Returnees face uphill task in rebuilding Illupaikulam

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 April 2003, 11:16 GMT]
Displaced people from Illupaikulum, a village located six kilometers north of the east port town along the Trincomalee Kuchchaveli main road, are returning to resettle in their lands with the signing of the ceasefire agreement. After fifteen years of neglect with the village overgrown with jungles and its basic infrastructure facilities destroyed in war, the returning residents face an uphill task in rebuilding their village, sources said.
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SLA blocks engineers from entering Point Pedro HSZ

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 April 2003, 00:45 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Friday refused permission for a team of engineers of the State Engineering Corporation to enter the Point Pedro post office premises to assess the damage caused to the post office buildings, saying that the post office is located within the high security zone (HSZ), sources said.
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An enterprise worth its salt

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 April 2003, 00:10 GMT]
Before the Eelam Wars began, the salterns in the northeast produced enough salt to meet the all the needs of Sri Lanka and a surplus for export. Elephant Pass and Kurinchathivu were the largest of these. The other salt production facilities were in Chemmani, near Jaffna town, in Mannar town, in Nilaveli and Kumburupiddy in Trincomalee.
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TNA opposes locating SLA camps in populated areas

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 April 2003, 17:02 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday reiterated its stand to the Prime Minister that the Sri Lanka Army should not be allowed to establish or relocate its camps and main bases in densely populated places in the Northeast province, TNA parliamentary group leader, Mr.R.Sampanthan, said in a press release issued Thursday evening.
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SLN patrols increase, UAV sighted in Mullaitivu

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 April 2003, 11:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) has increased its patrol activities in the Mullaitivu seas recently, and five fishermen who were threatened and had their boats inspected by the SLN this week while fishing in Mullaitivu seas have made complains to the local authorities, sources in Mullaitivu said.


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Sri Lanka justice system said conducive to torturers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 April 2003, 10:10 GMT]
‘The Sri Lankan criminal justice system is contributing to a climate of impunity for police and security officials who commit torture’ observed the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) in oral submission Wednesday on 'Torture in Sri Lanka' at the 59th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.
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SLA-TNA garrison talks fail to reach consensus

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 April 2003, 19:00 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance’s talks with the defense ministry officials at the Jaffna district secretariat Wednesday afternoon failed to arrive at a consensus on the question of finding an alternative site for the SLA’s Jaffna town brigade headquarters, and the TNA is to hold further discussions with the Prime Minister Thursday morning in Colombo, TNA parliamentary group leader, Mr.R.Sampanthan, told TamilNet on his return to Colombo Wednesday.
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SLN mines infest Talaimannar Mosque

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 April 2003, 15:49 GMT]
More than 300 hundred Muslim families are unable to resettle in Talaimannar because their homes are in minefields laid by the Sri Lanka Navy which are yet to be cleared despite 13 months of ceasefire, rehabilitation officials in Mannar said. Many Muslim and Tamil homes in the once bustling bazaar of Talaimannar Pier are still occupied by the Navy or lie within its security boundary. The area surrounding the local Mosque is infested with land mines and booby traps.
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Sri Lanka Government team arrives for Jaffna garrison talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 April 2003, 12:12 GMT]
Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Lieutenant General Lionel Balagalle, and Additional Secretary to Ministry of Defence, Karaliyadde, are arriving in Jaffna Wednesday afternoon for discussions with Tamil Officials related to identifying a suitable location to move the existing SLA garrison, sources in Jaffna said.
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Fasting Sri Lankan soldiers demand fair treatment

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 April 2003, 07:23 GMT]
Sri Lankan armed force soldiers who are on a hunger strike in front of the Fort Railway Station in downtown Colombo in protest against their dismissal from service said Wednesday they would fast unto death in batches of four until their grievance is addressed by the Ministry of Defence. This is the first time that soldiers of the Sri Lankan armed forces have aired grievance in a public protest.
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SLMM head meets LTTE’s Trinco leaders

