The Associated Press
Sri Lanka's President Urges Tsunami Aid Deal with Tamil Rebels
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has vowed to reach a deal with Tamil rebels on distribution of tsunami aid, despite stiff opposition from her coalition partners. Rebel-held areas in the north and east of the country were among the regions devastated by the December 26 tsunami.
Tamils' fears about defence pact baseless: Saran
India's Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, said on Tuesday, that the proposed India-Lanka Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) would not be a threat to any community in Sri Lanka, and that the Tamils' apprehensions about it had no basis.
Lanka's shadow war threatens ceasefire pact
The "war of attrition" between the mainstream LTTE and the breakaway Karuna group, which has been going on since Karuna revolted in March 2004, is now a "shadow war" between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government, posing a serious threat to the February 2002 ceasefire agreement and the peace process which has been on since then.
Indian foreign secretary meets Sri Lankan PM
Indian Foreign Secretary
Shyam Saran met Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda
Rajapakse over breakfast Monday and later discussed
bilateral ties with his counterpart H.M.G.S. Palihakkara.
Large crowds of mourners, colleagues and politicians gathered to Batticaloa for the funeral of murdered journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram.
Campaigners for peace and democracy stressed the need of an independent international inquiry to investigate recent political killings including that of Tamilnet editor D Sivaram.
Defence cooperation accord tops talks agenda
The stalled Indo-Sri Lanka Defence Cooperation Agreement will be among the several items on the agenda for official level talks between visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Sri Lankan counterpart H.M.G.S. Palihakkara.
The
Abduction and Assassination of "Taraki"
Sivaram
The
time was 10.25 pm when Dharmaratnam Puvirajakeerthi
Sivaram (DP Sivaram) alias Taraki
came out of the Bambalapitiya restaurant on the land
side of Galle Road in Bambalapitiya. There
were three others with him. This place was not a
favourite haunt of Sivaram for imbibing
Bachchanalian brew as it served only beer and
foreign liquor. Siva usually preferred hard, local
stuff.It was by sheer accident on that fateful
Thursday of April 28th that he had gone there with
the others.
THE SLAYING OF SIVARAM
The abduction and murder of D Sivaram alias Taraki, is a crime and a stupidity. It is a crime not only in the simple legal sense but in an ethical and moral sense too. And if it were conducted in the anti-Tiger cause, it is a tactical and strategic stupidity, which will hurt that cause and help the Tigers far more than any single target I can think I can think of.
Jean Paul Sartre said of his rival Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser, “True, Louis Althusser is a Stalinist, but not every Stalinist is Louis Althusser!” Similarly it is true that Taraki was pro-Tiger, and possibly, even probably a Tiger, but not every Tiger was Sivaram/Taraki!
International condemnation
International organisations andm media rights groups worldwide condemned the killing of senior Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram in Colombo on Friday.“We demand the government of Chandrika Kumaratunga to investigate the killing and bring the killers and the masterminds to justice,” Paris based media campaign group Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) said.
"Siva has been abducted!"
I was visiting friends with my family when the call came through. It was around 10pm in London. We had to cut short the visit and rush home.
My 11 year old son was not happy to go home as he had to leave his playmates.
"What is going on?"
I gave him the unpalatable information. He was thoughtful on the way home.
Minister asked to aid Tamil journalist
Reporters Without Borders have asked Norway's Minister of Justice Odd Einar Dørum to intervene after a Tamil journalist in Oslo has had to endure six months of death threats.
NEW YORK: The LTTE, in an effort to
endear itself with the United Nations, has written
a second letter requesting a meeting with Under-Secretary-General
Olara Otunnu, the UN Special Representative for Children
and Armed Conflict, but the request has not been granted.
"I have no plans to meet them until the Security
Council adopts a new resolution," Mr. Otunnu
told the Sunday Times, despite a public assurance
by the LTTE that it has stopped recruiting child soldiers.
But the UN children's agency UNICEF has accused the
LTTE of breaking its pledges and continuing to recruit
children even during and after the tsunami disaster.
Police baffled why Sivaram was killed near parliament
Police investigating journalist Dharmalingam Sivaram's
killing are baffled as to why he was shot dead on
the banks of the Diyawanna Oya near parliament.
Sivaram, also known by his journalistic pseudonym,
Taraki had been shot once through his head killing
him instantaneously. Police have recovered two 9mm
empties near the body.
`Whoever who shot him could easily have collected
the empties,` a policeman told The Sunday Island,
adding that a second shot had entered the body after
going through his left hand.
Slain journalist's body not for LTTE
The family members of slain journalist Dharmaretnam Sivaram who often wrote under the pen-name Taraki, have turned down a request from the LTTE to bring the body to the guerrilla-controlled Kilinochchi before the funeral in Batticaloa tomorrow. The request had been made by LTTE Political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan through a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian, but Mr. Sivaram's wife, Yogaranjani, turned down the request.
LTTE blames Lankan military for scribe's killing
The LTTE has blamed the intelligence wing of the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil paramilitaries working with it, for the killing of top Tamil journalist, Dharmaretnam Sivaram alias Taraki, in Colombo on Thursday.
Battered by the Wave, but Not Beaten
ARUGAM BAY, Sri Lanka -- Four months after the tsunami, Ranga Krishnarajan is not entirely back on his feet. But at least he's back in the kitchen.
The Director, Colombo Crime Division, Senior Superintendent of Police Sarath Lugoda says up to now there are no hints revealed with regard to the murder of journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram.
Editor of pro-LTTE website shot dead
Sivaram, editor of the popular pro-Tamil Tiger rebel website Tamilnet and a columnist for a local English daily, was abducted by four armed men as he left a Colombo restaurant after dinner late on Thursday, they said. His body was found near a marsh close to the national parliament. He was apparently shot at point blank range.
Pro-Tamil Tiger editor shot dead
A leading journalist who wrote in support of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels has been abducted and shot dead in the capital, Colombo.
Murdered editor champion of Tamil cause
Dharmaretnam Sivaram was an active champion of Tamil nationalism, both prolific and controversial.He turned full time to journalism after quitting the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, a Tamil rebel outfit led by the charismatic left winger, Uma Maheswaran.
Tamil scribe murdered in Lanka
A top Tamil journalist whose articles favoured the mainstream LTTE rebels over a breakaway faction was fatally shot hours after attackers abducted him from a restaurant in Colombo, police said today.
