Search continues for missing fisherman

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 January 2003, 18:16 GMT]
The fisherman who went missing in the northern sea off Thondamanaru coast when a Sri Lanka Navy craft rammed his fishing boat on Monday night has not been traced till Thursday evening. Eight fishing boats were used to search from early morning till the evening Thursday, but the search was called off without success and will continue Friday, civilian sources said.
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Islanders' woes addressed in LTTE-SLN discussions

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 October 2002, 11:24 GMT]
A three-hour discussion was held Sunday at Velanai office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission between the Sri Lanka Navy officials and area leaders of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to normalize the situation in Delft, Analaitivu, Nainativu and Eluvaitheivu in Jaffna district, sources said.
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SLN personnel assault two fishermen

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 October 2002, 17:55 GMT]
Two fishermen were severely assaulted by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel Tuesday night when rough sea forced them to drift towards the high security zone of the Kankesanthurai harbour. Anandasivam Sivakaran (24) and Gopalasingham Ravikumar (24) of Supparmadam, Point Pedro, Wednesday morning complained to the Fisheries Co-operative Federation and to Valvettithurai office of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) about the assault.
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ICRC releases half-year activity report

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 September 2002, 20:50 GMT]
"The government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have not sought the assistance of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) up to now in opening the A9 highway for twenty hours," said ICRC Information Officer Mr. William Sukumar Rockwood addressing a press conference held Wednesday evening in Trincomalee. "If such a request is made by both parties the ICRC will consider it," said Mr. Rockwood in reply to a question.
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People's predicament first says LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 September 2002, 22:19 GMT]
(Feature) The first round of formal peace talks between the Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) began Monday in the Sattahip Thai Naval base on a positive note though the head of Colombo’s negotiating team laid down in his opening speech non-negotiable elements which, according to him, should be constant in “determining the parameters of the negotiations." The Liberation Tigers, however, desisted from any reference to ‘irreducible principles.’
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'Peace vital for economic development' -Ranil

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 August 2002, 23:21 GMT]
"The economic development of the country critically depends on the outcome of the peace talks. We have strengthened the ongoing peace process by laying a firm foundation for the proposed peace talks," said Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, Friday morning, when addressing a gathering which followed the ceremonial inauguration of the first common user multi purpose berth in the port of Trincomalee.
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Sri Lanka tightens fishing restrictions under terrorism act

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 June 2002, 05:52 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has issued a gazette notification retrospectively dated 23 May, 2002 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act specifying areas in the Northeast that have been restricted for fishing. The government will appoint a Competent Authority in charge of the newly demarcated restricted areas under this gazette notification. The new PTA regulation includes punishment for those violating restriction on fishing in the specified areas.
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Four returning refugees drown

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 June 2002, 12:21 GMT]
Four Tamil refugees coming home from India drowned in the seas off Mannar on 23 May when the boat up to seventeen people were travelling in capsized in strong winds, press reports said. The dead included a five-month-old baby and her mother. Two other women also drowned.
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Jaffna fishermen say military restrictions not lifted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 May 2002, 16:18 GMT]
Fishermen in Jaffna this week protested that the Sri Lankan military was refusing to lift restrictions on their livelihoods, in breach of the terms of the permanent ceasefire signed by the government and the Liberation Tigers. The Navy meanwhile said that irrespective of the ceasefire agreement, it retains the right to impose restrictions at its own discretion.
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Displaced fast demanding immediate resettlement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 May 2002, 09:17 GMT]
The displaced people held a one-day token fasting in front of the Tellipalai Assistant Government Office Wednesday demanding the government that it should take immediate steps to resettle them in their own villages, which are located in the high security zone.People from Tellipalai, Myliddy, Kankesanthurai, Vasavilan, Maviddapuram, Kadduwan and other areas participated in the fasting, reports from Jaffna said.
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Army refuses to quit Jaffna schools

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 May 2002, 15:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka military commanders in Jaffna Monday refused to move troops out of several schools as required under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Tamil press reports said. Civil administration officials who met the military to discuss moving army units out of school premises were told that troops would not be moving out of 32 schools “for the foreseeable future.” Sri Lanka defence officials said that these schools were in ‘high security’ zones and reopening them to the public would pose security risks.
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Govt., TE request ICRC's help to open A9

