SLA to re-establish Pooneryn base?

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 October 1998, 17:35 GMT]
Sources close to the SLA in Jaffna speculated today that government troops might move into Pooneryn (Poonagary) soon to establish a base there, mainly to impede the Liberation Tigers from attacking the Elephant Pass base. The VoT said in its 9 p.m. news broadcast that the army launched a heavy and unprecedented artillery barrage on Pooneryn from 7.30 p.m. this evening.
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Tigers release soldiers, ferry crew

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 October 1998, 03:50 GMT]
Six Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and three Sinhalese crewmen from the ferries "Irish Mona" and "M.V. Misen" in the custody of the Liberation Tigers were released today by S.P.Thamilchelvan, the leader of the LTTE's political wing at Puthukkudiyiruppu in the Mullaithivu district, the Voice Of Tigers (VoT) radio said yesterday evening.
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SLA wary of Kurunakar residents

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 October 1998, 14:06 GMT]
Posters which said "Jaffna will be the Sri Lankan army's burial ground " appeared in several places in Kurunakar, a suburb of the Jaffna town, in the early hours of the morning today.
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Three fishermen detained

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 October 1998, 13:39 GMT]
Three fishermen from the south-eastern coast of the Jaffna peninsula who set out to sea on Thursday (October 22) have been arrested and detained by the Sri Lankan Navy according to their relatives.
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Jaffna ship sails early

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 October 1998, 06:27 GMT]
More than 750 Jaffna civilians were in for a great disappointment this morning when they discovered that the Lanka Muditha, the ship chartered by the Sri Lankan government to ferry thousands of civilians who have been stranded in the peninsula since the beginning of this month, had set sail to Trincomalee in the afternoon yesterday without them.
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Job losses in banking sector

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 October 1998, 19:28 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government will close down 31 branches of the state owned Bank of Ceylon by the end of this year said Jeyaraj Fernando Pillai, the Minister for Planning and Implementation responding to a adjournment question by Opposition MP Karunasena Kodithuwakku in Parliament today.
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Muslim youths urged to join

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 October 1998, 17:33 GMT]
A letter from the Sri Lankan Police strongly urging Muslim youth to join the Home Guards was read out at Mosques in Valaichenai and Ottamaavadi after the Jummah prayers this afternoon. According to the letter, any Muslim youth who had attended school upto grade five is eligible to become a Home Guard.
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UNP boycotts peace meet

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 October 1998, 22:20 GMT]
An ambitious all party, all NGO discussion forum called by the most powerful trade and industrial associations of Sri Lanka mainly with a view to iterate the need for peacefully resolving the war in the island's north-east drew mixed reactions despite general agreement among participants that seeking peace is of utmost importance today.
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Civilians drafted in error

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 October 1998, 19:44 GMT]
Innocent Sinhala civilians may also be among the hundreds of deserters who are being picked up and sent off to the war front in the Sri Lankan government's current drive to replenish the ranks of the Sri Lankan army (SLA) , said human rights workers today.
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Troops search Jaffna school

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 October 1998, 18:59 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) rounded up and searched a school in Jaffna today for the first time since it consolidated its hold on the peninsula in early 1996. Troops entered the premises of the Kokkuvil Hindu college this afternoon around 2 p.m. when the school was about to be closed.
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JVP warns of anti-Tamil violence - paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 October 1998, 11:55 GMT]
Sinhala racist organisations are trying to use the deaths of large numbers of Sri Lankan soldiers recently to whip up anti-Tamil violence, said a JVP leader, Mr. Vimal Weerawamsa at a party meeting last week, according to the Sinhala language newspaper, the Lakbima.
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Northern skirmishes continue -SLA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 October 1998, 08:48 GMT]
Twenty-one Sri Lankan Army (SLA) personnel were wounded during limited operations in Jaffna said the Sri Lankan military spokesman Brigadier Sunil Tennekoon, presenting a round up of the security situation for this week at the cabinet press briefing today.
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Navy sailors rape teenager

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 October 1998, 23:15 GMT]
Three Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) personnel abducted and raped 16 year old school girl from Arasady road in Vaddukoddai, 9 km. north.west of Jaffna centre, on Saturday October 17 around 9.30 p.m, said sources there.
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Search operation in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 October 1998, 22:41 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and the Police have been conducting several search operations in the Trincomalee area since Thursday, October 15, following a tip-off that a group of Liberation Tigers has infiltrated the eastern port town.
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Poster blitz in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 October 1998, 11:58 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are reported to have distributed leaflets and put up wall posters in several parts of the Jaffna peninsula, asking civilians to not to stay in close proximity to Sri Lankan Army camps and sentry points.
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LTTE releases footage of battle

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 October 1998, 22:41 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers released to international and Sri Lankan journlaists, video tapes and photos of their Operation "Unceasing Waves 2" against the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) base at Kilinochchi on September 27 to September 30.
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Sinhala-Buddhist fundamentalism blamed for war

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 October 1998, 12:00 GMT]
(News Feature)Mr. Kumar Ponambalam, leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, while addressing the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London yesterday, said that the mindset of Sinhala-Buddhist fundamentalism was central to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict. The audience, which included NGOs, academics and British government officials was also addressed by Mr. Visuvananthan Rudrakumaran, one of the Liberation Tigers' legal advisors, Mr. Barry Gardiner, a British MP and Dr. Nagalingam Ethirveerasingham, a Tamil academic.
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News in Brief

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 October 1998, 10:43 GMT]
Mulankavil hospital releases figures, Tigers say they lost two of their members in a confrontation with the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in Mankulam, SLA introduces new regulations for transport of goods and a school boy is reported missing in Jaffna.
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Retired police to war front

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 October 1998, 20:25 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has decided to recruit retired Policemen on condition of compulsory service in the war zones of the island's northeast for at least years.
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Tigers release Kilinochchi footage

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 October 1998, 20:15 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers sent video footage of their attack on Kilinochchi to selected foreign correspondents and leading Sri Lankan journalists, including the Colombo BBC correspondent and Sunday Times defence columnist Iqbal Athas today.
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