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Hip-hop tigerThe Sri Lanka-born singer's rebellion comes in a brilliant collage of global street beats.NEW YORK - When Maya Arulpragasam moved from Sri Lanka to London, she was 10 years old and understood only a smattering of English. "I only knew three or four words," recalls the rapper who performs as M.I.A. Laughing, she recites them: "Elephant. Mango. And Michael Jackson."
Tigers Exposed through Rajasingham Jeyadevan
Affair
Government and Tigers are excluding Muslims-Rauf
Hakeem
The Muslims of the East need to be represented as a separate entity within the Tsunami rehabilitation frame work says the Muslim congress. Rauf Hakeem leader of the Muslim Congress speaking to Sandeshya said “we understand that the government is in the process of negotiating a mechanism with the Tamil Tigers on a relief mechanism and this has been done without consulting us” Pictures of hope after tsunami NZHerald Villagers rebuild their flattened homes near the wreckage from the train crash in Peraliya.
There are just three carriages now.
The other five have gone, along with the engine, towed
away by Sri Lankan Railways. But still the people come.
They come to see three battered, brown rusty cars that
remain in Peraliya. Karuna group kills four LTTE cadres in ambush he breakaway faction of the LTTE led by Col Karuna, continued its operations against the mainstream group led by Velupillai Prabhakaran on Friday, by killing four the latter's cadres in the Vadamunai jungles in Batticaloa district, according to unconfirmed information reaching Colombo. LTTE seeks $1.4 bn for post-tsunami relief HT The LTTE is seeking from the international community, a sum of US$ 1,455 million for post-tsunami reconstruction in the Tamil-speaking North Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The LTTE's Peace Secretariat at Kilinochchi, on Thursday released a 36-page detailed document on the need for replacing lost property and also for developing the war-affected area. Sri Lanka wants Paris Club debt freeze extended COLOMBO (Reuters) - Tsunami-hit Sri Lanka has accepted a Paris Club offer to freeze its debt payments until the end of 2005, but plans to press lenders to extend the moratorium to the end of 2007, the island's finance minister said on Friday. The Paris Club grouping of the world's richest creditor nations offered on Thursday to freeze payments of tsunami-hit countries until the end of 2005 and allow deferred payments to be repaid over five years, with one year's grace. Suspected Tamil rebels attack office of rival Tamil group in eastern Sri Lanka, four wounded AP Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels hurled a hand grenade into the office of a rival Tamil group Friday in Sri Lanka's violence-wracked east, wounding four people, officials said. Friday's violence was the latest in a string of attacks in eastern Sri Lanka since a renegade rebel group led a split from the main Tamil Tiger group last year. About a dozen people have been killed in the past week, with most of the victims believed to be anti-rebel activists. Sri Lanka wants more debt reliefBBCSri Lanka is lobbying for an extension of debt relief after the Paris Club confirmed it would freeze payments from tsunami-hit nations this year.Media evicted from SLFP conferenceBBCAll local and foreign media were removed by Presidential Security Unit during the 15th annual Conference of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party [SLFP]. The journalists were bundled out of National youth Services centre in Maharagama. President Chandrika Kumaratunge chaired the annual meeting of the party members.Sri Lanka: Young tsunami survivors are afraid to return to schoolReliefwebThere are still empty seats in the classrooms of the temporary schools erected hastily after the tsunami hit Sri Lanka's coasts two months ago. Not only did thousands of students die, hundreds others who survived, aren't showing up for classes.According to child welfare organization UNICEF, in some schools only between 60 and 70 per cent of school-age children are reporting for instruction. Tiger airstrip 'violates accord' BBC The Sri Lankan government has accused Tamil Tiger rebels of using an airstrip in the country's north in violation of the country's ceasefire agreement. A defence ministry spokesman told the BBC that the rebels have misused the ceasefire to acquire air power. He said that they had recently taken possession of one or two aircraft Tsunami fails to bring the government and rebels closer Global Politician Soon after the tsunami hit hundreds of journalists from all over the world descended on Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Both these countries face serious challenges of secessionist movements. While rebels in Aceh want a separate nation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka are demanding interim administration for the areas that are under their control. Chandrika offers to devolve power to troubled areas Gulf News President Chandrika Kumaratunga has offered to devolve powers to the strife-torn north and eastern provinces as a solution to the ethnic conflict. Lankan Prez plans referendum on federalism Hindustan
Times She told women cadres of her Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in Colombo on Tuesday that 80 per cent of the people of Sri Lanka were in favour of solving the Sinhala-Tamil conflict through the devolution of power by changing the present centralised and unitary constitution to a federal one.
