U.S. urged to adopt balanced approach to peace

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 September 2004, 10:17 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader and the Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan in a press release issued Monday in Trincomalee said that a meeting Ambassador J.Cofer Black, had with a group of Sri Lankan media representatives in Colombo, has "caused much concern to wide sections of the Tamil people," and cautioned that "failure to adopt an even handed approach could cause immense harm to the peace process." Ambassador Black is U.S. State Department's Co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism.
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SLA involvement in Pullumalai attack aimed at provocating LTTE - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2004, 11:58 GMT]
Noting that the "evidence of MAG personnel, proximity of the Tampaddi SLA camp vis-à-vis the LTTE point and the fact that the attackers alighted from the MAG vehicle and carried the dead into the SLA camp are clear indicators of SLA complicity in the attack", the LTTE Political Head, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, accused Friday that the "SLA is engaged in ceasefire violations with a view to provocate the LTTE and thereby leading to disruption of the entire peace process" in a letter to the SLMM Head.
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TNA meets new Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 September 2004, 06:49 GMT]
A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary delegation Thursday morning met with the new Indian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Ms Nirupama Rao at the Indian High Commission office. The discussion centred on the current situation of the peace process since the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), TNA parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan told TamilNet.
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TNA urges President to commence talks with LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 September 2004, 08:00 GMT]
“The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) would strongly urge the Government to commence talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) without delay, on the basis of the Interim Self-Governing Authority proposals of the LTTE. and thereby implement the position enunciated by the President on 10 June, when she met the TNA delegation”, said Mr.R.Sampanthan, TNA parliamentary group leader in a statement made in the parliament Tuesday morning.
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Tamil Students Federation HQ opened in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 September 2004, 14:46 GMT]
The headquarters of the Tamil Students Federation (TSF) was opened in Jaffna Monday morning. The headquarters is located along Kovil Road in Nallur."The headquarters will bring to the notice of the international community the violations of fundamental and human rights of Tamil students in the northeast," said Mr. P.Nilakshan, President of the TSF presiding over the event.
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"Civil society, key to advancing a Federal solution"- Rupesinghe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 September 2004, 00:46 GMT]
"The people in North and East want to control and plan their own future and develop their part of the country. This is the primary impulse behind the ISGA. An interim administration should be seen as a win-win solution to both sides... ISGA proposal has been developed and is the result of 25 years of civil war. The LTTE has presented its proposals for the first time. This has to be respected and acknowledged," said Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe, Civil Socieity Forum Chairman, talking to TamilNet this week.
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Pay rent or vacate, house owners tell SLA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2004, 13:00 GMT]
Attempts made by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) through its Jaffna regional office have failed to obtain support of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to pay rent to the owners of the civilian houses now occupied by SLA outside the high security zones (HSZs) in Jaffna district. The owners have now issued ultimatum to launch a campaign demanding the return of their houses in failing to pay rent, sources said.
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Picketers call for release of homeguards

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 September 2004, 01:20 GMT]
A picketing campaign held by a small group of Sinhalese persons in the main conference hall of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee town Thursday from about 11 a.m. demanding the release of two Sinhala home guards arrested with grenades and weapons by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in their controlled areas in Trincomalee district recently, was called off around 8 p.m. when the Police warned them that they would use force, sources said.
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French diplomats meet TNA foreign affairs committee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 09:36 GMT]
“We told France if indeed talks on the ISGA commence, there is a good chance that an agreement could be reached in this matter. We said that this is exactly what the Singhalese are afraid of, as it would mean that they would no longer have a monopoly on power, and their hegemony over the Tamil nation will cease for once and for all time. We also said that it is for this reason that we suspect that the Sri Lankan government t is trying to provoke the LTTE to another war by destabilizing the east and supporting Tamil armed groups," said Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam TNA MP Thursday.
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Youths are cornerstone of our struggle- Ilamparithy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 00:32 GMT]
"Younger generation is the cornerstone of our struggle. We are fully aware of the efforts by our adversaries to spread social ills among our people. We accept that some level of distraction among the teen-agers is unavoidable. But this helps us in building strong social resistance against negative influences in the long term," said Ilamparithy, LTTE's head of political wing in Jaffna district.
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Wickremanayake rhetoric harmful- NLF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2004, 06:40 GMT]
''Acting Defence Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake's warning to the Liberation Tigers not to push the Government to war and accusing the LTTE of continuing with killings and attacks on anti-LTTE elements in the East and in Colombo in violation of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) in place, is not conducive to promoting a climate of peace,'' Mr Thirunavukkarasu, politburo member of the New Left Front (NLF), told TamilNet Tuesday
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Thenmaradchchi IDPs demand army withdrawal from their houses

