PM secretary told Jaffna difficulties

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 August 2002, 20:58 GMT]
The difficulties faced by the students and fishermen of the Jaffna district were highlighted at a conference Saturday morning at the Jaffna district secretariat, despite the existence of the ceasefire agreement. The Prime Minister's secretary, Mr. Bradman Weerakone, attended the conference. Education officials said that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) still occupies sixty schools and students fear to attend classes in several schools, which arestill surrounded by SLA camps.
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Displaced DS office moves to Kuchchaveli

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 August 2002, 20:56 GMT]
The office of the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat, which temporarily functioned at Nilaveli, has shifted to its original place after a lapse of seventeen years. The Kuchchaveli DS office was displaced in 1985 due to the mass displacement of people from the villages of Thiriyai, Kuchchaveli, Thennamaravadi and Kumburupiddy, which come under its administration.
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'Peace vital for economic development'- Minister

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 August 2002, 19:12 GMT]
"The twenty year old brutal war has now come to an end paving way to promote better understanding between all communities in the island. Permanent peace is vital for the economic development of the country," said Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government Mr.Alick Aluwihare at the conclusion of the one-day mobile service held at Trincomalee St.Mary's College Saturday.
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Vanni artistes highlight detainees' plight

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 August 2002, 05:46 GMT]
A Tamil parliamentarian Thursday called for the repeal of Sri Lanka’s notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) under which hundreds of people continue to be detained. Mr. K. Thurairatnesingham, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was addressing people assembled at Trincomalee St. Joseph's College auditorium Thursday evening to view the play enacted by the Vanni Teachers' Aesthetic Society, a group of teacher-artistes of Vanni region.
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Fishing restrictions reimposed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 August 2002, 23:51 GMT]
More than six hundred fishermen residing in three villages close to the east of Sri Lanka Army's main Palaly base in Jaffna district did not go fishing Monday protesting against the restriction imposed by the SLA that they should go to sea from the shore where the Myliyathanai army camp is situated. The SLA has further instructed them not to keep their fishing crafts in their villages but to keep them at Myliyathanai army camp site under its supervision.
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Announcement on lifting ban due soon

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 August 2002, 20:50 GMT]
The United National Front government said Saturday that official announcement on lifting the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will be out in a day or two. "The government has already decided to lift the ban on the LTTE if it would be an obstacle for having direct talks with that organisation to find a negotiated political solution to the present conflict. There is no change in that decision. The government is now in the process of making arrangements to issue an official announcement in this regard," said the Defence Minister Mr.Tilak Marapone.
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North-South peace sports festival proposed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 August 2002, 19:05 GMT]
A conference, chaired by the Minister of Lands, Mr.Rajitha Senaratne, was held in Trincomalee Saturday to discuss holding a four-day, North-South Peace Sports Festival in Kalutara, in the south of the country.
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Sea Tiger convoy sails under SLMM aegis

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 August 2002, 20:25 GMT]
The first Sea Tiger convoy sailing from Mullaitivu under a working agreement between the Sri Lankan Navy and the Liberation Tigers brokered by international ceasefire monitors arrived in Vaakarai Sunday. Two patrol boats of the Sri Lanka Navy provided escort to LTTE boats.
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Ranil on Thailand peace talks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 August 2002, 16:01 GMT]
"We cannot fix a time table for peace talks. We cannot put forward a concrete proposal to start peace talks. First, we must take steps to understand the basic problems of the other side. Thereafter only both sides could continue the peace process. However, the goal is to find a permanent solution to the problem without dividing the country and upholding the democratic ideals," said Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe when addressing the final day deliberations of the United National Party national executive committee meeting held Saturday in Trincomalee Mc Heyzer stadium.
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International welcome for talks announcement

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 August 2002, 12:12 GMT]
(News Feature) The United States, Britain and Japan this week welcomed the announcement that the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers will commence direct talks in Thailand in mid-September. The governments also strongly endorsed the Norwegian facilitated peace process and applauded the efforts by all sides to end Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict.
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SL forces urged to leave public, private property

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 August 2002, 15:15 GMT]
Sri Lankan armed forces occupy 160 public and private buildings and properties in the Mannar district, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission sources said. Following requests made by the SLMM and several civil society groups the Police, army and Navy vacated ten properties in Mannar town in accordance with the terms of the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA) between the government and the Liberation Tigers signed in February. The Police vacated some private homes it was occupying in Murunkan.
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Peace talks in September - Norway

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 August 2002, 16:31 GMT]
Direct talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government will commence in Thailand with Norwegian facilitation between 12th and 17th of September, an official statement by the Norwegian government said Wednesday.
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SLA troops 'provoking' LTTE, monitors told

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 August 2002, 04:51 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Sunday protested to international ceasefire monitors and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commanders that government troops are engaged in provocative acts such as advances from their lines and the establishment of new positions closer to LTTE lines in Jaffna. Senior military commanders from both sides met under the auspices of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said.
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Japanese Ambassador meets Tamilselvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 August 2002, 18:48 GMT]
The Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Sciichiro 0tsuka, met the head of the Liberation Tigers' political section, Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan, in the Vanni on Tuesday. Mr. Seiichiro Otsuka was accompanied by Ms. Noriko Iseki, First Secretary for Economic Cooperation and Mr. S.A.S. Devotta, Senior Assistant for Political Affairs.
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Trinco-Batticaloa highway to reopen

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 August 2002, 12:47 GMT]
The A15 highway between Batticaloa and Trincomalee is to be reopened for public use following discussions between representatives of the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers, Tamil press reports said Monday. A significant portion of the 132 km long road is under the control of the LTTE.
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TNA to coordinate with LTTE offices

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 August 2002, 21:51 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said Sunday that it would exert pressure on the United National Front (UNF) government to fully implement the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers. "We will inform foreign envoys in Colombo the urgent need for the full implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement by the UNF government," TNA parliamentarians told reporters.
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Ceasefire ‘mostly implemented’ in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 August 2002, 09:39 GMT]
The ceasefire agreement between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government has largely been implemented in Trincomalee, the head of the international monitors in the eastern district said Thursday. Ms Victoria Lund was addressing the weekly meeting of the Trincomalee Rotary Club as its guest speaker where she answered several questions on the ceasefire agreement.
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Meetings as troop relocation deadline is missed

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 August 2002, 00:32 GMT]
(News Feature) As the last of the stipulated deadlines for the Sri Lanka military to withdraw from civilian properties passed Thursday without the related terms of the government’s ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers being implemented, international monitors met with senior LTTE officers to discuss the truce while Tamil parliamentarians protested to the Prime Minister.
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Navy fires on fishing boat

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 August 2002, 00:00 GMT]
Tamil fishermen were assaulted by Sri Lanka Navy personnel near Vettilaikerny and Kattaikkadulast on Friday, Tamil press reports said. A SLN Dvora gunboat also fired on their fishing boats, damaging one, the Uthayan newspaper reported Wednesday.
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Meeting lends ‘fresh cause for optimism’ - paper

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 July 2002, 15:06 GMT]
In the wake of the landmark meeting Saturday between Sri Lankan cabinet Minister Milinda Moragoda and the Liberation Tigers’ chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, prospects of a meeting later this year between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan have been raised, a Tamil expatriate newspaper reported this week.
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