Did suspect fake death? Mar 09 (Toronto Sun) THE ALLEGED trigger man accused of killing Amretta Singh might fake his death as a tsunami victim to avoid capture, Peel Regional Police say. Vijayarajah Manickavasagar, 23, of Toronto, who's known as "Bullet" and "Vijay," was on the lam in his native Sri Lanka when the tsunami struck, police said yesterday.Working with tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka - story for International Women's DayShanthi Sivasanan, who works for Oxfam on gender and protection issues, explains some of the problems faced by women in the camps for people displaced by the tsunami, and what Oxfam is doing to help The tsunami was a very big disaster for Batticaloa, and Sri Lanka as a whole. It has created a whole new way of living for a large number of people who now have to fend for themselves. Refugees of Sri Lanka conflict are back in camp after tsunamiReliefwebJAFFNA, SRI LANKA (9 March 2005) - Victoriya Albonz and her family are back in camp after being driven from their village on Sri Lanka's northeast coast first by civil conflict, then by the tsunami of 26 December 2004. Manatkadu was one of several villages caught in the crossfire between government naval forces and Tamil Tiger separatists, forcing Victoriya and her family to move in 1995 to a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Puthukudeyiruppu.Sethusamudram sea link project could move aheadBy Indo-Asian News Service Chennai, March 8 (IANS) The objections of environmentalists notwithstanding, an ambitious project to dredge a canal between the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka to save ships a 400 km detour could finally take off. The Rs.20 billion Sethusamudram project is a sore point between the central and Tamil Nadu governments. Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK is known to oppose the project while the opposition DMK heads the union environment ministry - which is pushing the project. A tearful reunion of father with son South London Press A DAD who lost 100 relatives in the Asian tsunami disaster has finally been reunited with his surviving son.Sinnathamby Ponniah, 38, felt he had little to live for when told his wife and two daughters were among those swept to their deaths in his native Sri Lanka.But hopes were rekindled for the dad, of Penton Close, Walworth, with news that 16-year-old son Thanis had survived the surging waters by clinging to a tree. Reuters BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka, March 8 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka urgently needs a mechanism to ensure tsunami aid is distributed fairly, including to Tamil Tiger-held areas, the EU's external relations commissioner said on Tuesday. Following in the footsteps of former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush as well as Britain's Prince Charles, Benita Ferrero-Waldner visited the war-torn, wave-ravaged east and met Sri Lankan tsunami survivors who face an uncertain future living in makeshift shelters made from canvas and metal sheets. "Buffer zone hinders resettlement" More than two thousand tsunami victims launched a protest in Marandamunai in northern Ampara saying the government is not acting to provide them with housing.
"Army oppose resettlement in HSZ" BBC Sri Lanka's top legal official say that the army is opposed to settling displaced people in the government designated High Security Zone (HSZ) in the northern Jaffna peninsular. Attorney General (AG) KC Kamalasabeysan told the Supreme Court (SC) that the Sri Lanka Army has refused to allow resettlement in HSZs as they are "very sensitive" on security.
DMK justifies MK’s stand against IPKF The
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) justified its leader M Karunanidhi’s
refusal to attend a reception accorded to the Indian Peace Keeping
Force (IPKF) on its return from Sri Lanka in February 1990. Talks with LTTE soon, says Lankan President: [New Kerala]: Colombo, Mar 8 : Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said she was hopeful that talks with Tamil Tigers will start soon and was also optimistic about a deal with the rebels on joint tsunami relief distribution
Reuters COLOMBO, March 8 (Reuters) - Furious at deadly ambushes in Sri Lanka's restive east and what they say is a measly share of tsunami aid, Tamil Tiger rebel envoys head to Europe this week to lobby governments to lean on President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Rules leave tsunami survivors unable to rebuild lives ARUGAM BAY, Sri Lanka - More than two months after the tsunami that killed his wife and two young children, A.L.M. Thaseem rarely leaves his chair. But it is not despair that traps him in his heavily damaged home, listlessly scanning newspapers in the heat. It is simply that he has nothing else to do.