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 August 2004, 14:32 GMT]
The Consortium of Thenmaradchchi Civil Organizations in Jaffna district Tuesday handed over a memorandum to the Jaffna Government Agent (GA) with copies to Jaffna regional co-ordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and the Jaffna head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that it would launch a mass agitation bringing the civil administration and public transport system in Thenmaradchchi division to a halt if the houses and lands of internally displaced people (IDP) are not returned by the Sri Lanka Army.
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SLA, LTTE to meet again in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 August 2004, 13:34 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa said Tuesday they will meet Sri Lankan armed forces again after a long gap on Friday 3 September. The decision was announced following a discussion between Col. Ramesh, special commander of LTTE forces in the Batticaloa-Amparai District and Maj. Gen. (ret) Trond Furuhovde, head of the Nordic monitoring mission in Sri Lanka, Tuesday in Kokkaddicholai, 15 kilometres southwest of Batticaloa.
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SLA imposes restrictions on deepening fisheries jetties

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 August 2004, 08:15 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has imposed new restriction on fisheries societies in the Vadamarachchi division in Jaffna district on deepening about 21 fisheries jetties, said Valvettithurai (VVT) Fisheries Co-operative Society. The SLA said that it would deploy a group of 15 SLA soldiers to each fisheries jetty area to supervise the deepening work for security reasons, sources said.
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Greater inclusivity can revive peace process- NPC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 August 2004, 09:16 GMT]
The National Peace Council, in a press release issued in Colombo Tuesday said that killings during ceasefire are "totally unacceptable," and that a bipartisan approach is necessary to take the peace process forward to arrive at a "mutually agreed negotiated political solution."
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UPFA urged to adopt consistent stand on ISGA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 August 2004, 00:41 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) in an 8-page statement issued Monday said that UNP is "saddened by the steadfast refusal of the present UPFA government to adopt a coherent and internally consistent stand in respect of their attitude to the current ISGA proposals," and accused the UPFA government for making confusing and contradictory statements leading to the current impasse, jeopardizing the ceasefire agreement.
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SLA, police in Jaffna against hoisting of LTTE flag

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 August 2004, 02:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army and Police in Jaffna district have been exerting pressure on the organizers of public and sports events in the Vadamarachchi division not to hoist the Tamil Eelam national flag, which is also the flag of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). During the weekend, the LTTE flag was hoisted at four sports events in the Vadamaradchchi division. The SLA and police rushed to the sites and ordered the organizers to remove the flags. But the people gathered at the events refused, sources said.
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Peace talks should be over ISGA proposals - Mannar Bishop

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 August 2004, 02:35 GMT]
“The Interim Self Governing Authority [ISGA] document was only a proposal for discussion as a step towards a viable alternative to separation. The current talk of a counterproposal to be made by the [Sri Lanka] government is not acceptable to the Liberation Tigers, as the LTTE feels this will become an opportunity for the government to bide its time…The government can bring up all its proposals at the discussion table over the ISGA proposals,” said the Bishop of Mannar, Rt.Rev. Rayappu Joseph, when TamilNet interviewed him Monday.
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SLA numbers IDP occupied houses in Palaly HSZ

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 August 2004, 16:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Monday started numbering the houses in villages Pannalai and adjacent areas located in the Palaly high security zones (HSZ) where internally displaced families have resettled after signing the ceasefire agreement. The SLA authorities say that they do the numbering enabling them to easily identify the occupants.
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SLA blocks LTTE political activists in Trinco

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 August 2004, 18:45 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army Sunday evening surrounded a group of political activists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Mc Heyzer road in Orr's Hill, a suburb in Trincomalee town, and blocked their movement. Later they were allowed to go by the SLA at the intervention of monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee following a strong complaint lodged by Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE, against the action of the SLA, sources said.
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