SLA seeks Tamil groups’ lists

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 March 1999, 01:19 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army visited the offices of the various ex-militant Tamil groups in Jaffna yesterday, as none of them had responded to Army's request to provide manpower towards establishing an auxiliary force to protect the local councillors in the north said sources.
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Education ministry charged with discrimination

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 March 1999, 18:20 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamils Teacher's Union (CTTU) has brought to the notice of the President, Chandrika Bandaranayake, and the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Mr. Richard Pathirana, the discrimination shown by the authorities in distributing Tamil text books to Tamil medium schools in the country.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 February 1999, 12:52 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police has instructed road sentry points in Jaffna to check vehicles belonging to Tamil Para Military groups, Army moves to limit price rises and Shortage of birth certificates in Mullaitivu.
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Vaakarai suffers under SLA restrictions

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 February 1999, 15:38 GMT]
(News Feature) More than eight thousand Tamils who eke out a living on incomes less than 14.50 US dollars a month in the northern corner of the Batticaloa district may soon face semi famine conditions say aid workers in the east.
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Attorney General co ordinates Chemmani investigation

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 February 1999, 11:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Attorney General's office said today that it expected the Jaffna magistrate to fix a date for the exhumation of the alleged mass graves of Tamil civilians at Chemmani.
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PLOTE - TELO clashes continue

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 February 1999, 17:05 GMT]
The paramilitary groups Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) clashed again yesterday evening at Cheddikulam resulting in the wounding of a TELO member, said sources.
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Father identifies decapitated man

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 February 1999, 20:00 GMT]
The father of Rajaratnam Rajeswaran, 23, a youth who was reported missing from Karaveddi since February 21, positively identified the head that was found in Jaffna as that of his son this evening. Human rights sources in Jaffna said that the Police were unable to record his statement as Rajaratnam, a resident of Nallur, had become distraught and disorientated after seeing his son's severed head.
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'Chemmani graves need international investigation'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 February 1999, 19:50 GMT]
The Jaffna district leader of the LTTE's political wing, S.Thooyavan, said today, in a letter sent to magistrates in the peninsula that the Chemmani mass grave issue must be investigated by representatives of international human rights bodies, and not by the local courts.
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Paper investigated over murder report

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 February 1999, 15:25 GMT]
The associate editor of Uthayan, the only news paper published in Jaffna, was grilled this afternoon over a report about the human head found in a drain yesterday by officers from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Sri Lankan Police.
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STF, TELO stage intelligence gathering sweep

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 February 1999, 22:54 GMT]
The Special Task Force (STF) and the TELO paramilitary group began a joint operation this weekend to systematically interrogate all civilians suspected of having links with the Liberation Tigers in Aaraiampathi, a large densely populated Tamil village 8 kilometers south of Batticaloa.
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Inadequate harbour facility causes delay

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 February 1999, 13:58 GMT]
One of the reason, essential items are scarce and expensive in the Jaffna peninsula is because of the lack of facilities at Pt.Pedro harbour that leads to delays in unloading ships harboured at sea, said the Jaffna Business Chamber.
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Petty thief gets stitched up

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 February 1999, 22:41 GMT]
Sinnathamby Aarumugam, a minor thief plying his trade in areas north of Valaichenai, 32 kilometers north of Batticaloa, was apprehended and tied to a pole by the SLA at Vaakarai junction last evening. He was made to shout "I shall no longer steal in the name of LTTE".
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SLA re-deployed to hold MSR

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 February 1999, 18:06 GMT]
The Police units deployed along the (MSR) A9 route have been replaced with the Sri Lankan Army soldiers (SLA) who were manning the Vavuniya - Mannar road, said sources in the northern town of Vavuniya.
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Sinhala, Tamil classes for Trinco youth

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 February 1999, 19:21 GMT]
The National Youth Services Council, functioning under the Ministry of Youth Affairs, has launched a programme to conduct language class for the youth community of the country, to teach Tamil language to Sinhalese and Sinhala to Tamils.
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Jaffna politicians organise paramilitary protection

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 February 1999, 20:31 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) told Tamil groups in Jaffna that it will provide weapons, uniforms and salaries to body guards who are expected to protect members of the local government bodies in Jaffna. The Tamil groups have to provide the necessary manpower for the purpose the SLA said.
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Foreign ministry withdraws Chemmani statement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 February 1999, 14:15 GMT]
The Foreign Ministry spokesman today apologised for the mistakes in its statement on the alleged mass grave at Chemmani which was issued last Wednesday.
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Sinhala supremacists pursue economic dominance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 February 1999, 23:59 GMT]
Tension between the Sinhala and Muslim communities in the northcentral province of Sri Lanka continued to mount today as moves were afoot to stop the pogrom from spreading further. Forty shops and businesses belonging to Muslims were completely burnt in Nochchiyagama since Monday night.
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Peace movement formulates own proposals

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 February 1999, 10:19 GMT]
The National Alliance for Peace (NAP) announced at a press conference on Tuesday that it intends to formulate its own peace proposals that will then be submitted to the two main political parties, the UNP and the PA.
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Jaffna Tamil groups asked to help army

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 February 1999, 17:25 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) today announced plans to provide protection for the Tamil paramilitaries and other groups operating in the Jaffna peninsula.
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Paramilitaries told to disarm

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 February 1999, 22:15 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) said today that it has ordered the PLOTE and the TELO, Tamil paramlitiaries operating with the army, to close down their offices and camps in Vavuniya.
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