TNA to meet Ranil before Vanni visit

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 July 2002, 16:44 GMT]
The Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe has invited Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians for an important discussion about the current state of the peace process. The meeting comes a day ahead of the last deadline mentioned in the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) between the Liberation Tigers and Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe's government.
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New Colombo Archbishop exhorts national unity

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2002, 16:14 GMT]
"All Sri Lankans should join hands to find a lasting solution to national issues irrespective of communal, religious and other differences," said the newly installed Archbishop of Colombo Most.Rev.Dr. Oswald Gomis. The Canonical installation of the eighth Archbishop took place Saturday at the Cathedral of St.Lucia, Kotehena in Colombo.
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Confession based convicted to be released

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 July 2002, 22:08 GMT]
Tamil political prisoners who have been indicted solely on their confessions should be released it was agreed at a top level conference held Thursday evening at Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence. It was also decided that immediate steps should be taken to dispose of all other cases within a month.
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LTTE political officials harassed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 July 2002, 03:46 GMT]
A senior political cadre of the Liberation Tigers was assaulted by Sri Lankan troops last week whilst another was arrested and interrogated, Tamil press reports said. Protests were lodged with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the reports said.
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‘Bag-gate’ as minister spots spy camera

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 July 2002, 17:37 GMT]
Acrimony between Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Parliamentary government took a bizarre twist Thursday when a cabinet minister accused her of using a spy camera concealed in her handbag to tape a cabinet meeting.
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President to take on Premier - report

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 July 2002, 10:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga has decided to take the battle to the administration of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe before it moves to present an impeachment motion against her in Parliament next month, the Daily Mirror reported Wednesday, quoting sources close to the President. The government, meanwhile, is this week expected to publish a report into alleged financial malpractices by the President, weekend press reports said.
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SLFP power struggle goes to court

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 July 2002, 15:55 GMT]
The Colombo District Court Tuesday issued a restraining order on the senior leaders of the main opposition, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) preventing them from suspending the party membership of Colombo district parliamentarian Mr.A.H.M.Fowzie. The District Judge said that his restraining order will be valid till 31 July this year. The SLFP is the major constituent of the main opposition Peoples Alliance (PA).
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A5 reopens after seven years

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 July 2002, 06:55 GMT]
The forty-kilometre stretch of road on the A5 highway from Chenkaladi to Maha Oya which goes through territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers has been opened to the public after seven years. The opening ceremony was held near Karuththapalam Monday morning around 10.30, attended by senior LTTE officials and Sri Lanka Army officers.
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LTTE assures Muslim farmers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 July 2002, 11:47 GMT]
Muslim community welfare organisations have widely welcomed the Liberation Tigers' assurances that their safety in predominantly Tamil areas would be guaranteed and that there would be no restriction placed on their free movement or trade, Tamil press reports said.
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President fears cabinet ambush

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 July 2002, 00:57 GMT]
The war of words between Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the Parliamentary government of Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe escalated this week with the President telling a meeting of her Sri Lanka Freedom Party that attending cabinet meetings posed a threat to her life, the Sunday Leader reported.
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Ferial Ashraff demands revision of cease-fire agreement

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 July 2002, 15:36 GMT]
The National Unity Alliance (NUA) Friday demanded a complete revision of the cease-fire agreement that has been signed by the Prime Minister and the LTTE leader. The NUA is one of the constituents of the main opposition People's Alliance (PA). The Executive President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge is the leader of the PA.
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State paper protests President’s pressure

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 July 2002, 11:59 GMT]
Embroiled in a financial scandal regarding imports of foreign cars, President Chandrika Kumaratunga ordered a government-owned newspaper to publish her official statement as its lead story on Thursday, the publication’s editor protested Friday. The state-owned Daily News followed Kumaratunga’s instructions but insisted it had been subjected to unwarranted pressure though the President’s spokesman said ‘a request’ had merely been made.
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Karuna reiterates commitment to peace

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 July 2002, 12:35 GMT]
"There were insidious forces behind the recent troubles in the east. These forces should not be allowed to disrupt the peace process," said Col. V.Karuna, the commander of the Liberation Tigers for the districts of Batticaloa and Ampara, during a discussion with the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and representatives of the Sri Lankan government in Kokkaddicholai, southwest of the eastern town Wednesday.
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Sri Lanka plans to impeach President - report

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 July 2002, 02:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s government last week decided to impeach President Chandrika Kumaratunga on a wide range of issues from corruption to the abuse of power, The Sunday Leader newspaper reported. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed his ministers to start drafting the impeachment resolution with immediate effect, it said.
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Ex-EPDP cadre makes confession on journalist's murder

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 19:56 GMT]
The confession of an ex-member of the paramilitary group EPDP to the Jaffna Magistrate, Thursday, may throw fresh light on the investigation into the murder of journalist, Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, legal sources in the north said.
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LTTE urges Muslim Tamil harmony in east

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 July 2002, 16:01 GMT]
"We, the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers, fought face to face in battlefields for 25 years. But today we are seated side by side as friends. All of us should explore the reasons why, while this is so, we, the Muslims and Tamils who speak the same language, are unable to live in amity," said Mr. N. Karikalan, a senior official of the political division of the Liberation Tigers addressing a peace conference in Batticaloa town Wednesday.
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Karikalan, 23 Div. GOC meet

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 July 2002, 17:34 GMT]
Mr. N. Karikalan, senior official of the LTTE’s political division in the east, had discussions with the General Officer Commanding of the Sri Lanka army’s23 Division, Maj. Gen. Sunil Tennekoon on opening theA5 highway and rebuilding peaceful relations between Tamils and Muslims in the east at the Bishop's House in Batticaloa town Tuesday.
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Ceasefire has reduced human rights violations - Amnesty

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 June 2002, 11:15 GMT]
Ending a two-week visit to Sri Lanka, Amnesty International (AI) delegates welcomed the positive engagement and cooperation from both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on issues of human rights and the peace process. "The current climate is one of pragmatic hope," Derek Evans, head of the delegation said. "The cease-fire agreement has made a significant impact in reducing human rights abuses in Sri Lanka."
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Thousands march against Jaffna paramilitary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 June 2002, 11:31 GMT]
More than eight thousand people took part in a protest march and public rally in Kayts in Jaffna Thursday against the activities of a paramilitary group working with the Sri Lanka Navy in the islands off the northern peninsula. The protestors shouted slogans denouncing the paramilitary group, a close ally of Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, and condemning the attack on LTTE political activists in Kayts on 20 June. The organisers of the march and rally said that cadres of the paramilitary had threatened the public in Kayts Wednesday night to prevent them from participating in the protest.
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Jaffna journalists said facing 'calculated discrimination'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 June 2002, 18:18 GMT]
"Journalists in Jaffna do not have the same rights and privileges that their colleagues enjoy in the south. None of the governments that came to power in Colombo bothered to look into the grievances and problems we face here. We feel that the discrimination against us is calculated. In this context I would like to draw your attention to the tardy pace of the investigations into the dastardly murder of our colleague Mylvaganam Nimalarajan. This wouldn't have been the case if he had been a journalist in the south," said Velupillai Thavachelvam, the President of the Jaffna Journalists' Association, speaking at a conference Saturday called by Sri Lanka's media minister, Mr. Imtiaz Bakeer Makkar who is on a visit to the northern peninsula this weekend.
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