SLMM urged to assist IDPs to resettle in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 May 2004, 03:25 GMT]
The Jaffna District Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (JDCHA) Monday handed over a memorandum to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Jaffna with copies of complaints made by two internally displaced families who have not been allowed by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to resettle in their houses. The JDCHA urged the SLMM to take urgent steps to assist the IDPs to resettle in their houses and lands which are located outside restricted areas, sources said.


Full story >>

Supreme Court asks MOD to submit report on Jaffna HSZ

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 May 2004, 03:18 GMT]
The Supreme Court (SC) Monday directed the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to submit a report on the question of maintaining high security zones (HSZs) in the Jaffna district. A three-member bench of the Court made the order on Fundamental Rights violation applications filed by five Tamil farmers and Mr. Mavai Senathirajah, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian, in the Jaffna district, legal sources said.


Full story >>

SL govt. denies relief to majority of IDPs in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 May 2004, 03:13 GMT]
Mr.S.Pathmanathan, the Jaffna District Government Agent, said Monday that recipient families of dry ration relief in Jaffna peninsula would be reduced to 17,541. This accounts for about 27 percent of the total recipient families that benefited under the relief scheme. Between 1996 and January, 2004, about 71,000 families benefited under this relief scheme, Jaffna district secretariat sources said.
Full story >>

US condition to LTTE to lay down arms unacceptable - Sinhala journalist

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 May 2004, 07:45 GMT]
''The condition laid by the US government for the LTTE to lay down arms is not acceptable. The question of handing over arms would cease automatically when an acceptable political solution to the Tamil people is found through talks, accepting the self determination of Tamils and their traditional homeland concept,'' said Mr.Ranath Kumarasinghe, Feature Editor of Haraya, a Sinhala political paper, addressing a seminar on Peace and Media Saturday evening held at Trincomalee Town Hall.
Full story >>

Sinister elements behind killing of police constable - Kausalyan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 May 2004, 14:59 GMT]
Mr. E. Kausalyan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Batticaloa, told TamilNet Wednesday that the LTTE has nothing to do with the killing of a police intelligence operative by unidentified gunmen Wednesday morning at a sub-post office in Batticaloa town.
Full story >>

Rocca: "Ending conflict is the key to prosperity in Sri Lanka"

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 May 2004, 15:43 GMT]
" Peace, prosperity- and, of course, stability are married to each other, here in Sri Lanka no less than elsewhere," said Ms Christina Rocca, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, said Friday in a press release.


Full story >>

Human Rights Commission to issue report on HSZ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 May 2004, 15:27 GMT]
"The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) is to release a report shortly in regard to the alleged violation of human rights of internally displaced families due to the continuous maintenance of High Security Zones in the Jaffna peninsula by the Sri Lanka Army", said Mr. Senaka Dissanayake, HRCSL co-ordinator in the Project for the Humanitarian Assistance to IDPs and Returnees addressing a seminar in Jaffna Thursday.
Full story >>

NECORD funds new school building in Kanniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 May 2004, 10:14 GMT]
Students of resettled families of Kanniya, a traditional Tamil village which is located along Trincomalee-Anuradhapura highway, about eight km off northwest of east port town Tuesday moved into a new school building constructed at a cost of 1.3 million rupees by the North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), sources said.


Full story >>

Japanese envoy visits Jaffna, Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 May 2004, 18:21 GMT]
Jaffna district intelligentsia Tuesday made an appeal to the Japanese government not to grant any aid to Sri Lankan government until a permanent political solution is found for the Tamil national question. A delegation of academics led by Jaffna University Vice Chancellor, Professor C.Mohanadas, Tuesday told the visiting Japanese ambassador in Sri Lanka, Mr.Akisuda, that Tamils in the northeast province have not been allowed by the government in power to enjoy the benefits of the ceasefire now holding in the country since February 22, 2002.
Full story >>

Norwegian foreign minister meets Pirapaharan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 May 2004, 07:32 GMT]
Norway’s Foreign Minister Jan Petersen met Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers and his political advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham in Kilinochchi Tuesday to discuss issues relating to the resumption of peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka. The Norwegian foreign minister was accompanied by his deputy Mr. Vidar Helgesen and Norway’s ambassador for Sri Lanka, Mr. Hans Brattskar.


