SLA persists on restrictions in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2002, 19:49 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army in Batticaloa said Wednesday that government officials have to obtain due clearance from its brigade headquarters in the eastern town to transport relief supplies to refugees and the poor who receive assistance under the state's poverty alleviation program. The Government Agent for Batticaloa, Mr. Sinnathamby Shanmugam, said that the SLA is still stipulating that government departments in the eastern district should obtain due permission from the military for taking essential goods and food to areas that are not under its control.
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Tamils' confessions in Sinhala: a travesty of justice - Judge

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 January 2002, 19:32 GMT]
The East High Court Judge Mr. J. Visvanathan Wednesday allowed an application made by the defense counsel in a case filed under the Prevention Terrorism Act that a Tamil translation of the confession purported to have been made by the accused should be provided to him (the accused) before the commencement of the proper trial.
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Vanni ban relaxed, rules limit flow

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 January 2002, 14:47 GMT]
Six hundred civilians would be permitted to travel from the LTTE held Vanni region through the Sri Lanka armyís entry point at Piramanaalankulam from Monday to Friday under new regulations by the Sri Lankan government which came into effect Tuesday as part of a move to ease the 12 year old embargo and travel restrictions in the war torn northern parts of the island.
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Jaffna fishermen urge minister to lift restrictions

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 January 2002, 19:20 GMT]
"Remove the total ban on fishing from Thikkam to Thondamanar and let us fish freely at night. There is no point in granting us a short time concessions and relief", said Mr.S.Thavaratnam, the President of the Federation of Northern Fishermen's Societies, addressing a meeting Monday at Hartley College in Pt. Pedro between the Minister for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardana and representatives of fishermen's organisations in Jaffna. The Sri Lankan government announced Friday that it would allow Tamil fishermen two extra hours to fish in the Jaffna lagoon and in the seas off a small part of the peninsula's eastern coastline.
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Norwegian delegation "cautiously optimistic"

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 January 2002, 19:32 GMT]
The Norwegian peace delegation Friday expressed cautious optimism over finding a peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict in the island. The delegation leader Mr.Vidar Helgeson, Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister, said there was increased level of confidence between the parties concerned.
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Jaffna students warn of protests

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2002, 00:08 GMT]
The Jaffna Technical College Students' Union (JTCSU) has appealed to the Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe, to take immediate steps to release Jaffna university student Mr. Krishnasamy Thivyan who has been detained since 2 July 2001. "Students of the Jaffna Technical College and Jaffna Higher Technical Institute would organise a mass agitation in the peninsula if Thivyan is not released immediately," the JTCSU said in a memorandum sent to Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Tuesday.
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PTA arrests expose covert operation - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 January 2002, 00:49 GMT]
(News Feature) The arrest last week of members of an elite commando unit of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on suspicion they were planning to assassinate the Prime Minister has blown the cover of an important covert operation to assassinate senior members of the Liberation Tigers, the Sunday Time reported this week. The arrests of members of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) group came despite efforts by the SLA high command to prevent the raid on the soldiers’ safe house, the paper said.
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Nine FR cases against SLA for barring voters

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 January 2002, 19:59 GMT]
Two fundamental rights applications were filed in the Supreme Court Monday praying that the election held on December 5 in the Batticaloa electoral district be annulled and that the court should order the Election Commissioner to conduct re-poll there.
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Sri Lanka military step up recruitment

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 January 2002, 03:30 GMT]
(News Feature) Despite ongoing efforts to revive the stalled Norwegian efforts to bring the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government back to the negotiating table, the new United National Front (UNF) administration has authorised its military and police to continue with recruitment drives aimed at strengthening the fighting forces, the Island newspaper reported Saturday. The elite police commando unit, the Special Task Force (STF), Saturday launched a major new recruitment drive to strengthen its forces deployed in the north and east , the paper said quoting authoritative defence sources. The STF’s campaign comes amid a major drive by the Sri Lanka Army’s regular infantry divisions and Special Forces, as well as the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF).
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LTTE removes 132,328 APLMs, booby traps

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2002, 16:19 GMT]
The de-mining division of the Liberation Tigers has removed 132,328 anti-personnel land mines (APLM) and booby traps left behind by the Sri Lanka army in the villages and towns of the Vanni region in northern Sri Lanka according to the Voice of Tigers news broadcast Tuesday.
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SLTMA slams military harassment of Thinakathir

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 December 2001, 09:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Tamil Media Alliance Saturday protested to the Ministry of Mass Communication over the attack on Dharmaratnam Sivaram, a well known defence analyst and journalist, by "persons connected with the security forces." Mr. Sivaram, a Colombo-based contributor to TamilNet, suffered extensive injuries in the attack which occurred at the office of the Thinakathir newspapers in Batticaloa town late on Wednesday night.
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Ranil urged to disarm EPDP

