JUSU condemns SLA's behaviour in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2003, 17:41 GMT]
The Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU), in a statement released Sunday evening, warned that grave repercussion would follow if the Sinhala dominated Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police continued their hostile activities against Tamil students and civilians in the Jaffna district with the assistance of their quislings.
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Students' Association condemns SLA intimidation in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2003, 17:09 GMT]
The International Students' Association of Tamil Eelam (ISATE) Sunday condemned SLA's continued intimidation of students and said the chauvinist policy of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Police has been the root cause for the growth of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its demand for police, judicial powers for the proposed interim self governing authority for the northeast province.
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Tensions over Heroes’ Day continue in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2003, 12:08 GMT]
Tension between civilians and Sri Lanka army troops over arches and decoration for the Great Heroes’ Day continued in Jaffna Sunday. SLA pulled down a hardboard arch that local residents constructed at the Windsor Theatre Junction in Jaffna town Sunday morning. A large crowd of people gathered there in the afternoon and put up the arch again amidst objections and protests by the military. More troops were deployed in the area following altercations between the SLA and townspeople at Windsor Junction.
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Army-students clash averted in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 2003, 06:26 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army Saturday night deliberately destroyed a decorated structure constructed by the students and civilians at the Parameswara junction along the Jaffna Palaly trunk road in connection with Great Heroes Day celebration by crashing their heavy vehicle against the structure. A group of army soldiers at the scene had reported to have loaded their guns when a group of students at the site objected to the army's action, police said. High tension prevailed at the site when a gunshot was heard.
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UNF begins public awareness programme on constitutional crisis

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2003, 18:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Saturday said the current ceasefire agreement with the LTTE should be strengthened to avoid another war. "Negotiated political settlement could be found for the national conflict without war," said Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe addressing the first rally at Padavi-Siripura in Trincomalee district Saturday evening inaugurating an awareness programme island wide, to explain to the public, matters related to constitutional crisis between the Executive and the Legislature.


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Jaffna celebrates Heroes Day amid SLA harassment

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2003, 14:25 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army Saturday continued their interference with Tamil civilians who have been erecting arches, festoons and other decorations in Jaffna district in connection with the Great Heroes Day celebrations, civil sources said.
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Paper slams EU peace visit as "pig headed act"

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2003, 08:27 GMT]
Commissioner of External Affairs of the European Union, Mr. Chris Patten’s visit to Sri Lanka next week is expected to draw strong protests from Sinhala nationalists, political observers in Colombo said. ‘The Island’, an English daily published by President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s uncle, slammed Mr. Patten’s plan to meet the Liberation Tigers in Kilinochchi next Tuesday as a “pig headed act” in a prominent front-page editorial Saturday. “This is bloody European gumption and insolence of the highest order”, the paper said.
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German government reconstructs destroyed Trinco building

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2003, 00:32 GMT]
The new building of the Sampalthivu Agrarian Services Centre (ASC), located in the village of Aththimoddai, about 7 k.m. north of Trincomalee town, and reconstructed at a cost of 2.9 million rupees with the financial assistance of Integrated Food Security Programme (IFSP) of the German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ), was handed over to the Agrarian Development Committee of Sampalthivu Friday morning.
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NE Provincial Council holds 'IFTAR'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 2003, 00:01 GMT]
“The healthy relationship between Tamils and Muslims has deteriorated for various reasons in recent times. This should not be allowed to continue. All of us should make a concerted effort to bring back the golden era where two communities lived as brothers and sisters for centuries. Iftar is held to strengthen the unity between two communities,” said Mr. Majeed, North East Provincial Assistant Director of Culture (Muslim section), while speaking at the ‘Iftar’ function held in Trincomalee Thursday.
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SLA hands back Amban hospital, library

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2003, 18:33 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army Friday handed back to civil authorities a hospital and public library it had been occupying for more than three years in Amban, a village on Jaffna’s southeastern coast.
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SLA permits Danish to de-mine again