Full story >>

Norwegian peace envoy meets TNA delegation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 May 2004, 20:05 GMT]
"Peace talks between the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should be held on the basis of the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal. The UPFA government should not use the opportunity of holding peace talks as a device to strengthen its position in the parliament and to obtain foreign aid," the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation told the visiting Norwegian special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim during a discussion held Tuesday evening at the Norwegian embassy in Colombo, TNA sources said.


Full story >>

LTTE ready to resume talks based on ISGA- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 May 2004, 09:47 GMT]
Ambassador for Norway in Colombo, Mr. Hans Brattskar, Norway's special peace envoy, Mr. Eric Solheim, and Second Secretary of the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, Ms. Kjersti Thomsdal, met with Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Head of the LTTE Political Wing at the LTTE Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi. The talks, started at 10.45 a.m. lasted for more than two hours and focused on the resumption of stalled peace talks and about preparing the agenda for the talks between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), sources in Vanni said.
Full story >>

Norwegian facilitators meet Sri Lanka's President

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 May 2004, 17:13 GMT]
Norwegian peace delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Vidar Helgessen Sunday morning met with Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge at the President House in Nuwara Eliya in the Central Province on the latter's invitation. Special peace envoy Mr. Erik Solheim and Norwegian Ambassador in Colombo Mr. Hans Brattskar also participated in the talks, Sri Lanka government sources said.


Full story >>

‘Need to know Colombo’s stand on resuming talks’ – Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 April 2004, 09:20 GMT]
Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan, the head of the LTTE’ political division, said Thursday that the Tigers would state their stand on for resuming the island’s stalled peace process only after Norwegians peace facilitators first find out and apprise them of Colombo’s position regarding the basis for restarting negotiations. He was speaking to the local press after meeting head of Sri Lanka’s truce monitoring mission, Maj. Gen. (ret) Trond Furuhovde in Kilinochchi.
Full story >>

UNHCR IG calls for renewed focus on Sri Lanka's IDPs

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 April 2004, 08:17 GMT]
UNHCR Inspector General Dennis McNamara Thursday called for renewed attention to the plight of Sri Lanka's hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. "It also requires greater investment to ensure that conditions in return areas are conducive to a safe and dignified return – that families are able to earn a living, send their children to school, access health facilities and live in safety”, he said in Colombo Thursday.
Full story >>

‘Only self-government can help safeguard NE fisheries’

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 April 2004, 16:42 GMT]
“Only when we have self-government will we be able to safeguard our fisheries resources and the lives of our fishermen,” said Dr. A. Soosai Ananthan, the Head of the Fisheries Department at the University of Jaffna, speaking at a seminar on the problems faced by fisheries workers, held at the Urumpirai Hindu College in Jaffna Sunday, the Jaffna-based Tamil language daily, Uthayan, reported Wednesday.
Full story >>

UNCHR’s help sought for resettling Kevuliyamadu IDPs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2004, 03:56 GMT]
The people who were rendered refugees and were displaced during the war in 1985 from Kevuliyamadu in the Batticaloa district have demanded that they be allowed to resettle in their village, sources said.
Full story >>

'Peace process has not helped the war-affected' - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 April 2004, 19:10 GMT]
Despite the two and a half years of ceasefire, the people affected by the war in the Tamil homeland have not been able to return to their normal lives, and the Liberation Tigers consider this a setback in the peace process, said Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan, the political head of the LTTE, speaking as a special guest at the North-East Economic Advisory Council’s conference in the Vanni Monday, sources said.
Full story >>

SLMM head meets Trinco SLN, SLA Commanders

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 April 2004, 13:01 GMT]
Major General (retd) Trond Furuhovde Saturday paid a visit to Trincomalee to assess the ground situation in the east port district following recent military operation by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ousting its renegade commander from the eastern region, sources said. He met with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) commanders during his visit, according to security sources.


Full story >>

SLN harasses civilians travelling to Jaffna islets

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 April 2004, 16:36 GMT]
Residents of islets in the Jaffna district Sunday made complaints to the authorities concerned that Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel manning entry check points at Allaipitty and Kayts Kannagai Amman jetty have started harassing civilians following the general election held last week, sources said.


Full story >>