LTTE holds arts festival in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 April 2003, 19:08 GMT]
"We are not against the Sinhalese and we are not for violence; we do not use the word 'peace' as a mere slogan. Our future depends on the success of peace," said Jaffna district political head of the LTTE, Mr.C.Ilamparuthi, delivering the keynote address at the five-day music, dance and drama festival inaugurated Tuesday at the Orr's Hill Vivekananda College Auditorium in Trincomalee, sources said.
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SLMM head meets LTTE’s Trinco leaders

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 April 2003, 18:53 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Tuesday agreed to hold a meeting with the local heads of Sri Lankan Government armed forces on April 21 at the no-man zone in the Mutur area, south of Trincomalee town, to sort out the problem that has arisen over the question of LTTE members crossing through the army controlled areas to LTTE controlled areas, sources said.
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LTTE delegation completes Norway, Sweden visits

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 April 2003, 07:15 GMT]
Members of the Liberation Tigers’ Political Affairs Committee Sunday completed the first week of a tour to several Scandinavian countries to study federal structures and good governance, by boarding a ferry to the Aaland islands in northern Europe. The intensive tour, which began with an opening welcome by Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen, was this weekend hailed as a success by the LTTE delegates as well as Foreign Ministry officials from Norway, Sweden and Finland.
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Thamilchelvan meets Nobel Peace laureate

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 April 2003, 16:29 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers believe that people’s support for the peace process could be obtained if the cease fire agreement is implemented fully, the head of the LTTE’s political division Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan told Nobel Peace Price winner Mr. John Hume, during discussions between the two in Kilinochchi Thursday, sources said. Mr. Hume was accompanied by Britain’s High Commissioner in Colombo and two senior officials from the British foreign office.
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SLMM releases report on recent incidents at sea

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 April 2003, 11:51 GMT]
"The recent attacks on the Chinese trawler off Mullaittivu and the troops transport ship off Trincomalee are not only attacks against Chinese civilians and the Sri Lanka armed forces, but attacks aimed at destabilizing the Ceasefire and the Peace Process in Sri Lanka. Neither the Sri Lankan Government nor the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) benefit from such attacks taking place since they are undermining their credibility and endangering the progress the parties have made so far," said Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in a press release published today.
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IG visits Jaffna, promises to tackle Police graft

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 April 2003, 14:34 GMT]
“There aren’t good relations between the people of Jaffna and the Police as a consequence of twenty years of war”, said Sri Lanka’s Inspector general of Police, Mr. T. E Anandarajah, speaking to presspersons in the northern town Wednesday. He said his visit is part of the effort to rectify the situation while acknowledging that there is a shortage of Tamils in the Police.
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'LTTE strength vital for success of peace talks'-Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 March 2003, 14:19 GMT]
Tamils should strengthen the hands of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to find a meaningful political resolution to the Tamil national question through the present peace talks, said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan addressing a heavily attended musical event at Sampoor in the LTTE held Muttur east in the Trincomalee district Saturday night organized by the Trincomalee political division of the LTTE, sources said.
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Mannar HSZs discussed as re-settler loses arm

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 March 2003, 19:12 GMT]
The Bishop of Mannar said Saturday that High Security Zones (HSZs) are necessary only during war and that displaced people should return to their homes as there is peace now. The armed forces should understand this and leave the HSZs at least in stages, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph said, speaking at a seminar in Mannar Saturday.
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PA-JVP said closer to formula for capturing power

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 March 2003, 16:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s main opposition parties said Friday they were closer to striking a deal on forming an alliance to bring down Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government. The People’s Alliance and the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) had discussions on formulating the crucial clauses of a memorandum of understanding to cement the alliance at the President’s House in Colombo Friday.
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New camps will damage peace process - JDCHA

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 March 2003, 02:38 GMT]
The Jaffna District Consortium of Human Agencies (JDCHA) Thursday sought intervention of Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe to stop moves by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to establish new army camps in Jaffna Municipal grounds, said sources in Jaffna.
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TRO starts housing project for Thiriyai resettlers

