UNP convoy ambushed

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 1999, 22:39 GMT]
Violence in Sri Lanka's Northwestern Provincial polls continued as armed persons suspected to be members of the ruling People's Alliance (PA) shot at and stoned a convoy of campaign vehicles in which opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and UNP's general secretary Gamini Athukorala were travelling at Marawila this morning.
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Fresh fighting in Mankulam

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 1999, 14:09 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) sources in Vavuniya said this afternoon that three soldiers and eighteen Tigers were killed in a major confrontation between its troops and the Liberation Tigers north of Mankulam this morning.
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ACTC Leader to be questioned again

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 22:14 GMT]
The CID's interrogation of Mr.Kumar Ponnambalam was concluded at 7.45 p.m. this evening, said Sri Lankan Police sources in Colombo. The ACTC leader will be questioned again next Wednesday, January 20, they said.
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CID interrogates Ponnampalam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 12:50 GMT]
Mr.Kumar Ponnambalam, the general secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), is being interrogated at his residence by sleuths from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over allegations that he is a self proclaimed supporter of the Liberation Tigers.
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NLF chief candidate assaulted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 08:46 GMT]
The chief candidate of the New Left Front (NLF) which is contesting elections to Sri Lanka's Northwestern Provincial Council was seriously injured last night when they were severely assaulted by group PA members and supporters near Waariyapola in the Kurunagala district.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 00:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka sets aside jobs and school places for relatives of members of its security forces as telecom workers strike over assault on Union leader.
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Appeal for peaceful election

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 00:32 GMT]
The National Committee for Peace And Economic Development, in a letter addressed to leaders of the political parties participating in the North West Provincial Council polls appealed to the to "desist from violence and ensure a free and fair election".
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Red Cross driver released

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 1999, 17:51 GMT]
Thuraisamy Pathmanathan, the driver of the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC), Vavuniya branch, who was arrested and detained by Sri Lankan Police sleuths on June 7 last year for taking an opposition MP to the Liberation Tigers controlled areas of the Vanni was released without charges this morning at the Colombo magistrate's court.
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Fund to support soldiers' families

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 1999, 14:48 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President has established a fund and an authority to look after the welfare of the families of Sri Lankan security personnel that are said to be living in poverty.
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Twenty LTTE Casualties - SLN

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 1999, 11:22 GMT]
Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) sources said that two Tiger boats were destroyed and 20 Tigers were believed to have been killed when the SLN patrol crafts attacked LTTE boats in the seas off Pulmoddai, in eastern Trincomalee last night.
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EPDP complains to Harassment Committee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 1999, 11:16 GMT]
The leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Mr. Devananda, informed the Anti-Harassment Committee that Government Forces should be able to identify themselves and that their vehicles should carry registration numbers when conducting search operations in the capitol Colombo.
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Missing remain "unaccounted for" - Amnesty

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 15:19 GMT]
Amnesty International has issued an update to its earlier urgent action appeal over the disappearances of eight people in Vavuniya allegedly after being taken into custody by the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Sri Lankan Army (SLA). Amnesty says the missing are still unaccounted for and has added another name to the list.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 12:00 GMT]
Electricity supply to several Sri Lankan Army camps in Vanni was disrupted after an electricity pylon was blasted last night; Sri Lankan Customs arrest two Indian nationals at Colombo airport; Five policemen and civilian feared drowned in boat accident.
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Aptitude tests to determine GS promotions?

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 16:25 GMT]
The Minster of Administration and Local Governments, Ratnasree Wickramanayake, has sought advice from the Attorney General (AG) whether promotions of 'Grama Sevakas' (GS) can be based on specially conducted aptitude tests.
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Lanka Muditha Jaffna trip delayed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 01:17 GMT]
The Lanka Muditha, a cargo vessel that is used for shuttling passengers between the eastern port of Trincomalee and Kankesanthurai in Jaffna will not sail to the northern peninsula in the next 15 days according to the Divisional Secretary in Trincomalee, Mr. V.Velummaiylum.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 01:14 GMT]
Political violence continue as elections for the North-Western Provincial Council approaches, Mulankavil hospital releases statistics, vegetable prices go up following heavy rains.
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Chemmani cover up suspected

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 1999, 20:05 GMT]
Jaffna district judge, A.E Ekanaathan, today told the Sri Lankan Criminial Investigation Division (CID) Superintendant of Police, Nanda Munasinghe, that a soil expert has to examine the site of the alleged mass grave in Chemmani in Jaffna before excavation could begin.
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Pact is safe - Indian High Commissioner

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 1999, 19:17 GMT]
Mr.Shiv Shankar Menon, India's High Commissioner for Sri Lanka, addressing the National Chamber of Commerce yesterday said that the Indo Lankan trade agreement has to be implemented to see whether the fear that it might be harmful to Sri Lanka is justified.
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PA discusses package with India

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 1999, 18:26 GMT]
The consultant to Sri Lanka's ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Dr.Jayampathy Wickremaratna, is currently in Delhi to discuss with Indian officials , the devolution package of the People's Alliance government in Colombo said sources close to him.
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Help sought identifying body

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 1999, 22:19 GMT]
Professor Raveendra Fernando of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at the Faculty of Medicine in Colombo has requested help from relatives of the passengers who died when a Lion Air plane came down last year to identify a body. The body, which was in highly decomposed stage, was washed ashore in Mannar few days ago.
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