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 March 2002, 12:05 GMT]
The government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have officially requested the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to assist in opening the A9 highway to Jaffna from Killinochchi. "We received the official request from the government and the LTTE on Friday. However we have not decided on the date of opening the A9 highway," said Mr. Arjuna Ranawana, Information Officer of the ICRC addressing Trincomalee district journalists Saturday morning at Seven Islands Hotel.
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SLA armoury on fire

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 March 2002, 06:07 GMT]
Fire broke out in the armoury of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Kankesanthurai in the northern Jaffna peninsula 4.45 a.m, Friday morning, army sources in Colombo said.
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EPDP abandons PA for UNF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 December 2001, 00:41 GMT]
The paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), a key Parliamentary ally of the former People's Alliance (PA) government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga is offering to switch sides and support the newly elected United National Front (UNF), press reports said. The Gulf News reported Wednesday that the EPDP, widely accused of violence and intimidation in support of the former administration before and during the December 5 polls is now offering to assist the UNF's ìefforts at forming a government of national government.î Last week The Island newspaper reported that the EPDP was offering its military support to the new government against the Liberation Tigers, arguing that it had always done so with successive Sri Lankan governments.
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Results of Jaffna electorates

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 December 2001, 10:21 GMT]
The TNA got more than hundred thousand votes in the eleven electorates of the Jaffna electoral district. The southern sector of the electorate of Chavakachcheri is under the control of the Liberation Tigers. Kilinochchi, an administrative district in north which is an electorate of Jaffna, is under the total control of the Liberation Tigers. Only a few persons displaced from Kilinochchi by the war since 1996 were eligible to vote. The EPDP scored highest in the Kayts electorate, which comprises all the islands under its military influence. The ballots of Jaffna voters displaced in Puttalam and Colombo are yet to be counted.
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Fuel ship sunk off Pt. Pedro - VoT

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 October 2001, 21:10 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy supply ship, 'Thukinda,' carrying hundreds of tons of fuel to troops in the northern Jaffna peninsula was attacked and sunk Tuesday when it, and its escort of gunboats, was intercepted by the Liberation Tigers off the coast of Pt. Pedro, the Voice of Tigers radio said in its evening broadcast. Several army and nevy personnel and four Black Sea Tigers were killed in the fighting, the radio said.
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Jaffna judge remands students again

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 October 2001, 17:53 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Police Tuesday produced Krishnasamy Thivviyan, the Jaffna University undergraduate who has been detained since 2 July, and the Santhiraraj Niroshan, 21, the Kopay Christian College student who was arrested on 18 September before the Jaffna district judge. The judge remanded the both students until 23 October. School students in Kopay in Jaffna were to begin a protest campaign against the arrest and detention of Santhiraraj Wednesday.
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Investigators find more in Jaffna hospital grave

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 October 2001, 14:49 GMT]
Forensic investigators found more human skeletal remains in a pit dug near the mortuary of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital Wednesday. Medical-legal sources said that the bones appeared to be mostly those of young persons. Bones and teeth that were found in the pit today were taken in three boxes for further forensic examination. The Jaffna courts ordered an investigation after construction workers of the Jaffna Municipal Council who were digging at the site came upon human bones and a saree on 18 September.
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Several killed, missing in naval clash

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 September 2001, 16:07 GMT]
At least 47 Sri Lanka army soldiers aboard the troop carrier vessel bound for Jaffna were wounded and 18 sailors were reported missing in the mid sea battle early morning Sunday off the coast of Pt Pedro Sunday. A Sri Lanka Navy attack craft that was guarding the ship carrying more than 1200 SLA troops was very badly damaged; and at least 13 sailors were killed in the fighting sources said.
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Dialogue with LTTE vital for humanitarian ops. -ICRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 September 2001, 16:51 GMT]
"The LTTE is a major party to the conflict. As such the present dialogue with the LTTE is vital for the continuance of the ICRC's humanitarian services to the people in Vanni and the rest of the country," said Mr.Harasha Gunawardene, the ICRC's press officer, addressing a press conference held Wednesday morning at Trincomalee Seven Islands Hotel.
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