Batticaloa prisoners transfered to Kalutara

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan prison authorities removed 60 Tamil political prisoners from the Batticaloa jail to the Kalutara prison at noon yesterday. The prisoners were taken in a covered bus to Colombo.
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Three lorries taken from Yala

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A group of heavily armed persons took away three lorries around midnight yesterday on the Kadirgamam (Kattaragama in Sinhalese) - Buttala road at a place called Galgeywanguwa near the Yala national wildlife park about 260 kilometers south of Colombo.
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Kachcheri to be counting centre

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
All senior officers of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) in the peninsula were told by the Commissioner of Elections today to report at the Jaffna Kachcheri on January 27th, two days before the local government elections in the Peninsula, said Kachcheri sources in Jaffna.
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Ratwatte visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's deputy minister for defence, Gen. Anurudha Ratwatte flew to Jaffna this morning to inspect security arrangements for the forthcoming local government polls.
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Jaffna polls to influence asylum applications - paper

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Uthayan, the only daily news paper published in Jaffna, citing embassy sources in Colombo, said that western countries are likely to expedite the processes relating to the repatriation of Tamil asylums seekers there.
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EPRLF procession draws interest

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The EPRLF went on a propaganda procession this morning around 9 a.m. with about three hundred people on bicycles in the Jaffna municipality limits. The procession was led by the EPRLF's mayoral candidate Robert who was accompanied by the group's leader Suresh Premachandran.
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New restrictions on Batticaloa traffic

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
All lorries from Batticaloa to Colombo will be detained for 24 hours at Manampittiya and will be released to proceed to Colombo only after vehicles are searched by the Sri Lankan Army and the Police. This new rule came to effect last Friday.
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TULF to join election race

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The court of appeal rejected today, the counter-plaint filed by the PLOTE against the TULF's plaint, challenging the rejection of its nomination list to the Jaffna local government polls.
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Government indifferent to war zone students' hardship

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The cut off marks for admission to Sri Lankan universities, released to the press last evening by the Ministry of Education, shows the indifference of the authorities for the trials and hardship of the people living in the northeast, said Ministry of Education sources today.
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PLOTE being lobbied over writ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The counter-plaint filed by the DPLF against the TULF's plaint, challenging the rejection of TULF's nomination lists to the local government polls, which was taken up for hearing today in the Sri Lanka's court of appeal has been postponed to tomorrow, said legal sources in Colombo.
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LTTE to release 2 SLA captives

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Keethan, the political wing leader of the Liberation Tigers in the Batticaloa district told a visiting peace delegation led by Mr. Wasala Bandara, the head of Organisation for the Protection of Democratic Rights,a peace NGO based in Colombo that two SLA soldiers in the LTTE's custody will be released on Jan 15. The peace delegation visited Batticaloa on Saturday, January 10.
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New Police Station on Delft

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police (IGP) W.B Rajaguru said today that he is taking steps to establish a Police station in the Delft island (Nedunthivu) with the assistance of the Navy. The IGP visited Jaffna this week to assess the situation and consult with his officers there about security arrangements for the polls during the campaign and on the day of the polls.
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Voting cards to be distributed

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Elections Commission's branch in Jaffna will begin distributing poll cards to voters in the peninsula from January 18. Commission officials at the Jaffna Kachcheri say that people can obtain the cards by presenting their national identity cards at the government post offices in their areas.
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Jaffna Bishop rejects polls

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Catholic Bishop of Jaffna along with a group of senior clergymen declined to help the group monitoring local government elections in the peninsula today.
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Transit clearance arrangements changed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Any civilians coming from the LTTE controlled Vanni into areas held by the Sri Lankan Army via Uyilankulam will be sent directly to Vavuniya from today rather than having to wait in Mannar for clearance, said Kachcheri sources in Vavuniya.
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Soldiers' dispute ends in deaths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A corporal and a soldier were killed at the SLA's Thallady base in the Mannar district over a dispute on Sunday night said army sources today.
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Tamil groups promise to behave

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Tamil parties contesting the Jaffna local government polls signed an agreement in Colombo today with the People's Alliance for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), an election monitoring NGO, amidst strong doubts in many quarters whether any of the document's clauses would be honoured in practice.
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US delegation to visit Colombo

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A top level US government team will arrive in Colombo tomorrow to explore the possibility of evolving a peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka said foreign ministry sources today.
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Tiger activity seen rising in SE Ampara

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers blasted protective structures built around transformers by the Special Task Force (an elite commando unit of the Sri Lankan security forces) in the early hours of the morning today in the villages of Kolavil, Aalaiyadivembu and division - 7 of Akkraippattu in the south eastern part of the Ampara district.
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SLA bans transport across Kinniyadi lagoon

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The SLA banned transport across the Kinniyadi lagoon from January 1, after the Liberation Tigers took away some supplies which were sent from the Meeraodai SLA to the Kinniyadi SLA camp, said sources in Batticaloa.
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