'Government responsible' : LTTE
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have blamed the Sri Lankan government should take resposibility of the killing of prominent Tamil journalist D Sivaram. The LTTE said military intelligence and paramilitary Tamil militant groups are responsible for the killing of Tamilnet editor Sivaram on Thursday.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse strongly condemned the killing of senior Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram.
In memory of Sivaram
Dharmaratnam Sivaram was way above the run-of-the-mill
journalists working in Grub Street. He was a leading
Tamil intellectual who is the latest to sacrifice
his life in a beastly war that nobody wants to continue,
except those who thrive in it.
One of the cruelest aspects of this war is the loss
of the lives of many valuable Tamil intellectuals.
On Thursday (April 28) Sivaram joined the ranks of
Neelan Tiruchelvam, Ragini Thirangama and a host of
other Tamil intellectuals who risked their lives for
the cause they championed.
Prominent Tamil journalist slain near Sri Lankan capital
fatally shot hours after being seized by attackers at a restaurant in the capital, police and colleagues said Friday.
Dharmeratnam Sivaram, 46, a board member of the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site and a columnist for Sri Lanka's English newspaper the Daily Mirror, was abducted by four unidentified men at the restaurant in Colombo late Thursday and taken away in a jeep, witnesses said on condition of anonymity
Dharamartnam Sivaram alias Tharaki was abducted
last Thursday and found dead with
gunshot injuries . His body was found near the Japan-Sri
Lanka Friendship Bridge today (29).
Sivaram was once a member of the armed wing of the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). He later left the party and worked as a journalist , somewhat aligning with the LTTE. He is also columnist to the Daily Mirror and editor of the tamilnet.com web site.
Dharamaretnam Sivaram (46), leading Sri Lankan Tamil columnist and editor of the widely read website Tamilnet was kidnapped and shot dead by unidentified men in Colombo late on Thursday
India, Lanka put defence pact proposal on back burner
India and Sri Lanka have put the idea of signing a Defence Cooperation Agreement on the back burner, says Sri Lanka's Acting Defence Minister, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake.
HC permits Lankan Tamils to visit Sri Lanka
The Madras High Court on Monday permitted two Sri
Lankan Nationals, being detained by Tamil Nadu police,
in connection with the murder of EPRLF leader Padmanabhan
and Rajiv Gandhi assassination, to proceed to the
island nation.
Lankan peace process still very fragile
War is still not on the cards in troubled Sri Lanka. But the peace process, so thoughtfully and courageously bought into being in February 2002, continues to be very fragile.
The Reopened A9 is Changing the Face of Sri Lanka's North
JAFFNA - A journey along Sri
Lanka's historic A9 road between Jaffna and Vavuniya
shows clearly how prosperity can burgeon amid an uneasy
coexistence between truce and tension.
The ceasefire agreement between the Government and
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) still
holds after 3 years, though progress towards a peace
settlement has been uncertain.
This ambivalence shows its many faces during a drive
down the A9 - repaired with ADB support - which has
opened up the conflict-devastated north to the rest
of country.
Rajani Thiranagama: A true heroine of our times
More
than fifteen years have passed since Rajani Thiranagama
nee Rajini
Rajasingham was brutally gunned down at Thirunelvely
. Jaffna on September
21st 1989 as she was cycling back home from the Jaffna
University. She was
Professor of Anatomy at the Jaffna Varsity medical
faculty. The 35 year old
mother of two daughters was also a human rights activist,
feminist, critic of
narrow nationalism and opponent of irresponsible militarism.
No one has officially
claimed responsibility for her killing and several
attempts have been made by
those close to the perpetrators to deflect blame elsewhere.
Despite these moves
the people at large know who the killers were though
not many dared to say it
publicly.
War
usually conjures up images of death and damaged buildings.
A drive
through the North-East would confirm this. But perhaps,
the worst effect is the
loss of values, destruction of community and the damage
to institutions that are
worse in non-personal terms. They take much longer
to recover than the loss
of life. They make people nasty and life impossible.
While death robs people of
life, these rob people of their humanity.
Muslim refugees at the Norochcholai Alamkudah Mullaitivu B refugee camp are doubtful of a fresh start of a new life in Wanni.MS Abdeen, a refugee in Puttalam camp, said there future is uncertain as there is no civil administration in LTTE-controlled areas.
Five more killed in LTTE-Karuna clashes in Batticaloa
Nearly 250 cadres of both the LTTE and the Karuna group had been killed over the past one year which is making it difficult to take the peace process forward. At least five cadres have been gunned down in the ongoing clashes between Tamil Tiger rebels and the activists loyal to renegade rebel commander V Muralitharan well-known as Colonel Karuna, in the Eastern Batticaloa district on Thursday, worsening the security situation in the area, military sources said.
SRI LANKA: SIGNS OF A GROWTH IN MUSLIM EXTREMISM
Batticaloa, 21 April (AKI) - The Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka which is experiencing violence due to a defiance of the current cease fire agreement between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is also home to a growing form of "Islamic extremism." Reports of Muslim factions, mainstream groups and extremists on the verge of a clash in the region, have emerged after a complaint to the local police by mainstream Muslims, that they were being threatened by extremists.
Sri Lanka: poverty breeds extremism in east
BATTICALOA: Batticaloa district, which has become a killing field defying the cease fire agreement, has one more intrigue added to its list of deathly confusions. The emergence of what is seen by some quarters as 'Islamic extremism'.
Sri Lanka warns Tigers against provoking troops, vow to 'protect peace'
(AFP) - Sri Lanka accused Tamil Tiger rebels of provoking government security forces and said the military was ready to take action to "protect peace," a state-run daily reported Friday.
Leaders attending the African-Asian summit on Friday agreed to jointly present a common candidate from the Asian continent for the United Nations' top post.
Hopes dwindle that tsunami could prove silver lining to Sri Lanka peace
Deadly foes for two decades, Sri Lankan troops and Tamil rebels worked together after the tsunami, helping one another with relief efforts in the thick of the disaster. But their leaders found little room for agreement, though the waves devastated both the Tamils of the north and the Sinhalese of the south. For weeks after this island nation was hit by the tsunami, killing at least 31,000 people and leaving about a million more homeless, rebel leaders and government officials argued about how to distribute aid and run relief efforts in guerrilla-held areas.
State's Rocca Urges Sri Lanka To Embrace Reforms, End Insurgency
Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca has urged Sri Lanka to continue to embrace economic reforms and to take advantage of the Millennium Challenge opportunity to enhance growth and reduce poverty.
