LTTE condemns Mannar anti-Muslim leaflet

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 September 2002, 13:40 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers issued a statement Saturday condemning ‘disruptive forces’ behind a leaflet ordering Muslims to leave Mannar. The leaflet, issued surreptitiously in Mannar by a group called ‘Elalan Force’ last week, threatened that rivers of blood would flow if Muslim schools in the district do not shut down before end of September.
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Vanni MPs slam SLA for blocking resettlement

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 September 2002, 22:54 GMT]
"If Mannar and Vavuniya districts are to be developed the Sri Lanka armed forces have to vacate our homes, and agricultural lands. We are not asking for houses or buildings in Anuradhapura and Madawachchiya. We are only asking permission to go back to our homes, to the lands of our forefathers," said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Vanni district parliamentarian Mr.Sivasakthi Anandan addressing a conference held Friday at the Mannar district secretariat on resettlement.
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SLA discusses fishermen grievances

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 September 2002, 15:34 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Thursday held a discussion with representatives of Vadamarachchi fisheries societies regarding their grievances. The conference held at the headquarters of the 52-4 Brigade of the SLA. assurances were given at the conference that the SLA would take up the question with higher authorities to allow displaced Vadamarachchi fishermen now in LTTE held Vanni region to travel by sea in their boats for resettlement in their villages.
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US, UK hail successful talks

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 September 2002, 15:25 GMT]
(News Feature) The United States and Britain Thursday welcomed the successful conclusion of the first round of talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers in Thailand this week. Comments by both governments are the latest in a series of supporting statements by several countries including China, South Africa and Iran. The negotiations which took place with Norwegian facilitation at a Thai naval base in Sittahip lasted Monday through Wednesday.
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Norway hails promising start, practical steps

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 September 2002, 11:33 GMT]
Wrapping up the first round of direct talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers in seven years, the Norwegian government, acting as facilitator said Wednesday that three future rounds have been scheduled. In a statement, Norway also said two joint committees comprising LTTE and Sri Lankan officials are to be established – one to entrench the permanent ceasefire signed in February and the other to implement humanitarian and reconstruction activities.
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Stable cease-fire between armies of GOSL, LTTE must for peace- Balasingham

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 September 2002, 09:18 GMT]
Addressing a press conference at the Sattahip naval base in Thailand Wednesday after the conclusion of the three-day peace talks between the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers, the head of the LTTE’s team, Mr. Anton Balasingham said that a stable cease-fire between the standing armies and naval forces of the LTTE and the GOSL is important for laying a firm foundation for peace. “The LTTE is very happy with the proceedings and we have taken a few decisions,” he said.
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SLA restores Anagarika’s propaganda vehicle

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 September 2002, 15:02 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army said Tuesday that soldiers of its Electrical and Mechanical Engineer Regiment (SLEME) restored the propaganda vehicle used by the Sinhala Buddhist revivalist and nationalist, Anagarika Dharmapala, to “its pristine glory” upon a request by Buddhist clergy. Many Sri Lankan social historians say that Anagarika Dharmapala was the main architect of militant Sinhala Buddhism in Sri Lanka, of the idea that the Singhalese are the only rightful owners of the whole island.
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UN, US, EU hail Thailand talks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 September 2002, 09:57 GMT]
On the eve of the first peace talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomed the negotiations, saying the United Nations might play a bigger part in the peace process. Meanwhile, the US, welcoming the negotiations, said it would review its ban on the LTTE depending on the progress of the talks.
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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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Norway urges funds for peace building

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 September 2002, 09:24 GMT]
Addressing the opening session of the first round of formal peace talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka Monday, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, State Secretary, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reiterated the need for tangible financial support from the international community to make peace a reality in the daily lives of people.
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Police hand in Murunkan robberies alleged

