Eleven policemen killed in Mutur attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 November 2001, 11:30 GMT]
Eleven military trained police personnel were killed, and 11 policemen and three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded in an attack by the Liberation Tigers in Mutur, south of Trincomalee, around 2.p.m. Thursday, security sources said.
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EPDP preparing to rig Jaffna poll -Maheswaran

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 October 2001, 17:21 GMT]
The Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) is preparing to rig the polls in Jaffna with the connivance of a government official, said Mr. T. Maheswaran, ex-MP and chief candidate of the United National Party in Jaffna, addressing a campaign meeting in Nallur, a suburb of the northern town, Wednesday. ‘The EPDP is a quisling army of the Sri Lankan government. The struggle led by the leader of the Tigers, Pirapaharan, and all the sacrifices made for its progress would be demeaned internationally if members of the EPDP are elected to the Parliament from Jaffna,’ the UNP candidate said.
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IMF displeasure threatens loans - paper

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 October 2001, 19:54 GMT]
Concern expressed by the International Monetary Fund over the 'election handouts' by the Sri Lankan government has resulted in $800 million of pledged loans being withheld, the Island newspaper said Tuesday, quoting IMF sources. As a result of the freezing of these foreign loans and the unlikelihood of the government being able to raise the full amount of the required money locally, a situation would result of rising interest rates and the printing of money, thereby fuelling inflation, the paper said.
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Eastern PA strongman joins UNP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 October 2001, 18:45 GMT]
The People's Alliance strong man in the east, Mr.Somasundaram Ganeshamoorthy, joined the United National Party (UNP) Wednesday. He said that the PA had cheated the Tamil people by not doing anything to solve the Tamil problem. Earlier in the day the state run Tamil daily denied speculation that he was about to cross over.
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Claymore hits SLA vehicle in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 October 2001, 06:04 GMT]
Seven Sri Lanka army personnel, including a Lt.Colonel were killed in a powerful claymore blast near the Vallai junction on the Nelliyadi-Pt. Pedro road in Jaffna around 10.30 a.m. Wednesday. The soldiers and the officer were travelling in a vehicle near Kunjar Kadai Chanthi (junction) when the claymore fixed to a wall was triggered off, sources said.
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'Lift ban or let us go to Vanni'- Jaffna fishermen

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 October 2001, 13:40 GMT]
More than three thousand fishermen and women demonstrated in Pt. Pedro town Tuesday against Sri Lanka Army restrictions on fishing in the seas off the Jaffna peninsula's Vadamaradchi coast. The fishermen demanded that the SLA should either lift the restrictions and ban or allow them to leave Jaffna and to settle in the LTTE controlled Vanni region.
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STF, SF operation in LTTE held villages in east

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 October 2001, 05:59 GMT]
The Special Task Force and Sri Lanka army Special Forces began an operation into areas held by the Liberation Tigers southwest of Batticaloa town from the early hours of morning Tuesday. Two main groups of Sri Lankan security forces moved into the villages of Palugamam, Periyaporathivu, Kovitporathivu and Munaithivu, sources said. A timber shed was set on fire amid sporadic gunfire in areas which the STF and SF entered this morning. No major confrontation was reported until noon.
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UNP to contest as UNF with elephant symbol

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 October 2001, 21:51 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) will contest the forthcoming general election scheduled to be held on 5 December under the name of the United National Front (UNF). However the election symbol will be 'elephant'. A motion to this effect was unanimously approved at the special convention of the UNP held Sunday at Colombo Town Hall.
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Self-determination is 'might is right'-Thamilmaran

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 October 2001, 14:20 GMT]
"A people's right of self determination is not always recognised by the international community because it is inherently just. It is more often the case that it is accepted only when a people succeed in their armed struggle to secede. When a people lose the war to gain independence the international community rejects their right of self-determination. This was the experience of Biafra. It lost the war for independence from Nigeria and its people's right of self determination was not recognised," said Mr. V.T Thamilmaran, senior lecturer in law in the University of Colombo delivering the Mylvaganam Nimalarajan commemoration lecture in Batticaloa Sunday. The lecture 'The challenges to the State in the 21st Century' was organised by the East Lanka Journalists' Association and the International Broadcasting Corporation (Tamil).
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Sellasamy goes back to CWC