"It is vital that Sri Lanka continue to embrace economic reforms that through expanding trade will offer new opportunities to young Sri Lankans in globally competitive industries," Rocca said in a speech at the American Center in Colombo April 19.
LTTE urged to be flexible on aid
The Norwegian facilitators
have urged the Tamil Tiger rebels to be flexible in
reaching an agreement with the government of Sri Lanka
on disbursing tsunami aid.
According to a local media report, Norwegian Foreign
Minister Jan Petersen had contacted London-based chief
negotiator and political advisor of the LTTE Anton
Balasingham over the phone on Monday.
All attacks should stop - Solheim
All attacks whether it is by the LTTE or against LTTE should stop, says Norwegian Peace envoy, Eric Solheim.
Peace Envoy Solheim and Norwegian ambassador, Hans Brattskar met Col.Bhanu, Commander for Batticaloa and Ampara and I. Ilanthirayan, head of LTTE's political division for Batticaloa and Ampara at Solaiyaham Conference Centre, Batticaloa.
Truce mission to see LTTE airstrip
The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission on Tuesday sought access to an airstrip allegedly set up by the LTTE in rebel-held Kilinochchi region.
'India should be more pro-active in Sri Lanka'
New Delhi, A prominent Sri Lankan Tamil politician ended a visit to India Thursday calling upon New Delhi to play a pro-active role to end what he said was the growing stranglehold of the Tamil Tigers in his country.
Bomb in Sri Lanka unlikely work of rebels-police
Reuters) - A home-made bomb exploded outside a Sri Lankan hotel on Wednesday, injuring three people, but it did not appear to be a rebel attack, police said.
Bomb disposal experts outside the hotel in the capital Colombo said an explosive device made from something like a mine exploded in a jeep, badly damaging one side of the vehicle and blowing out the windows.
JVP threatens to bring down Lanka govt over LTTE tsunami deal
Sri Lanka's coalition government was staring in the face of a crisis today with its key ally Marxist party threatening to withdraw support if it struck a deal with Tamil Tigers to distribute foreign tsunami aid.
Sri Lanka government-Tiger joint tsunami mechanism may be further delayed
Despite efforts by the visiting Norwegian peace envoy the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers are unlikely to reach accord soon on a joint tsunami relief mechanism, political sources said Tuesday
U.S. government asks Sri Lanka, Tamil Tiger rebels to resume peace talks
A senior U.S. envoy Tuesday urged Sri Lanka's government and Tamil Tiger rebels to resume peace talks and appealed to the guerillas to stop killing rivals and recruiting child soldiers. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca said the U.S. administration may drop the insurgents from a list of terrorist organizations if it "renounces terrorism by words and deeds."
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader told Norwegian special peace envoy that Muslims returning to the North face harassment from Tamil Tigers.
Rocca visits Sri Lanka’s troubled east amid tension
A senior US official and Norway’s special peace envoy visited Sri Lanka’s embattled eastern province Tuesday amid growing tension between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said.
Political Killings and Sri Lanka’s Stalled Peace
UTHR(J) Special Report
Once again a wave of political killings in northern and eastern Sri Lanka is threatening the security of civilians; the violence also threatens their fragile psychological recovery from the devastating tsunami disaster. Both the LTTE and its rival Karuna faction have carried out violent attacks, but to dismiss these killings lightly as tit-for-tat would be utterly misleading as their forces are far from equivalent.
Tigers ‘ready for joint mechanism’
Tamil Tigers say they agreed for the joint tsunami mechanism before their delegation left for an international tour.“We agreed with Norwegian proposals for the mechanism before our departure,” head of LTTE’s peace secretariat S Pulithevan speaking from Geneva told BBC Sandeshaya (BBC Sinhala).
Joint mechanism in weeks: Norway
Norwegian facilitators expect a breakthrough in the impasse on the proposed joint mechanism for tsunami reconstruction in Sri Lanka's devastated North and East.
Lankan Govt, LTTE take their fight to global arena
In a new development in the troubled peace process in Sri Lanka, the Government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are taking their fight to the global arena.
Canada refuses to accept de Silva
Canada has snubbed the Sri Lanka Government over its High Commissioner's appointment.It has refused to accept Colombo's nominee to be the next High Commissioner to that country, a local newspaper said yesterday.
Aid deal still way off for Sri Lanka
An elusive tsunami aid-sharing deal Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers are lobbying for to rebuild coastal communities in their north and eastern strongholds is still some way off and holding back hopes of long-term peace, the rebels say.
Karuna cadres killed in Polonnaruwa
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels have killed five members of renegade rebel leader Karuna faction, police said.
LTTE kills nine Karuna loyalists
Colombo, April 15 (UNI): At least nine cadres, loyal to the renegade rebel commander 'Colonel' Karuna, were reportedly killed in an attack by the LTTE cadres in Sorivil, a border village in the Welikanda area in the Eastern province today.
The chairman of a Hindu temple who was kidnapped by guerrilla group the Tamil Tigers and held hostage for two months spoke this week of his ordeal.
Rajasingham Jeyadevan, 50, an accountant, from Hale Drive, Mill Hill, who runs the Eelapatheeswarar Aalayam Temple in Union Road, Wembley, visited his native Sri Lanka with a friend in January to help with the tsunami relief effort.
Temple leader tells of capture by Tamil Tigers
Rajasingham Jeyadevan, 50, who runs the Eelapatheeswarar Aalayam Temple in Union Road, Wembley, visited his native Sri Lanka with a friend in January to help with the tsunami relief effort. A qualified accountant from Edgware who has lived in Britain for 30 years, Mr Jeyadavan contacted the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) hoping to discuss aid to the Tamil-administered areas of the island. Mr Jeyadevan and his friend, AK Vivekamanthan, were staying in a guest house with LTTE minders when events took a turn for the worse.
Nobel laureate praises LTTE for maintaining ceasefire
The South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday praised the LTTE for holding the ceasefire for the past three years.
Canada to step up its role in Sri Lanka peace process
The Government of Canada is exploring ways in which it can step up its role in the Sri Lankan peace process, according to a spokesperson for the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The foreign ministry recently held a series of roundtables meetings with Canadians of Sri Lankan origin including Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim ethnicities to discuss how Canada can be more involved in supporting Sri Lanka's peace process.