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 April 2003, 18:53 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Tuesday agreed to hold a meeting with the local heads of Sri Lankan Government armed forces on April 21 at the no-man zone in the Mutur area, south of Trincomalee town, to sort out the problem that has arisen over the question of LTTE members crossing through the army controlled areas to LTTE controlled areas, sources said.
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SLA reinforces Batticaloa camps

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 April 2003, 12:57 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp in Karuthappalam in Chenkaladi-Badulla road in Batticaloa district is hurriedly being reinforced causing concern among residents living close to the camps, sources said.
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JMPGA to meet Justice Minister

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 April 2003, 10:48 GMT]
The Jaffna Missing Persons' Guardian Association (JMPGA) Sunday decided to meet Sri Lanka's Minister of Justice, Law Reform and National Integration Mr.W.J.M.Lokkubandara regarding several hundreds disappeared Tamil youths after the arrest by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) following 1995 military operation, sources said.


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A9 opens for traffic on Sundays

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 April 2003, 11:58 GMT]
The A9 highway to Jaffna will be open for public traffic on Sundays, starting today, Sri Lanka military sources said. The road was opened last year following the cease fire agreement between the LTTE and Colombo. But it remained closed on Sundays despite pleas by the Tigers to keep it open 7 days of the week. The road to the Vanni in Mannar through the Uyilankulam entry point was also opened to public traffic on Sundays from today.
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LTTE delegation completes Norway, Sweden visits

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 April 2003, 07:15 GMT]
Members of the Liberation Tigers’ Political Affairs Committee Sunday completed the first week of a tour to several Scandinavian countries to study federal structures and good governance, by boarding a ferry to the Aaland islands in northern Europe. The intensive tour, which began with an opening welcome by Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen, was this weekend hailed as a success by the LTTE delegates as well as Foreign Ministry officials from Norway, Sweden and Finland.
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Jaffna agricultural farming unprofitable, Minister learns

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 April 2003, 00:17 GMT]
Jaffna district farmers Saturday made an urgent appeal to the visiting Deputy Finance Minister of the United National Front (UNF) government Mr. Bandula Gunawardene to take immediate steps to allow them to cultivate their fertile lands now being occupied by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) said. The said lands fall within the SLA demarcated High Security Zone (HSZ) in the peninsula.
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JVP observes 71’ insurrection day

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 April 2003, 16:59 GMT]
The Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Saturday observed the 32nd anniversary of its first insurrection to overthrow the Sri Lankan government. On 5 April 1971, the JVP launched an armed insurrection to capture state power and to establish a communist regime in Sri Lanka. Thousands of Sinhala youth were massacred when Colombo brutally crushed the rebellion.
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Colombo wants to create illusion of a political settlement– Karuna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 April 2003, 16:29 GMT]
“We should be mindful that we are living in the information age. Information technology has grown tremendously. Our information skills should be on par with this growth. The information revolution can be put to wrong uses too. It can be used to wage psychological warfare against us subtly through TV and other popular media,” said Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers, addressing the opening of the offices and press of the ‘Thamil Alai’ (Tamil Wave) newspaper in Kokkaddicholai, 12 kilometres southwest of Batticaloa, Saturday.
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Koneswaram water-cutting ceremony draws devotees

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 April 2003, 08:22 GMT]
The water cutting ceremony ('Theertha Thiruvizah') of the historic Trincomalee Koneswaram temple was held Friday morning at the 'Papanasa Theertham' (holy water that destroys sins) well, which is located inside the Fort Frederick in the Eastern port town. Several thousand devotees participated in the Theertha Thiruvizah, sources said.
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Reconstruction of Chavakachcheri town discussed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 April 2003, 01:17 GMT]
Proposals to reconstruct the Chavakachcheri town in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district were tabled Friday at a conference attended by the Regional Director General of the Planning and Operation unit of the Urban Development Authority (UDA) Mr.K.V. Dharmasiri. Multi-barrel artillery attacks by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to halt LTTE advances flattened Chavakachcheri town and its suburbs in 2000.
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