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 September 2002, 17:18 GMT]
The Mannar magistrate Sunday remanded a Police constable accused of robbing a shop in the Murunkan town. The PC was caught by the townspeople Saturday night around 8.30 p.m. while robbing a grocery. A tense standoff developed late Saturday night between the townspeople who had tied up the PC and more than 300 Police who had surrounded them, demanding the robber’s release. Murunkan residents and traders allege that the Police have been regularly robbing shops in the town for more than three years with impunity.
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Anti War Rally to be held in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 September 2002, 10:37 GMT]
The National Anti-War Front (NAWF) Saturday announced that it would hold a mass rally and prayer meeting in Colombo on September 16 to invoke blessings for the historic peace talks at Thailand. "The people of Sri Lanka has been offered a new opportunity to end the twenty year old brutal war through negotiation," said the NAWF in a special message issued Saturday.
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SL Navy restricts fishing in Manalkaadu

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 September 2002, 21:12 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy has re-imposed draconian restrictions on fishing in the Manalkaadu area on Jaffna's southeastern coast from Thursday, fishermen from the region said. They were also ordered by the SLN to obtain special identity cards and permits for setting out to sea. "The SLN has no legal grounds for imposing restrictions on fishing in this manner," said Mr. M. K Sivajilingam, Tamil National Alliance MP for Jaffna.
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SLA meets LTTE’s Northern Forces Commander

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 September 2002, 17:08 GMT]
(Adds: Photo) The commander of the Northern Front Forces of the Liberation Tigers, Col. Theepan, had discussions with the commander of the Sri Lankan security forces in Jaffna, Major. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, Thursday evening to discuss the opening of the Pt. Pedro – Maruthankerni Road on Jaffna’s east coast and the positioning of Forward Defence Localities in the Nagar Kovil sector.
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Murunkan protestors demand share in peace dividend

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 19:41 GMT]
More than five hundred farmers, traders and community leaders demonstrated in Murunkan in Mannar Tuesday demanding the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to deliver on its promise to start rehabilitation and reconstruction in the area following the ceasefire. Sri Lankan government officials in Mannar said that the Minister for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction had allocated 208 million rupees for the purpose but the Treasury had no money to give.
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SLA arrests two civilians in Point Pedro

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 18:08 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka army Tuesday arrested the president of a fisheries co-operative society in Pt. Pedro and a local fisherman for allegedly causing damage to properties belonging to the military during a protest last week by students and parents in the northern town . “The arrests are in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government and hence a very alarming development”, a lawyer in Pt. Pedro said.
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Army strength not reduced – Defence Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 September 2002, 13:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Defence Minister said Tuesday that the Army camps removed from areas in the northeast province under the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers have been relocated close to their original locations and denied the number of soldiers deployed in Tamil areas had been reduced.
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Rebuilding Mutur farmer economy stressed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 September 2002, 22:54 GMT]
Paddy production in Mutur must be rebuilt, those gathered at the opening of a seed-cleaning centre at Killiveddy, south of Trincomalee, was told Saturday. "Paddy production in the Mutur area, which was once considered a granary of the Trincomalee district was badly affected due to the war as most of the farming families had been displaced, lost their homes and had properties destroyed," said Mr. Rasalingam Thiagalingam, Secretary to North East Provincial Ministry of Lands and Agriculture addressing a gathering, which followed the opening.
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SC holds Vavuniya pass system violates FR

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 September 2002, 19:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court held Thursday that the security pass system in Vavuniya under thePeoples Alliance government was a violation of the fundamental rights of citizens. Residents and visitors had to obtain special security permits to to live, stay or travel outside Vavuniya and Mannar. The system was abolished after the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers signed a ceasefire agreement in February this year.
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Chandrika slams UNF government 'without vision'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 September 2002, 18:32 GMT]
"The United National Front government has no vision nor ability to rule the country," said President Chandrika Kumaratunge Sunday evening at Bogambara grounds, Kandy in the Central province. The President was addressing a large gathering at the fifty first convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which was founded by her father, late Premier S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike in 1951.
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