Tigers accuse army of fresh attack in Sri Lanka
   [ 12:34 GMT, Mar. 12, 2006 ] [ AFP ]

    Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have accused government forces of launching a fresh attack against them and breaking an agreement last month to halt violence. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said about 30 security personnel and paramilitary soldiers attacked their post at Kaddumurippu on Friday night. "The LTTE counter-attacked and the Sri Lanka army and paramilitaries were forced to retreat, abandoning their weapons. Subsequently the LTTE retrieved these weapons," the Tigers said in a statement on Sunday. There was no immediate reaction from the defence ministry which has routinely denied that it was supporting any "paramilitary" units to stage attacks against the Tigers.

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   Chances of peace far better today than in the past
   [ 15:29 GMT, Mar. 12, 2005 ] [ CDN ]

   

An Elusive Peace in Sri Lanka

IT was the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that rescued the country on every occasion the country fell into an abyss, stated President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga addressing the 15th National Convention of the SLFP at the Youth Services Centre, Maharagama yesterday. "The People's Alliance completed a large measure of work for seven years to achieve peace. Our chances of achieving peace is far better today than in the past. War can stall the development process for many years, "she said. President Kumaratunga said the People's Alliance without much publicity took a series of steps through the North East Provincial Council to develop the province during six years. "In spite of obstacles by the LTTE, we managed to provide a large measure of facilities; such as hospitals; highways and schools; in the North and East", she said.

Human Rights Violations Against Tamils in Sri Lanka


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   Sri Lanka Diary: Tsunami ravaged war-battered area
   [ 14:08 GMT, Mar. 12, 2005 ] [ The Toronto Star ]

    Standing on the dusty roadside, the arrivals of ExpoAir flight 771 wait silently in the still heat of mid-morning for their luggage. I feel a sharp sense of recognition and sobriety when the white land cruiser of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a red cross emblazoned on its hood, pulls up on the other side of the barbed wire barrier and engine off, waits patiently with the dozen airline passengers to begin its journey from the Jaffna military airport. The ICRC has been present in Sri Lanka since 1989 and has a well established relationship with local authorities in order to assist the population affected by conflict in the north and north east. A ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been in effect since 2002.

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   Sri Lankan military to officially delist deserters
   [ 14:08 GMT, Mar. 12, 2005 ] [ Xinhuanet ]

    Sri Lankan Army is set to officially delist its large number of service deserters, the state radio announced here Saturday. Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) quoted military spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake as saying that the program, which was confined to several selected districts, is to be developed to cover the entire island. The Sri Lankan military, which has been involved in a long running armed conflict with the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels since the mid 1980s, is said to have in its books service deserters numbering around 60,000.

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   LTTE Political Delegation in Oslo
   [ 14:07 GMT, Mar. 12, 2005 ] [ LTTE Peace Secretariat ]

    The LTTE political delegation led by its Head of the Political Wing Mr.S.P.Tamilselvan arrived in Oslo late yesterday 10 March 2005 and had a series of meetings today. Earlier in the day the Norwegian Special Envoy Mr.Eric Solheim met with the delegation in the Norwegian Foreign Ministry complex. Matters relating to the structuring of a Joint Mechanism with the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) were discussed at length and the areas of contention were identified. It was resolved by the parties that Norway give the final touches to the proposals before formally announcing them.

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   Double standards on refraining from child-soldier recruitment
   [ 04:55 GMT, Mar. 12, 2005 ] [ Daily Mirror ]

    Recruiting children for war is an unpardonable crime. The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) considers its relentless campaign against the LTTE on this issue as a singular diplomatic achievement. The GOSL's diplomatic corps and Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar work on the obvious assumption that it is the best way to politically isolate the LTTE in the world, to turn the Tiger into an international pariah. But most importantly, in their eagerness and enthusiasm to score a victory in their diplomatic war against the LTTE, Kadirgamar and his foreign ministry experts stand exposed to the accusation that they are "cynically exploiting the plight of Tamil children" to further their political agenda. It is time they acknowledge that in the final analysis only a permanent and decent political settlement to the ethnic conflict will create a climate in which our children can enjoy their childhood in full.

