News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 12:00 GMT]
Electricity supply to several Sri Lankan Army camps in Vanni was disrupted after an electricity pylon was blasted last night; Sri Lankan Customs arrest two Indian nationals at Colombo airport; Five policemen and civilian feared drowned in boat accident.
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Aid distribution politically manipulated

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 1999, 20:01 GMT]
Samurdhi appointments have not been given to areas in Batticaloa that are not controlled by the Sri Lankan Government, said sources. They said that 509 appointments were made in 1996 while 189 vacancies remain unfilled.
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Restrictions cause maternal mortality

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 1999, 14:14 GMT]
Hospital sources in Batticaloa said today that the district had the highest mortality rate among pregnant women in the island. The island average is 1000:6 but in the Batticaloa district fourteen women out of every thousand who are pregnant die, mainly due to the difficulties in finding medical attention on time.
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Land mine attack kills three

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 19:16 GMT]
Three civilians were killed and two home guards were wounded in a mine attack by the Liberation Tigers around 3.00 p.m. today at Mahakachchakodiya about 7 miles north east of Vavuniya town, off Maamaduwa, sources said.
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Landmines wreck heavy toll on cattle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 17:03 GMT]
At least two cattle belonging to civilians are killed every day by Anti-personnel land mines planted by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in the villages of Maasaar and Soranpattu in the Pachchilaippalli division south east of Jaffna said a Sri Lankan government official in the area today.
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Aptitude tests to determine GS promotions?

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 16:25 GMT]
The Minster of Administration and Local Governments, Ratnasree Wickramanayake, has sought advice from the Attorney General (AG) whether promotions of 'Grama Sevakas' (GS) can be based on specially conducted aptitude tests.
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Detained Indian fishermen to be released

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 16:22 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army sources in Jaffna said that investigation of the 16 Indian fishermen detained by them last month has been completed and that they will be released soon. They said that the Sri Lankan Navy will escort them to the Indian waters when weather conditions improve.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 14:35 GMT]
Rain spoils Vanni relief supply; two fishermen feared killed in Mannar and the death
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Vanni students said facing hardships

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 01:23 GMT]
The North-Eastern Provincial Council (NEPC) is unable to transport school equipment to the Vanni said the Secretary of the Educational Ministry of the Council. He was speaking at a ceremony held at the Uvarmalai Vivekanantha College in Trincomalee in connection with the inauguration of educational reform there.
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Two Tigers killed in Jaffna - SLA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 01:12 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna said that two Liberation Tigers were killed in a clash in Chavakachcheri Jaffna, yesterday morning. They said that troops cordoned off a house in which the Tigers were staying.
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Council protests SLA influence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 23:46 GMT]
The Trincomalee Town Council decided at a special assembly today to meet the recently appointed Governor of the NorthEastern Provincial Council (NEPC), Maj. Gen. Ashoka Jeyawardene, regarding the increasing involvement of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in the council's activities.
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Razeek cadres on assault charge

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 17:06 GMT]
Two members of the Razeek group, a section of the EPRLF that operates as an arm of the SLA in the Batticaloa district were produced in court before district judge Mr.J.Viswanathan today by the Police for assaulting a woman in Mandoor, 26 kilometers south west of Batticaloa.
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Peace through war continues

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 10:23 GMT]
Peace will be restored to the country only by defeating the Tigers and therefore it is necessary to extend the state of Emergency in the island, said the Deputy Minister of Defence, Gen. Anurudha Ratwatte, in the Parliament this morning.
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Land mine accident kills one

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 1999, 14:18 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Police man was killed and five were wounded when a 'Jonny' anti-personal land mine (APLM) exploded today during a lecture on explosives and landmines at the Police district headquarters complex in Batticaloa.
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News in Brief

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:50 GMT]
One SLA soldier killed in Ampakamam in the Vanni; over ten thousand detained for smuggling heroin; civilian wounded in Jaffna shooting.
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Torrential rain destroys homes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:43 GMT]
Over 15,500 families have been affected by the torrential rains in Sri Lanka. The worst affected districts are Batticaloa and Tricomalee in the east of the island. Reports from these areas said that heavy rains continue to cause floods in these areas.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:38 GMT]
A Japanese delegation will arrive in Sri Lankan tomorrow; Sri Lankan state radio said that the courts in Jaffna resumed functioning and postal voting for the North-Western Provincial Council begins on January 8.
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Two FACs damaged, 3 sailors killed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 12:32 GMT]
Three Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) sailors were killed and two SLN fast attack craft (FAC) were damaged in the battle yesterday with the Sea Tigers, the naval wing of the Liberation Tigers, in the seas off the Mannar island.
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"SLA must quit temples"

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 11:47 GMT]
The Hindu youth organisations of Vadamaradchi and Thenmaradchi sent a memorandum to the Divisional Secretaries (DS) of Pt.Pedro, Palai and Maruthankerni today urging them to take steps to move out the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) that is encamped in the premises of several temples in these parts.
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LTTE attack repulsed -SLA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 08:29 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) sources said that its troops had repulsed an attack by the Liberation Tigers on the SLA detachment at Oddusuddan in the north-east of the island around midnight yesterday (January 4).
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