SLA provides security to fuel, flour transport from Trinco

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 10:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Wednesday commenced providing security to lorries transporting fuel from Ceylon Petroleum Corporation refinery and flour from Prima Flour Mill, both are located in Chinabay, about nine km off Trincomalee town to other provinces. This follows the threat by North East Sinhala Association (NESA) that it would set up road blockades from Wednesday, demanding the release to Sinhala home guards arrested by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and remanded on the orders of Thamileelam court, sources said.
Full story >>

Trinco in high alert following fuel blockade threat

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 00:31 GMT]
Trincomalee town has been put on security alert from Tuesday evening following the announcement by the North East Sinhala Association (NESA) to launch 24 hour-road blockades from Trincomalee to other parts of the country transporting fuel and flour until the two Sinhala home guards arrested and remanded by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are released, security sources said. NESA is a front of the Sinhala nationalist Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a major constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
Full story >>

Police massed up in Mannar for Victor's Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 16:54 GMT]
Hundreds of people marched through Mannar town Tuesday evening for the remembrance day of senior Liberation Tigers commander Victor (Mr. Marcelin Fuselus). More than two thousand policemen were massed up in the town during the remembrance march and the meeting that followed on the Mannar public grounds. A large number of Police were brought from outside Mannar district to beef up deployments in the town Tuesday, residents said.
Full story >>

'Lack of confidence can endanger cease fire' - Swiss FM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 10:57 GMT]
"There is lack of confidence which could be an obstacle to return to peace talks. This lack of confidence could endanger the cease fire in Sri Lanka. The Liberation Tigers are ready to reconsider the basis for restarting talks. They told our officials their Interim Self Governing Authority proposal is not non-negotiable. This is the special message I conveyed to the Sri Lankan government", said Ms. Micheline Calmy-Rey, Switzerland's Foreign Minister, speaking to the press in Colombo Tuesday.
Full story >>

Drugs causing Mannar woes, Hakeem told

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 18:36 GMT]
President of the Mannar Mohideen Jummah Mosque, Mr. M. A Cader, Monday accused Police of having a hand in exacerbating friction between religious communities in the region. He was addressing a meeting at the Mannar District Secretariat between Mr. Rauf Hakeem, leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Government Agent, officials, Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance MP and local community leaders. Mr. Hakeem visited Mannar Monday to find out and discuss problems faced by Muslims in the district.
Full story >>

Health officials close Vavuniya College of Education

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 17:05 GMT]
Health officials Monday closed down the Vavuniya College of Education for three weeks after seventy students and teachers suffered from dysentery since Sunday night. The Vavuniya Medical Officer of Health (MOH) found stagnating garbage and leaking cesspits in the college when its premises were inspected Monday after students and teachers started to fall ill.
Full story >>

Tamil scholars honoured in Jaffna Literary Festival

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 16:11 GMT]
Three day North East Tamil Literary Festival concluded Monday evening in Jaffna conferring Governor's Award on eight Tamil scholars and releasing videocassette on the life and literary works of veteran Tamil Professor K.Sivathamby.
Full story >>

Education Ministry invites CTTU for talks to avert strike

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 14:31 GMT]
Ms Tara de Mel, Secretary to the Ministry Education in the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government has invited the Ceylon Tamil Teachers’ Union (CTTU) for talks on 13 October at her office in Colombo to resolve problems confronting the Tamil medium education and Tamil medium teachers and students in the northeast and in other provinces. President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge is also holding the portfolio of Minister of Education. Her deputy Minister for Education is Mr.Mangala Samaraweera who is also the Minister for Media.
Full story >>

Police escort TNA MPs after meeting with Mahanayake Thero

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 10:26 GMT]
TNA MPs called on the Mahanayake Thero of the Malwatte Chapter Thibbottuwe Sri Siddharatha Sumangala Thero Monday 9am and drew his attention to the historial failure thus far to find an equitable solution to the Tamil national question, and impressed on him the necessity for an interim administration for the North East, sources said. At the end of the meeting, when the TNA MPs came out, Kandy police had to intervene when opposing buddhist monks and members of extremist Sinhala organizations attacked the TNA MPs, police sources said.