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   Sri Lanka Tigers vow to take back land as rivals brace along river bank
   [ 13:48 GMT, Mar. 12, 2004 ] [ AFP ]

    Sri Lanka's rival Tamil Tiger factions deployed fighters on the banks of a river here as the main guerrilla outfit vowed to take back territory from a renegade regional commander. The political wing leader of the main Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northeastern port district of Trincomalee, S. Thilak, said the group's fighters were poised against the breakaway faction of V. Muralitharan. The renegade leader, better known as Karuna, has said he commands about 5,000 fighters, which accounts for about a third of the original force of the LTTE which has fought for three decades to set up a separate Tamil homeland.

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   Vow to scrap Sri Lanka presidency
   [ 12:49 GMT, Mar. 12, 2004 ] [ BBC ]

    The alliance of Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga says it will act to scrap the presidency if it wins the general election on 2 April. Mrs Kumaratunga cannot run a third time for the presidency, but she could serve as prime minister. The United People's Freedom Alliance manifesto wants a new constitution to restore full parliamentary democracy. The president and prime minister, who are both elected, have been locked in a long battle for power. Mrs Kumaratunga cannot run a third time for the presidency, but she could serve as prime minister. Her term in office is scheduled to end in 2005, although she argued recently that events surrounding her last election meant she could remain in office until 2006. She has fought a long battle for power with Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe whom she accuses of giving too much ground to Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's peace process.

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   Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers Warn Renegade Commander
   [ 12:07 GMT, Mar. 12, 2004 ] [ Reuters ]

    Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers vowed Friday to retake areas under the control of a powerful renegade rebel commander, but said they would try to do so without bloodshed to avoid destabilizing the island's cease-fire. The Tigers expelled a top commander, Karuna, for "acting traitorously to the Tamil people" after he criticized the rebels' northern leadership last week, but he still controls about 6,000 fighters from his power base in the eastern region of Batticaloa. Karuna has shown no sign of giving ground, telling Reuters Thursday the Tigers were no longer the sole representatives of the Tamil people -- comments that set the stage for potential fighting within the island's minority Tamil community.

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   LTTE ready to help facilitate voting - Thamilchelvan
   [ 12:03 GMT, Mar. 12, 2004 ] [ TamilNet ]

    "We told the [Norwegian] delegation that we are agreeable to locating the voting booths in the no-man zone, inside our checkpoint area or in the checkpoint area of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and that we will provide our full support and required assistance to implement voting procedures, and supervise voting," said S.P.Thamilchelvan, leader of the LTTE's political wing, answering questions from the press following his meeting with the Norwegian delegation in Kilinochchi Thursday morning.

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   US grants ship to SL Navy
   [ 23:47 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ Daily News ]

    The United States Government will grant a medium endurance class 210 foot cutter- USCGC Courageous- to the Sri Lankan Navy under the Excess Defence Articles Programme of the US government, subject to the Congress approval. The 150 million dollar vessel with a 6,100 mile range will be a grant from the US government. Sri Lanka has to bear the refurbishment costs. The Courageous built at the American Shipyards in Lorain, Ohio was commissioned on 19 April 1968 by the US Coast Guard. She was initially homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico and engaged in search, rescue and law enforcement patrols.

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   Jaffna mourns death of eleven LTTE cadres
   [ 20:26 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ TamilNet ]

    Black flags were hoisted on public buildings, business houses and educational institutions and a day of mourning was observed in Jaffna district Wednesday for the death of eleven senior cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), civil sources said. Eleven LTTE cadres were killed Monday when their merchant vessel was sunk in the international waters off northeast coast following an attack by the Sri Lanka Navy, sources said. The offices of LTTE in the peninsula were also decorated with coconut leaves and black flags. Thamileelam national flag was flown at half-mast at Ellankulam war memorial and other war cemeteries in Vadamarachchi and other divisions, sources said.

SLMM head holds talks with senior LTTE leaders


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   Neutral Zone Keeps Sri Lanka, Rebels at Arm's Length
   [ 20:24 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ Reuters ]

    A strip called "No-man's Land" land divides the government-held territory of the South and the vast swathe of jungle scrub in the North controlled by the Tamil Tigers, whose fight for a separate state in the North and East has been halted by a cease-fire and peace talks. Before a Norwegian-brokered cease-fire a year ago, which paved the way for peace talks ending 19 years of civil war, travel through the jungle area held by the rebels was limited to aid workers, with few private citizens allowed. The checkpoints are still not open around the clock, leaving those who miscalculate the traffic jams stranded between the two sides in an eerie, jungle darkness.