Norway in fresh bid to save Sri Lanka peace process
Sri Lanka's peacebroker Norway announced a fresh bid to salvage the island's faltering efforts to end ethnic bloodshed amid escalating violence in the island's embattled eastern province. Oslo's envoy, Erik Solheim, will arrive here Sunday on his latest mission to hold talks with the government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) aimed at reviving the peace process, diplomats said on Friday
Divisional Secretary (DS) in Thirukkovil, Ampara, P Thavarasa has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen.
Tsunami deal to be foundation for Sri Lanka’s final peace deal
PTI Colombo April 14: Sri Lanka’s proposed joint mechanism to work with Tamil Tiger rebels in distributing tsunami aid would be the foundation for a final peace deal, the Sri Lankan President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga said today.
Kamaratunga wants a deal with LTTE
Sri Lanka’s president called on Thursday for a deal with Tamil Tiger rebels on distributing aid to tsunami survivors, saying it would set the stage for a final agreement to end a decades-old separatist war.
"Joint mechanism - foundation for unity"
President Chandrika Kumaratunge says the proposed joint mechanism to provide aid to the people of the North and East would be a foundation to find a final solution to the protracted national conflict.
Special Court to hear organised crime?
Special Court to be set up to cope up increasing number of organised crime in the country.This has been recommended to the government by the special committee of legal experts led by Solicitor General, C.R. de Silva.
No New Year for tsunami refugees
Sri Lanka’s tsunami refugees said Thursday's Sinhala, Tamil new year is just another day as they have no facilities to celebrate the most important family event of the year.
Vote on Anti-Conversion Law
The atmosphere among Christians
in Sri Lanka has remained tense recently as the parliament
prepares to vote on the Freedom of Religion Bill.
The proposed law contains rules to prevent people
from changing their religion, and was formed by Sri
Lanka's Minister of Buddhist Affairs, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake,
with the support of the JHU - party of nationalist
Buddhist monks.
LTTE re-establishes top level links with South Africa
The LTTE has re-established top-level links with South Africa.The Leader of the outfit's political wing, SP Tamilselvan, met the South African Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, in Durban on Monday.
A Tamil rebel request to send a delegation to the funeral of Pope John Paul on Friday was turned down by the Italian Foreign Ministry this week, The Sunday Times reported. It said LTTE operatives in Europe had established contact with the Vatican and the Italian government to have a delegation from the rebel group attend the funeral. The request for an invitation came only a few days after an April 1 meeting the LTTE’s official delegation led by its political wing leader S P Thamilselvan had with Italian Foreign Ministry officials as part of their European briefing tour, the paper said. The rebel delegation is now in South Africa.
The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has sought to impart lessons to the Sri Lankan media on ‘responsible journalism.’ Of the manner in which the media reported the recent incident off the eastern coast, where the LTTE fired at a naval vessel with a monitor on board, the SLMM says it ‘would like to underline the importance of responsible journalism so that rumours and disinformation do not find their way into the media causing unnecessary confusion."
How Sri Lanka undermined the infallibility of Pope John Paul Two
One
of the greatest strengths or weaknesses of any Pope
is the belief in his "divine" infallibility.
One is able to discern the importance given to this
infallibility concept in all the media hype
surrounding the death of Pope John Paul the
second. It was this confidence in Papal infallibility
by the incumbent Pope and likeminded faith on the
part of followers that contributed greatly towards
the authoritative mystique exercised by Karol
Wajtyla in his Popish avatar.
Life on hold for Sri Lankan tsunami victims
GALLE, Sri Lanka Anjana Manimalar has been sketching visions of her future life with a ballpoint pen on the plastic ground sheet of an otherwise bare tent that has been her family's home since early January. The 10-year-old has drawn a house surrounded by flowers, with a fat cow in the garden
Politically motivated killings in the east
The deputy leader of the Trincomalee Elam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the town on Monday around 10.30 a.m. Police searched the area immediately but did not arrest any one.
Tension mounts in Sri Lanka amid moves to salvage peace bid
peacebroker Norway prepares to make a fresh attempt to restart talks between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, officials and diplomats said.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) seized a soldier in Trincomalee district on Saturday, a day after ceasefire monitors said the rebels had attacked a navy craft in violation of a truce.
Truce monitors meet LTTE to curb escalating violence in East
(UNI) Members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in the eastern Trincomalee district met the district political head of the Tamil Tiger rebels, S Elilan in a bid to curb the escalating truce related violence in the region.
The crucial discussion between the LTTE and the Nordic truce monitors has come a couple of days after the SLMM ruled out the LTTE's firing at a naval vessel off Verugal sea waters as 'a truce violation'.
Justice triumphs London Eeelap Patheeswarar Temple Issue
April
7th will be etched in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
annals as a day of defeat. This humiliating defeat
was not suffered in the battlefields of Tamil Eelam.
The enemy was not the armed forces of an oppressive
Sinhala Buddhist hegemonistic state.The victor this
time was none other than "Dharma Devathai"
or the Goddess of Justice. Truth and Justice prevailed
in a British Court. Tiger minions in London brought
upon themselves a wholly unnecessary , self - inflicted
debacle. Bharati' s immortal lines "Tharmathin
Vaalvathanai Soothu Kavvum; Tharmam marupadiyum vellum"
became true!
LTTE Knocked Down by the High Court of UK
Case No: IHQ 050265 before the High Court of Justice
in UK on April 8, 2005 seemed quite simple. It was
a case of the landlord of Pavitt Hall, Union Road,
Wembley, Middlesex locking out those who claimed to
be its tenants. These tenants filed a case saying
that the doors of Pavitt Hall had been unlawfully
closed on the night of 22/23rd March 2005, which amounted
to an eviction from the premises. They argued before
Mr. Justice Tugendhat that the doors should be opened
to them once again.
UK Court rejects LTTE grab of Shiva Temple in London
London, 08 April, (Asiantribune.com): Yesterday Mr Justice Tugendhat put an end to the attempts of the LTTE to grab the Eelapatheeswarar Aalayam (Shiva Temple) in London by ruling that the original Trustees -- two of whom were held incommunicado in the Vanni --should take control and run the affairs of this Hindu Temple as they had done for the last six years.
LTTE delegation in South Africa
A high-level delegation of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas is in South Africa to meet the country's leaders.According to TamilNet, a website run by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a senior South African government official received the delegation as it flew into Pretoria from Europe.
