EPS fall: reassessing LTTE's manoeuvre warfare prowess

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 21:26 GMT]
Three years ago, on April 22nd, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) hoisted their flag in the heart of what was once one of the most fortified military garrisons in South Asia. The fall of Elephant Pass, described as "impregnable" by a US army officer who visited the garrison months earlier, established the Tigers as the only non-state military force in the world today capable of complex manoeuvre war fighting.
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SLA tightening its grip on Northeast - Para

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 19:57 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army is strengthening its foothold where civilians live in the North-East even after the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said Mr. Pararajasingham (Para), Head of the Judicial Division of the LTTE, addressing a meeting in Jaffna town Wednesday.
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Buddhist prelate appeals to LTTE to re-enter peace talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 18:01 GMT]
The Mahanayake Thera of Asgiriya Chapter, Most Venerable Udugama Buddharakita Thera, Wednesday appealed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam not to pull out from the ongoing peace talks with the United National Front government, political sources in Colombo said.
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Army volunteer killed in Vadamarachchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 13:27 GMT]
Fifty three year old Selliah Puvanendran, who is believed to be a member of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) volunteer force, was found dead Wednesday in Thunnalai, 3 km south of Point Pedro in Vadamarachchi division, Jaffna district, with hands tied, mouth stuffed with clothes and cut injuries in his neck, security sources said.
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People should fight for peace -Balakumaran

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2003, 15:59 GMT]
A senior leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Mr.V.Balakumaran addressing a press conference Tuesday at the LTTE Jaffna district political office said the time has come for the people to get out on the road to fight for peace.
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Persisting pass control spoils Jaffna fisheries growth

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2003, 14:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka army sentries on Jaffna’s Vadamaradchi coast are still insisting that fishermen in the region should possess the special identification passes it has issued them despite agreeing last February to accept identity cards issued by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (MFAR) in Colombo, a spokesman for the region’s federation of fishermen’s societies told TamilNet Monday.
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Mosques step in to keep peace in Batti-Amparai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2003, 12:50 GMT]
Mosque trustee board officials Sunday foiled attempts to spread unrest in several Muslim towns in the Batticaloa and Amparai districts. Anonymous Islamic groups issued inflammatory leaflets Saturday in the two districts urging Muslims to protest against recent incidents in Mutur. “It caused concern that attempts were afoot to instigate violence in these parts too”, a Mosque official said.
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Church farm helps dispossessed, poor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2003, 03:30 GMT]
The Methodist Church’s Jeevothayam Farm in Pariyaarikkandal, 28 kilometres southeast of Mannar town, has been a refuge for the dispossessed and the meek for more than quarter of a century. Tamils driven out of their homes in the island’s tea producing hills by Sinhala Buddhist nationalists in 1977, 81 and 83 found succour here before they went forth to settle and multiply in the inhospitable jungles of the Vanni.
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LTTE condemns Kattaiparichchan attack on Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2003, 17:27 GMT]
The Trincomalee district political secretariat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Saturday issued a statement condemning the grenade attack and firing by a Muslim group and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that killed two Tamil civilians on Friday close to Kattaiparichchan army camp. The camp separates army controlled area and LTTE controlled area in the Muttur east.


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SLA demands clarification on LTTE event held in school

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2003, 00:02 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army’s (SLA) regional headquarters in Vavuniya has sought clarification from the Director of the Vavuniya South Zonal Education Division and the principal of the Vavuniya Nelukulam Kalaimahal Maha Vidyalayam, as to how permission was granted to hold a commemoration ceremony of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at the school on March 21, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Tamil civilian killed in SLA fire

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2003, 18:38 GMT]
A Tamil civilian identified as Maheswaran Ravishankar (32) of Chenaiyoor was killed in firing from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detachment based at Kattaiparichchan Friday afternoon increasing the death toll on Friday incidents in Muttur area to two. The firing incident took place soon the after the Defence Minister Mr.Tilak Marapone left Muttur after attending a conference at Kattaiparichchan SLA camp, police said.
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Curfew reimposed after grenade attack kills civilian

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2003, 16:06 GMT]
A Tamil civilian was killed and seven others were injured in a grenade attack on Friday afternoon near Kattaiparichchan bridge which separates army controlled and Liberation Tigers controlled area in Muttur east, police sources said. The curfew lifted Friday has been reimposed Friday afternoon immediately after the grenade attack.


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EPDP cadre shot dead in Akkaraipattu

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2003, 08:49 GMT]
An unidentified gunman shot dead a prominent member of the EPDP in Akkaraipattu, 64 kilometres south of Batticaloa, Friday around 11.45 a.m. Sri Lankan Police sources in the southeastern coastal town said. The EPDP cadre, Mr. Marimuthtu Rajalingam, 42, was the chairman of the Aalaiyadivembu Pradheshiya Sabha.
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52 Jaffna schools still occupied by SLA

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2003, 01:36 GMT]
Continued occupation of fifty-two government schools in Jaffna district by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and delay by the officials of the Education Ministry to fill the more than six thousand Tamil medium teacher vacancies in northeast schools, are causing irreparable damage to Tamil children’s education in Jaffna, said General Secretary of the Ceylon Tamil Teacher’s Union (CTTU) , Mr.T.Mahasivam, addressing a press briefing Thursday held at Navalar Government School in Jaffna.


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Undeterred by controls, Pt. Pedro celebrates tradition

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 April 2003, 13:40 GMT]
Pt. Pedro is the oldest harbour town on the Jaffna peninsula’s sea coast. The Portuguese called the town Puntas das Padras (rocky point) on account of the reefs that line its coast. Tamils, however, still refer to it by its old name Paruththithurai (cotton port in Tamil). This week the townspeople celebrated the annual chariot and water cutting festivals of one of their old temples that have lain long and neglected inside the SLA’s high security zone in Pt. Pedro.
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SLA puts up sentries on Vadamaradchi reef

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2003, 15:14 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army has tightened security along Jaffna’s Vadamaradchi coast by setting up sentry points in the sea, fishermen said. The sentries have been built on the reef which runs parallel to this coast, at the openings through which fishing boats enter shallow waters near the beach for mooring.
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New Year day shooting in SLA camp

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 April 2003, 15:40 GMT]
A soldier of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was arrested by the Kodikamam Police for allegedly shooting a fellow soldier on the Sinhala and Tamil New Year day, in an army camp located at Eluthumadduval, in the Thenmaradchchi area of the Jaffna district, sources said.
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SLA soldier commits suicide in Eluthumadduval

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 April 2003, 15:37 GMT]
A corpse without skull, found at an army sentry point in Eluthumadduval in the Thenmaradchchi area of the Jaffna district, was identified as that of a soldier of the 554 Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army by his fellow soldiers at the inquest held by the Chavakachcheri Magistrate Tuesday, legal sources said.
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SLA relocates Sarasalai camp

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 April 2003, 15:35 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army on Monday relocated its camp from Sarasalai area in Thenmaradchchi to another site in a coconut grove near Kanagan Puliady junction, sources said.


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Preliminary aid conference held in Washington D.C

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 April 2003, 11:05 GMT]
A preliminary conference to the forth coming international aid conference in Japan was held in Washington D.C on 14 Monday at Loy Auditorium. The seminar, hosted by the State Department, was attended by representatives from 26 countries and 16 international organizations. Japan's special envoy to Sri Lanka Yashushi Akashi, Norway's Deputy Secretary of State, Vidar Helgessen and India's ambassador to U.S, Lalith Mansingh, were also present.
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