News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 January 2000, 13:25 GMT]
Special census in Vavuniya, Villagers protest against guns, Coconut plantations being cut down.
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Security forces swoop on Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 January 2000, 18:07 GMT]
Thirty young men and women were arrested in Wellawatte, a large Tamil suburb of Colombo during a combined search operation by Special Task Force and CID personnel this morning, sources said.
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2000 arrested in Colombo search

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 January 2000, 11:39 GMT]
More than 2000 Tamils were arrested in a massive cordon and search operation in Kolonnawa, a suburb of Colombo, and in Gampaha district, today. The combined operation by the Sri Lanka Army and Police began in the early hours of the morning after enforcing a ten-hour curfew.
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Search operation under curfew

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 January 2000, 07:19 GMT]
The Defence Ministry has imposed a ten-hour curfew in Kolonnawa, a suburb of Colombo, and Gampaha district from 4 a.m. till 2 p.m. today.
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Norwegian Foreign Minister to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 January 2000, 20:55 GMT]
The delayed visit of the Norwegian Foreign Minister to Sri Lanka is expected to take place during the weekend political sources said.
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Sunday Leader Editor defends article

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 January 2000, 20:18 GMT]
Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge has told the High court that an alleged defamatory article published in his English weekly journal didn't convey the impression that the president was a corrupt person.
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Petrol tankers attacked

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 January 2000, 09:25 GMT]
A petroleum tanker driver was killed and two others wounded when unidentified gunmen fired on two tankers owned by the Petroleum Co-Operation around 8 a.m. this morning, police said. The incident took place near a Sri Lanka Army camp at Punanai, 50 km. north of Batticaloa on the Colombo road.
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Jaffna SLA commander suffers heart attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 January 2000, 13:05 GMT]
Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Nihal Jayakody died this afternoon at Palaly Military Hospital after a brief illness, said a press release issued today by the Operational Headquarters Of the Ministry o f Defence.
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Casualties in bus shooting

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 January 2000, 17:20 GMT]
A woman was killed and three others wounded when a privately owned passenger bus was fired on at Miyankalkulam near Valaichenai on the Batticaloa-Colombo road around 11 a.m. Tuesday. The bus was on its way to Trincomalee from Kalmunai.
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Cabinet minister leads protest against Jaffna officials

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 January 2000, 17:18 GMT]
An estimated 1500 activists participated in a protest at Lipton Circus in Colombo Tuesday, organised by pro Government trade unions. The picketing was led by cabinet minister Alavi Moulana.
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Ponnambalam aide identifies 'Shantha'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 January 2000, 10:45 GMT]
All Ceylon Tamil Congress leader Kumar Ponnambalam's aide, G.Thomas has identified the person who met the late M.Ponnambalam. at his home on the day of his assassination as Shantha.
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Bomb found in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 January 2000, 06:38 GMT]
A parcel containing 250 gram bomb was found near a police officers' quarters at Jempettah Lane in Colombo around 10.30 a.m. police said.
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President security stops letter bomb

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 January 2000, 11:55 GMT]
A letter bomb addressed to the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge was detected at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo today, said sources. It was later defused by the bomb disposal unit of the Sri Lanka Army, the sources said.
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More UNP MPs to support PA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 January 2000, 19:18 GMT]
Six more parliamentarians from the United National Party (UNP) are expected to support the ruling People's Alliance (PA), political sources in Colombo said. Yesterday, the Central Committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), decided to present a bill that allows an MP to cross over to another party.
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Ex-Finance Minister supports 'Conscience Bill'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 January 2000, 19:17 GMT]
Senior Parliamentarian of the UNP and a former Finance Minister of the UNP government Ronnie de Mel has welcomed the "MP's Conscience Bill" to be moved by the government shortly.
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Presidential condolence note 'predates assassination'

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 January 2000, 22:22 GMT]
The assassination January 5 of Kumar Ponnambalam, President of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, might have been planned by the Sri Lankan government eight months ago, a Paris based Tamil publication alleged this week. The Eelamurasu cited a condolence letter by President Chandrika Kumaratunge to Ponnambalam's widow which bore the date 6 May 1999.
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Sarathambal's funeral held

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2000, 12:12 GMT]
The burial of a young Brahmin woman, Sarathambal took place at the Khanate cemetery, Borella in Colombo today. Sarathamabal,29, was gang-raped and murdered in Punguduthivu in Jaffna, allegedly by Sri Lanka Navy personnel on 28 December 1999.
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AG's opinion sought in defamation case

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2000, 11:53 GMT]
Criminal Investigation Departmental Officers have sought the opinion of the Attorney General (AG) in respect of the Report of the investigations into the complaint made by President Chandrika against Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge.
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Jaffna population shrinking

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2000, 11:49 GMT]
Jaffna's Government Agent K.Shanmuganathan said that compared to other districts in the island, the population of the peninsula should be in the region of one million at present. But now only about 498,000 people are living in the Jaffna district, he said.
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Sri Lanka signs UN terrorism funding convention

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2000, 19:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka was the second country to sign the United Nation's Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, which was opened for signature on January 10 at the United Nations in New York, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in Colombo.
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