Court denies injunction to postpone Batticaloa elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 15:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Monday refused to issue an interim injunction to postpone the elections to nine local authorities in the Batticaloa district. "The Supreme Court has no authority to issue such interim injunction," said the Chief Justice Mr. Sarath Silva after hearing the submissions in the two Fundamental Rights violation petitions filed by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), legal sources said.
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'Canadian Tamil Village' foundation stone laid

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 January 2008, 05:03 GMT]
The foundation stone laying ceremony for a project costing $625K to build 250 houses and associated village infrastructure for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Raasapuram, Mulankaavil in Kilinochchi district was held Thursday at 12:45 p.m., sources from Kilinochchi said. The foundation stone was laid by the Government Agent (GA) of Kilinochchi District Mr. Vethanayakam, and Mr. Thangan, Deputy Head of Political Division.
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LTTE requests Norway to continue facilitation, urges IC's support for Tamil rights

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 January 2008, 05:51 GMT]
The Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Major General Lars Johan Solvberg on Thursday met Liberation Tigers Political Head B. Nadesan in Ki'linochchi, following the GoSL announcement of unilateral withdrawal from the Ceasefire. Noting that the GoSL has withdrawn from the CFA without any justifications, LTTE's political head said that the Tigers, even at this juncture, stood ready to implement every clause of the agreement and requested Norway to continue with its facilitation role with the support of the International Community. He urged the IC to recognize the right of the Tamil people to live with self-determination in their homeland and remove the bans it has placed on the LTTE.
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Residents catch paramilitary robbers in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 10:12 GMT]
Residents of Naavatkudaa area in Batticaloa district way laid and caught five members of the paramilitary Pillayaan group Tuesday around 8:00 p.m. as the paramilitary group was about to rob a house in the area, police said. Kanagaratnam Athiravan, one of the five caught, is the person in charge of Kalladi Pillayaan camp. The public got together and caught the robbers, who carried three T-56 type assault rifles with them, and handed the robbers with their rifles over to the Kaaththaankudi police.
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Col. Charles laid to rest in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 January 2008, 01:29 GMT]
The remains of Col. Charles, Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Military Intelligence, killed Saturday evening in a random Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit in Pa'l'lamadu in Mannar, was laid to rest with full military honours in Kanakapuram Heroes Cemetery Monday.
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Vanni pays homage to Col. Charles

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 17:08 GMT]
Hundreds of Tamils paid homage Sunday at Puthukkudyrippu in Vanni to the remains of Col. Charles, Head of Liberation Tigers Military Intelligence, killed Saturday evening in a random Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit in Pa'l'lamadu in Mannaar, sources in Vanni said. Col. Soosai, Liberation Tigers special commander of the Sea Tigers paid tribute to Col Charles at the event held Sunday around 4:00 p.m in the Heroes Cemetary Hall in Puthukkudiyiruppu, presided by C. Ilamparithi, Puthukkudyiruppu region Political Head of LTTE.
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JVP noose around APRC neck

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 02:02 GMT]
While State media continues to provide an air of credibility to the All Party Representative Committee (APRC), insiders revealed to the Sunday Leader that APRC committee has decided to "delay discussing the contentious issues until the end but that they have now reached a deadlock with the JHU and SLFP insisting on a unitary state while the other parties have objected to the use of that terminology." The Sunday Leader further said that while several members have insisted on a set of proposals which goes beyond the 13th Amendment, the JVP has warned that they would topple the government if any proposals resembling a federal formula is forwarded in February.
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2007: The year in review

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 07:34 GMT]
For the people of the NorthEast, 2007 was a grim year. Sri Lanka’s security forces and allied paramilitaries intensified their campaign of abductions (‘white van’ abductions), torture, and murder of Tamil civilians. Tamil civil society leaders bore the brunt of the counter-insurgency campaign. Jaffna remained an open prison with shortage of essential items, east falling under the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) control with thousands displaced as Colombo concocts colonization schemes to make east a Sinhala majority province.
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Elangko appointed new Head of Tamileelam Police

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 December 2007, 16:38 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Pirapaharan has appointed K. Elangko (I'langkoa), a senior LTTE official as the Head of Tamileelam Police, succeeding B. Nadesan. Mr. Elangko who joined the LTTE in 1983 and received military training in LTTE's 4th training camp in India has earlier served as the deputy of the Police between 1993 and 1996. Later, he was in charge of Policy Dissemination Unit of the LTTE.
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English proficiency vital for success in global world: LTTE Political Head