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2003, 18:32 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army permitted the Danish De-mining Group (DDG) to resume work in Katkovalam, a coastal village near Pt. Pedro town in Jaffna from Friday, residents said. Earlier this month the SLA stopped the Danish from removing land mines in abandoned SLA positions and their environs in Katkovalam when the group began earmarking places to be de-mined in the village.
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SLMM defuses tension in Jaffna over SLA's interference

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2003, 18:19 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Friday afternoon stopped officials of the Jaffna district consumers' co-operative societies federation from hoisting the LTTE flag at the event held in the federation’s premises as a part of the Great Heroes' (Maveerar) Day celebrations. However, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials in Jaffna rushed to the site and defused the tension in the area following the SLA's action, civil sources said.
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SLA pulls down Heroes’ Day arches, festoons in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2003, 12:41 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army in Jaffna deployed additional troops along the Kandy Road (A9) from Kodikamam to the entrance of the northern town Friday and pulled down decorative arches and festoons put up for the LTTE’s Great Heroes’ Day in many parts of the peninsula. The SLA also deployed many small unit foot patrols armed with machine guns in Jaffna Friday.
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Cohabitation talks to end by December 15 - PA

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2003, 11:27 GMT]
The main opposition Peoples Alliance said Friday that the President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge and Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremanayake have agreed to conclude the current high level talks now being held between their advisors to end the political uncertainty by 15th of December, media sources said.
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President appoints new regional commander for Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 2003, 09:26 GMT]
Major General Paramee Kulatunga has been appointed as the new Jaffna regional commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) replacing the incumbent Major General Sarath Fonseka. Major General Sarath Fonseka has been put in charge of the SLA Volunteer Corp, in a shake up in the Sri Lanka military establishment made by the President, military sources said Friday.
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SL Security Forces told to strictly observe CFA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2003, 12:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), General Balagalle, SL Navy Chief, Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri and Chief of SL AirForce Air Vice Marshall Donald Weerakody met Thursday with Commanders of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Navy (SLN) and Air Force (SLAF) serving in Batticaloa district and directed them to strictly adhere to and observe the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), security sources said.
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SL Speaker to face no-confidence motion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2003, 11:34 GMT]
The leaderships of Sri Lanka's main opposition Peoples Alliance (PA) and the Sinhala nationalist, Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Thursday decided to collect signatures of parliamentarians to move a no-confidence motion against the Sri Lanka Speaker Mr.Joseph Michael Perera stating he had no power to challenge the proclamation of the President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge proroguing parliament, political sources said.


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LTTE, SLA discuss Heroes’ Day in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2003, 08:30 GMT]
“Sri Lanka army officers told us their troops won’t object to anything with the Tiger insignia being used in decorations put up by the people for the Great Heroes’ Day in Jaffna”, said Mr. S. Thangan, the deputy leader of the political division of the Liberation Tigers after a meeting with Maj. Gen. Ratnasabapathy, deputy Sri Lankan security forces commander for Jaffna and senior Sri Lankan Police officials in the northern town Thursday.
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SLA threatens Jaffna journalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 2003, 19:02 GMT]
The military intelligence unit of the Sri Lanka army at the Muhamalai entry point in Jaffna Wednesday stopped the journalist, Mr. Velupillai Thavachelvam, for more than an hour, threatening and accusing him of casting aspersions on the SLA in the northern peninsula deliberately. According to Mr. Thavachelvam, the soldiers who threatened him had said: “People like you had a free run under (Prime Minister) Ranil’s government. But now the President is in charge. So we can do anything to you”.
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Work on new Sellasannithi chariot begins

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 2003, 11:02 GMT]
The first piece of wood for building the new chariot (Ther) for the historic Thondamanaru Sellasannithi Murugan Temple in Jaffna was carved and consecrated Wednesday morning according to Tamil religious rites at the Bambalapitya Manikkapillaiyar Kovil in Colombo. The temple’s intricately carved wooden chariot was destroyed when Sri Lanka army soldiers allegedly set fire to it during a military operation in the area on 21April 1986. The temple building was also destroyed by the SLA in 1987 during ‘Operation Liberation’ to take the Vadamaradchi Division of Jaffna.
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