NECORD allocates more money to NE education development

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 February 2003, 19:25 GMT]
The North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) funded by the Asian Development Bank has already spent six hundred million rupees for the educational development of the eight districts in the northeast province and also it is prepared to spend another one thousand million rupees, NECORD Project Director Mr.T.Lankaneson said Thursday.
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HRC to record Nelliady Police OIC's statement

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 February 2003, 18:52 GMT]
The Jaffna regional office of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (HRC) is to record the statement of the Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the Nelliady Police regarding the clash that took place on December 10 last year where several Tamil civilians were injured, HRC sources said.
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SLA restricts LTTE movement in Vadamarachchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 February 2003, 18:48 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Friday ordered the members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who go to villages Amban, Kudathanai and Manalkadu in the Vadamarachchi east division to leave the area by four in the evening daily, civilians sources said.
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Gen. Nambiar visits Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 February 2003, 17:54 GMT]
Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Satish Nambiar, the Indian defense expert invited by the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to report on high security zones (HSZs) in the North-East, visited Batticaloa on Friday morning and held discussions with Sri Lankan military and police officials and Tamil paramilitary groups, sources said.
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Dr Heiberg appointed Advisor for Women Issues

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 February 2003, 11:59 GMT]
Dr. Astrid Heiberg, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Oslo, who has a broad experience in human rights and humanitarian advocacy has been appointed for the sub-committee in gender issues, a Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release said.
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Three sea tigers die in boat blast

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 February 2003, 11:57 GMT]
Three cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Friday afternoon around 12.40 p.m.killed themselves by blowing up their trawler following an inspection by the monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, SLMM sources said.
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Negotiators in Berlin for fifth round

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 February 2003, 22:51 GMT]
Negotiators representing the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan government as well as Norwegian facilitators arrived in Berlin Thursday to participate in the fifth round of direct talks between the two sides brokered by Oslo.
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Death anniversary of 22 LTTE cadres commemorated

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 February 2003, 22:40 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday commemorated the thirteenth death anniversary of their twenty-two cadres at an event held at the Trincomalee town political office, sources said.
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Opening of LTTE war memorial delayed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 February 2003, 19:24 GMT]
At a conference held Thursday at the political office of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Nilaveli, sixteen km north of Trincomalee town, a decision was made to delay the opening of the reconstructed war memorial in Gopalapuram in remembrance of twenty-two LTTE cadres who died in a boat mishap in 1990, until the problem is sorted out by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the Tamil parliamentarians of the Trincomalee district, sources said.
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Kanniya Tamil School reopens after twenty years

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 February 2003, 13:41 GMT]
The Kanniya Government Tamil School Thursday re-opened after twenty years. Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian, Mr.R.Sampanthan, Thursday morning ceremonially re-opened the school and inaugurated the distribution of schoolbooks donated by the UNICEF to newly admitted students.
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LTTE commanders, Parents meet

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 February 2003, 12:41 GMT]
Commanders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officially met with more than five thousand parents of LTTE fighters and martyrs in Palugamam, Batticaloa district, first time after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (Mou), sources in Batticaloa said.
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Grenades, ammunition recovered from Paranthan well

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 February 2003, 01:10 GMT]
Several hand grenades and different types of ammunition left behind by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were safely removed from a well in the premises of Paranthan Murugan Temple Wednesday by members of the landmine removal task force of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), sources in Vanni said.


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Government peace delegation leaves for Berlin peace talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 February 2003, 18:34 GMT]
The leader of the Sri Lanka Government peace delegation Minister Mr.G.L. Peiris Wednesday morning left Colombo accompanied by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Mr. Austin Fernando to attend the fifth round of peace talks between the GOSL and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which is scheduled to begin Friday at Berlin in Germany. The government delegation includes Ministers Milinda Morogoda and Rauff Hakim.
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'Don’t use HSZ as a bargaining tool’ – NGOs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 February 2003, 17:40 GMT]
At a conference held Wednesday evening at the Jaffna district secretariat in which the Indian defence expert, Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar, participated, representatives of people’s welfare organizations and non governmental organizations (NGOs) in Jaffna made a public plea to the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) not to use the high security zone (HSZ) issue as a bargaining tool in the peace talks between the LTTE and the GOSL, sources said
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‘Humanitarian, Security issues demand gradual approach to HSZ’ – Nambiar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 February 2003, 15:31 GMT]
Speaking at a conference held at the Jaffna district secretariat Wednesday evening, Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar, retired Deputy Chief of Staff of the Indian Army, said that the humanitarian issue of the high security zone (HSZ) is very important, but the security aspect should not be ignored, and a gradual approach to the issue is warranted, said sources in Jaffna.
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16 South Indian fishermen caught fishing illegally

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 February 2003, 03:57 GMT]
Local fishermen from Mannar rounded up and brought to shore sixteen South Indian fishermen in four boats for illegally entering and fishing in Erukalambity seas in Mannar, sources said.
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Protests in Vavuniya on Independence Day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 February 2003, 16:33 GMT]
Bills stating “Sri Lanka’s Independence Day is a sad day for Tamils” were found on the walls of the district secretariat and other buildings in Vavuniya town, and a silent procession by women protesters was held in the town today, sources said
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NE Tamils ignore Independence Day celebrations

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 February 2003, 13:43 GMT]
Except a handful of government servants, other officieals and majority Tamils including students kept away from participating in the country’s 55th Independence Day functions held at district secretariats in the northeast province Tuesday, sources said. The Jaffna undergraduates hoisted a big black flag in the university premises and observed the Independence Day as a mourning day. The university area was decorated with black flags, Jaffna Students Union sources said.
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'Independence celebrations not for Tamils' -JSU

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 February 2003, 23:04 GMT]
In a statement issued Monday on the eve of the country's fifty-fifth independence day, the Jaffna Students' Union (JSU) questioned the reluctance of the United National Front government in removing high security zones and rehabilitating the displaced people at a time when there is a peaceful environment in the country, and said that the Tamil people have been denied the benefits of independence the country gained 55 years ago.
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Court allows eight Tamil civilians on bail

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 February 2003, 17:47 GMT]
The Point Pedro Magistrate Monday allowed all the eight Tamil civilians arrested for detaining two soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at the Kudathanai area on bail and also on condition that they should not enter their village until further notice, legal sources said.
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