SLA asked for EPDP weapons over journalist's murder

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 November 2002, 19:13 GMT]
The Jaffna Magistrate Monday directed the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army to hand over to court all firearms received from the paramilitary group EPDP under the provisions of the Ceasefire Agreement between the Liberation Tigers and Colombo to identify the weapon allegedly used for murdering journalist Mr. Mylvaganam Nimalarajan on 19th October 2000.
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Tamil member of Kanchirankuda committee dissents

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 November 2002, 17:30 GMT]
The sole Tamil member of the committee appointed by Sri Lanka’s Interior Minister to inquire into the shooting incident at Kanchirankuda on the island’s southeastern coast on October 9, 2002 said Friday that he strongly disagreed with the conclusion of that his colleagues had arrived at.
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Tigers help IDPs resettle in high security zone

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 November 2002, 18:08 GMT]
(News Feature) In a major gesture to reiterate their commitment to peace in Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers Thursday helped displaced civilians settle in a village situated in one of their most heavily defended high security zones in the north. The village of Kudarappu is on Jaffna’s southeastern coast in the Nagar kovil sector where the armed forces of the Liberation Tigers and Sri Lanka face each other across heavily defended and mined Defence Lines.
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Mannar Co-op council seeks building from SLA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 November 2002, 13:09 GMT]
The District Co-operative Council of Mannar has requested Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence to return a two-story building at the entrance to the northwestern town, occupied by the Sri Lankan armed forces from 1990, officials said. The building for long functioned as the SLA’s office for issuing permits to civilians for entering and staying in the Mannar Island. The building’s upper floor was used by the SLA for interrogating and detaining civilians arrested on suspicion and during cordon and search operations.
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'No time frame for talks'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 November 2002, 22:04 GMT]
(News Feature) Whilst hailing the success of the second round of talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers in Thailand last week as "exceeding expectations," Norwegian facilitators echoed the views of both sides' chief negotiators in saying the peace process could not be time bound.
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Long term political matters on Talks agenda

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 November 2002, 13:58 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), at the conclusion of the second meeting of the first round of peace talks held in Thailand, agreed to set up a joint task force (JTF) to identify immediate humanitarian and rehabilitation needs of north east, work towards military de-escalation and to look at political questions at the heart of two decades of war. The JTF is first tasked to prepare for a political-level meeting of key government s to take place in Norway on 25 November.
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Colombo’s CFA obligations list remains long

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 November 2002, 15:04 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military occupies 216 temples and churches and at least 45 schools in Jaffna. In scores of other schools and places of worship in the northern peninsula the Sri Lankan armed forces have vacated only buildings but are camped in or around the same locations. The Sri Lankan government agreed to pull out its armed forces from schools and places of worship in the island’s Northeastern province when it signed a ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers in February 2002.
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Abandoned villages in Trinco to be revived

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 November 2002, 02:34 GMT]
The Trincomalee District Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Committee (DRRC) met Friday and decided to take immediate steps to provide drinking water, electricity supply, education and other basic facilities to villages abandoned due to displacement following war. "We cannot allow our people to stay in refugee camps and welfare centres indefinitely after the ceasefire agreement came into force. We must see that they are resettled in their villages," said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr. R. Sampanthan speaking at the meeting.
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Karuna and Hakeem to work closely

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 November 2002, 15:27 GMT]
Improving the security situation in the East was a key topic of discussion in the second round of peace talks between the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) and the Government of SriLanka which began on the 31 October in Thailand. "Mr. Hakeem and Mr. Karuna agreed to work together in the east to meet with local communities and address their specific concerns and aspirations, including matters relating to the occupation and cultivation of land," a release from the Norwegian Embassy in Thailand said.
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'Second round peace talks on firm foundation'- Peiris

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 October 2002, 14:33 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government Friday said a firm foundation has been laid for the second round of peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. A Sri Lanka Army Major General will be among the three advisors to the government delegation for the talks scheduled to commence on October 31 at Thailand.
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'Absence of war is not peace'- Chandrika

