SLA asked to consider allowing cultivation in Jaffna HSZ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 12:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Tuesday directed the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to submit a report by 3rd December on the possibility of allowing cultivation in the agricultural lands in the high security zones (HSZ) occupied by the SLA soldiers in the Jaffna district, legal sources said.


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Vallai Bridge collapses, causing traffic problems in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2004, 12:36 GMT]
The Vallai Bridge, the main link between the Vadamaradchi and Valigamam divisions of Jaffna, collapsed Monday afternoon, causing severe traffic problems on the major artery between Pt. Pedro and Jaffna towns. The bridge, built during British times, was damaged in heavy shelling by Sri Lanka army in 1994 and remained dilapidated since then with makeshift repairs.
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Army occupation of houses must cease, MP tells SLA commander

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 15:12 GMT]
Mr.Suresh Premachchandran, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Saturday met with Major General Sunil Tennekoon, Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and discussed issues confronting the people of the district since the ceasefire came into operation. This was the first time Major general Sunil Tennekoon met a TNA parliamentarian at his military headquarters in Palaly military airbase, sources said.
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Vavuniya hosts all island netball tournament

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 13:13 GMT]
Inauguration of the all ceylon women's netball championship in Vavuniya was delayed by more than an hour Saturday morning after some local groups objected to hoisting Sri Lanka's national flag and singing its national anthem at the two day sports event, Police said. Ms. Shiranthi Rajapaksha, wife of Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, was the chief guest at the inauguration of the tournament. The function, scheduled to start at 9.30 a.m. began late sans the Sri Lankan national flag and anthem.
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LTTE delegation meets German Foreign Ministry Officials

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 October 2004, 03:45 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation led by Head of Political Wing, S. P. Thamilchelvan met with State Secretary, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Mr. Erich Stather, and Minister of State, Federal Foreign Office Ms. Kerstin Muller in meetings Thursday and Friday in Berlin, LTTE sources in Germany said. The delegation flew from Stockholm, Sweden, in a special airacraft that took them to German capital Berlin, Thursday morning.
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SLA gets new spokesman

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 17:55 GMT]
Brigadier R.M Daya Ratnayake Friday assumed duties as the new spokesman and Director, Directorate of Media of the Sri Lanka army at a brief ceremony held at the SLA Headquarters in Colombo. Former Army spokesman Colonel A.K Sumedha Perera was removed from the post after his name was implicated in a land fraud case. The case is pending in Colombo High Court.
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Sri Lanka military responsible for actions of paramilitaries – judge

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 11:27 GMT]
Vavuniya magistrate Friday observed that the Sri Lanka army should bear responsibility for the disappearance of Mr. Ariyathas Vijayakumar who was abducted by the paramilitary EPRLF (Varathar Faction) on 15 August 2000 in his findings forwarded to the Vavuniya High Court after preliminary inquiry into the Habeas Corpus application. The magistrate, Mr. Manickavasagar Ilancheliyan, said that the SLA’s position that it had no knowledge of the arrest and detention is untenable because paramilitary groups like EPRLF (V) worked with the military.
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Sinhala Buddhists want Norway out

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 01:45 GMT]
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the powerful Sinhala Buddhist nationalist party in Sri Lanka's Parliament, Thursday launched an islandwide campaign to get ten million signatures to persuade President Chandrika Kumaratunga to reject peace talks with the Liberation Tigers. The Sinhala nationalist campaign also exhorts Colombo to unequivocally reject the LTTE's proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) for the northeast.
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Sri Lanka Govt. troops threaten VVT fishermen

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 October 2004, 01:32 GMT]
Sri Lankan security forces Thursday prevented fishermen of Valvettithurai in Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district from deepening the jetty. A soldier threatened Mr.P.Wijendran, Treasurer of Valvettithurai Fisheries Co-operative Society when he protested, fisheries sources said.
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Ex-LTTE cadres complain harassment by SLA soldiers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 23:33 GMT]
The Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has received several complaints of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army harassing Tamil youths who have left the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and have joined their parents and families. Ex-LTTE youths are becoming increasingly wary of living with their families because of intimidation and threat by SLA soldiers, human rights sources said.
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SLA issues Karuna Group leaflets in Batticaloa town