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   Helicopter carrying Norwegian deputy foreign minister makes emergency landing in Sri Lanka due to bad weather
   [ 20:20 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ AP ]

    A helicopter carrying Norwegian deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen and top Sri Lankan government officials made an emergency landing in central Sri Lanka Wednesday evening due to bad weather, police said. No one was injured. Helgesen, government peace negotiators Milinda Moragoda, Bernard Goonetilleke and Norwegian ambassador Jon Westborg were on their way to Kandy, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) east of the capital Colombo, for a meeting with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

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   Tigers threaten talks pull-out
   [ 20:12 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ BBC ]

    Tamil Tiger rebels have warned they are considering suspending participation in peace talks with the Sri Lankan Government. Chief rebel negotiator, Anton Balasingham, told the BBC it was one option being considered by the rebel leadership but a final decision had not been taken yet. The Tamil Tigers say they want to register a strong protest over the sinking of their ship and the killing of the 11 crew members on board.

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   LTTE must go beyond rhetoric
   [ 15:05 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ TamilCanadian ]

   

‘LTTE would be letting down millions of Tamils and thousands of its fighters if the Sri Lankan establishment goes unpunished’

There is definitive limit to rhetoric. These two naval incidents have caused a great damage to the credibility and image of LTTE. The two incidents can be brushed aside as mere accidents. They basically illustrate the devious methodology of some segments of the Sinhala society out to wreck and spoil the peace process. One incident is more than enough. But two has occurred and the LTTE has to think and act in the manner that would be consistent with the aims and objectives of the Tamil national liberation struggle. Mere warning is not enough; some concrete and tangible action is called for on the part of the LTTE to impress upon the Sri Lankan establishment and the international community that it cannot be taken for ride for too long.

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   LTTE withdrawing cadres from cleared areas in North and East
   [ 13:01 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ Daily Mirror ]

    In the aftermath of the Navy's attack on a Tiger ship on Monday, the LTTE has been withdrawing its cadres from its political offices in the government-controlled areas in the north and east, giving rise to a tensed atmosphere. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission deputy chief Hagrup Haukland told the Daily Mirror yesterday their offices in the north and east had reported such movements by LTTE members. He said that SLMM officials in Jaffna had observed LTTE members leaving the area and moving towards the Wanni.

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   Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister visits Sri Lanka
   [ 12:39 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ TamilNet ]

    The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, is visiting Sri Lanka today to hold meetings with the Presidient, Prime Minister and the LTTE leadership. Mr. Vidar Helgesen will after his visit to Sri Lanka travel to Japan to take part in the next session of Peace Talks in Hakone 18-21 March. The full text of the Norwegian press release follows: The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen will visit Sri Lanka 12-16 March. Mr. Helgesen is scheduled to meet with H.E President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in the afternoon on March 12 and will meet with the Hon Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Kandy in the evening the same day.

Helgesen to meet President and Prime Minister


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   Ship sinking won't hurt Sri Lanka peace talks: Tigers
   [ 12:31 GMT, Mar. 12, 2003 ] [ AFP ]

    The sinking of a rebel ship by the Sri Lankan navy will not lead to a hardening of positions at next week's peace talks in Japan, but has made the guerrillas resentful, a pro-rebel Web site reported Wednesday. "We have gone to the end of the tether. There is lot of anger and resentment among our cadres over this incident," Balasingham said at the opening Tuesday of a rebel courts complex at the town of Kilinochchi, according to the Web site. "Despite provocation and attacks on us we are determined to participate constructively in the peace process. We want to convince the world, particularly the (majority) Sinhala people, that we are committed to peace," Balasingham was quoted as saying.

Tigers to remain in talks despite ship sinking

Sri Lanka seeks probe into sinking of Tiger ship


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   Displaced Sri Lankans starve as politicians play
   [ 14:04 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Asia Times ]

    It was unbearable hunger that recently drove hundreds of placard-carrying displaced people to protest outside the main government office in Puttalam, a fishing town 330 kilometers north of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. "Give us our food, don't let us starve," they pleaded with the government officer. Their pleas - at least some of them - were heeded the following day when 2,000 of the estimated 20,000 displaced families received five kilograms of rice each.