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 December 2007, 20:52 GMT]
"Eelam Tamils have excelled in military science and geo-political affairs at an International level. For our people to acquire skills and knowlege to succeed at the global level, opportunity and facilities to attain high levels of proficiency in English is critical," said B. Nadesan, the political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in his commencement address at the English Language College (ELC) in Ki'linochchi, on Saturday. The ELC, a Tamils' Rehabilitation Organization (TRO)-funded college, was established on September 13, 2004 to produce educators to fulfill the shortage of competent of English teachers in the NorthEast.
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Elders' Home inaugurated in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 December 2007, 19:36 GMT]
In a simple yet emotionally-charged ceremony of significance, Mathivathani Pirapaharan, wife of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan, inaugurated the new hostel block of the Anpuchchoalai Elders' Home in Ki'linochchi A'riviyal Nakar this Sunday. In one of her rare public appearances, she cut the ribbon and declared open the new wing of the Elders' Home. The event was well-attended by key Tamil Tiger functionaries.
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SLAF bombs VoT radio station in Vanni, 11 killed, 15 wounded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 November 2007, 11:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. attacked the Voice of Tigers (VoT) broadcast station located at 155 Mile Post, 3.5 km south of Ki'linochchi. Three editorial staff workers at the station and eight civilians, residents and travelers near the station were killed in the attack. 15 civilians, including four editorial staff, wounded in the attack were admitted to Ki'linochchi hospital. A hostel belonging to World Food Programme (WFP) was fully destroyed. The Vanni office of FORUT and a library of Ki'linochchi Pradeshiya Sabah were damaged in the airstrike. A bomb hit the A9 Road. 17 civilian houses in the vicinity were attacked, 8 houses have sustained heavy damage.
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Sri Lanka's War Secretariat?

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 November 2007, 13:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), in a 2000-word press release issued Thursday, took exceptions to the labelling of SCOPP as "the government’s War Secretariat," by Prof. Uyangoda, and as "Secretariat for Coordinating the War Process" by Sunday Times which highlighted SCOPP's "angrily incessant verbosity," in its story. Head of SCOPP adds, "our counterpart in Kilinochchi had shown itself indeed a War Secretariat, in celebrating the Black Tigers who had attacked the airbase at Anuradhapura," drawing moral equivalence between the 'behavior' of the two Secretatriats as part of SCOPP's rationale for defending Sri Lanka's rights abuses, among other accusations.
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Thousands pay homage to Major Selvam in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 November 2007, 14:03 GMT]
Thousands of Ki’linochchi residents, LTTE officials, and LTTE cadres gathered at Ki'linochchi Cultural Hall Saturday morning 10:00a.m.to pay last respects and homage to Major Selvam who succumbed to his wounds Friday after being critically injured along with five political cadres and Brigadier S. P. Tamilchelvan, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Political Head, in the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) aerial bombing on Ki’linochchi on the 2nd of this month.
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Aussie doctor pays tribute to Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 12:24 GMT]
Queensland Pediatrician and Director of Townsville Hospital's Neonatal Unit, Dr John Whitehall, who taught in Kilinochchi in 2004, in a recorded statement sent to the Sydney memorial held to mark the death of LTTE Political Head, S.P. Thamilchelvan, said the young Tamil leader reminded him of Nelson Mandela for the absence of "vindictiveness and bitterness," and for Thamilchelvan's "determination and desire for the welfare of all people."
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British MPs slam Thamilchelvan ‘assassination’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 01:28 GMT]
Parliamentarians from all of Britain’s main political parties this week condemned as an “assassination of a moderate Tamil leader” the killing of Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, head of the LTTE’s Politcial Wing, by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) last Friday. The All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, which earlier this year had urged the UK government to invite Mr. Thamilchelvan to the British Parliament so that he could articulate the LTTE’s perspective, also called for peace talks.
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LTTE political division member succumbs to wounds

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 November 2007, 09:27 GMT]
A Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) political division member who sustained injuries when LTTE's Political Head and Chief Negotiator Brigadier S.P. Thamilchelvan was killed last Friday in a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) targeted bombardment, succumbed to his wounds this Friday, LTTE officials in Ki'linochchi said. The Tigers have conferred Major rank to the political division member Sivalingam Aathavan alias Selvam.
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2008 Budget debate to begin Friday

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 19:39 GMT]
The debate on the second reading of the 2008 Budget presented by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse in the capacity of Minister of Finance in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government is to begin Friday. The voting on the second reading would take place on November 19, parliamentary sources said.
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Peace keeper's silence regretted - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 06:07 GMT]
The official silence of the peace facilitator Norway, in regard to the killing of Thamilchelvan, is viewed with serious concern and is regretted by the Tamil population and the Tigers, said B. Nadesan, the new political head of the LTTE, to TamilNet. The Head of SLMM, Major General Lars Johan Solvberg, was invited by the LTTE to Ki'linochchi to convey this message to the Government of Norway for necessary action, he said after the meeting, Thursday morning. Tamils all over the world closely watch Norway and other members of the International Community for their open responses and for what they are going to openly tell the Sri Lanka government, he further said.
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TN police arrests protesters picketing SL consulate in Chennai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 21:30 GMT]
Tamil Nadu police arrested several demonstrators at the entrance of the Sri Lanka consulate when hundreds of Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam (TPDK) members led by its leader Kulaththoor Mani, marched Tuesday around 11:00 a.m in protest condemning the assassination of S. P. Tamilchelvan, Political Head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), to the Sri Lanka Consulate in Chennai. Demonstrators were shouting slogans demanding Indian Government to lift the ban on LTTE and not to provide military assistance to Sri Lanka government.
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