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 10:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka army troops distributed leaflets condemning the Liberation Tigers and their leadership Wednesday night in Batticaloa town. The leaflets bear the name of the paramilitary led by renegade LTTE commander, Mr. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna).
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Red Cross' humanitarian services spotlighted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 October 2004, 00:54 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) Tuesday launched its "Meet the Media" campaign in Trincomalee in collaboration with its district branch to brief media persons on the humanitarian services of Red Cross to victims of war and displacement and other natural disasters in the Trincomalee district Tuesday. Mr.Harsha Gunawardene, SLRCS Director of Information said the second Meet the Media event will be held in Anuradhapura.
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US Presidential candidate in Colombo, slams Iraq war

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2004, 12:52 GMT]
''The US is the most disruptive force on the planet. The US invasion and occupation of Iraq is a war crime carried out in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions. American media did not bother to independently investigate claims made by the Bush administration for invading Iraq. Instead, they behaved like ministry of propaganda. This is because US media is controlled by big corporations like General Electric, one of the biggest arms producers in America'', said Mr. Bill Van Auken, a US presidential candidate, addressing a press conference in Colombo Wednesday.
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UNP activists demonstrate in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 09:21 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians including hundreds of party cadres and activists joined in what is dubbed as “Kitchen Revolution," Tuesday in Kollupitiya junction, Slave Island junction, Hyde Park Corner, Maradana overhead bridge junction, Technical College junction and Kochchikade St Anthony’s Church junction, sources in Colombo said.
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Jaffna Court orders inquiry into habeas corpus application

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 16:12 GMT]
Jaffna High Court Judge Mr.K.P.S.Varatharajah Monday referred the Habeas Corpus application filed by Mr.Kanapathipillai Velupillai seeking the production of his son Mr.Velupillai Uthayakumar who was reported disappeared after the arrest by Sri Lanka Army soldiers during 1996 period to the Chavakachcheri Magistrate for preliminary and report, legal sources said.


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LTTE delegation meets Belgian, EU Officials

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 October 2004, 13:29 GMT]
Liberation Tigers delegation lead by Head of Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, met with Officials of Foreign Affairs Section of the Belgian Government and of the European Union in two separate meetings Monday, LTTE sources from Brussels said.
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Southern delegation meets Ilamparithi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 17:08 GMT]
Jaffna district political head of the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam, C.Ilamparithi, Thursday met with a delegation comprising Southern provincial councillors and members of the Saumya Youth Foundation at the Potpathy Road offices of the LTTE, sources said.
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SLA bars paddy cultivation in Trinco village

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 12:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has prohibited resettled Tamil farming families in Paththinipuram village from cultivating their paddy fields for the forthcoming season, said the villagers in complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam Divisional Secretary (DS) and Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).


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Batticaloa court releases ten LTTE cadres on bail

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 09:53 GMT]
The Batticaloa Magistrate Mr.M.H.M.Ajmeer Thursday afternoon released ten cadres of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on cash and surety bail on the orders of the Court of Appeal. Monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Batticaloa immediately took charge of the released 10 LTTE cadres and handed over to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). Thereafter the SLA and the Police took them in their vehicles to "Karuththapalam" (Black Bridge) on A5 Chenkaladi Kandy road and handed them to the LTTE representatives under the supervision of the SLMM monitors.
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SLA bars paddy cultivation in resettled Trinco village

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 October 2004, 07:10 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has prohibited resettled Tamil farm families in Paththinipuram village from cultivating their paddy fields for the forthcoming season, said in complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam Divisional Secretary (DS) and Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).
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