Mass graves found - paper

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Between 300 and 400 of the 700 civilians who were reported missing soon after the Sri Lankan government forces took control of the Jaffna peninsula three years ago, are buried in the paddy fields surrounding the main road near Chemmani checkpoint said this week's issue of Yukthiya, a Sinhala weekly. The paper has also published a map of the area, marking the location where the bodies are buried.
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Tamil parties seek meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan Tamil parties have expressed their wish to meet the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to discuss issues related to the island's ethnic conflict, when he visits Sri Lanka to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Co- operation (SAARC) summit at the end of this month.
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Two policemen killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two Sri Lankan policemen were killed at a checkpoint in Valaichenai, 32 km north of Batticaloa, when suspected Liberation Tigers drove up in an auto-rickshaw and opened fire around 9:00 a.m. yesterday, said ex-militant sources in Europe when contacted by TamilNet.
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Cement rationed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Residents in the village of Kokilakandy, near Navatkuli, 8 km south of Jaffna on the Keratheevu road, are unable to repair their homes due to restrictions on the transport of cement imposed by the Sri Lanka army (SLA), said ex-militant sources in Europe today.
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Shot youth was civilian - Magistrate

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
K. Thiyagarajah, Acting Magistrate, Batticaloa, pronounced that Nallaratnam Yoganathan (22), who was killed in the crossfire between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an incident on Thursday at Valaichenai, was a civilian, contrary to SLA's claim that he was an member of the LTTE, said ex-militant sources in Europe, quoting legal sources.
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"Commission's mandate too narrow" - MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Joseph Pararajasingham, MP, has exhorted the Sri Lanka President, Chandrika Kumaratunga to extend the mandate of the recently constituted Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Involuntary Disappearances, to also investigate disappearances that occurred in the Tamil majority areas in the period from July 1995 to the present.
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New military spokesman

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Major General Sarath Munasinghe, former Sri Lankan military spokesman, has been appointed as the new Commanding Officer (CO) of the Elephant Pass base in the northern province, said defence sources in Colombo.
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Drug shortage hits hospital

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The hospital on the island of Neduntheevu, which lies off the Jaffna peninsula, is badly hit by a shortage of medicine, said hospital sources.
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Mine clearing delayed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A seminar on educating the public on deactivating buried pressure mines was held in Jaffna on Monday, under the auspices of the Department of Community Medicine, University of Jaffna, and UNICEF, said sources in Jaffna.
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Anniversary of church bombing

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The third anniversary of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombing of St. Peter's Church, Navaly, in Jaffna, in which almost 150 people died and 200 were injured, was commemorated today, said sources in Jaffna.
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Sri Lanka conflict not on SAARC agenda

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Leaders of the seven South Asian countries who are expected to meet in Colombo for the South Asian Association for Regional Co- operation (SAARC) summit at the end of this month are not expected to focus on Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict, said sources close to the Indian diplomatic mission in Colombo.
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Delft youth barred from Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Youth below the age of 25 are not permitted to travel to the Jaffna peninsula from the Delft, an island off Jaffna's northwestern coast, except for emergencies, said sources in Jaffna.
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Student boycott called off after apology

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) tendered an unqualified apology to the high school students of Trincomalee this morning, after students insisted that they would boycott classes until the SLA apologised for assaulting them during a peaceful demonstration on Monday, said sources in Trincomalee.
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Forced labourer commits suicide

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Muththuthamby Thangavelu (42), of Palai, 35 km southeast of Jaffna, committed suicide by hanging, because he was unable to withstand the harsh treatment he received from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during forced labour, said sources in Jaffna.
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Graduate Protest Resolved

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga agreed to appoint protesting unemployed graduates as high school teachers yesterday evening, but not before high school students demonstrating in Trincomalee town, were assaulted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), said sources in Trincomalee.
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Vadamaradchi restrictions partially lifted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Restrictions on taking food and other essential goods to Manalkaadu in Vadamaradchi East through the Sri Lankan Army check post at Vallipuram have been lifted from today following a meeting yesterday between Vadamaradchi SLA commander Brigadier Karunaratne and representatives of the public, said sources.
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'300 to 400 bodies have been buried'

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
On 3 July 1998, the Colombo High Court sentenced five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and policemen charged with rape and murder in the Krishanthi Kumaraswamy case to death. Local and international human rights activists have welcomed the fact that a severe sentence was passed, indicating the gravity of the crimes, but there are doubts as to whether this marks an end to the climate of impunity in Sri Lanka.
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Bodies of youth handed over to ICRC

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The bodies of two youth, suspected to be members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), killed in a clash with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Pallai, 30 km southeast of Jaffna on June 30, were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross yesterday, said sources in Jaffna.
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Batticaloa youth shot dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
An unidentified youth riding a bicycle was shot dead by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Viloontrikovil, near Vantharamoolai, 15 km north of Batticaloa around 5:00 p.m. yesterday, said ex-militant sources in Europe when contacted by TamilNet last night.
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Fear in Batticaloa, Amparai

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Members of the public in the Batticaloa and Amparai Districts are fearful that they might be punished by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for filing cases in the courts run by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and for making complaints to the LTTE's police force, said ex-militant sources in Europe today when contacted by TamilNet.
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