Vehicle hijacked on 'cleared' road

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 February 1999, 11:31 GMT]
The official vehicle of the President of College of Education in Batticaloa, Mr. K.Nadarajah, was taken away by gunmen suspected to be members of the Liberation Tigers around 10.30 a.m. this morning. The vehicle was stopped at Vanthaarumoolai, 20 km. north of Batticaloa, by the gunmen who drove away with the driver who was released at the next village.
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Dead youth said tortured

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 February 1999, 10:20 GMT]
Anthony Gnanasekaram, who died in the custody of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Gurunagar, in Jaffna had been tortured said Prof. Sinnaththamby Veluppillai, in his medical report which he submitted to the Jaffna courts yesterday. The SLA had earlier said that Gnanasekaram committed suicide.
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Civilian killed in broad daylight

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 February 1999, 22:02 GMT]
A civilian who was on his way to invite relatives for his child's birthday was shot dead by an SLA ambush party yesterday around 7.30 a.m. near Kiran, 28 km. north of Batticaloa.
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Officials told to safeguard vehicles

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 February 1999, 20:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) issued instructions to all government departments in Batticaloa today regarding the use of their vehicles.
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PLOTE member arrested in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 February 1999, 20:57 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police in the northern town of Vavuniya said that they have arrested a PLOTE member who had been found with a pistol in his possession at a Police checkpoint.
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LTTE announces casualty figures

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 February 1999, 20:53 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said today that eight of their members had been killed in clashes with the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in the Vanni area during the period between February 12 and 14.
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Youth abducted in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 February 1999, 22:23 GMT]
A 19 year old youth, Subramaniam Sureshkumar, was abducted by unidentified armed men, while he was at the canteen run by the Tellipallai Multi-purpose co-operative society (MPCS) in the Jaffna peninsula.
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Paramilitaries told to disarm

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 February 1999, 22:15 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) said today that it has ordered the PLOTE and the TELO, Tamil paramlitiaries operating with the army, to close down their offices and camps in Vavuniya.
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Woman raped by army personnel

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 February 1999, 22:07 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police said that a 20 year old woman who was waiting at a bus stop in Anuradhapura in the north central province was kidnapped and raped by men, including two members of the Sri Lankan Army personnel, yesterday around 9 p.m.
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Five more casualties from sea battle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 February 1999, 20:37 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers announced in the Vanni today the names of 5 more Tigers who had died in the sea battle with the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) near the island of Kachchathivu, north west of Jaffna on February 8.
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Army limits Sivaraathiri festivals attendance

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 February 1999, 16:00 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has allowed only one hundred devotees to attend the midnight Pooja of the Maha Sivaraathiri festival at the Thiruketheeswaram temple in the Mannar district tomorrow.
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Different checkpoints, different orders

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 February 1999, 15:56 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) personnel stationed at the Vallipuram checkpoint, in the Jaffna peninsula, permitted the resumption of passenger bus service from Pt.Pedro to Sempianpattu yesterday. The bus service was used by residents of the Southeastern coast of the peninsula, an area not directly under the control of the Sri Lankan army.
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Religious leaders describe Vanni visit

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 February 1999, 17:54 GMT]
The delegation of Buddhist monks and Christian clergy who visited the LTTE controlled areas of the Vanni said at a press conference held today that the LTTE had expressed a readiness to pursue a peaceful solution to the ethnic conflict in the island.
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Devotees barred from attending Hindu festival

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 February 1999, 07:39 GMT]
Army Head Quarters in Palaly had informed the chief priest of the Keerimalai Naguleswarar temple yesterday that no devotees will be allowed to go to Keerimalai from other parts of the peninsula to observe religious rights on Sunday the Mahasivarathri day.
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PLOTE suspected in TELO office fire

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 February 1999, 05:06 GMT]
The political office of the paramilitary group TELO at Vairavapuliyankulam in Vavuniya town area was set on fire allegedly by PLOTE in the early hours of this morning, Police said.
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Court to protest Chemmani excavations plan

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 February 1999, 00:00 GMT]
Legal sources in Jaffna expressed shock and dismay at the statement by the Sri Lanka's foreign Ministry on Wednesday and by the SLA spokesman, Brig.Sunil Tennekoon yesterday that the alleged mass grave at Chemmani would be exhumed on March 5, according to orders of the Jaffna court.
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Medical supplies to Vadamaradchi East blocked

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 February 1999, 18:02 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has stopped the supply of drugs and medicines for the first quarter of 1999 to the Amban hospital in Vadamaradchi East. The army turned back the drugs and medicines for the Amban hospital at its checkpoint in Vallipuram today.
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LTTE posters lampoon paramilitaries

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 February 1999, 16:16 GMT]
The Batticaloa-Amparai section of the Liberation Tigers' political wing put up large printed posters in the Batticaloa district this morning. Posters appeared in Sri Lankan Army (SLA) controlled towns, including Valaichenai and Eravur, and areas in the northern part of the district.
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UNP MPs in walkout

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 February 1999, 13:15 GMT]
Forty members of Parliament of Sri Lanka's main opposition party walked out of the legislature this afternoon protesting against the vote rigging and violence in the north-western province polls last month.
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Chemmani graves to be exhumed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 February 1999, 10:13 GMT]
The alleged mass graves at Chemmani in the northern Jaffna peninsula, where the bodies of hundreds of people who 'disappeared' in Sri Lankan military custody are said to be buried, is to be excavated, announced the Military spokesman Brigadier Sunil Tennekoon at the cabinet press briefing held today in the Parliament committee room. Excavation will commence on March 5, he said.
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