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 October 2001, 14:13 GMT]
Mr. M.S Sellasamy, a veteran trade unionist joined the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) Friday amid moves to bring the main Tamil parties and unions in the island’s plantation sector under one umbrella to contest the general elections on 5 December. The CWC and the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF) are holding talks on forming a broad front to contest in districts outside the island’s northeast, particularly in the central province where there are substantial numbers of Tamils. “We are exploring the possibility of strengthening our position in the hill country by coming to an arrangement with the United National Party,” a CWC leader said.
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Tamil parties form alliance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 October 2001, 20:37 GMT]
The main opposition Tamil parties in Sri Lanka agreed Wednesday to form a Tamil nationalist alliance to contest the general elections on 5 December 2001. The agreement was reached late Wednesday night following protracted negotiations over the week. The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) decided to cement the alliance by signing a memorandum of understanding on Friday.
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Vanni farmers file FR case in Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 October 2001, 15:45 GMT]
The Supreme Court Wednesday entertained a fundamental rights violation application filed by six Tamils against the imposition of control in transporting kerosene and fuel to Vanni region which is now not under the control of state armed forces.
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Three SLA soldiers killed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 October 2001, 16:21 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and another wounded in a claymore mine attack by the Liberation in the Manal Aaru (Weli Oya) region in the north-east of the island, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said in its news bulletin Tuesday.
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ACTC disrupts Tamil unity moves again

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 October 2001, 19:40 GMT]
Hectic negotiations to cement a common Tamil front ran aground again Sunday night when Mr. Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy, the leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) refused to contest the general elections on 5 December under a common symbol in Jaffna. The ACTC leader told a private radio station earlier in the day that his party had decided to contest as a constituent of a Tamil national alliance. However, when the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation and the Tamil United Liberation Front met the ACTC Sunday night to finalise details of the Tamil alliance, Mr. Vinayagamoorthy insisted that his party cannot contest under a common symbol in Jaffna. "That's where the need is greatest for us to stand united as one nationalist force in order to defeat the anti-Tamil forces which are spreading their tentacles in the peninsula," said Selvam Adaikalanathan, the leader of the TELO.
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EPDP demands 50 million from Batticaloa daily

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 October 2001, 15:53 GMT]
Mr. Douglas Devenanda, the leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a major partner of the People's Alliance, has demanded 50 million rupees in damages from Thinakathir, the Tamil daily newspaper published in Batticaloa.
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Three school boys arrested in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 October 2001, 09:13 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Police arrested three schoolboys in Jaffna Thursday. The three are students at the Sri Parvathi Maha Vithiyalayam in Nayanmaarkattu near Jaffna town. Their parents informed the Human Rights Commission about the arrests today. Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Unit of the Police Thursday produced in the Mannar courts a youth who had been taken into custody for possessing a mobile phone. The Sri Lankan government prohibits the use of mobile phones in the northern and eastern parts of the island. Tamil civilians from other parts of the island are, however, allowed to carry their mobile phones when visiting the army controlled parts of the east or the Vavuniya town.
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"Will oppose any govt. if no solution to Tamil problem" -Selvam

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2001, 21:04 GMT]
"This government has been waging a relentless war on my people without solving their problem. We have therefore been trying to bring this government down. Today the time is ripe for it. We would take the same stand against any government in Sri Lanka that tries to wage war on our people", said 'Selvam' Adaikalanathan, MP, the leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, commenting on the current political crisis in the island, Wednesday evening.
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Parliament dissolved, election on 5 December

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2001, 19:10 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President dismissed the Parliament Wednesday midnight by a special gazette notification. Fresh elections to the legislature have been fixed for 5 December. Nominations for the general elections would called from 20 October to 27 October, senior government officials said.
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CWC leaves, govt. fumbling for survival options

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2001, 08:45 GMT]
A senior cabinet minister of Sri Lanka's People's Alliance government, Mr.Arumugam Thondaman resigned from his ministerial post Wednesday. MPs of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) also resigned from their positions in the government. The CWC, a major coalition partner of the PA regime has four members in the house including Mr.Thondaman.
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Tigers overrun Velvery airforce camp in Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 October 2001, 04:10 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers overran the Sri Lanka Air Force camp at Velvery, about 12 km northwest of Trincomalee town off the high way to Anuradhapura, Tuesday night around 11.30 p.m. Four SLAF men were killed and 17 are reported missing in the attack, military sources in the eastern port town said. The SLAF and the Sri Lanka army shelled the overrun camp till the early hours of the morning Wednesday. The Liberation Tigers withdrew from the overrun camp before the crack of dawn. SLAF jets were also called to bomb the area, sources said.
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