Rebel fighting kills two more in Sri Lanka
At least two people were killed in Sri Lanka's restive eastern province on Friday in what military officials described as escalating rebel factional fighting.
Tsunami fails to bring the government and rebels closer
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.
Tamil Tigers 'breached ceasefire'
European monitors of the ceasefire in Sri Lanka have ruled that Tamil Tiger rebels breached the accord by attacking a Sri Lankan navy vessel on Tuesday.
Norwegian broker to launch fresh peace bid
A Norwegian peace broker plans to visit Sri Lanka this month to coax the Tamil Tiger rebels and the government back to peace talks stalled for nearly two years, an official said Thursday.
Tigers will not get vast powers
The Tamil tigers
will not be conferred any powers that are not relevant
to Tsunami reconstruction said Foreign Minister Laxman
Kadiragamar.Addressing a press conference convened
to out line the progress of government Tsunami rehabilitation
work the foreign minister admitted that the government
has not yet been able to arrive at an agreement with
Tamil Tigers on how rehabilitation should be conducted
in rebel held areas.
Kadiragamar said “the country can be rest assured
that there will be no question of an agreement be
signed which sells out to the LTTE in the sense of
vast powers”
The slow pace of Sri Lankan recovery
It is now more than 100 days since the tsunami devastated the countries around the Indian ocean. In Sri Lanka, it left more than 30,000 dead and half a million homeless.
Rogue S.Lanka rebels seen in army area - monitor
(Reuters) - Renegade rebels, who Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers say are helping the army kill its cadres, are operating in a government-held area, according to testimony by a Nordic ceasefire monitor obtained by Reuters.
Disbursal of tsunami aid held up: Lanka
(PTI): Sri Lanka's proposed joint mechanism to disburse foreign aid to tsunami survivors has been delayed because some of the key Tamil rebel leaders were still out of the country, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said today.
A policeman and a civilian were shot dead in two separate incidents in Sri Lanka's restive eastern province, the military said Wednesday.Unidentified gunmen shot dead a policeman guarding a warehouse holding tsunami relief aid in the town of Kalmunai and escaped with his weapon, military spokesman Daya Ratnayake said.
Thamilselvan Condemns Castro Over Jeyadevan Affair
Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam political commissar Suppiah
Paramu Thamilselvan has condemned his colleague
Veerakulasingham Manivannan alias Castro over the
Rajasingham Jeyadevan affair. Forty - nine year old
Jeyadevan - a British resident - was inveigled
into the Wanni through false pretences and held in
tiger custody for 59 days from Jan 8th to Mar
9th. The accountant cum businessman was coerced
into transferring control of a Hindu temple in London
to a tiger front - Sivayogam Trust. He was released
due to British pressure on the LTTE hierarchy.
LTTE chief mourns Pope's death
(IANS) Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran has mourned the death of Pope John Paul II, describing him as a man of "compassion, kindness and brotherly love".
Tamil Tigers 'attack navy boat'
Tamil Tiger rebels have opened fire on a Sri Lankan navy ship carrying an international cease-fire monitor, a military spokesman said.
The monitor sustained minor injuries after diving for cover when the ship was attacked near the eastern port of Trincomalee, reports said.
Tamil Tigers are 'lying' - SLMM
A Sri Lankan navy boat was fired at near Muttur while patrolling in Trincomalee bay Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said. SLMM spokesman Helen Olaffsdottir told the BBC that the boat was fired at about 0400GMT off the LTTE-controlled coastal area.
UNICEF: Tamil Tiger rebels recruited 106 children since the tsunami
Tamil Tiger rebels have recruited 106 children into their ranks since the Dec. 26 tsunami hit Sri Lanka, UNICEF officials said.The recruits included those taken from tsunami refugee camps in the Tamil-majority north and east of Sri Lanka, parts of which are under guerrilla control, UNICEF spokesman Marc Vergara told The Associated Press.
Tamil man who killed German 'spoke to God'
A Tamil man wielding a Samurai sword who killed a woman and injured three others in an attack on a German church claimed he spoke to God, police in the southwestern city of Stuttgart said on Monday.
Unrequited love possible motive in church attack
A bloody samurai sword attack by a Sri Lankan man on a church congregation in Germany leaving one person dead and three seriously wounded was possibly rooted in unrequited love and a psychiatric illness, police in Stuttgart said on Monday.
Lanka to have 'conscience vote' on religious conversions bill
The Sri Lankan parliament will have a "conscience vote" on the controversial bill to curb "unethical" religious conversions, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has said.Revealing this in an interview to the state-owned The Sunday Observer, the Prime Minister said that this was a demonstration of the existence of democracy in Sri Lanka.
No defence pact with Sri Lanka: Vaiko
The MDMK leader Vaiko today said that there was no possibility of a defence pact between India and Sri Lanka. Talking to reporters here, he said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured him that the centre had not taken any decision on the matter.
Sri Lankan government official shot dead by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead a government official Monday amid escalating violence in Sri Lanka's volatile east, the military said.. Kailanathan, 55, a director at the Ministry of Vocational Training, was having lunch when suspected guerrillas opened fire, said military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake.
More water, no water; refugee dilemma
As the hundredth day of the devastating Indian ocean tsunami dawns, refugees in the Batticaloa district are dealt another blow by heavy rains.
India warned Norway about Prabhakaran
(Asiantribune.com): The Congress Party leaders had warned Norway even before the party came to power at the Centre that India would never give any legitimacy or recognition to LTTE supreme Velupillai Prabhakaran or his group for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. New Delhi considered that the killing was a cowardly act of terrorism and the Indian leaders believe that the killing of a prime ministerial candidate during a general election was a direct interference in the Indian democratic process.
Govt "keenly" pursuing talks with LTTE
(PTI) The Sri Lankan government was "keenly" pursuing the peace process with the LTTE and "we are confident that a solution will be found," Sri Lankan National Enterprise Development Minister Rohita Bogollagama said on Saturday.Bogollagama, who arrived here from Colombo on a two-day private visit, told reporters at Chennai airport that in the process of negotiations, there was bound to be conditions, but "the thing is to find solutions."
Fear of snap election as Sri Lankan president at odds with allies
(AFP) - Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga could call a snap election before the end of 2005 because of friction with her Marxist allies over economic reforms and peace talks with Tamil rebels, analysts said.