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   The US statement undermines trust in the truce
   [ 13:56 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ TamilGuardian ]

    The US embassy's statement is notable for several reasons. Firstly, the Sri Lankan government has itself not protested about violations of the permanent ceasefire by the LTTE. On the contrary, anecdotal reports from the war zones indicate a considerable lessening of tensions between combat personnel on both sides and even the Sinhala far right has struggled to find evidence for its scare mongering. Secondly, the proper authority to raise any violations of the ceasefire is the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, whose head, Trond Furuhovede, was last week on a tour of the LTTE held Vanni region. The former Norwegian army chief had a friendly meeting with LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan and senior LTTE officials and truce violations were decidedly not on the agenda.

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   Book connects a culture
   [ 12:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ The Star - Canada ]

    "Do You Understand What I Write?" by Oorvashi WHEN MATANGI Thillai read and re-read these lines the first time, she connected with a country she barely knew. Thillai was 3 when she left Sri Lanka with her parents. The 20-year-old business student didn't know about the country once called Ceylon. Or about the wars fought more than 200 years ago by the Dutch and Portuguese over the cinnamon cultivated in Sri Lanka. She did know of a more recent war — the ethnic strife that's torn the country apart, the reason why she had to leave. "Growing up in North America, you hear about war going on here, war going on there," she says. "But you leave it at that."

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   Pitfalls in Peacemaking: Guatemala and Sri Lanka
   [ 11:35 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ PeaceWork ]

    The most fundamental lesson to be learned by Sri Lankans from the Guatemalan case is that it is extremely hard to change the basic power structure of a country and, as a result, that any changes which are essential must be made directly at the time of the peace negotiations, rather than waiting for step-by-step changes or constitutional processes. Alternatively, a reliable, dedicated, external party must guarantee the implementation of all agreed-upon issues.

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   Thiruketheeswaram temple and Mahasivarathri Festival
   [ 11:35 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Daily News ]

    The Ministry of Hindu Religious Affairs, headed by Minister Thiyagarajah Maheswaran and the Department of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs are making elaborate arrangements to celebrate Maha Siverathri festival at Thiruketheeswaram temple in Mannar after a lapse of 12 years. It is indeed a timely and well-deserved, gesture on the part of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for having given the Hindu Ministry, Board of Trustees of Thiruketheeswaram and all other authorities including the North East Governor Asoka Jayawardena and the Secretary of the Mannar District Secretariat, his spontaneous assistance and profound co-operation to celebrate this Maha Sivarathri which is an important festival for Hindus at the ancient and historical Thiruketheeswaram temple.

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   Kachchathivu fete revived after 20 years
   [ 11:32 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ The Hindu ]

    After exactly two decades, in one of the first signs of returning normality in northern Sri Lanka, devotees from the Jaffna Peninsula and India flocked to this uninhabited piece of rock in the Palk Bay to witness the revival of an annual Catholic feast. The island, barred to Sri Lankans by their security forces from the start of the armed ethnic conflict in 1983, was a beehive of activity over the weekend as boatloads of people arrived for the St. Anthony's feast, on Sunday. There were six priests and two nuns from Jaffna to conduct the festival. A priest from Pamban in Rameswaram, accompanied by 18 fishermen in two boats, also came.

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   Kachchathivu fete revived after 20 years
   [ 11:29 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ The Hindu ]

    After exactly two decades, in one of the first signs of returning normality in northern Sri Lanka, devotees from the Jaffna Peninsula and India flocked to this uninhabited piece of rock in the Palk Bay to witness the revival of an annual Catholic feast. Under the 1974 agreement by which India ceded this island to Sri Lanka, Indian fishermen are allowed to cross the international boundary line to use it for drying their nets and to participate in the feast.

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   Sri Lankan rebel negotiator to visit before talks
   [ 11:18 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Reuters ]

    The chief negotiator for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels will visit the island for the first time in more than four years to prepare for peace talks with the government, newspapers and Tamil sources said on Tuesday. Anton Balasingham, the public face of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrilla group, lives in London and is not known to have visited Sri Lanka since the rebels were outlawed in 1998. ''Mr Balasingham will visit the (rebel-held) Wanni region for talks ahead of peace talks,'' reported the Virakesari, a privately owned Tamil daily.

