Fishing ban reimposed

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The ban on fishing which was lifted on the Maathagal coast in late January has been imposed again residents in the area said. They said that the lifting of the ban now appeared to be an election gimmick.
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Request for boat service turned down

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The secretary to the Sri Lankan President Mr. K. Balapatabendi turned down a suggestion by the PLOTE deputy leader to begin a passenger boat service to Jaffna from Mannar on the grounds that the A9 highway from Vavuniya to the peninsula would be opened soon at a conference this afternoon to discuss the security related problems of fisheries in Jaffna.
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Massive search operation in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
More than 1500 Tamils were arrested in a massive cordon and search operation by the Sri Lankan army and Police. The operation began around 10.30 p.m. last night in Kochchikkadai, Kotahena, Chekku street, Sea street and nearby areas. It was on until 3.30 a.m. in the early hours of the morning today.
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13,000 disappearances in 7 years: MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
"Thirteen thousand people have disappeared in the Eastern Province since 1990. There are 8,500 widows in the East of whom 70% are between 18 and 21 years [old]. There are 6000 orphans," said Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP Joseph Pararajasingham at a meeting held this week at the Ramakrishna Mission in Colombo organised by the Past Pupils of Northeast District Schools Organisation.
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300 Tamils rounded up in Dehiwela

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan army and Police launched a joint operation in the early hours of the morning today in Dehiwela, a large suburb of Colombo, to screen Tamils living in the area.
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Delegation to meet LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A delegation of UNP and PA chairmen and members of local government bodies in the Matara district was brought to Batticaloa today by the National Peace Council, a Colombo based conflict resolution non governmental organisation (NGO), for a discussion with the Liberation Tigers.
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Jaffna stripped of its largest industrial venture

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The board of directors of the Lanka Cement Company - the semi government firm which owns the Kankesanthurai (KKS) cement factory- has decided to close up this large facility in the peninsula said company sources in Colombo.
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Postal workers protest resumes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan postal workers began their protest campaign again today following the failure of their negotiations with the government. The Union of Postal and Telecommunications Organisations announced it will go ahead with the 'work slow' protest until its demands are met by the government.
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Parliamentarians to visit Norway

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A team of 15 Sri Lankan parliamentarians representing all the political parties in the Parliament will visit Norway from March 29 to April 6 to study the fisheries industry in that country and examine constitutional affairs said government sources today.
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Hindu Congress meet Indian official

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A three member delegation of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress met the Indian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Shiv Shankar Menon this afternoon to draw the Indian government's attention to the indiscriminate arrests of Tamils , including Hindu priests in Colombo and in the north-east.
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Norway to return asylum seekers - official

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A Norwegian government official, currently in Jaffna on a visit, told the Uthayan, the only daily published in the peninsula, that granting asylum to Sri Lankan Tamils has been stopped in Norway.
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Reports in Sinhala hamper Jaffna judiciary

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The judges in the Jaffna courts are finding it difficult to carry out their duties as reports are being filed in the Sinhala language which they cannot comprehend, said M. Thirunaavukkarasu, the Mallakam judge, during a discussion yesterday with a delegation from the United States embassy in Colombo.
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Tamil parties protest over arrests

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front and the All Ceylon Hindu Congress lodged vehement protests with the Sri Lankan government today over the arrest and detention of the Captain Gardens Hindu temple chief priest's daughter and her three children.
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PLOTE offers to screen Tamils

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Deputy leader of the PLOTE, Manikkam Daasan said today in a statement that he had proposed to the government that it should permit his organisation to put into effect a system to ensure the safety of Tamils from the northern and eastern provinces of the island who have to come Colombo.
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Disease adds to Jeyasikurui toll

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Medical sources said today that more than fifteen Sri Lankan army soldiers deployed in Operation Jayasikurui in the Vanni are admitted to the Anuradhapura hospital every day afflicted mostly by Malaria and chicken pox.
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Nurses threaten strike over demands

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
More than thousand three hundred nurses working in Sri Lankan government hospitals demonstrated at the Viharamahadevi Park (formerly Victoria Park) in Colombo today threatening to go on strike from the March 30 if their demands are not met by the government.
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US delegation visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A team of officials from the US embassy in Colombo will visit Jaffna today. The US team will stay in Jaffna until Wednesday March 25 said sources in Jaffna Kachcheri sources this morning.
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Kalutara prisoners begin fast unto death

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Five political prisoners in Sri Lanka's high security Kalutara jail, 43 kilometers south of Colombo, began a fast unto death today demanding that the government should begin legal proceedings against them or release them from the prolonged incarceration.
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1500 Tamils arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
More than 1500 Tamils were arrested in Colombo during a simultaneous cordon and search operation by the Sri Lankan army and Police which was launched last night.
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SLA raids PLOTE office

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army surrounded the PLOTE office in Chavakachcheri in Jaffna this morning and arrested every one in the premises said sources this afternoon. The SLA has not officially said anything about this unprecedented move.
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