Military arrests unarmed Tigers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 10:15 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military took five unarmed members of the Liberation Tigers into custody in two separate incidents Wednesday, triggering tensions and anger amongst Tamils in Trincomalee, residents said. The LTTE’s political section in the eastern district strongly condemned the military’s actions as a breach of the ceasefire agreement.
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MoD says 'no case' amid public protests

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 July 2002, 01:18 GMT]
(News Feature) A Sri Lankan Defence Ministry inquiry into the assault of two senior political cadres of the Liberation Tigers on June 20 ruled that "there was no evidence ... to establish a case against any individual or person," state media reported. The Defence Ministry statement was issued Wednesday, the day after a massive demonstration in Kilinochchi to protest the attack by Sri Lankan naval personnel and members of the paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) on the LTTE cadres.
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SLMM “has not requested LTTE to stop hartals”

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 July 2002, 23:56 GMT]
International monitors Tuesday denied press reports which claimed they had requested the Liberation Tigers to desist from organising protest strikes (‘hartals’). In a statement, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said it is “not opposed to Hartals, demonstrations, meetings and other activity that can be considered as political and peaceful means of people to express their opinions” but cautioned that those organising protests “must be responsible for keeping [these events] under control.”
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SLA takes over scores of homes in Thenmaradchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 July 2002, 02:46 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army last week took over scores of civilian homes amid its efforts to expand its fortifications in the Thenmaradchi district of the Jaffna peninsula, Tamil press reports said. Sri Lankan forces have occupied 43 houses in one part of the district and have begun turning them into army camps, according to a complaint made to the District Secretary S Srinivasan. A new SLA base is being constructed in the village of Kaputhu also, the reports said.
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LTTE, military discuss recent violence as conspiracy suspected

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 July 2002, 02:43 GMT]
(News Feature) The leaders of the Liberation Tigers' political section in the Amparai-Batticaloa region, Mr. Visu (Head) and Mr. Thurai (Deputy Head) met senior Sri Lankan security officials late Friday night and Saturday to discuss last week's violence in Valaichenai and to seek ways to avoid a repetition of such incidents in the future. Meanwhile LTTE officials in the east, the leader of Sri Lanka’s largest Muslim party, Mr. Rauf Hakeem, and the Interior Minister, John Amaratunga, said this weekend that elements opposed to the peace process had instigated the recent chain of violence in the eastern province.
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Ceasefire has reduced human rights violations - Amnesty

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 June 2002, 11:15 GMT]
Ending a two-week visit to Sri Lanka, Amnesty International (AI) delegates welcomed the positive engagement and cooperation from both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on issues of human rights and the peace process. "The current climate is one of pragmatic hope," Derek Evans, head of the delegation said. "The cease-fire agreement has made a significant impact in reducing human rights abuses in Sri Lanka."
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SLA troops advance to LTTE lines - report

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 June 2002, 00:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) units in the Kilali-Nagerkoil axis in the Jaffna peninsula have advanced closer to the positions of the Liberation Tigers and taken up positions well inside the minimum separation distance stipulated in the ceasefire agreement, according to complaints received by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Tamil press reports said this week.
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Dutch Ambassador, deputy meet Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 June 2002, 01:22 GMT]
The Netherlands Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Ms. Susan Blankhart met the head of the Liberation Tigers' political section, Mr. S.P Thamilchelvan, Thursday, LTTE sources said. The Ambassador was accompanied by her deputy, Mr. Petrus Jan Kuperus, who is also head of the development co-operation section at the Colombo embassy. The two and a half hour discussion at the LTTE's political headquarters in Kilinochchi was described as "very cordial and constructive," by the sources.
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SLA fishing ban despite Colombo promise

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 June 2002, 14:28 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army imposed ban on fishing in the southeastern parts of the Jaffna lagoon has driven hundred and ninety fishing families to destitution, a spokesman for the Federation of Northern Province Fisheries Co-op Societies said Saturday. None of the families receive relief from the Sri Lankan government, the spokesman said. Colombo promised to remove restrictions on fishing in the northeast ninety days after signing the ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers in February this year.
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Support in Batticalo and Amparai for Trincomalee hartal

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 June 2002, 00:43 GMT]
(News Feature) The hartal in the Trincomalee district organised Tuesday by Tamil civil society organisations drew impromptu support from Tamils in Batticaloa and Amparai districts, press reports said. The hartals were in protest against the attacks on the political activists of the Liberation Tigers at Velanai in Jaffna district and the Muttur LTTE political office in Trincomalee district.
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'Lack of transparency in NGO activities'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 June 2002, 02:14 GMT]
There was a lack of transparency in the activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the north and east, with some aid workers putting their personal betterment ahead of the interests of the people they ought to be assisting, speakers told a two-day workshop on the Poverty Alleviation Programme organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry assisting Vanni Rehabilitation and sponsored by the Northeast Provincial Planning Secretariat in Trincomalee Sunday. The workshop concluded with a play enacted by a group of artistes who specially came to Trincomalee from the Vanni region.
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Ampara monitors say govt. apathy hampering work