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 October 2002, 10:32 GMT]
President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Thursday in her televised speech said that the country is in turmoil although the government is doing maximum possible to implement its part of the ceasefire agreement signed by the Prime Minister and the LTTE leader. She reminded that the absence of war is not peace. She said one party is violating the agreement and that addressing the core issues to the conflict must be made part of the agenda for talks.
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Norway, LTTE discuss talks agenda

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002, 09:40 GMT]
The Norwegian delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Vidar Helgesen met with the leadership of the Liberation Tigers Wednesday and held two and a half hours of discussions on "crucial issues pertaining to the formation of the joint task force" for economic development and reconstruction of the northeast, sources in Vanni said. Issues underlying the high security zones (HSZ) and the security situation in the northeast were also discussed, they said.
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Trinco Tamils urged to nurture entrepreneurism

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 October 2002, 19:01 GMT]
"The economy and the life style of Tamil population in the east port town will get a positive change if they adopted business oriented thinking," said Mr.K.Thurairajah, Chairman of the Trincomalee District Chamber of Commerce (TDCC) Thursday. "Even now Tamils in Trincomalee depend on job oriented economy. With the formation of the TDCC Tamils have been given a golden opportunity to enter business-oriented economy," said Mr.Thurairajah who was recently elected President of the newly formed TDCC when addressing the Trincomalee Rotary Club weekly meeting Thursday as guest speaker.
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Helgesen to visit Jaffna, Vanni, South

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 October 2002, 11:37 GMT]
A Norwegian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen will visit Sri Lanka next week and holding meetings with the government and the leadership of the Liberation Tigers. In a statement issued Friday, the Norwegian embassy in Colombo said the delegation would also meet President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the Parliamentary opposition, international ceasefire monitors and representatives from the civil society and the business community.
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Furuhovde calls for ‘patience, justice and courage’

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 October 2002, 11:34 GMT]
Whilst the recent violence in Ampara and Trincomalee has shown how "fragile and sensitive the situation is at this time in the peace process," the leadership of the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers "are are determined to promote the peaceful situation in Sri Lanka so that the peace talks can succeed," the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General Trond Furuhovde said Wednesday.
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Thirukkovil resentful, STF said concocting evidence

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 October 2002, 13:02 GMT]
“The Special Task Force will pose a dire threat to our lives as long it remains in this region. There is no security now for farmers who have to pass the Kanjirankudah STF camp to cultivate their fields. The sole access to more than twelve thousand acres of our people’s fields is controlled by the STF which has no qualms about killing us like animals,” said Mr. Ariyanayagam Chandra Nehru, the sole Tamil MP for the Amparai District, Monday.
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TNA calls for Tamil home guard

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 October 2002, 03:12 GMT]
The security of the Tamil people can no longer be left in the hands of Sinhala dominated Army and Police, the Trincomalee district parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Mr. R. Sampanthan, told Sri Lanka’s Interior Minister, Mr. John Amaratunge Sunday afternoon. Arguing “the security of Tamils should be entrusted to Tamil youths,” the TNA leader urged the Minister to take immediate steps to form home guards units comprising Tamils.
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Thousands attend funerals in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 October 2002, 14:15 GMT]
Thousands attended the funerals in Trincomalee of three civilians killed in Friday's grenade attack blamed on Sri Lanka Police and Sinhala paramilitaries. The funerals were held Sunday at the Hindu cemetery in Trincomalee, following last respects at the Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall from 1 p.m. till around 3 p.m.
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LTTE, Sri Lanka military meet over civilian deaths

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 20:17 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Saturday requested international ceasefire monitors to take immediate action against those responsible for Friday's gun and grenade attack on Tamil civilians in Trincomalee and demanded Sri Lankan military commanders take steps to prevent future attacks on civilians.
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STF atrocities intended to scuttle peace – Karuna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 October 2002, 11:16 GMT]
“The peace talks in Thailand have created confidence among our fighters and our people. In this context, the actions of the STF are aimed at scuttling the peace talks. Our people have faith in future negotiations. But the STF’s atrocities are sowing doubts and confusion in their minds. However, we are observing the ceasefire with vigilance according to the instructions of our national leader,” Col. Karuna, senior commander of the Liberation Tigers in charge of the Batticaloa Ampara districts, told Maj. Gen. (ret) Trond Furhovde, the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.
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