LTTE, SLA commanders meet in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2003, 18:34 GMT]
Commanders of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Trincomalee district met for the first time Wednesday evening at the no man zone near Kattaiparichchan bridge which separates the LTTE held Muttur east and SLA held area in Muttur division in the presence of the Trincomalee head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), security sources said.


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Indian Oil Corp begins operations in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2003, 13:37 GMT]
Indian petroleum minister Mr. Ram Naik, who arrived on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, inaugurated the Indian Oil Corporation's operations in the island’s petrol and diesel retail market Wednesday. Mr. Naik launched Lanka IOC (Pvt) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IOC, with the inauguration of a petrol station in Colombo Wednesday as part of a chain of 250 retail outlets the state oil firm is taking over in the island nation. He will visit Trincomalee on Thursday, Sri Lankan government officials said.


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Commander Vinothan's eigth anniversary commemorated

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2003, 11:54 GMT]
A memorial ceremony for Commander of Vinothan brigade of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Lt.Col. Vinothan, and eighteen LTTE fighters who died in the attack on Tharavai Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp was held in the 'Meenaham' military grounds in Amparai district 27 May, sources said.


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SLA soldier commits suicide at Thenmaradchchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2003, 11:02 GMT]
Mr.P.S.K.Dissanayake, a twenty five year old soldier of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Tuesday afternoon committed suicide by exploding a grenade when he was on duty at the forward defence position at Eluthumadduval army camp in Thenmaradchchi in Jaffna district, military sources said.


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Defying C.I dogma, massacre village rises from ashes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2003, 13:30 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army massacred seventeen villagers, including six children, and burnt and razed to the ground Thoni Thaattamadu, an impoverished Tamil hamlet on the east coast’s remote interior 16 years ago on May 27, 1987. The massacre was an integral part of a counter insurgency (C.I) campaign by Sri Lankan armed forces. The village remained a no go zone since then, until the Liberation Tigers signed a ceasefire agreement with Colombo in February last year.
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Empty development promise keeps old ferry working

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2003, 03:14 GMT]
The Batticaloa district has one of the most underdeveloped road networks in Sri Lanka. Many parts of this network remain disconnected by three lagoons that separate most of the district's large hinterland from the coast due to long years of neglect by successive regimes in Colombo. Tamils say most parts of the northeast were subjected to systematic economic deprivation for many decades since the island's Sinhala majority established firm control over the country's finances with inflexibly unitary constitutions in 1972 and 1978, which, they charge, were made without their endorsement.
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Vadamaradchi youth abducted

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 May 2003, 12:03 GMT]
Sivapalasingham Saravanan (25), son of Valvettithurai Town Grama Sevaka Officer (village level official), was abducted by a group of unidentified persons who came in a Hi-Ace van and in three motorbikes Saturday evening at Polikandy area in Vadamarachchi division, police said.


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SLA suspends construction of new camps in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 May 2003, 11:55 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has suspended its construction work on new camps at Jaffna Fort, Mallakam old railway station and court buildings and at Chunnakam junction, civilian sources in Jaffna said. They added that no army personnel were seen at the sites selected for new camps since Saturday evening and that the heavy machinery used for putting up structures for new camps have been moved from the sites.


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Normalcy returns to displaced Tamils, Muslims in Muttur

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 May 2003, 12:54 GMT]
Tamil and Muslim residents of Muttur division, south of Trincomalee town who sought refuge in schools, churches and mosques where their security was ensured following the outbreak of violence between the two communities last month, started to return to their own homes this Saturday after one and a half months in the temporary shelters, sources said.
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Economic progress in Northeast lacking - EU's Wilton

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 May 2003, 12:38 GMT]
European Union (EU) resident representative in Sri Lanka Mr.Wouter Wilton concluding his two-day fact finding tour in the Jaffna district announced at a press conference held Saturday that "although in overall the security situation of the country is improved considerably no visible progress is seen in the economic situation of the northeast as in the south."


