Inderfurth arrives in Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 November 2000, 11:29 GMT]
Mr. Karl Inderfurth, US Assistant Secretary to the State in charge of South Asian Affairs arrived in Colombo Monday morning. Officials of the Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry received him at Katunayaka International Airport.
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PTA detainees released - no evidence

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 November 2000, 14:02 GMT]
Batticaloa District Court on Wednesday released two young men who had been tortured after being detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for nearly 9 months with out any charges being filed against them.
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Britain seeks peace, more trade

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 November 2000, 17:09 GMT]
Mr.Peter Hain, British Foreign Office Minister Thursday expressed happiness that Sri Lanka's Prime Minister has taken up his offer to look more closely at the initiatives which led to the peace agreement in Northern Ireland "where a final constitutional settlement followed, rather than preceded negotiations." The Minister also called for increased trade between Sri Lanka and Britain, particularly in the field of information technology where he said the UK could "rival the US and Japan."
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World supports self-determination says UK

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 November 2000, 03:11 GMT]
(News Feature) Britain’s Foreign Office Minister, Peter Hain, Wednesday expressed his government’s support for Norway’s efforts to bring about negotiations to end Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict and urged compromise on both sides. "I am convinced that both the [Sri Lankan] government’s insistence upon the territorial sovereignty of the whole island and the LTTE’s objective of autonomy can be secured," he said. "But for that to happen the shooting must stop and the talking must start."
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Sinhala nationalists demonstrate against British official

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 November 2000, 17:46 GMT]
Hundreds of Sinhala nationalists demonstrated outside the British Council building in Colombo around 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon as the visiting Foreign Office Minister Mr. Peter Hain attended a seminar to deliver a speech on the topic "British Policy on Devolution and the Northern Ireland Peace Process".
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British minister arrives in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 November 2000, 07:48 GMT]
Concluding his four-day visit to India, British Foreign Office Minister Mr. Peter Hain arrived Colombo Wednesday morning on a two-day visit. This is his first visit to the island as a Foreign Office Minister and the first by a British Foreign Minister since the late Derek Fatchett visited in 1998.
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Hundred thousand displaced by floods

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 November 2000, 19:04 GMT]
Nearly one hundred thousand people have been rendered homeless as heavy rains continue to lash in the eastern Sri Lanka, government officials in Batticaloa said Monday. Many roads are submerged in floods in Batticaloa, Ampara and Polonnaruwa Districts and several rivers have swollen with floods, officials said. Two people have been reported killed in the floods.
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Buddhist monks burn effigy of Solheim

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 November 2000, 15:24 GMT]
Hundreds of Sinhala nationalists Thursday evening picketed out side the Royal Norwegian embassy in Colombo and burnt an effigy of Oslo's special envoy to Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim. The majority of the participants were Buddhist monks. Earlier around 4 the far-right Sihala Urumaya party organized a public meeting at Narahenpitiya in Colombo protesting against Norway's involvement in finding a solution to the island's conflict.
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Twenty arrested in Badulla

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 November 2000, 19:14 GMT]
Sri Lankan police arrested twenty Tamils during a search operation in the hill town of Badulla, about 175 km. east of Colombo Wednesday. The operation began around 1 p.m. and went on till 5 p.m. sources said.
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Justice demanded in Bindunuwewa massacre

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2000, 11:22 GMT]
The Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) has requested the President of Sri Lanka and her government to bring to justice those responsible for planning, instigating and carrying out the Bindunuwewa massacre, including those who were responsible for the poster campaign prior to the event.
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Chandrasekaran, MP released

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2000, 16:41 GMT]
Mr.P.Chandrasekaran, Leader of the Upcountry People's Front and UNP parliamentarian, was released by the Colombo court around 5 p.m. Monday. The police said he was arrested for his involvement in orchestrating demonstrations in the plantation areas of the Nuwara Eliya district, condemning the Bandarawela massacre.
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Solheim briefs Kumaratunga on Prabaharan meet

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 November 2000, 14:40 GMT]
Norway's special envoy Erik Solheim had a two-hour meeting with the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga Friday night to apprise her about the discussion he had with the LTTE leader, V.Pirapaharan at Mallavi in the Vanni on Wednesday.
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Tigers seek "normalcy in Tamil areas"

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 November 2000, 17:20 GMT]
Norway's Special envoy Mr.Eric Solheim who returned from Vanni after meeting the leader of the Liberation Tigers, V.Pirapaharan told journalists in Colombo Thursday that the LTTE had not laid down any precondition to begin talks with the Sri Lankan Government. He said the LTTE leader brought to the notice of the Norway's delegation that the Tamil areas the island was suffering under the economic embargo imposed by the Sri Lankan government and that he wanted quick return of normalcy in the northeast, Mr.Solheim said.
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Norway meets LTTE in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 November 2000, 16:32 GMT]
A delegation of the Norwegian government met with the leader of the Liberation Tigers, Mr.Velupillai Pirapaharan, and other LTTE officials in the Vanni this week, the organisation said Wednesday in a statement from its London offices. The discussions, described as "cordial and constructive" covered "several pertinent issues" including the issue of political negotiations, statement said.
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Four more bodies identified

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2000, 13:32 GMT]
The bodies of four detainees killed in the Bandarawela massacre were identified Tuesday morning at Colombo National Hospital. They were named as Kokulamani Sajeewan of Kallady, Batticaloa, Perinpanayagam Nimlaraj of Batticaloa, Somasuntharam Sellarasa and Sivan Kubendran of Arayampathi. All bodies were found to be in a highly decomposed state, hospital sources said.
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Trouble flares at Batticaloa protest

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 October 2000, 13:30 GMT]
There were clashes with Sri Lankan security forces Tuesday as undergraduates, lecturers and non-academic staff of the East University went on a picketing campaign blocking all traffic between Batticaloa and Valaichchenai main road condemning the massacre of Tamil detainees at Bandarawela-Bindunuwewa rehabilitation center on October 25 and demanding the immediate release of Mr.P.Chandrasekaram Parliamentarian and the Leader of the Upcountry People's Front who is now in police custody in Colombo.
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Mob attacks continue in Nuwara Eliya

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 October 2000, 16:19 GMT]
An second, 24 hour curfew was declared in several towns in the Nuwara Eliya district, about 100 km. east of Colombo, as communal violence against the Tamils continued for a second day. Sinhalese thugs set fire to twenty shops belonging to Tamils in Ginigathhena Monday afternoon, and fourteen people were injured in the riots, said sources.
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Police arrests Chandrasekaran, MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 October 2000, 06:16 GMT]
Mr.Periyasamy Chandrasekaran, Leader of the Upcountry People's Front and a Member of Parliament for the Nuwara Eeliya district was arrested under the Emergency Regulations around 1.30 a.m. Monday. He was arrested at his home.
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Mobs attack protesters, burn down shops

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 October 2000, 12:42 GMT]
Riots broke out in the hill town of Talawakele, about 25 km. south-west of Nuwara Eliya as Sinhalese mobs attacked people protesting over the massacre of Tamil detainees at the Bindunuwewa detention centre last Wednesday. Two Tamils were killed and several others were wounded when police opened fire, said Mr. P.Chandrasekaran MP. The leader of the Upcountry People's Front also told TamilNet that the mobs later went on a rampage in the town, setting fire to several Tamil-owned shops.
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Funerals held for massacre victims

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2000, 14:17 GMT]
Large crowds attended funerals conducted in eastern Batticaloa around 4 p.m. Saturday for five of the victims killed during an attack on Bindunuwewa detention centre sources said. The remaining 8 bodies were transported to their native towns of Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Jaffna by helicopters Friday.
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