombo Friday to announce this week's cabinet decisions.
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Tamil parties urge US pressure

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2001, 12:59 GMT]
The United States should exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to respond positively to the month-long unilateral cease-fire declared by the Liberation Tigers on 24 December, so as to create a climate conducive for negotiations, representatives of several Tamil parties appealed to the US Ambassador in Colombo during a meeting Friday.
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'Jaya Gold' resumes humanitarian mission

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2001, 23:01 GMT]
The vessel 'Jaya Gold' chartered by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) has recommenced its weekly humanitarian voyages, transporting patients from Jaffna peninsula for specialized medical treatment in Colombo hospitals, sources said.
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