SLA offers 'high security' protection

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) members of the Jaffna Municipal Council were invited to a meeting today from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the 512 Brigade (Jaffna Brigade) headquarters at the Gnanam Hotel, to discuss the councilors' future security, said sources in Jaffna.
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Muted public response to killing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
While political parties and civic organisations in Colombo issued strident statements of condemnation of the assassination of Jaffna Mayor, Sarojini Yogeswaran, there was muted public reaction to the killing in Jaffna, said sources in Jaffna.
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Mayor's body sent to Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The body of Sarojini Yogeswaran, covered with TULF flag was kept at the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) office this morning for local people to pay their respect. About one thousand people paid their respects this morning, said sources in Jaffna. Among the mourners who filed past the Mayor's bier today, were many Sri Lanka Government (SLG) officials and members of the local bodies, the sources said.
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Tigers probe Vavunaathivu SLA camp

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Four soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were wounded, three of them critically, when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) opened fire at Vavunaathivu SLA camp, 6 km west of Batticaloa, around 12:00 midnight on Monday, said sources in Batticaloa.
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Hartal draws poor response

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Mr. K. Kirubarajah, Member of the Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) in a speech this morning before the body of the slain Jaffna Mayor Sarojini Yogeswaran blamed her death on the Sri Lankan government's haste to claim normalcy in Jaffna.
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Vavuniya SLA fire mortars

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
SLA troops fired mortars from the forward defences in the west of Vavuniya this afternoon towards LTTE positions, said SLA sources in Vavuniya. However, there were no fighting reported said, the sources.
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Nervous soldiers shoot mental patient

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at a sentry point inside the Jaffna Hospital shot and wounded Chitravelu Sivabalan (35), a patient who is mentally ill and warded there, around 12:30 a.m. Friday night, said sources in Jaffna.
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Furore over SLA Commander's comments

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A comment by the Lieutenant General Rohan Des. Daluwatte, the army commander, that the devolution package drafted by the Sri Lanka Government (SLG) as a political solution to the ethnic conflict, "would offer no solution - and give rise to problems that did not exist now" has raised a furor in SLG circles, the Sunday Times said yesterday.
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Kumarapuram trial stalls again

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
There is concern among human rights activists that the Kumarapuram massacre case, where 24 persons were killed and equal number wounded on February 11, 1996, has been put on the back-burner by the Sri Lanka Government (SLG), by postponing the appointment of a regular magistrate to hear the case.
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Jaffna Mayor's killing claimed

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
An organisation called 'Sangiliyan Force' claimed responsibility yesterday evening for the assassination of Jaffna Mayor, Mrs. Sarojini Yogeswaran, in a message sent to Uthayan, the only Tamil daily published in Jaffna.
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Fresh fighting near Mankulam

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Fighting is reported to have broken out in the general area of Mankulam as the Sri Lankan Army launched a fresh attempt to advance towards the strategic Mankulam junction, said SLA sources in Vavuniya today.
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Tigers step up Jaffna activity

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Six SLA soldiers were killed in four separate attacks n the Jaffna peninsula by the Liberation Tigers between May 12 and 16, said the Voice of Tigers (VoT) in its broadcast this evening.
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Chavakachcheri mine kills two

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were killed and four wounded when a claymore mine exploded at Pulliyadi junction, near Nunaavil in Chavakachcheri, 18 km south of Jaffna, this morning at 8:30 a.m., said sources in Jaffna.
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Translation of LTTE Leader's speech (13 May 98)

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE leader, Mr. Vellupillai Pirabhakaran delivered a speech in Tamil on 13 May 1998, the first anniversary of the launch of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Operation, 'Jaya Sikirui'('Victory Assured' in Sinhala). The following is TamilNet's translation of the speech.
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SLA says finds LTTE member's body

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
SLA sources in Vavuniya said that they had recovered a body of an LTTE member who was killed in the yesterdays attack at Cheddikulam. The body was found when the SLA launched a search operation in the area, said the SLA sources. The body was later handed over to the Sri Lankan Red Cross (SLRC).
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Bomber's remains in hospital mortuary

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Shops were closed and Pt. Pedro town, 32 km north of Jaffna, was quiet today, after the killing of Brigadier Larry Wijeratne, Commanding Officer of 524 brigade yesterday by a suicide bomber, said sources in Jaffna.
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TELO suffers extortion hangover

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Some members of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), who visit taverns in Jaffna and Pt. Pedro towns to extort money, often end up drinking themselves silly instead, said sources in Jaffna.
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EPDP may withdraw support

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Douglas Devananda, Leader of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) told family members of missing persons in Jaffna, that his party will refrain from supporting the Sri Lanka Government (SLG) in Parliament, if the problems of these families are not resolved in six weeks, said sources in Jaffna.
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Jaffna uneasy as bomber buried

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
One soldier was killed and another injured in an explosion at a bunker near Chavakachcheri Hindu College at Chavakachcheri, 18 km south of Jaffna, last evening, said sources in Jaffna.
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Country dance in celebration

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) celebrated its success in impeding the advance of Operation Jayasikurui, (Victory Assured) in the Vanni, by staging a country dance -'Tholvi Nitchchiyam' (Defeat Assured) - in areas under its control west of Batticaloa, said sources in Batticaloa.
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