Preparations for Pongu Thamil continue amid sabotage attempts by EPDP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 June 2003, 20:01 GMT]
All roads will lead to Jaffna university medical faculty grounds Friday evening where the second Pongu Thamil celebration is scheduled to begin around 4 p.m., stressing the theme 'we want our land,' organizers of the event said.
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LTTE complains of SLA ceasefire violation in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 June 2003, 11:42 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) made a complaint to the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Trincomalee that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has violated the ceasefire agreement by attempting to enter Kurankupanchchan area, which is in under LTTE's control, LTTE Trincomalee district political head Mr.S.Tilak told Tamilnet Thursday.


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South African human rights activist visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 June 2003, 14:11 GMT]
An activist from the South African Human Rights Commission, Mr. Nagendran Kolappan, arrived in Jaffna Tuesday morning and held discussions with the representatives of Humanitarian Agencies, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, People’s Organizations and local media persons at the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, sources said.
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SLFP holds fourteenth party convention

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 June 2003, 01:18 GMT]
"I ordered the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) to destroy the LTTE ship that carried weapons last Saturday to safeguard the country and its people," declared President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge addressing the fourteenth national convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent of the opposition People's Alliance (PA) Saturday evening at Nittambuwa in western province, political sources in Colombo said.
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Farmers' co-operatives extend support to Pongu Thamil

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 June 2003, 16:19 GMT]
The Jaffna District Agricultural and Consumer Co-operative Societies Union (ACCSU) Sunday expressed its fullest co-operation for the success of the Pongu Thamil celebrations scheduled to be held in Jaffna university premises on June 27, sources said.
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LTTE condemns SLA's intimidating behaviour in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 June 2003, 17:44 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Saturday complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are intimidating its members and public in Jaffna district, sources said.


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Jaffna Islanders extend support to Pongu Thamil

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 June 2003, 10:49 GMT]
Island Peoples' Welfare Association ( IPWA) in Jaffna district Wednesday extended its wholehearted co-operation to the success of Pongu Thamil celebration, which is scheduled to be held on June 27 in Jaffna, sources said.


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Election bill amendments need 2/3 majority - Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 June 2003, 10:50 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's parliament Speaker Mr.Joseph Michael Perera Wednesday informed the house that the Supreme Court has determined that two third majority is required to pass the Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Bill in parliament, parliamentary sources said.
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Jaffna fisheries sector condemns sinking of LTTE vessel

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 June 2003, 19:14 GMT]
The Northern Province Fishermen's Co-operative Societies Union (NPFCSU) Tuesday condemned the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) for destroying the LTTE oil tanker in the international waters. "All peace loving citizens who are working to achieve lasting political solution to the conflict would not condone such acts," said the NPFCSU in a statement released Tuesday, sources said.
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SLMM action sought on stopping new SLA camps in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 June 2003, 19:13 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday asked the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to take immediate steps to stop the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from establishing new camps in the peninsula and disrupting the normal life of the people in the name of strengthening security, sources said.
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Pongu Thamil organisers receive death threats

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 June 2003, 13:13 GMT]
Organisers of a mass protest in Jaffna next week calling for the withdrawal of Sri Lankan troops from homes, schools and public places are facing death threats, student leaders said this week. There have also been attempts on the lives of some organisers of the ‘Pongu Thamil’ event scheduled for June 27, they said.


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CJDPO condemns SLA violence against LTTE in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 June 2003, 05:51 GMT]
The Confederation of Jaffna District Public Organization (CJDPO) Sunday condemned several violent acts of the Sri Lanka government troops committed on Saturday and Sunday against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) political activists and their offices in the Valigamam division, sources said.


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SLA's increased checking of Jaffna civilians violates MoU - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 June 2003, 18:42 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Saturday complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is violating the ceasefire agreement by checking civilians who pass through main checkpoints at Vallai on Jaffna-Point Pedro road, Ayam on Point Pedro-Chavakachcheri road and Mulli on Point Pedro Kodikamam road, sources said.


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LTTE blames SLN for sinking of merchant vessel

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 June 2003, 16:19 GMT]
In a press release issued Saturday by the Political Head Quarters of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Kilinochchi, LTTE said that it had informed the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission that SLN's sinking of LTTE's merchant vessel today is "a gross violation of the ceasefire agreement and if any harm were to befall the crew of the LTTE vessel then the sole responsibility for the events lay with the Sri Lanka Navy and that this incident would have very grave consequences."
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‘Let my people lead normal lives’

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 June 2003, 20:01 GMT]
“My people have endured great agony and suffering for twenty years. Let them lead normal lives like those in other parts of the country”, the Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph told a delegation of Sri Lankan armed forces and officials that is on a fact finding visit to the district on the island’s northwestern coast Tuesday. “It is imperative that they shouldn’t be made to wait any longer for their rightful share of the peace dividend which everyone outside the northeast has enjoyed for more than an year”, the Bishop said.
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Sri Lankan Prime Minister's concluding remarks in Tokyo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 June 2003, 11:32 GMT]
"Sri Lanka has to overcome the delays, the blockages and the inertia of its bureaucratic apparatus and transform it into one capable of speedy implementation where work is done efficiently and effectively. This requires significant political resolve and I intend to provide the leadership necessary to achieve this result," said Sri Lanka's Prime Minister in his statement to the concluding session of the Japan aid meeting on 10 June.
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Kommathurai SLA still occupies private homes, school

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 June 2003, 19:17 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) personnel at the SLA camp in Kommathurai, located 17 km to the North of Batticaloa town continue to occupy several private residences and the Vinayagar Vidyalayam depriving the students at the school a conducive environment for obtaining proper education, school sources said.
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LTTE rejects government's new proposals

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 May 2003, 06:55 GMT]
The leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has rejected the new set of proposals submitted by the government of Sri Lanka instituting a development structure for the rehabilitation and development of the Northeast.
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LTTE, SLA commanders meet in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2003, 18:34 GMT]
Commanders of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Trincomalee district met for the first time Wednesday evening at the no man zone near Kattaiparichchan bridge which separates the LTTE held Muttur east and SLA held area in Muttur division in the presence of the Trincomalee head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), security sources said.


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Defying C.I dogma, massacre village rises from ashes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2003, 13:30 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army massacred seventeen villagers, including six children, and burnt and razed to the ground Thoni Thaattamadu, an impoverished Tamil hamlet on the east coast’s remote interior 16 years ago on May 27, 1987. The massacre was an integral part of a counter insurgency (C.I) campaign by Sri Lankan armed forces. The village remained a no go zone since then, until the Liberation Tigers signed a ceasefire agreement with Colombo in February last year.
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