Full story >>

Elilan condemns State media for publishing lies

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 01:39 GMT]
"If the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is unable to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militarily it should put forward a concrete political solution to end the conflict and not engage in spreading false stories on dissention within LTTE," said Mr.S.Elilan, LTTE Trincomalee district political head when he addressed at the Tamil Women Resurgence Day event held in Trincomalee Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies Hall Sunday to mark the seventeenth death anniversary of first LTTE woman martyr 2nd Lieutenant Malathi.
Full story >>

Peace talk delays, diversionary tactic of SL Govt.- Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 00:33 GMT]
Charging that Sri Lanka Government's deliberate delaying of peace talks as a diversionary tactic, Leader of Sri Lanka Opposition and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing a group of political and business leaders on the eve of an official trip to India Friday, warned that if the Sri Lanka Government does not genuinely make efforts to advance the peace process it will lose a valuable opportunity for resolving the ethnic conflict. He said further that unless negotiations are undertaken immediately the economy will be adversely affected.
Full story >>

TNA, People's Peace Front to hold joint seminars

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 00:19 GMT]
The Tamil Natinal Alliance (TNA) and the People's Peace Front (PPF) have reached an agreement to conduct common seminars in Sinhala areas in the South to explain the legitimacy of the demands of the Tamil people and the need to take forward the peace negotiations, political sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

Eelam Flag flown despite protest by Trinco Police

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 18:13 GMT]
The Thamileelam national flag hoisted at the event held in Trincomalee to mark the Thamileelam Women Resurgence Day was brought down only after the conclusion of the celebration Sunday afternoon around 2 p.m. Trincomalee Police protested during the event that hoisting was in violation of the ceasefire agreement, sources said.


Full story >>

Malathy Memorial opened in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 11:09 GMT]
Memorial Statue of 2nd Lt.Malathy was opened in Kilinochchi commemorating her seventeeth anniversary at 10 am Sunday in a ceremony presided by Deputy Director in charge of Heroes Cemetary, Thamilarasi, sources from Vanni said.
Full story >>

U.S Congressman speaks on Sri Lanka violence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 02:06 GMT]
Republican Iowa Congressman James A. Leach, chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific of the House International Relations Committee, expressed concern about the rising level of political violence in Sri Lanka and called for a resumption of the peace talks between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in a statement before the U.S House of Representatives issued October 7 and distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.
Full story >>

Tamil literary festival begins in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 October 2004, 01:39 GMT]
First day of the Tamil Literary Festival-2004 organized by the Cultural section of the NorthEast Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs started at 8.30am at the Jaffna Hindu Ladies College Hall, Saturday, civil sources in Jaffna said. Provincial Director Mr.R.Visakalingam presided.
Full story >>

LTTE delegation bound for Holland

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 17:01 GMT]
Delegation of Liberation Tigers will be travelling to Holland Sunday for meetings with Dutch Government officials, sources close to the delegation told TamilNet. The LTTE delegation is currently on a tour of European countries and are completing a three-day stay in Vienna, Austria, following their arrival in Geneva Switzerland on 1st October.
Full story >>

Tigers dismiss split reports as 'psy-ops gimmick'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 16:17 GMT]
Commander of the Sea Tigers, Col. Soosai, will be the special guest at the final day rally to mark the women's day of the Liberation Tigers, Mr. Daya Master, media co-ordinator of the LTTE told TamilNet Saturday. He said Col. Soosai will deliver the keynote address at the public meeting. Meanwhile, Daya Master dismissed reports in Sinhala and English papers in Colombo that Col. Soosai, Col.Sornam and senior commander Ram had split from the LTTE. "It is just another pathetic psy ops gimmick of the Sri Lankan government", he said.
Full story >>

TNA MPs to meet Buddhist prelates in Kandy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 13:45 GMT]
A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary delegation is to meet Mahanayake Theras of Malwatte Chapter and Asgiriya Chapter on Monday to brief them on the current situation of the stalled peace process and to solicit their support for the establishment of the Interim Self Government Authority (ISGA) proposals of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, political sources said.
Full story >>

Soccer battles mark Women's Uprising Day celebrations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 October 2004, 04:14 GMT]
District level competition in women soccer marked the second day of the Tamil Womens' Uprising Day celebrations and 17th year memorial of 2nd Lt Malathy at the Kilinochchi Uthayatharahai play grounds Friday, sources in Vanni said. Deputy Head of LTTE Women's Sea Tiger Wing, Ms Poorani, presided the event.
Full story >>