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 March 2003, 01:55 GMT]
Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan, at twelve noon Thursday, laid the first foundation stone for the first house for resettled families at Kaddukulam in Thiriyai village, forty-two km north of Trincomalee town. Trincomalee district office of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) is building five hundred houses as part of this housing project, sources said.
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LTTE, Muslim parley on key issue

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 March 2003, 17:42 GMT]
“Muslims enjoy the same rights as Tamils in areas under our control. There is no need for them to ask us for their fields because we did not take any. They could not cultivate their lands because of the war. Now they are free to come here and engage in agriculture”, said Mr. T. Ramesh, the LTTE’s special commander for the Batticaloa-Amparai District, speaking to the press Thursday afternoon at the conclusion of a meeting with a delegation of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.


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Sri Lanka Police quibble over spent ordnance

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 March 2003, 16:57 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police Thursday produced in the district court of Mannar a person arrested allegedly for transporting empty casings of artillery shells. Police told court that they had found six empty casings, each two feet long, in a lorry bringing scrap metal from the Vanni at the Uyilankulam entry point in Mannar. Legal sources in the Mannar courts, however, said expended ordnance was not illegal.


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Sinhala settlements in Batticaloa Tamil villages

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 March 2003, 16:22 GMT]
Tamil people from Mayilankarachchi and Thiyavaddavan, near Ottamavadi in the Batticaloa district, who lost their belongings and their lands in past riots between Muslims and Tamils, have complained of attempts to create Sinhalese settlements in their village, and the construction of a Buddhist temple (Vihare) while they were displaced.
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TRO launches housing scheme for Thiriyai resettlers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 March 2003, 19:37 GMT]
The Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) is to lay foundation Thursday for a housing scheme in Thiriyai village, a traditional Tamil village, about forty-two km north of Trincomalee town. The proposed housing scheme is to facilitate refugees to return to their own land after about twenty years, sources said.


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Farmers’ protest brings civil admin to standstill in Mannar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 March 2003, 13:38 GMT]
More than 1500 farmers in Mannar demanding fair prices for their rice harvest and the removal of Sri Lankan armed forces units which continue to occupy fields and buildings in the region blockaded the District Secretariat Wednesday and brought all government administration in the Northwestern island town to a standstill.
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Commonwealth Secretariat delegation visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 March 2003, 11:53 GMT]
A four-member delegation of the Commonwealth Secretariat (CS) is now on a visit to Sri Lanka from March 16 to March 29 for discussions with representatives of local, national and international level non-governmental organizations and government agencies to promote the peace process. The Commonwealth Secretariat has proposed a national consultation meeting on 'Women, Men and Young People in Partnership for Sustainable Peace' to be held in two parts in Trincomalee and Kandy in June 2003, sources said.


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Hakone talks focus on federalism, security concerns at sea

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 March 2003, 12:02 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) delegations in their sixth session of peace talks agreed to have their senior naval and political personnel meet to 'workout effective arrangements for the operation of naval units.' The parties also agreed to present a complete plan at the seventh session on the steps to be taken towards negotiating a federal solution for Sri Lanka.


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Names of Sea tigers killed in merchant vessel announced

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 March 2003, 01:18 GMT]
The names of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sea tigers killed in international waters 220 miles from Trincomalee shores when the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) fired on their merchant vessel on March 10 were announced by the LTTE Wednesday, sources in Vanni said.
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Monitors says no evidence sunk ship carried weapons

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 March 2003, 09:42 GMT]
Concluding an investigation into the sinking last week of an LTTE-owned vessel by the Sri Lanka Navy, international ceasefire monitors Monday confirmed the ship was a merchant vessel and said there was no evidence it was carrying weapons as claimed by the Navy. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said it had not been informed in time of the interception of the vessel by the Navy and could not rule on the incident as it occurred almost 200 miles from Sri Lanka’s shore, in area where the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea applied.
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