Art competition spotlights suffering of displaced children

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 September 2004, 08:11 GMT]
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) held an art competition among the displaced children living in welfare centres in the Northeast Province and in Puttalam district to highlight the difficulties war affected children face. The winning drawings will be exhibited in the island level exhibition in Colombo,
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Discussion on IDPs issue held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 2004, 20:00 GMT]
A one-day discussion organized by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) on the problems of the internally displaced people was held on Monday in the auditorium of Jaffna district secretariat under the National Protection and Durable Solution for Internally Displaced Persons Project.
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Another Black September massacre remembered in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 2004, 15:39 GMT]
Special prayers were offered Monday in the Tamil temple and church in the villages of Savukkadi and Thalavaai, 14 kilometres north of Batticaloa, in remembrance of forty two men, women and children who were hacked and shot to death by Sri Lanka army troops on 20 September 1990. The villagers were massacred during an SLA operation along the coast toward Batticaloa.
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Popular radio network says plot to jam news

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 September 2004, 05:57 GMT]
The management of Asian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the parent company of five popular radio stations in Sri Lanka Monday expressed concern over reports in local print and electronic media about an alleged request by the Ministry of Internal Security to jam news broadcasts on all the radio channels of the network. President Kumaratunga cancelled ABC's TV license soon after she seized key ministries from the United National Front government in November 2003. In August this year Sri Lanka army seized equipment ABC sent to Jaffna for upgrading its broadcast in the north.
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President's intentions not translated into action - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2004, 12:45 GMT]
LTTE Political Wing in a press release Sunday accused the President Chandrika Kumaratunga of being responsible for the delay in restarting the peace process. The intentions of the President who "expressed her interest in restarting the peace process", were "not translated into action" said the Press Release. The recent statement of the President is "far from the truth and is totally disappointing" said the Press Release.
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Provincial Folk Dance festival held in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 September 2004, 10:41 GMT]
Northeast Provincial Folk Dance Festival was held Saturday evening in Trincomalee St.Mary's College Therese Auditorium under the auspices of Provincial Department of Education. Schools which won the district level competitions participated in the provincial level final competitions held Saturday morning and the winners were awarded prizes and certificates in the Folk Dance Festival held later the same day.
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Sinhala journalists visit Jaffna IDP families

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2004, 15:27 GMT]
A group of Sinhala journalists Friday visited several welfare centres in the Jaffna district where large number of internally displaced families (IDP) are given shelter and inquired from them their difficulties living as refugees, civil group sources said.
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Tigers to meet SLA in Batticaloa Wednesday

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 September 2004, 14:18 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa will meet Sri Lankan armed forces on Wednesday, 22 September, informed sources in the eastern district said. The meeting was postponed twice since last month. Tigers indicated the new date following the return of Mr. E. Kousalyan, head of LTTE's political division for Batticaloa-Amparai District on Thursday.
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Tamil Language Festival to be held in Trinco

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 2004, 15:26 GMT]
North East Provincial Tamil Language Festival for Tamil medium schools in the province is to be held on September 18 and 19 in Trincomalee St.Mary's College Theresa Auditorium. Provincial Folkdance Festival will be held on the first day and Tamil Language Festival on the second day, provincial ministry of education officials said.


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Jaffna civil groups brief Norwegian peace envoy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2004, 10:21 GMT]
Jaffna civil groups and non-governmental organizations Wednesday handed over memoranda to the Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Eric Solheim detailing the sufferings of Tamil people, especially hundreds of thousands of internally displaced families now staying in welfare centres unable to return to their houses and agricultural lands which are currently occupied by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the SLA demarked high security zones, sources said.
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Solheim arrives in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2004, 06:50 GMT]
Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim Wednesday morning arrived in Palaly by a special aircraft. Mr. Solheim met with the Jaffna area commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Major General Sunil Tennekon who briefed him of the ground situation prevailing in the peninsula. Talks between LTTE district political head Mr.C.Ilamparithi, deputy head Mr.Semmanan and district women political head Ms Kalaivilzi and the Norwegian team led by Mr.Solheim began around noon, sources said.
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Buddhist monks meet Jaffna LTTE political leaders

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 September 2004, 01:28 GMT]
A group of forty six Buddhist monks from the South of Sri Lanka Tuesday told the Jaffna political leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that not all Buddhist priests are against the peace process and only a few leading prelates in the south are espousing racism.
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Muslims object to pantheistic sect in Kattankudy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 15:49 GMT]
Shops and government offices were closed in the large Muslim town of Kattankudy, 5 kilometres south of Batticaloa, Tuesday as a protest by orthodox Muslims against an Islamic sect that preaches pantheism. A large group of orthordox Muslims marched through the town chanting slogans against Rauf Mowlavi, the head of the pantheistic sect, and his followers. Followers of Rauf Mowlavi and the orthordox Muslims have clashed in the town on several occasions for more than thirty years.
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Southern Journalists meet with Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 13:08 GMT]
Director of National Peace Council, Dr. Jehan Perera, and a group of about forty journalists from South met with Head of LTTE Political Wing, S.P.Thamilchelvan, at LTTE Planning and Development Secretariat in Kilinochchi Tuesday, sources from Vanni said. The objective of the meeting was to explore ways to strengthen and promote cordial relationship between the North and the South, the delegation members said. Liberation Tigers arranged for the group to tour war affected areas and, to witness progress of humanitarian projects in Vanni. The group left for Jaffna in the afternoon, sources said.
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Monks demand SL Govt to declare Buddhism as 'state religion'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 06:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s hardline monks took another step towards creating their ideal of a Buddhist state this week with their parliamentary party calling for a Constitutional change to make Buddhism the state religion.
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SLA Lieutenant arrested for attempted arms robbery

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 05:43 GMT]
2nd. Lieutenant Mr.Sameera Mangalaratne attached to Soorankal Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detachment was identified as the person who was killed in the fire-fight with home guards in Mullipottan in the Kantalai police division on Monday, Police said. Another army lieutenant has been arrested and three other soldiers are evading arrest, the police added.
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"Weakening LTTE, main aim of SL Govt"- Balakumaran

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 September 2004, 13:57 GMT]
"Absolutely nothing fundamental has changed on the ground. There can be absence of war, there can be prospects of peace talks, or involvement of the International community, or there can be press releases issued by Chandrika Kumaratunge. But, precious little has changed in the feelings or nationalistic thinking of our people. War has not ended yet," said K.V.Balakumaran, a Senior Leader of the Liberation Tigers, in an interview with the Sydney Tamil Radio Thamil Muzhakkam's "Mannin Mainthargal" program during his recent visit to European countries.
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SLA trooper commits suicide in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 September 2004, 10:45 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army soldier committed suicide by shooting himself in his bunker in Pampaimadu, 5 kilometres west of Vavuniya Saturday, Police in the northern border town said.
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Refugees abandoned on Kachchathivu arrive in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 September 2004, 09:37 GMT]
Twenty eight Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from South India who had been abandoned in the island Kachchaithivu were brought to Jaffna Saturday. Government officials at the Jaffna District Secretariat gave the refugees money to help them return to their villages in Mannar,Mullaithivu and other parts of the Vanni. The refugees related their harrowing experience to local experience to local journalists.
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Dutch asked to delay funding KKS harbour development

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 September 2004, 01:25 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent, S.Pathmanathan, told an official of the Dutch Government visiting Jaffna Thursday, to delay funding development of the Kankesanthurai harbour until permanent peace prevails in the district, local daily Uthayan reported. The Government of Netherland has earlier allocated funds towards renovation of the harbor and the visit of the official was to collect additional information related to harbour development.
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