Reports block compensation claims

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 November 1998, 20:00 GMT]
Families of civilians who are shot dead by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and are hence, as a rule, accounted for as terrorists by the Sri Lankan Police cannot obtain compensation and have to face difficulties said several divisional secretaries in Batticaloa at a meeting today with the Presidential Commission to inquire into disappearances.
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Sporadic violence in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 November 1998, 19:53 GMT]
Sri Lankan defence sources said that five Liberation Tigers were killed and two Sri Lankan Army soldiers were wounded in confrontations in Paranthan and Mankulam during the last 48 hours ending this afternoon.
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Fishing ban hits Jaffna fishermen

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 November 1998, 13:38 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has banned fishing in Vadamaradchi, Vadamaradchi east and in the western coastal areas of the peninsula from today said local fishermen. However, Sri Lankan security forces Headquarters at Palaly in Jaffna is yet to confirm this officially.
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Two killed in fire-fight

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 November 1998, 13:30 GMT]
A soldier of the Razeek group and a person suspected to be a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was killed in a fire-fight with the Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa this morning when an ambush party of the special Tamil paramilitary unit of the Sri Lankan Army surprised a minor supply camp of the LTTE.
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Identity of dead youth disputed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 November 1998, 23:35 GMT]
The SLA shot dead a youth, who it claimed was a member of the Liberation Tigers, at Vaakarai, 58 kilometers north of Batticaloa, last night. The army handed over the body to the Tiger office at Paalchenai, 8 kilometers further north of Vaakarai, this morning through the ICRC.
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Army shoots traders violating embargo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 November 1998, 20:05 GMT]
Four civilians were shot dead by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) at the Uylankulam forward defence lines on Friday night around 8.00, said sources in Mannar. Three of the dead have been identified as residents of the Kilinochchi district who had sought refuge at Madhu Church in the Vanni.
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Journalists barred from Presidential Commission

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 November 1998, 20:02 GMT]
Journalists were barred from attending the sittings of the Presidential Commission, set up to investigate disappearances, which began at the Batticaloa Kachcheri today. The Commission was led by Ms.Manoari Muttatuwegama, wife of the late Ceylon Communist Party MP Sarath Muttetuwegama.
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Transport restrictions hit Vadamaradchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 November 1998, 10:16 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) denied permits to three vehicles plying between Chempiyan Pattu in Vadamaradchi east and Chavakachcheri from yesterday, November 14. Residents in the Chempiyan Pattu area said that the approach of the 'Maaveerar' (Great Heroes) week of the Liberation Tigers may have prompted the army to take such measures.
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Jaffna islands get telephones

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 November 1998, 10:14 GMT]
Three islands off Jaffna have been linked by telephone for the first time ever. The islands of Eluvaithivu, Analaithivu and Nainathivu have each been given a special Motorola cellular phone unit. Civilians in these islands can now communicate with the outside world on these phones.
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Trader suspected of LTTE links

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 November 1998, 22:05 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) arrested a trader and his cousin at Kantharodai in Jaffna yesterday for allegedly being contact persons for the Liberation Tigers.
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PLOTE, SLA attacked in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 November 1998, 08:35 GMT]
Two members of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and 4 Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded in two separate attacks launched by the Liberation Tigers in Koomankulam, 6 km west of Vavuniya town this morning.
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Students demand protection

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 November 1998, 18:38 GMT]
Jaffna university students demonstrated in front of the Vice Chancellor's (VC) office today demanding that they be protected from troops roaming the area at night. The protest was prompted by an incident last night near the university.
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Lanka Muditha to sail tomorrow

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 November 1998, 18:35 GMT]
The Lanka Muditha, the merchant cargo ship chartered by the Sri Lankan government to ferry civilians and troops from Jaffna will set sail with 1076 passengers tomorrow from the Kankesanturai (KKS) harbour to Trincomalee at 12 noon said officials this evening.
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Delay allows poison to kill

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 November 1998, 18:15 GMT]
A pregnant woman bitten by a poisonous insect died last night due to delay caused by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) at the Nagar Kovil checkpoint while being rushed to the Manthikai hospital.
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STF fire kills civilian

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 November 1998, 10:17 GMT]
The Special Task Force (STF), an elite commando unit of the Sri Lankan Police, shot and killed a civilian near Arukal Aaru in the Batticaloa district. He has been identified as S.Krishnapillai, 65, from Paalamunai, Mandur in the Batticaloa district.
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Army interrogates teachers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 November 1998, 10:14 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) cordoned off and searched the Teachers training school in Kopai, Jaffna, around 9.00 a.m. on November 6 and integrated more than 100 teachers there. The operation went on till 2.30 p.m.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 November 1998, 12:25 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna deny arrest of 15 persons; five Tigers have died in confrontations with the Sri Lankan Army since Saturday; displaced civilian feared dead in floods in the Vanni, and posters against British Minister's visit.
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British Minister suggests mediation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 November 1998, 18:35 GMT]
The visiting British Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett said at a press conference today that his government was willing to mediate in the Sri Lankan conflict if both parties involved expressed a wish for third party mediation. Mr. Fatchett met the press at Westminster House in Wijerama Mawatte.
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Two Tiger boats sunk - SLN

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 November 1998, 12:41 GMT]
Sri Lankan Navy sources said that two speed boats of the Sea Tigers, the naval unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), were sunk in the seas off Saalai on the Mullaithivu coast last night.
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Grenade blast at Katunayake

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 November 1998, 00:05 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) trooper guarding the runway at Colombo's Katunayake International Airport accidentally fired a rocket-propelled grenade at around 9.00 a.m., shortly before the plane carrying the British Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett landed.
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