Crossing cancelled as shots fired

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 1999, 16:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army General Lionel Balagalle the Chief of Staff and the Commander of Vanni region said today that the return home of Vanni residents stranded in Vavuniya since the closure of the access point was cancelled after shots were fired soon after the first batch had reached the area controlled by the Liberation Tigers.
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Youth tortured to death - Judge

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 July 1999, 10:26 GMT]
In the hearing into the mysterious death of a youth from Gurunakar in the Jaffna peninsula, the extra Jaffna District judge, Mr. A. S. E. Ekanathan, identified torture as the cause of death.
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Stranded travellers to return tomorrow

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 21:52 GMT]
K.Ganesh, the Government Agent in Vavuniya, said today that over 2200 stranded travellers in Vavuniya had been registered with the civil authorities to be sent to the Vanni tomorrow morning after military officials informed him that the Vanni people will be returned home tomorrow.
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News in brief

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 19:11 GMT]
Government Agent in Mullaithivu gets medicine from Mannar for his asthmatreatment and an SLA soldier is wounded in Muttur.
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Stranded Vanni residents to go back?

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 16:46 GMT]
The Vanni Security Forces Commander, Major General Lionel Balagalle, said today that two thousand persons from among the Vanni residents who have been stranded in Vavuniya since the closure off all entry points to the areas held by the Liberation Tigers in the north could be sent back tomorrow.
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Journalists to watch travellers return

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 16:26 GMT]
Vavuniya kacheri officials were busy this morning making arrangements to send back about 2200 civilians from the LTTE controlled areas of the Vanni who have been stranded in Vavuniya since last month.
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Torture victim granted bail

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 11:41 GMT]
The Batticaloa high court yesterday decided to proceed with three cases filed against Shanmuganm Manogaran,23, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act despite a supreme court verdict last month ordering the state to grant him compensation on grounds that he was tortured while in detention.
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LTTE agrees to Mannar sea evacuation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 July 1999, 07:38 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have welcomed a proposal by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that seriously ill patients stranded in the Vanni due to the closure of the access point at Uyilankulam could be evacuated by sea, said sources close to the LTTE in Europe.
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Police block Jaffna student protest

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 15:50 GMT]
A march organised by Jaffna University students, demanding that thegovernment open a route into the Vanni, was blocked by the SLA and Police atParameswara college junction at noon today.
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Talks to end teachers dispute fail

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 14:50 GMT]
A conference convened to resolve the Northeast province teachers' protest against what they see as a discriminatory pay dispute failed when the Northeast Provincial Council Governor, Major General Asoka Jayawardene, said that he had no authority to change the Education Minister's decision regarding the settlement of arrears pay.
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Six killed in shooting incident

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 11:08 GMT]
A policeman, a soldier and four civilians were killed and six others seriously wounded when two gunmen, suspected to be members of LTTE, opened fire at Thekkankaadu, about one km south of Vavuniya town along the Vavuniya Anuradhapura road, said sources.
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Demonstrators demand route to Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 July 1999, 10:00 GMT]
About 500 travellers, including government servants and traders from the LTTE held areas of the Vanni, have staged a Sathyagraha demonstration outside the Vavuniya Kacherie this morning demanding that a route to the LTTE held areas of the Vanni be opened immediately so that they could return home to their families.
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School boy killed in air attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 1999, 20:37 GMT]
Selvarajah Uthayakumar, a Year 3 student at the Visuvamadu Reddbarna School in the Kilinochchi district was killed in an air attack by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) kfir jets at around 2.00 p.m. this afternoon said the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio in its night news broadcast.
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Teaching unions protest against discriminatory decision

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 1999, 20:35 GMT]
Seven Tamil and Muslim teaching trade unions unanimously decided today to picket the offices of the North east Provincial Ministry of Education and the Department of Education in Trincomalee on the Morning of July 26 to protest against what they see as a discriminatory pay award.
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Troop Relocation in Mannar Area

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 1999, 16:17 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) troops stationed at Sunny Village, Puthukduiyiruppu and Pesalai have been relocated to the Paappamoddai area and police personnel have taken over these positions, said sources.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 July 1999, 19:09 GMT]
Trincomalee residents alarmed by illegal settlements, SLA casualty in Vavuniya road accident, Teachers demand payment of risk allowance; Confusion over alternative exam arrangements.
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Brigadier meets Vadamaradchi fishermen

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 July 1999, 12:06 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander for the Vadamaradchi division, Brig. Sarath Karunaratne, met with representatives of the Fishermen's Federation yesterday to discuss the various problems faced by fishermen in the region, said sources.
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Tigers offer alternative Vanni route

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 1999, 19:31 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are ready to open an access route to the Vanni through the Uylankulam and Pallamadu areas in Mannar district or through Mankulam if the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) agrees to maintain a demilitarised zone in the area between the present defence lines of the two sides, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) said quoting S.P.Thamilchelvan leader of the LTTE’s Political wing in its morning news bulletin today.
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Six killed in clashes

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 1999, 17:48 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and another wounded when suspected members of the Liberation Tigers opened fire at them in the Madhu area around 9 a.m. this morning, said sources.
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ICRC may move sick

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 July 1999, 13:30 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has not agreed to let the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) take relief supplies to the Vanni by sea from Mannar to Vidaththaltheevu but has granted the organisation permission to transport the sick not only by sea but through any of the access routes that are closed now, SLA official said today.
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