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   TNA to meet Indian PM in bid for Chennai talks venue
   [ 21:28 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ CDN ]

    The Tamil National Alliance hopes to meet the Indian Prime Minister and the other mainstream Indian politicians in a bid to pursuade India to accept the Tamil Tigers' request for Chennai as the venue for the negotiations, TULF Vanni district Parliamentarian A. Adaikkalanathan told the Daily News yesterday. "The TNA has requested the Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka to arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee. We also hope to meet the leaders of the other mainstream political parties including Congress leader Sonia Gandhi," Adaikkalanathan said.

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   Top US official to visit embattled Sri Lankan peninsula
   [ 21:18 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Newind Press ]

    US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca will visit Sri Lanka's embattled northern peninsula of Jaffna later this week, officials said on Tuesday. Rocca will Thursday become the highest ranking US official to go to Jaffna, where Tamil Tiger rebels ran a defacto separate state for nearly five years until they were driven out in December 1995. Her visit follows a stern US warning on Monday for Sri Lanka's rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) not to jeopardise a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire with government forces which came into effect on February 23.

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   Prime Minister to visit Jaffna
   [ 20:36 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ The Island ]

    Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will on Thursday become the most senior member of the government to visit Jaffna to meet members of the civil society and Government officials and address the military, Government sources said yesterday. Mr. Wickremesinghe will take a special flight to Palaly on Thursday morning for a day’s visit. He will be accompanied by several Government ministers and is expected to ascertain the views of the military.

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   Ceasefire overshadows Lanka local polls
   [ 17:07 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Times of India ]

    In exactly a week, Sri Lankans will go to the polls to elect leaders to local governing bodies, but the election fever has been completely swallowed up by a ceasefire that has raised peace prospects in the country. Apart from a few posters, there is little sign of campaigning in Sri Lanka where normally local government elections are taken quite seriously. There are few media advertisements boasting about candidates, hardly any public meetings and the usual poll sentiment is simply not there. Analysts put the blame on the recently signed cease-fire agreement, naming it as the culprit that has stolen the limelight from the election. Lack of interest in the media over the election campaign has also been cited as an excuse.

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   Amnesty alleges more children recruited by Tamil Tigers
   [ 17:06 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ IANS ]

    Human rights watchdog Amnesty International charged Tuesday that Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka were forcibly conscripting children as young as 12 years despite a truce. "A permanent ceasefire came into force February 23, when both sides signed a memorandum of understanding. Since then the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) has continued to recruit children," the London-based rights body said. The charges come a day after the U.S. issued an unprecedented warning to the group, asking it not to violate the truce brokered by Norway by continuing to resort to kidnappings and extortion.

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   U.S. Assistant Secretary For South Asian Affairs To Visit Colombo
   [ 17:00 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Embassy of the USA - Sri Lanka ]

    The United States Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs, Christina Rocca, will visit Sri Lanka this week as part of a four-country South Asian tour. During the tour she will also visit India, Bangladesh and Maldives. While in Sri Lanka, Assistant Secretary Rocca, the State Department’s highest ranking official for South Asian Affairs, will meet with a variety of government officials, political leaders, non-governmental groups and private individuals to discuss bilateral and regional issues. She will also make a brief visit to Jaffna. This will be Ms. Rocca's first visit to Sri Lanka. Assistant Secretary Rocca recently spoke to Foreign Minister Tyrone Fernando on behalf of American Secretary of State Colin Powell, congratulating the Sri Lankan Government on the signing of the recent MoU and expressing support for Sri Lankan policy in the peace process.

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   One killed, 24 injured in grenade explosions in central Sri Lanka
   [ 16:16 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ AP ]

    Two separate grenade explosions in central Sri Lanka killed one person and injured 24 others Tuesday in what appears to have been a political dispute ahead of elections to be held later this month, police said. Initial investigations indicate that the grenades were thrown following disputes between supporters of the two main political parties, the ruling United National Front and the opposition Peoples' Alliance, a policeman at the scene of one of the attacks said on condition of anonymity.

