Police seek glory amid paranoia

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police arrested three persons near Wennapuwa (forty kilometers north of Colombo) with four hundred machetes on Sept.23.
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Former President ordered assassination

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The commission of inquiry into the assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali, minister for National security in the UNP regime between 1984 and 87 has concluded that former UNP President Premadasa (1988-1993) was directly responsible for the killing.
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Unit of devolution revealed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government today officially presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee for the first time its position on the unit of devolution it is proposing to grant the Tamil and Muslim people.
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Crime being encouraged in Jaffna?

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Crime is on the increase in the Jaffna peninsula. A large shop in the Maththiya Maha Viththiyalayam road in the Nelliady town was robbed of several hundred thousand rupees and a large quantity of valuable goods last week.
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Human Rights Commission in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The National Human Rights Commission is making its first visit to Jaffna today. The commission's delegation is led by Mr.T Sunderalingam ,a retired Sri Lankan high court judge. Sarvodaya movement leader Dr. Ariyaratne is also in the group.
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Tigers rout Sri Lankan advance

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Heavy fighting between troops of the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan army which erupted southwest of Mullaithivu at Manavaalan Patta Murippu yesterday (Sunday Oct.5) continues. Although the intensity of the fighting has come down today, the army is expecting a major counter attack by the Liberation Tigers on its hastily organized defenses at Manvaalan Patta Murippu on the Mankulam - Ottisuddan road.
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Jaffna tense after killing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sources in Jaffna said today that the Jaffna town was quite tense today following the killing of the SLFP organizer on Friday night in a high security zone of the Sri Lankan armed forces.
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Sinhalese doctors quit over 'army vulnerability'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Fourteen Sinhalese doctors along with some of their Muslim colleagues working at the Mannar base hospital vacated their posts on Friday. On their way to Colombo, they reported to Sri Lankan military officials in Vavuniya that they were abandoning their posts due to a major threat from the Liberation Tigers which the Sri Lankan security forces were facing in the Mannar island, where the base hospital is located.
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News In Brief

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
An MSF delegation visits a hospital in trouble. The Sri Lankan government continues to avoid negotiations with the LTTE and a Muslim delegation returning to Jaffna gets a pleasant surprise.
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TULF woos UNP over package

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The TULF met with Sri Lanka's United National Party today to discuss the PA government's devolution package. The TULF delegation went to the meeting with the intention of persuading the UNP leadership, ultimately to agree to the main critical portion of the PA's proposals.
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Elections only after military victory: Ratwatte

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Defence General Anuruddha Ratwatte told the Sinhala daily Lankadeepa, today that Provincial council elections to the northeast would be held only after the army succeeds in opening the main road to Jaffna from Vavuniya.
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SLFP organiser in Jaffna shot dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The SLFP organiser for the Jaffna district, Mr. S.T Tharmalingam was shot dead at his home in Columbuthurai, a suburb of Jaffna town, last night at 8.45 p.m. Sources in Jaffna said that Mr. Tharmalingam was found dead after he was summoned from his house by some unidentified persons.
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Former Jaffna GA granted bail

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Legal sources in Colombo said yesterday that Mr. Chellaiah Pathmanathan, the former Government Agent (GA) for Jaffna had been granted bail by the Sri Lankan government's attorney general. Following a bail application by Mr. Pathmanathan's lawyer, the Colombo Fort magistrate directed that he be produced in court today.
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EPDP attacks referendum plan

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Douglas Devananda, the leader of the Colombo based Tamil group, the EPDP, lashed out at the government's latest stand on devolution today. Devananda's relationship with the PA leadership has soured in recent times over the question of two renegade MPs who had been members of his organisation for a long time, but had left recently.
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Britain to fund Jaffna NGOs directly

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The British government will donate funds for minor reconstruction work and small development projects directly to NGOs and other social service organisations in Jaffna, said the British High Commissioner in Colombo. Mr. David Tatham gave an exclusive interview to the Tamil daily 'Virakesari' on Thursday.
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Buddhist clergy stage protest rally

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The interim report of the Sinhala Commission continued to create powerful reverberations in the Sinhala polity as more than 1500 people, including five hundred Buddhist monks, gathered yesterday to muster public support for the 'Sinhala cause'.
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Heavy going for SLA armour

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 September 1997, 12:00 GMT]
With the monsoon underway, heavy rain is affecting the fighting in the Vanni region. The rain is turning the terrain around Puliyankulam into a sea of mud, which is posing new difficulties for the hard pressed Sri Lankan forces there. The conditions are also said to be affecting the Tigers.
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Tamils suffer discrimination: Canadian court

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 September 1997, 12:03 GMT]
Whilst ruling on the case of Mr. Suresh Manickavasagam, the presiding Judge said that in his opinion the Tamil people suffered from discrimination. The Judge did not rule on the LTTE itself, saying he was not in a position to pass judgment on the conflict in Sri Lanka. During the case, the Judge had been presented with evidence of gross human rights violations by successive Sri Lankan governments against the Tamil people.
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Sri Lanka stretches the truth on Canadian ruling

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 September 1997, 12:01 GMT]
When a Canadian judge upheld a security certificate issued against Mr. Suresh Manickavasagam by the Canadian Immigration department on the basis that he was a member of the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government claimed that the Canadian court has said that the LTTE was a 'terrorist' organization. However, the judge had made it clear that he was not passing judgement on that issue, but was merely saying that the Immigration department had 'reasonable grounds' to believe that Suresh was inadmissible into Canada.
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Suicide bomber threat sustains support for war

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 September 1997, 12:00 GMT]
The Colombo public have an abhorrent fear of suicide bomb attacks. The threat seems ever present, even though there have been no suicide attacks in the capital for nearly two years. Surprisingly, the spectre of the suicide bomber is being revived time and again by the Sri Lankan government itself. The fear generated by the official warnings is sustaining public support for the government's war in the Tamil homelands.
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