Business leaders court UNP

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 October 1998, 20:06 GMT]
The ICRC declined an informal request by the leaders of the Sri Lankan business community to take relief supplies donated by them to the people living in areas of the Vanni region which are under the control of the Liberation Tigers. Meanwhile a delegation of Sri Lanka's top businessmen met the UNP leader Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo this evening.
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Minister charges UNP-LTTE conspiracy

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 October 1998, 03:15 GMT]
Gen.Anuruddha Ratwatte, Sri Lanka's deputy minister for defence, charged that the opposition leader Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe was in cahoots with the Liberation Tigers.
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Tigers release soldiers, ferry crew

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 October 1998, 03:50 GMT]
Six Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and three Sinhalese crewmen from the ferries "Irish Mona" and "M.V. Misen" in the custody of the Liberation Tigers were released today by S.P.Thamilchelvan, the leader of the LTTE's political wing at Puthukkudiyiruppu in the Mullaithivu district, the Voice Of Tigers (VoT) radio said yesterday evening.
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UNP boycotts peace meet

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 October 1998, 22:20 GMT]
An ambitious all party, all NGO discussion forum called by the most powerful trade and industrial associations of Sri Lanka mainly with a view to iterate the need for peacefully resolving the war in the island's north-east drew mixed reactions despite general agreement among participants that seeking peace is of utmost importance today.
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Civilians drafted in error

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 October 1998, 19:44 GMT]
Innocent Sinhala civilians may also be among the hundreds of deserters who are being picked up and sent off to the war front in the Sri Lankan government's current drive to replenish the ranks of the Sri Lankan army (SLA) , said human rights workers today.
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News in Brief

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 October 1998, 07:19 GMT]
A young fisherman was arrested in Jaffna yesterday and two former United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians are to join the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) today.
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Retired police to war front

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 October 1998, 20:25 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has decided to recruit retired Policemen on condition of compulsory service in the war zones of the island's northeast for at least years.
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Tigers release Kilinochchi footage

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 October 1998, 20:15 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers sent video footage of their attack on Kilinochchi to selected foreign correspondents and leading Sri Lankan journalists, including the Colombo BBC correspondent and Sunday Times defence columnist Iqbal Athas today.
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Cholera outbreak in Mannar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 October 1998, 14:25 GMT]
All the tea shops in Vidaththalthivu and Pallamadu divisions in Mannar have been closed following detection of Cholera in the area. Local health officers say five people have died of Cholera since the first case was detected in Vidaththalthivu on September 29.
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President visits Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 October 1998, 16:19 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President told Sri Lankan Army (SLA) officers yesterday that she was very desirous of going to the war front in person to inspect and encourage troops in their fight against the Liberation Tigers, when she paid a surprise visit to the SLA operations centre at the 21 brigade Head Quarters in Anuradhapura said sources.
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Uninsured passengers worry carriers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 October 1998, 16:12 GMT]
The Mercantile Shipping Private Ltd, the owning company of the cargo vessel Mercs Wadduwa declined to transport passengers to Colombo from Jaffna tomorrow because it has no insurance cover for them.
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News in Brief

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 October 1998, 03:13 GMT]
Two persons are shot dead in Uyilankulam, while a student who was knifed during a fight in a private school in Colombo succumbs to injuries.
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Birth certificates asked for

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 October 1998, 10:37 GMT]
Sri Lankan security forces personnel manning check posts in the Colombo have asked some Tamils to produce their birth certificates along with their National Identity (NI) cards during road checks, said human rights sources in Colombo.
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Urgent appeal for more blood

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 1998, 23:11 GMT]
The blood bank in Colombo has appealed for more donors to come forward, following a severe reduction in its stockpiles following last week's heavy fighting in Kilinochchi and Mankulam. The appeal said 2000 pints of blood are urgently needed.
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Councillor submits resignation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 October 1998, 20:38 GMT]
The Vice Chairman of the Karaveddy Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) Vayithiyalingam Vinasithambi resigned from his post today. He is a member of the EPDP and was elected to the PS in January.
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Indian fisherman fast in protest

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 October 1998, 22:49 GMT]
Five Indian fishermen who were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in the high seas off northern Sri Lanka early this year began a protest fast in prison today demanding their release and repatriation to Tamil Nadu. The fishermen are from Rameswaram on the south Indian coast.
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Civilians to be shipped to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 October 1998, 20:58 GMT]
Travellers who were stranded in Jaffna following the cancellation of all civilians flights to Jaffna will be sent to Colombo by ship on the basis of priority according to a decision taken today at a crucial meeting convened by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence (MoD) to discuss the transport crisis in the north.
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Censorship hides truth

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 October 1998, 20:32 GMT]
The Free Media Movement in Colombo has criticised the Sri Lankan Government for using press censorship to conceal the truth about the LTTE attack on the Kilinochchi army base on September 29.
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Three die in accidents

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 October 1998, 11:43 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army soldiers (SLA) died in Colombo when an SLA ambulance collided with a lorry at Dehiwale, a suburb of Colombo yesterday morning. The ambulance was on it's way to Ratmalana military airport to bring wounded soldiers who had been airlifted from the Vanni front to Colombo hospital.
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Salvage efforts delayed

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 October 1998, 13:17 GMT]
Mannar Kachcheri officials said this afternoon that efforts to salvage the Lion air flight that fell into the sea are stymied because the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) is refusing permission to fisherman's societies and others who have volunteered to help pull the aircraft out of the sea.
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