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   Community Forum on Media and Communications
   [ 15:27 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Canadian Tamil Congress ]

    The Canadian Tamil Congress will be holding a community forum on Media and Communication on March 19th 2002 at Metro Hall Room 307. The objective of the Forum is to identify issues relating to Media that affect Canadian Tamils through discussion and debate from expert panellists and interested attendees. Media professionals, media advocacy groups and concerned citizens are expected to attend this forum to engage in discussions about the impact of media on society. In addition, a preliminary print media analysis on the portrayal of the Canadian Tamil community will be released and discussed. The Canadian Tamil Congress will seek to advocate and implement suggested recommendations that come forth during the proceedings of this Forum as a core part of it's mandate.

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   U.S. says trying to ease tension in Southasia
   [ 14:49 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Reuters ]

    The United States is trying to bring Pakistan and India together for talks in an effort to ease tension in the region, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca said on Tuesday. Rocca, who arrived in Dhaka on Monday for a two-day visit before going to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, held talks with Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, opposition leader Sheikh Hasina and several senior officials. "Working for peace in the region is a part of U.S. policy for which it is trying to bring Pakistan and India across the table," she told reporters. She gave no further details.

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   China counters US on human rights issue
   [ 14:38 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ TheStar ]

    “Once again the United States, assuming the role of world judge of human rights, has distorted human rights conditions in many countries and regions in the world, including China, and accused them of human rights violations, all the while turning a blind eye to its own human rights-related problems,” the Chinese report said, adding that ‘serious human-rights violations existed in the US.’ Among the human rights violations cited by the Chinese report included endemic racial discrimination especially by law enforcement agencies, violence and crime in US cities and no constitutional protection of equal rights for women.

U.S. says trying to ease tension in Southasia

China says deeply shocked by U.S. nuclear planning


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   Tamil Tiger rebels say they will honour ceasefire
   [ 11:13 GMT, Mar. 12, 2002 ] [ Ananova ]

    Tamil Tiger rebels say they will honour a truce and deny US allegations they are involved in activities that threaten the ceasefire. The US warned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Monday the rebels are jeopardising the landmark cease-fire agreement. The rebels' chief negotiator told TamilNet the LTTE leadership has issued instructions to all its cadres to strictly observe the terms of the ceasefire.

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   An Open Letter to The American Ambassador in Sri Lanka
   [ 19:01 GMT, Mar. 12, 2001 ] [ Illangai Thamizh Sangam ]

    have a copy of the official text in English of a speech you have reportedly made at the Jaffna Public Library on Wednesday, 7th March. I do not know from which “Jaffna Public Library” you made your address, but as far as the Tamil people are concerned THEIR Jaffna Public Library, consisting of ninety odd thousand volumes was burned down nearly twenty years ago, on the night of 1st June 1981. Since in your speech you speak of terrorism and violence, let us start talking of burning of libraries. You will concede Sir that nowhere else in this “globalising world” that you are referring to, are libraries put to the fire. I presume you are sufficiently informed as to who did the burning? Would you consider that as an act of violence? If terrorism is too strong a word for it? Or would you wave it aside as a simple non-violent act of incendiarism because the criminals who perpetrated that act were Sinhalese goons, inspired by the presence in Jaffna of two Sinhalese cabinet ministers of the Sri Lanka government? Surely you can’t?

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   Sri Lanka names judge for Tamil massacre probe
   [ 18:59 GMT, Mar. 12, 2001 ] [ Reuters ]

    Sri Lanka has appointed a retired judge to probe last year's murder of 27 Tamils at a rehabilitation camp, a massacre which sparked the country's worst ethnic riots in 18 years, the president's office said. ``President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has appointed Justice P.H.K. Kulatilake, judge of the Court of Appeal ... to function as a one-man commission of inquiry...,'' a statement said, adding the report would be submitted in three months time. Only 17 of more than 40 inmates of Bindunuwewa camp survived a rampage on October 25 by a machete-wielding mob of majority Sinhalese. Almost all the survivors were seriously injured.