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 December 2001, 19:57 GMT]
The Jaffna University Students' Union (JUSU) Friday requested the Prime Minister to take immediate steps to disarm all para military Tamil groups including the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in areas held by government troops. "The retention of arms by such para military groups, including EPDP constitutes imminent danger to Tamil civilians and journalists in the Jaffna district," the JUSU said in a memorandum sent Friday to the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe.
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LTTE official visits SLA held areas in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 December 2001, 13:05 GMT]
An official of the Liberation Tigers visited areas held by the Sri Lankan security forces in Batticaloa south Wednesday. 'Thurai', the official in charge of the LTTE's dissemination division for the Batticaloa and Ampara districts had discussions with an officer of the Special Task Force (STF) at the Paddiruppu Bridge, a main entry point 24 kilometres south of the eastern town, around 10 a.m. Wednesday morning before proceeding to visit Kaluwanchikudy town and the villages to its north with a group of fighters.
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Missing youths' parents paralyse Jaffna Kachcheri

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 December 2001, 15:25 GMT]
Protesting parents paralyse Jaffna District SecretariatThe Jaffna District Secretariat was stopped from functioning by more than a hundred parents of missing Tamil youth who sat across the entrance of the district secretariat from Monday early morning 6.30 to 4 p.m. in the afternoon, blocking government officials from entering the premises. The parents of the youth who went missing after they were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in 1997 in Jaffna sat in heavy monsoon shower, demanding that the Government Agent for Jaffna should get a reply from Colombo about the fate of their children in 20 days. The parents rejected an offer by the government to grant death certificates and compensation to 167 youth who went missing in 1997 after being arrested and detained by the Sri Lanka army. The death certificates claim that the youth were killed due to general violence.
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No security relaxation in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 December 2001, 20:39 GMT]
Until the modalities of a proper cease-fire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are worked out, there will be no relaxation in checking at roadblocks and sentry points in the Trincomalee district. Roadblocks and sentry points would not be removed immediately, police sources said.
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Tamils, SLA mull truce implications

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 December 2001, 13:03 GMT]
A "real" ceasefire will not come into effect until the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers negotiate and agree on "concrete modalities" of how it would be observed, military sources in Colombo said Saturday. The Sri Lankan security forces will desist from launching offensives and search operations during the cessation of hostilities declared Friday by the United National Front government, the sources added. A Sri Lanka army officer in the east said that the Tigers cannot enter areas controlled by the military with their personal weapons. "During the cessation of hostilities, we will fire only if we are provoked and we will take defensive action", the officer said.
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TNA urges Prime Minister to respect Tamils' verdict

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 December 2001, 20:17 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance Friday appealed to the Prime Minister to respect the verdict of the Tamil voters in the Northeast province at the last parliamentary election. A TNA delegation Friday evening told the Prime Minister that "the Tamil voters in the Northeast have very substantially endorsed the policy enunciated in the election manifesto of the TNA, despite the numerous hardships, restrictions and denial imposed upon them even in respect of the exercise of their franchise. The TNA looks forward to the early commencement of the visible implementation of the policy envisaged in its manifesto".
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SLA arrests three from LTTE held region

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 December 2001, 03:16 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army Wednesday arrested three officials of a rural development society in the LTTE held region north of Batticaloa. Relatives who came to see them in detention Friday said that the officials were taking money for work on a World Bank funded road project in the village of Kaddumurivu, 62 kilometres north of Batticaloa, when the army intelligence unit at Oddamavadi arrested and detained them for interrogation. The SLA later handed over the three to the Valaichenai police, accusing them of carrying money for the Liberation Tigers. Government officials in the eastern town, however, said that the money was for the road project in Kaddumurivu under the North East Irrigation Agriculture Project (NEIAP) funded by the World Bank.
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Tamils to shun next Parliament if no solution -TNA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 December 2001, 18:13 GMT]
"No self respecting Tamil would enter the next parliament if a just and permanent solution is not found to the Tamil national question by this parliament," declared Mr. R. Sampanthan, MP, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 12th parliament Wednesday.
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EPDP abandons PA for UNF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 December 2001, 00:41 GMT]
The paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a key Parliamentary ally of the former People's Alliance (PA) government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga is offering to switch sides and support the newly elected United National Front (UNF), press reports said. The Gulf News reported Wednesday that the EPDP, widely accused of violence and intimidation in support of the former administration before and during the December 5 polls is now offering to assist the UNF's ìefforts at forming a government of national government.î Last week The Island newspaper reported that the EPDP was offering its military support to the new government against the Liberation Tigers, arguing that it had always done so with successive Sri Lankan governments.
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