Chandrika cancels meeting with Wickremesinghe, Helgesen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 September 2003, 21:21 GMT]
Meeting between President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge and Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe did not take place Thursday as scheduled and Ms. Kumaratunge cancelled her meeting with the Norwegian deputy foreign minister Mr. Vidar Helgessen and special envoy Mr. Erik Solheim which also scheduled for Thursday, Presidential Secretariat said in a press release said. .


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Helgesen, Solheim to hold discussions on peace talks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 September 2003, 11:28 GMT]
Deputy Minister Vidar Helgesen and Special Adviser Erik Solheim are to visit Sri Lanka during 17-19 September 2003, to have discussions with different parties on the current state of the peace process, said the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo in a press released issued Tuesday.
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Akashi concludes Lanka visit, leaves to India

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 September 2003, 11:22 GMT]
Japanese special peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi said that the donor countries are not prepared to spend the funds pledged at the Tokyo aid conference for the reconstruction and development of the northeast province until stalled peace talks resume, media sources said.


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PA, UNF trade charges over claims of new Trinco LTTE camps

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2003, 14:37 GMT]
The main opposition in Sri Lanka's parliament, the People's Alliance, Friday rejected the claim by the ruling United National Front government that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has not constructed any new camp in the government controlled areas in the northeast except the Kurankupanchchan LTTE camp now in dispute, and reiterated its original claim of many new LTTE camps in Trincomalee in areas controlled by the Government of Sri Lanka.
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JVP’s second anti-peace march to commence in Kandy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2003, 16:58 GMT]
The Sinhala nationalist cum Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) announced Thursday that its second five-day march from Kandy to Colombo, protesting against the present peace talks between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers, would commence on September 27.
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'NE conflict cannot be solved through talks' -Sihala Urumaya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2003, 14:53 GMT]
At a press briefing held Thursday in Colombo, Mr.Tilak Karunaratne, the General Secretary of the Sinhala extremist political party, Sihala Urumaya (SU), said that in the SU's view, the northeast conflict could not be solved through negotiations, media sources said.
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Akashi to commence Sri Lanka visit Thursday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 September 2003, 19:09 GMT]
The Japanese special peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Mr.Yasushi Akashi, will arrive in Colombo on a six-day visit Thursday. He will stay in Sri Lanka until September 16 and hold discussions with several political leaders regarding the present stalled peace process between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, political sources said.
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'GOSL responsible for disappearance of Trinco youth' - HRC(UN)

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2003, 14:43 GMT]
The Human Rights Committee of the United Nations, established under article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has said in a public statement that the Government of Sri Lanka is under an obligation to make a thorough and effective investigation into the disappearance and fate of J.Thevaraja Sarma, who disappeared after being arrested in Trincomalee by the Sri Lanka Army in 1990.
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Women’s gathering emphasizes Tamil women’s potential

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 September 2003, 17:35 GMT]
At the women’s gathering held Thursday at the Vavuniya Town Hall, the leaders and members of the women’s wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from all districts emphasized the importance of solving Tamil women’s problems together and attaining women’s liberation along with National liberation, and discussed the contributions Tamil women have made to the struggle of the Tamil people for self-determination, sources said.
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Elephant Pass: From battlefield to salt capital

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 September 2003, 01:19 GMT]
Before 1990, Elephant Pass and Kurunchativu located 10km apart had the largest salterns in the northeast with a combined area of 100 acres, and produced more than 85,000 metric tons of salt a year. This output met all the salt needs of SriLanka and left enough surplus for export. These salterns, destroyed during the war, are being reconstructed and rehabilitated, and are currently producing close to 15% of the total capacity.
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SLMC, UNP to work out new political arrangement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 September 2003, 16:46 GMT]
The United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), constituents of the ruling United National Front government of Sri Lanka, at a meeting Wednesday decided to explore the possibilities of contesting provincial and general elections under one banner in the future. The meeting was held at the Temple Trees residence of Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, the Prime Minister and leader of the UNP, to thrash out differences between the two UNF partners, political sources said.
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‘PA for, JVP against devolution’ - Chandrika

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 September 2003, 16:27 GMT]
Addressing the 52nd annual convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Tuesday, Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, said that the People’s Alliance was prepared for devolution of power but the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was opposed to it, and therefore they could not come to a consensus on an alliance and talks were still continuing, sources said.


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Ranil says UNF is committed to ‘peace with security’

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 September 2003, 19:03 GMT]
Responding to a query from Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, on the issue of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s camp at Kurankupanchan in the Trincomalee district, the country’s Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, said Monday that his government was continuing its efforts to resolve the issue peacefully and that Ms. Kumaratunge should not approach the issue on the basis of political expediency, media sources in Colombo said.
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Hill country Tamil leader Thondaman remembered

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 August 2003, 17:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka Saturday remembered the services rendered to the minorities and oppressed people by the hill country Tamil leader late Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman on his 90th birthday, which falls on August 30, 2003, sources from upcountry said.


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Thousands join last leg of JVP foot march against IA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 August 2003, 18:14 GMT]
The four day 116 km long anti peace foot march which was organized by the Sinhala nationalist cum Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) from Galle on Monday against the establishment of the Interim Administration for the northeast province and demanding the de-merger of the province reached Colombo Lipton circle Thursday around seven in the evening. Thousands of JVP cadres, men and women participated in the last leg of the march from Panadura Thursday morning, sources said.


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'De-merger of NE a calamity to Sri Lanka' - TNA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 August 2003, 09:01 GMT]
"The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) desires to place on record that the de-merger of the northeast province which has existed for the past fifteen years by the President would be a calamity to the whole Sri Lanka, and urges the President to desist from taking this perilous course," TNA said in a press statement issued Thursday in Colombo.
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General shutdown paralyzes Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 August 2003, 11:51 GMT]
A general shutdown (hartal) Monday completely disrupted normal life in the Trincomalee district, especially in the Trincomalee town. The general shut down was called by the Trincomalee Resurgence Tamil Community (TRTC) to show its opposition to the 'opportunist' elements that are "bent on derailing the peace process," organizers said.


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PA meet to decide on PC elections

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 August 2003, 18:01 GMT]
The Central Committee of the People's Alliance (PA) will hold a meeting on September 1st to decide whether to hold the elections to the provincial councils in the south simultaneously or at the expiry of their life term, PA general secretary Mr.D.M.Jayaratne said Sunday.


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Trinco to observe Hartal against anti-peace elements

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 August 2003, 15:44 GMT]
Trincomalee Resurgence Tamil Community (TRTC), a socially active Tamil organization, has called on the Tamil speaking people in the Trincomalee district to observe a one day general shut down (hartal) on Monday to show their opposition to anti-peace elements who are bent on derailing the present peace process, sources said.


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JVP to launch protest campaign against ‘betrayal’ of country

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 August 2003, 20:39 GMT]
The Sinhala nationalist cum Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Wednesday said it would launch a protest "war" in the country from Monday onward against what it called a "betrayal of the nation in the name of peace process" by the United National Front government, media sources in Colombo said.
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