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   Will this ban affect the LTTE in any way? - Letter to Asia Times
   [ 18:54 GMT, Mar. 12, 2001 ] [ Asia Times ]

    Now that the UK has banned [Sri Lankan separatist group] LTTE, the question may be: Will this ban affect the LTTE in any way? My opinion is, it may put some hurdles in the group's way, but the UK is not part of the equation for the survival of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The quest for equality and freedom must go on, with or without the support of any nation. Tamils should look to the history of Israel and its will to survive in the face of all odds. History has taught us one good lesson about the UK - do not trust it in any way. Its policy of divide and conquer is at the root of the current ethnic divide in Sri Lanka.

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   Sri Lanka to press for EU ban on LTTE
   [ 14:53 GMT, Mar. 12, 2001 ] [ Times of India ]

    President Chandrika Kumaratunga is expected to urge all European Union nations to ban the Tamil Tiger rebel group, which has been fighting a separatist war since 1983. Kumaratunga left on Saturday for a European tour that will include visits to Belgium and the Netherlands. "The president would press other European Union nations where the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is active to follow the British example and ban the group's activities," said the Sunday Island newspaper, quoting the government officials.

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   India wary of greater Norway role in Lanka: Paper
   [ 14:04 GMT, Mar. 12, 2001 ] [ India Abroad News Service ]

    INDIA has advised Sri Lanka to limit Norway's peace bid in the island's ethnic conflict as it is wary of greater outside involvement in affairs of this region, press reports said Sunday. New Delhi raised objections to a pre-talks Norwegian-proposed memorandum of understanding (MoU), which included an international team of monitors, when President Chandrika Kumaratunga visited India earlier this month, the Sunday Leader said. "India had asserted its objections to any precedent being set in the South Asian region that would encourage external involvement in internal issues," the newspaper said, adding that New Delhi had expressed support for the peace process itself.

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   Opposition slams multi-million mansion for Sri Lankan president
   [ 12:34 GMT, Mar. 12, 2001 ] [ AFP ]

    Sri Lanka's main opposition Monday slammed government plans to build a presidential palace at a time when salaries have been frozen for a year because of a worsening economic crisis. The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said it was opposed to the construction of a two-storied mansion for the use of President Chandrika Kumaratunga at a cost of 600 million rupees (7.05 million dollars). "Not only in Sri Lanka, but in the entire world, such a huge amount of state funds have never been spent to construct a residence for a head of state," the UNP said in a statement.

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   War and peace or more war?
   [ 00:44 GMT, Mar. 12, 2001 ] [ The Hindu ]

    AFTER LONG years of war, could 2001 be the year of agreement in Sri Lanka, or will it prove to be a year in which decades-old ethnic stereotypes come true once again? With reports that the LTTE and the Government are soon to sit down for peace talks, Sri Lanka is experiencing mood swings ranging from the wildly optimistic to the cynically pessimistic. From the optimist's point of view, conditions on the ground have never been better for peace talks. The latest in a series of developments since the Prabhakaran- Solheim meeting on November 1, was the LTTE's decision to remain in the Norwegian-facilitated peace process despite a ban on it in the U.K. that has potentially crippling consequences.

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   'Govt.-LTTE peace talks will continue'
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 2000 ] [ The Hindu ]

    No details available.

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   Arrests in Sri Lanka attack
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 2000 ] [ BBC ]

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   Suicide bombers miss targets, but keep fear alive in Sri Lanka
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 2000 ] [ AFP ]

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   A flurry in the HRC
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 2000 ] [ Sunday Leader ]

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   Police say recovered clues
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 2000 ] [ TamilNet ]

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   NECKS CHOPPED OFF IN JAFFNA - EDITORIAL
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 1999 ] [ TamilCanadian ]

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   Civilians assaulted in retaliation
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 1999 ] [ TamilNet ]

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   Operation Rana Gosa displaces 15000
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 1999 ] [ TamilNet ]

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   Sri Lankan council polls put off again
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 1999 ] [ The Hindustan Times ]

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   East Timor to vote on its future
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 1999 ] [ BBC ]

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   Ban on vehicles leaving Batticaloa
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 1998 ] [ Hindustan Times ]

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   Lankan Tamil party's U-turn on LTTE
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 1998 ] [ Hindustan Times ]

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   Two SLA officers killed
   [ 11:11 GMT, Mar. 12, 1998 ] [ TamilNet ]

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