Sri Lanka's main opposition plans mass rally against government
Sri Lanka's main opposition party has planned a mass rally this week to protest against the government's alleged mismanagement of the economy, the peace process and aid intended for tsunami victims, a lawmaker said Sunday
`Joint mechanism could help move peace process forward'
As the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attempt to work out a joint
mechanism for post-tsunami reconstruction,
Sri Lanka: Along the spirited road to recovery
The idea had been to celebrate with a romantic sunset
ceremony on one of Sri Lanka's loveliest palm-fringed
beaches, and then to dance the night away against
the backdrop of the Indian Ocean.
But with less than 24 hours to go they received a warning that must rank as one of the worst pre-marital scares of all time: a tsunami could be on the way.
A HEXHAM-BASED charity has finally begun its mission
to help rebuild villages destroyed by the tsunami
on Boxing Day.
Roy and Catherine Dixon arrived in Sri Lanka last
weekend.
And they are about to embark on several vital projects
in the south of the devastated island.
Roy and Catherine’s charity, Mercy Trucks, along with
partner agencies, plan to build 100 new homes on a
former coconut plantation, about an hour-and-a-half’s
drive from the capital, Colombo.
Suspected LTTE cadres remanded
The Sri Lankan navy has arrested four Indians and two suspected LTTE cadres trying to smuggle a kilogram of heroin into the country.The men were traveling in a boat from southern India when they were captured near Mannar
Indian Reds build bridges with Lanka’s controversial JVP
Indian communists have shed their reserve about Sri
Lanka's controversial Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP),
and are building bridges with it.
JVP's supremo, Somawansa Amarasinghe, and central
committee member Bimal Ratnayake, are currently in
Chandigarh, in Punjab, to participate in the 19th
Congress of the Communist Party of India (CPI) beginning
on Wednesday
Tamil Tigers launch TV channel
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas have taken a small
but significant step towards their undying goal of
carving out a separate state by launching a satellite
TV channel beaming to Europe.In the process, the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has become the first
insurgent outfit, albeit one dubbed terrorist in more
than one country, to operate a television station
of this kind.
CNN has a 'competitor' from Sri Lanka
The LTTE's recently launched satellite channel, National
Television of Tamileelam (NTT), is expected to play
the crucial role that CNN has played in recent American
military operations across the globe.
Balasingham denies discussing Jeyadevan with the Brits
D.B.S.
Jeyaraj
The
Rajasingham Jeyadevan affair has predictably evoked
much heat amid the Tamil expatriate
community particularly in Britain. This is because
Jeyadevn is a well - known Tamil nationalist
in
London. The methodology employed to coerce him into
transferring control of a Hindu temple has
shocked most people. If this could happen to Jeyadevan
it could happen to us too is the dominant
thought and speech in these circles.
Tigers go to court over Eelappatheeswarar Temple
By
D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The
controversy surrounding the Alperton Eelappatheeswarar
Hindu temple has entered a new
phase last week with activists of the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam organization in London going to
courts over the issue. In a striking example of dramatic
irony the very same LTTE that violated a
number of legal norms in misappropriating the Sivan
temple is now trying to use the British judicial
system to strengthen its hold over it.
Grenade attack on Tigers' office
Three people were hurt when attackers threw a grenade at the political office of the Tamil Tiger rebels in Vavuniya, northern Sri Lanka. Two of those injured in the attack in the early hours of Monday were workers at the office.
Sri Lanka rules out early resumption of peace talks with LTTE
The Sri Lankan government has ruled out an early resumption of stalled peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels but said a deal on distributing aid for tsunami victims was possible. "A formal resumption of the peace process is very much on the backburner," Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar told the Foreign Correspondent's Association of Sri Lanka here last night. The peace process will remain on hold as the attention has shifted to tsunami relief after the December 26 natural disaster, he said adding even before the tsunami the process had been stalled.
Tsunami unites Sri Lanka Burghers
The tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka in December has had the effect of bringing together the country's Burgher community.The Burghers are descendants of the Dutch and Portuguese who colonised Sri Lanka in the 16th Century.
Red Sea border refugees are all Sri Lankans: gov't
(Xinhuanet) -- The 137 refugees rounded up by the Egyptian Coast Guard authorities at their Red Sea border last Friday have all been confirmed as Sri Lankans, said the Sunday Observer.The weekly newspaper quoted I. Ansar, director general of the foreign ministry for overseas administration consular affairs, as saying that they are "job seekers" in Israel
Three months in to the Tsunami crisis, little has changed in Mulaithive observes Dinasena Rathugamage who visited the area.He says “Only the dead and the wounded are not to be seen and debris are scattered all around”
Kaiser medical teams leave Sri Lanka early
Shootings and grenade attack cut disaster aid short
A recent spate of shootings and hand-grenade attacks in eastern Sri Lanka has cut short a program by Kaiser Permanente to send teams of doctors to assist in tsunami relief efforts there
Sri Lankan Government Accused of 'Dithering'
Three months on from the December 26 tsunami, the Sri Lankan government is “dithering” over the rebuilding of permanent housing, a British aid agency worker said today.Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by the treacherous waves as they ripped up coastal communities and killed more than 30,000 people on the island.
Campaign for abolition of Lanka Executive Presidency
begins
A peoples' movement for the abolition of Sri Lanka's
powerful Executive Presidency began on Monday, with
the appearance of thousands of posters in Colombo
calling for the abolition
ASP Udugampola who raided Army safe house at Athurugiriya arrested
ASP Kulasiri Udugampola who raided the Army safe house at Athurugiriya on January 2, 2002 was arrested yesterday morning by a special police investigation team in Kandy.
Udugampola was on compulsory leave. The Attorney General will indict ASP Udugampola on 20 counts including instituting false charges against former Army Commander Lt. General Lionel Balagalle and several Army officers and wrongful confinement of Army personnel in police custody.
Tigers collect taxes from passengers travelling by air to the northeast
Tamil guerrillas have started taxing passengers who travel by air to the northeastern part of the country. This has prompted many of the affected people, including expatriate Tamil community returning on holiday to seek the assistance of security forces, military officials said yesterday.
HARDtalk spoke with Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister about reconstruction efforts and the tense situation between the government and the LTTE, Tamil Tiger rebel group.