The World Bank says that it has no intention of giving funds directly to Tamil Tigers. In a statement issued on Monday the WB said that it does not "and have not disbursed any funding directly to the LTTE, and there is no intention to change this policy". Intelligence agency ponders whether Tamil Tigers should be outlawed OTTAWA (CP) - The national intelligence agency is considering whether to recommend that the Tamil Tigers be formally outlawed as a terrorist group. Jim Judd, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told a Senate anti-terrorism committee Monday that it's a tricky call. "It's an issue that's actively under consideration in the service," Judd told the senators. Get Tigers back to talks, Chandrika tells E.U. Hindu COLOMBO, MARCH 7 . The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, today urged the European Union (E.U.) to persuade the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to return to the negotiating table "without procrastination". Towers on hold, doomsday theory thrivesTelegraph Towers of “doom” or simply lack of money? Work on the north and south towers of the ancient Ramanathaswamy temple has come to a halt, reviving an old belief that if south-facing gopurams of some major Tamil Nadu shrines are completed it would harm the sponsor and spell doom for Sri Lanka. "Let my people lead normal lives!"Scoop, NZLet my people lead normal livesThe Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph told a delegation and officials that is on a fact finding visit to the district on the island’s northwestern coast Tuesday. “My people have endured great agony and suffering for twenty years. Let them lead normal lives like those in other parts of the country”, “It is imperative that they shouldn’t be made to wait any longer for their rightful share of the peace dividend which everyone outside the northeast has enjoyed for more than an year”, the Bishop said. Ghosts draw tsunami survivors home The New York Times NAVALADY, Sri Lanka This village had been the loveliest place to live, sitting on a narrow sandbar that extended into the Indian Ocean. One side had been a resort-caliber beach; the other, a lagoon that had separated the village from the nearby town. Palm trees dripping with coconuts had provided shade. But beauty was not why Santosh Chinnathambi Selvam decided to return. It was the idea of community that lured him, even though about one-third of his community was dead. Only a federal solution in Sri Lanka: Anandasangaree The Hindu The Tamil National Alliance members of parliament had failed in their duty to the people of North-East Sri Lanka who they represent by their refusal to participate in the Sri Lankan Government's post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, a prominent Tamil politician said today. "They have not attended any of the meetings where these matters are discussed. The President [Chandrika Kumaratunga] even offered to fly down [R] Sampanthan [the MP representing Trincomalee] to Colombo by a special helicopter for discussions on what needs to be done in the North-East, but he refused," said V. Anandasangaree, president of the Tamil United Liberation Front. He is in Chennai on a private visit.
Chandrika appoints panel to probe Eastern killings
Intra Tiger Conflict Escalates in the East A series by CBC Radio. For Tamils, the tsunami is just the latest tragedy in a country devastated by 20 years of civil war. For the rest of the world, the tsunami forced the country's tortured politics into everyone's consciousness. Here in Toronto, it's raised new questions about the intimate connections between Toronto's Tamil community and Sri Lanka - ties that are political, financial and emotional. At more than 150,000 people, Toronto's Tamils are the largest urban community of Tamils in the world.
The Tigers are a terrorist organization, notorious for their recruitment of child soldiers, suicide bombings and political assassinations. The LTTE website Tamil Net published this image of Velupillai Prabhakaran with the map of proposed separate state of Eeelam featured in the background The map includes approximately two thirds of Sri Lanka’s national coastline and sea resources One dead after riots in Jaffna One person is reported to be dead and another wounded after the security forces opened fire at rioters in Jaffna. The protests erupted after an accidental death of a 12 year old girl. "The 12-year-old
girl was riding a bicycle to school when Security Council to consider Annan's action plan on ending child soldier recruitment Acknowledging the need for a monitoring and reporting mechanism to track the recruitment of child soldiers and other children's rights violations, the United Nations Security Council today said it has started considering the proposal for such an instrument from Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Looks like one Tiger is set to tame another!
But the revolt collapsed like a house of cards in mid April. Karuna disbanded his 4,000-men well-equipped army, and left for the "safety" of the Sinhala-dominated south Sri Lanka, which ironically, he had been fighting tooth and nail since 1983.