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Resolving CFA issues focus of SLA, LTTE meet

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2003, 19:48 GMT]
A high level meeting between the commanders of the Sri Lankan Government armed forces and the LTTE in the Trincomalee district has been fixed for May 28 at no man’s zone at Kattaiparichchan in the Mutur division, south of the eastern port town, to resolve existing logistical problems in the implementation of the Cease-Fire Agreement, sources said.
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SLN soldier in LTTE custody

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2003, 15:38 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldier who entered the LTTE controlled Kadawanaikulam area in Trincomalee district with arms is now in the custody of Thamileelam Police, LTTE Trincomalee district political head Mr.S.Thilak told media persons in the east port town Friday. Kadawanaikulam is 16 km off west of east port town along the Trincomalee-Kandy highway, sources said


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1987 killings still haunt Vakarai residents

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2003, 02:21 GMT]
Nearly sixteen years ago residents of Thonithandamadu village in Vakarai region in Batticaloa district were witness to gruesome killings when soldiers of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shot, hacked to death and burnt the bodies of ten Tamil civilians. The memory still haunts the relatives of the victims and the residents of the impoverished village.


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Security strengthened in Batticaloa following killing

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 11:25 GMT]
Following the shooting death of Kumaraperumal Perinpam (38), alias 'Master,' a former member of Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), by unidentified gunman in Batticaloa Wednesday, security has been tightened in Batticaloa, military sources said.
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Colombo’s new proposals said not valid in law

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 May 2003, 06:40 GMT]
Institutional arrangements suggested by Colombo last week in response to concerns raised by the Liberation Tigers about establishing a legally viable and operable system to utilise donor aid for development and reconstruction of the war ravaged northeast are not valid in Sri Lankan law, legal experts said Thursday. “An Interim administrative mechanism similar to the one proposed under the Indo Lanka Agreement can be set up by the President alone; and only while Emergency Regulations are in force”, said Mr. V. T Thamilmaran, senior lecturer in law in the University of Colombo.
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Batticaloa tense amid killing and grenade attacks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 16:41 GMT]
Batticaloa town was tense Wednesday night as an operative of the Sri Lanka army’s military intelligence was shot dead while a grenade was also lobbed at the residence of Mr. Indrakumar Prasanna, secretary general of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO). The TELO is a constituent of the Tamil National Alliance.
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‘Border pioneers’ face uphill task

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 12:44 GMT]
“We settled here in 1954 to safeguard our homeland. Today there is nobody to save us”, says Mr. Kanapathipillai Poopalapillai, 79, former President of the Rural Development Society of Sinnawaththai, a destroyed border Tamil village in the east coast’s interior. The Special Task Force and Sri Lanka Police built their camps in the Sinhala sector of this border zone with bricks and wood from the Tamil homes they dismantled or demolished in Sinnawaththai.
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LTTE seeks premier's response on interim administration proposal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 06:53 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) today called upon the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, to formally respond to proposals by its leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirapaharan, for an interim administrative set-up in the Northeast. The LTTE’s comments were made in a letter by its chief negotiator, Mr. Anton Balasingham, to the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen.
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Canadian High Commissioner concludes Trincomalee visit

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 06:39 GMT]
The Canadian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Ms Valerie Raymond Monday commenced her Batticaloa tour, concluding her two-day visit to Trincomalee district Tuesday. She met Tamil and Muslim representatives in Trincomalee at the conclusion of her visit to east port town Tuesday evening held at the office of the Trincomalee District Development Association (TDDA). TDDA organised the discussion.
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SLA agrees to compensate Ketpali victims

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 00:05 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials of the 55-4 brigade Tuesday agreed to pay compensation to residents of Ketpali village for the damage caused to their possessions by inebriated soldiers who ran amok during Vesak day. This follows an inquiry held by the Jaffna regional co-ordinator of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka Tuesday on complaints made by residents of Ketpali, a remote village close to Kilali where 55-4 brigade of the SLA is located, sources said.
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