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 June 2002, 21:10 GMT]
Sri Lankan security forces continue to occupy two hospitals, ten schools and five Hindu Temples in the Ampara district. Speaking at a discussion arranged by a local journalists' association, Mr. Svein Myklebust, acting head of the SLMM for the Ampara district, said seventy-four complaints of cease-fire violations in the region have been received so far, adding, "the number of complaints is not a reflection of the ground reality." Meanwhile, the two LTTE nominees of the Ampara SLMM told TamilNet Colombo's apathy regarding their status is seriously hindering them from carrying out their duties as cease-fire monitors.
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"Attacks on LTTE premeditated" -TULF

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 20:16 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front Sunday appealed to the United National Front government to conduct an impartial inquiry into the attacks on Liberation Tiger leaders at Velanai in Jaffna district and the Mutur political office of the LTTE in Trincomalee district and to bring the culprits before the court of law. The central working committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front, main constituent of the Tamil National Alliance, which met Sunday, passed a resolution vehemently condemning these attacks. "These attacks on Liberation Tigers should be considered not only as cease-fire violations but also to be viewed as a premeditated action to derail the peace process by provoking the Liberation Tigers to react," said the resolution.
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US urges ceasefire implementation followed by talks

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 07:58 GMT]
(News Feature) The United States' Ambassador to Sri Lanka said his government urges a negotiated settlement to the island's ethnic conflict and said the Tamil people have "legitimate grievances about the way that they have been treated in this country." Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Mr. Ashley Wills said: "We agree with [Sri Lanka's policy of talking to the LTTE], and that we don't see a military solution to the conflict. We do see a political solution." Calling on the LTTE to renounce its armed struggle, the Ambassador expressed confidence the LTTE wanted to participate in talks.
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Monitoring chief to visit as SLMC urges calm

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 01:34 GMT]
The head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General Trond Furuhovde is scheduled to visit Trincomalee by next week urgently to sort out two major complaints - including an attack on the Liberation Tigers' office in Mutur allegedly by Muslim militants - and some other matters pertaining to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, SLMM sources said. Sri Lanka's largest Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), said "sinister elements" were seeking to forment communal strife and urged calm.
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Independent probe into Velanai assault - SLMM

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 June 2002, 01:18 GMT]
The head of the international ceasefire monitors in Sri Lanka, Major General Trond Furuhovde, has called on the government to appoint an independent commission into the assault of two members of the LTTE's political section in Velanai village on the Jaffna island of Kayts. “In addition to this, the Army, Navy, Police and LTTE will each do a separate thorough investigation on the alleged assault,” the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said in a statement Saturday. The SLMM also said it would establish a permanent presence in the islands.
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LTTE blames SLN for sabotaging peace efforts

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2002, 22:35 GMT]
The Jaffna district political unit of the Liberation Tigers Friday issued a statement condemning the brutal attack carried out jointly by the Sri Lanka Navy and the para military group Eelam People's Democratic Party.
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'Velanai attack an attempt to derail peace process' - TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2002, 22:34 GMT]
"The Tamil National Alliance views the Velanai attack on Liberation Tigers political activists by the Sri Lanka Navy and some men wearing masks as an attempt to derail the peace process and to disrupt the implementation of the ceasefire agreement," said TNA parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan in a statement issued Friday night.
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Paramilitary, Navy assault LTTE political worker

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 June 2002, 12:01 GMT]
A group of armed persons suspected to be troopers of the Sri Lanka Navy and cadres of a paramilitary group working with it in the islands off Jaffna assaulted and attempted to abduct the head of the Liberation Tigers' political division in Kayts, Mr.Semmanan, Thursday night, LTTE sources in Jaffna said. The armed persons had attempted to force Mr. Semmanan into a vehicle at the 'Bus Company' near the Velanai junction Thursday night around 9.15 p.m.
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Protests as SLAF expands airbase

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 June 2002, 22:56 GMT]
There were massive protests Wednesday in Batticaloa demanding an end to the occupation of zone 'C' by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF), the continued occupation by the Sri Lankan armed forces of schools, temples and public buildings and the continued blocking of public travel on several important roads. The SLAF has begun expanding its base in Batticaloa, incorporating a nearby temple and school and triggering outrage amongst locals.
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