'Powerless to save Sri Lankan in death row'
Attempts to save the life of a Sri Lankan from being executed in Saudi Arabia have failed say the Sri Lanka foreign ministry.Deputy Foreign minister prof. Vishva Warnapala told BBC Sandeshaya that a scheduled visit to the region to save Sri Lankans facing executions was delayed due to tsunami
Lankan mother mourns 6 children lost to tsunami
VATHARAYAN, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - It has been three months since Sri Lankan housewife Viyarseeli Nadarajahlingam saw her six children swallowed up by Asia's tsunami, but crumpled in grief at a makeshift shrine, she often longs for death.
Top Karuna commander wounded in LTTE ambush
Mangalan Master, one of the five top commanders of
the Karuna group, was wounded in an ambush laid by
the LTTE in Theevuchenai village on the Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa
border in eastern Sri Lanka on Monday.
Among the other Karuna loyalists injured were
Aiyathurai Satheesh, Sinnamuthu Ravindrarajah, and
Kandasamy Devaraj, the Sri Lanka media reported.
They were all admitted to the Polonnaruwa Base
Hospital.
Sri Lanka Tamil Rebel Clashes Threaten Cease-Fire, Monitors Say
(Bloomberg) -- An escalation in fighting between Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels and a breakaway group is undermining the South Asian island's cease-fire that halted a two- decade civil war, truce monitors said.
LTTE makes pre-dawn raid on Karuna base
Hindu
At least two cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in factional fighting today as the Tamil National Force (TNF) — a group led by the former LTTE special commander, V. Muralitharan (`Col.' Karuna) — repelled a fresh attack on their base, military sources said.
Local leader injured
Three TNF members were injured in the fighting that broke out at 3 a.m. near Theevuchchenai, along the border of the north-central Polonnaruwa and the eastern Batticaloa districts. According to the TNF, a 30-member LTTE group was involved in the attack. In addition to the two bodies of the LTTE cadres, the TNF claimed to have recovered small arms, night vision equipment, and explosives left behind by the Tigers.
Two rebels killed' in Sri Lanka
BBC
Two Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in a clash with a rival faction in eastern Sri Lanka, authorities say.
British
Intelligence forced LTTE to Release Rajasingham
Jeyadevan
Tamil Weekly
The
Castro - Shanthan - Seevaratnam axis with backing
from Anton Balasingham began a campaign - both
overt and covert in nature - aimed at
bringing several Tamil administered British institutions
under direct LTTE control. Seevaratnam was to
be the "front person" under whom most
of these were" legally "acquired.
Given the fact that the LTTE is banned as a
terrorist organization under British law the tigers
were bold indeed in embarking on such a course.
This brazen cocksureness is due to an
impression that there wont be a crackdown on them
in Britain as long as that peace process continues.
Loss of women haunts fishermen
BBC
The hollowed out shell of St Peter's church lies on the beach in Mullaitivu, in north-eastern Sri Lanka.Just metres from the sea, only the facade remains. The rest was destroyed by December's tsunami.
VALPARAISO: Professor saw continuing need on tsunami relief trip
NWTTimes
VALPARAISO | Almost three months after the disaster,
the need is still there. A great deal of need.
"People are still living in tents, the type of
tent we use for picnicking and camping," said
Valparaiso University physics professor Shirvel Stanislaus,
who spent the two-week university spring break in
his native Sri Lanka distributing everyday household
items needed to recover from December's devastating
tsunami
Shaken by a life swept away
Newsday
KOMARI, Sri Lanka - When Kavita Kulandiran sleeps, she dreams of her children. But when she wakes up in the tin hut that is now her home, she remembers. The tsunami that struck on Dec. 26 took her son, Delakshan, 8, and daughter Saduvja, 4, sweeping their small bodies into the nearby jungle or out to sea.
Durango man helps victims in Sri Lanka
The tent cities of survivors and the white flags marking new cemeteries or grave sites were reminders of the long-term tsunami relief needed in Sri Lanka, according to a Durango surgeon who was part of a medical mission there last month
After the tsunami: latest from Sri Lanka
Kalmunai is a beautiful fishing town in Ampara district, on the eastern shores of Sri Lanka. In the town centre life goes on as usual, and the streets are bustling with traffic and people. But Kalmunai is one of the places worst hit by the tsunami. Less than a kilometre from the centre there is almost total destruction. The wave destroyed everything in its path for over 500 metres inland.
LTTE Violence Cracking up the Tamil Diaspora
Asian Tribune returns to the story of Rajasingham Jeyadevan, a British resident, who was a leading activist for the LTTE in London, to illustrate the new Byzantine twists in the internal divisions within the ranks of the LTTE. Asian Tribune first broke the story of Jeyadevan’s incarceration on 09 March
This story also reveals for the first time the inner workings of the LTTE’s political machinery and its new target: Tamils who do not toe the LTTE line abroad. First LTTE eliminated all the Tamil leaders in Sri Lanka. The new trend is to target expatriate Tamils who pose a threat to its leadership from abroad. One of Jeyadevan’s political “sins” was to cross the path of Anton Balasingham – the man who was helped by Jeyadevan when he was stranded in Thailand without a passport.
No Karuna camp in govt. area -SLA
BBC
Sri Lanka Army categorically denied the existence of a camp belong to the Karuna group in government controlled area.
"I have to stress again that there is no camp belonging to any group in government territory," Sri Lanka military spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake told BBC Sadeshaya. contd..
Tamils:
From Frying Pan to the Fire
Dr.
Rajasingham Narendran
In
the Sunday Leader (13th March’05), [and
TamilWeek ]
D.B.S. Jeyaraj has
described in graphic detail (with very few inaccuracies),
the extremely worrying episode involving the
kidnap and incarceration of my youngest brother, Jayadevan-
a British businessman, while on a visit to the Vanni,
by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).
Friends and relatives of 50-year-old Rajasingham Jeyadevan,
a British resident, fear that he is now languishing
in the torture camp of the Sri Lankan separatist Tamil
Tigers in Vanni, Sri Lanka. Jeyadevan, a qualified
accountant, went to Vanni with his friend Vivekenandan
to offer assistance to the Tamil victims of the tsunami.
Indian PM’s visit to Lanka postponed
HT
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Sri Lanka, for which the tentative dates were March 30 and 31, has been postponed.The two countries are now looking for new dates sometime in June or July
Tsunami survivor's diary: Return of rains brings fresh hope
The Independent
Though it's been three months since the tsunami, people are still terrified of the sea. They are convinced another wave could hit at any time since the sea has become rougher since the disaster.