It's high time Norway gave way to India: Col Karuna After nearly a year of hibernation, the renegade Tiger commander-in-hiding, Col Karuna, has roared! In an exclusive, written interview to the HindustanTimes.com, Karuna says that it's time Norway gave way to India as the facilitator in the Sri Lankan peace process. "India must get involved in the Sri Lankan peace process. It is high time Norway gave way to India," Karuna alias, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, said. 'Only a handful left with Karuna'BBC The rebellion by former eastern commander Karuna from the mainstream LTTE exactly a year ago was a major setback to the rebel organisation, defense analysts say.Iqbal Athas, defense analyst and a senior journalist of Sunday Times says the LTTE had only 1500 armed cadres before signing the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with Sri Lanka’s government in February 2002The Hindu FEW FORMS OF child abuse are more abhorrent than the practice of training and sending children into armed combat. Yet the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has got away with the forcible recruitment of child soldiers, some of them as young as nine or ten years of age, and perhaps weighing only slightly more than the weapons they are forced to carry.
Lanka
govt is trying to trap India, warns LTTE SP Tamilselvan, the LTTE political wing leader, has warned that the Sri Lankan government is trying to "trap" India into a difficult situation by suggesting that New Delhi should take a pro-active role in finding a solution to the island's ethnic conflict. He told the BBC's Tamil service on Thursday, that it was for the Sri Lankan government to solve the ethnic problem. A solution for it lay in the hands of the Sri Lankan government and not anybody else, he said. European monitors probe allegations of torture by Tamil Tiger rebelsEuropean cease-fire monitors on Thursday investigated allegations that Tamil Tiger rebels abducted and tortured two people in northern Sri Lanka, and police said the guerrillas had harassed the investigators. Two men _ one a former member of a Tamil militant group opposed to the rebels and the other a civilian _ had claimed they were held against their will and tortured at the Tigers' political office in Vavuniya town, 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Colombo. The other man is a civilian. Two months on, north still awaits aid
Sri Lanka has been emerging from a lengthy civil war and the tsunami aid effort has re-ignited some of the festering grievances. New disputes have erupted between the government in Colombo and the Tamil Tiger rebels. At this shelter, privacy isn't an option. If one person wants to listen to the radio, some 500 others have to. This is Mullaitivu in north-eastern Sri Lanka, an area controlled by the Tamil Tiger rebels and an area badly hit by the tsunami. Two months on, there's an increasing feeling of helplessness. Sri Lankan held for quake aid theft Sri Lankan police on Wednesday arrested a senior civil servant on a charge of siphoning off relief aid meant for thousands of tsunami survivors in the island's devastated northeast, a police official said. A
commissioner in the district office of Trincomalee was arrested in connection
with the disappearance of 12 Indian-donated electricity generators destined
for those who survived the December 26 tsunamis, the official said Wounded Tigers airlifted to Colombo LTTE’s Batticaloa-Ampara women political wing leader Kuveni and Sashimathee were airlifted to Colombo by the Sri Lanka government. Ampara’s Assistant Superintendant of Police (ASP) WM Wijepala said the wounded were first taken to Uhana by a Sri Lanka Airforce helicopter and then to Colombo by special airplane Sri Lanka orders probe on attacks against Tamil Tigers The Sri Lankan government has appointed a presidential probe committee to inquire into recent attacks against the Tamil Tiger rebels and escalation of violence in the east, a statement from the president's office said Tuesday. Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's office said the president has appointed a two-member committee to look into escalation of violence and attacks against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Sri Lanka's peace process getting nowhere [India
News]: New Delhi, Feb 9 : The seeds of a future conflict in Sri Lanka
are being sown along the long border that separates the Sinhalese-majority
regions from the overwhelmingly Tamil Batticaloa in the country's powder
keg east.
Lankan ceasefire pact defective: Expert With the recent completion of the third year of the Sri Lankan ceasefire agreement amid heightened tensions and killings, a New Delhi-based expert has said that the longest running truce deal requires changes. "The problem is that the ceasefire agreement is defective. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) only points out violations and no more. They have been soft and are unwilling to forthrightly declare violations," said S Chandrasekharan, Director of New Delhi-based South Asia Analysis Group.
In Sri Lanka, no war, no peace
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Since
December, the Tamil community here raised millions of dollars in aid for
victims of the tsunami in Sri Lanka. Toronto Tamils have a long history
of giving to charity for their homeland. Much of that charity is controlled
by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
Vinayagamoorthy
Muralitharan, better known by the nom de guerre of "Col Karuna",
raised the banner of revolt against the Tiger chieftain, Velupillai Prabhakaran,
in March 2004.