LTTE is in violation of cease fire -SLMM
BBC
Tamil Tigers denying access to rebel held territory to investigate claims made by the Sri lankan government on air capability of the rebels is a clear violation of the cease fire agreement says the cease fire monitors.
Foreign ministry denies FMM charges
Foreign journalists visiting the country can obtain visa “without any condition or agreement of any kind” Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said.
In a statement issued on Friday referring to a release by the Free Media Movement (FMM) stating that a Canadian journalist has been asked “to provide a ‘letter of agreement’ as a Sri Lanka visa condition”, the ministry said “foreign media personnel are welcome to Sri Lanka at any time”.
There comes a time when baking
cookies, washing cars, selling bracelets and performing
other good deeds to help those in need must stop and
tangible work be done.
For Jack Schwab, Scott Dahl, Cindy Musick, Ann Steele,
Emily Peterson and Michelle Chalmers, that time came
in January, when the team of six Fairfax County residents
book flights to Sri Lanka to offer their helping hands
to tsunami victims on their own turf.
Tsunami Reveals Ancient Ruins in India
Divisions over tsunami new town
The first new town to be built in Sri Lanka after December's Indian Ocean tsunami is facing opposition - from some of the very people it is designed to help.
The new town - Siri Bapora - is designed to house the residents of Hambantota, which has a 90% Muslim majority - and was one of the places hardest hit in the disaster, with more than 4,500 people killed.
Britain is disturbed by Tamil Tiger airpower
COLOMBO — British Secretary of State
for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jack Straw expressed
serious concern at the acquisition of an unauthorised
aircraft by the Tamil rebels when he met Sri Lankan
Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in London, local
newspapers reported yesterday.
Sri Lanka: War and the tsunami have exacted a heavy toll
Northern Sri Lanka, February 28, 2005--Travel to the northern areas of Sri Lanka, even over relatively short distances, is difficult because of poor road conditions. In addition, among the pastures and farmland lining the roads, there are mine fields. “Danger! Mines!” read red signs that stand as reminders of the country’s civil war, which began in the 1980s.
Sri Lanka struggles under deluge of tsunami relief water
(AFP) - Tonnes of drinking water and used clothes are clogging Sri Lanka's main sea port and slowing the distribution of other tsunami relief aid, a government official said Thursday.
Kadirgamar to receive Oxford honour
Hindu
LONDON, MARCH 17. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, will be accorded a rare honour when his portrait is unveiled at Oxford University on Friday in recognition of his long association with it.
Majority UPFA votes ours - JVP
BBC
Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Somawansa Amarasinghe declared that more than half of the votes received by the United Peoples Front Alliance belongs to the JVP.
Useless teddy bear - Kadirgamar
BBC
Lot of the aid which had been coming in latterly is not very useful said Laxman Kadirgamar, in an interview with the BBC. He said, although they were given with good will, they are useless.
Villagers protest against insecurity
BBC
Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa road at the Sevanapitiya junction on Wednesday stopping traffic for several hours.
Sri Lankan deal with Tamil Tigers is near
The
Guardian
Under pressure from foreign donors, the Sri Lankan government
and Tamil Tiger guerrilla leaders are close to signing
their first agreement since peace talks stalled 18 months
ago.
Aussie-Sri Lankan couple overcome hardship for Tsunami reconstruction efforts.
Oxfam Challenge Sri Lanka cycle expedition April 2-13, 2005
Sydney residents Panjan and Sumathi Navaratnam lost three family members when the Tsunami smashed into Batticaloa on the east coast of Sri Lanka on Boxing Day 2004. They had already planned to participate in the Oxfam Challenge cycle tour to Sri Lanka to raise money for development projects but now seek to raise $35,000 to help their country of origin to recover from the devastation.
Tsunami aid: No cash received, says Kumaratunga
Colombo: Commenting on the foreign aid situation exactly 80 days after the tsunami terror waves hit Sri Lanka, President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said that the country did not receive even a single 'cent in cash' as post-tsunami aid from the foreign donors
BBC
The Norwegian authorities had denied the newspaper reports about a warning issued to the government giving a deadline on the Peace Process.
In a statement issued by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, the Norwegian authorities catigorically denies the media speculation.
"The Norwegian embassy categorically denies that Norway has conveyed a warning to the Government of Sri Lanka and international donors that it is considering a suspension of its role as facilitator to the Peace Process.
Sri Lankan Journalists still live in fear - CPJ
BBC
In its annual report on attacks on the world press in 2004, Committee to Protect Journalists [CPJ], claims the journalists in Sri Lanka still lives in fear in a situation where violence still prevails.
The report comments on three deaths of journalists in Sri Lanka in the past year. The CPJ focuses on the ongoing violence in the East after the departure of Karuna faction from the LTTE.
Lanka Prez appoints judges to probe eastern
killings
HT
The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, on Monday appointed two judges to a panel meant to probe alleged attacks on LTTE cadres in the eastern districts.
The judges named are J Visvanathan of the Vavuniya district High Court and WTMPB Warawewa of the Amparai district High Court
Tamil Tiger Political Office in Eastern Sri Lanka Is Attacked
March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka's rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said their political office in the eastern town of Batticaloa was bombed, the latest attack in the past month on members of the group.
Attackers threw a hand grenade into the office late yesterday, the Liberation Tigers said in a report on their TamilNet Web site. There were 15 people in the office at the time. No one was injured, the report said.
Pak offer of radars to Lanka irks Tamils
India Daily
An alleged offer of a sophisticated radar system by Pakistan to Sri Lanka has irked a section of the Tamils in the island country. In an exclusive front-page report on Monday, the leading Colombo-based Tamil daily Sudar Oli said that in the context of Sri Lanka's concern over the acquisition of an aircraft by the LTTE, Pakistan had offered Sri Lanka a sophisticated radar defence system. The paper, which reflects the LTTE's thinking on most matters, further said that the Pakistani "offer" had the blessings of the United States.
Police modernisation helped eliminate LTTE: Jayalalitha:
[New Kerala]:
Chennai, March 15 : Modernisation of the police force
was instrumental in curbing the activities of Sri Lanka's
Tamil Tigers in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Jayalalitha
told the state assembly Tuesday.
"When I took over as chief minister in 1991 for
the first time, I saw a demoralised police force. They
had then only musket rifles used during the Second World
War," she said.
"The police needed better weapons, such as AK 47
rifles, and I decided to modernise the force to check
the LTTE," Jayalalitha said, adding that Rs.100
million a year had been sanctioned for the purpose.
