ENB06012008: Two Sinhala Tigers arrested in Anuradhapura

Two Sinhala Tigers arrested in Anuradhapura
Friday, January 4, 2008, 12:26 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 04, Colombo: Sri Lanka Police on information provided by a civilian, arrested two Sinhalese who are suspected of having direct connections with the Tamil
Tigers at Basawakkulama, Anuradhapura on Wednesday. The two suspects had reportedly undergone training by the terrorist outfit.
Police have also found two T-56 riffles, four magazines and 119 rounds in the possession of the suspects. The weapons were unearthed from the garden of one
suspect’s house on information obtained during interrogation.
Police sources said that the suspects had undergone weapon training under the Tamil Tigers at Kilinochchi after the ceasefire was signed in the year 2002. The
sources further said that information have revealed that the suspects were in the process of facilitating the Tigers to launch a suicide attack at the army transit camp
situated west of Sri Maha Bodhiya and the rest house of Mahaviharaya.
Police suspect the possibility of LTTE planning to assassinate VIPs who regularly visits religious places since the houses of the suspects are located in the close
proximity to Ruawanvali Maha Saya. Investigations have revealed that LTTE cadres had visited the suspects’ houses regularly.

LTTE's Head of Army Intelligence killed in Claymore ambush
[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 January 2008, 01:20 GMT]

Col. Charles, Head of Liberation Tigers Army Intelligence, was killed Saturday evening in a random Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit in
Pa'l'lamadu in Mannaar, sources close to LTTE in Vanni said. Col. Charles who has been in charge of internal intelligence within the ranks of LTTE ground forces
and led an external operations corps as well as a regular combat force that has been deployed in Mannaar district was killed together with three LTTE lieutenants in
the ambush while they were riding in a van.
The lieutenants killed in the ambush were identified as Sukanthan (Sivapalan Sreetharan) from Jeyapuram, Lt. Veeramaravan (Pararajasingham Suthan) from Mallaavi
and Lt. Kalaa (Sinnaththamby Kangatharan) from Vaddakkachchi.

Indian model ideal solution - Anandasangaree
The Indian model of governance is an ideal solution to the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka, as it will meet the aspirations of the Tamils. Furthermore, “it can be easily sold to
our people,” Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) president V. Anandasangaree said on Thursday in Chennai.
Speaking on ‘India and the Sri Lanka Peace Process’ at a meeting organised by the Observer Research Foundation, he appealed to leaders in Tamil Nadu to
persuade the LTTE to liberate the people it had detained.
“We have to liberate ourselves from the so-called liberators [LTTE].”
He cautioned that some parties in India were indulging in anti-Indian propaganda for personal gain. They were making all kinds of claims. One was that the Sinhalese
were chauvinists. If it were so, a spark should have been enough to start a backlash.
The Tamils were not so badly affected by the Sinhalese: more than 50 per cent of the Tamil population, which should have been living in Jaffna, were now living
among the Sinhalese, he said. He cited various incidents to drive home his point that the Tamils were not harmed by the Sinhalese, despite provocation.
Yet, he did not deny that there was a time when the Sinhalese army was hard. But now, the Sinhalese looked upon Tamils as their own and felt they should be given
certain rights and protected. Some leaders backing the LTTE here could not see these things. If their campaign was allowed to continue, the country would face a
grave situation soon.
Anandasangaree said the Sri Lankan Government should come out with a reasonable solution that would be acceptable to the international community.
There was nothing wrong in pressuring the Sri Lankan President to unfold a long-pending package even before the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next
month.
D. Sitharthan of the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), said without India’s role, there could be no peace.
New Delhi could bring pressure on both the parties to arrive at a consensus. If the LTTE did not accept the proposal, it would be alienated because Sri Lankan
people desired peace.
“We want a solution within a united Sri Lanka,” T. Sritharan of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) said. India, the largest democracy in the
region, should help Sri Lanka find a solution, he said.
The Hindu

Is a ban on LTTE Lanka’s next step?
Seema Guha
NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka’s decision to call off the February 2002 ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is at one level a logical move as the
truce was only on paper.
In the last two years and more both sides have used air power and artillery in what is virtually a full-fledged war between the two sides.
Yet Wednesday’s move signals the growing confidence of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the defence establishment in Colombo that the military has gained the
upper hand. The next step could be a ban on the LTTE.
The President’s brother defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had already given a hint in an interview to the government-controlled Daily News last week.
He said the government should officially withdraw from the ceasefire and ban the LTTE for a fresh approach to the Tamil question. The ceasefire agreement brokered
by Norway had become a joke in the eyes of the people, he added.
While calling off the ceasefire agreement is just a formality, banning the LTTE would set alarm bells ringing across the world.
This would indicate that Rajapaksa has slammed the door on negotiations with the Tigers. Even hardline governments had refrained from taking this extreme step.
Colombo had not banned the LTTE so far - unlike India, the US and several other nations - on the grounds that it would be difficult to hold negotiations with a
proscribed outfit.
So clearly the government is now in no mood to talk to the Tigers before crushing them militarily. President Rajapaksa had publicly said so recently.
India has so far refused to comment on the latest move but a ban on the Tigers without an accompanying political package for the Tamil minorities would not be
welcome.
While India has no love for the LTTE, New Delhi realises that without the Tigers the Sinhala Buddhist establishment would be unwilling to give the Tamils their due.
The Americans as well as the EU would push the President, as will New Delhi, not to take the next step.
President Rajapaksa can be expected to take some time before following his brother’s advice. The mood in Colombo is triumphant, the defence services believe the
LTTE has been considerably weakened. The eastern province has been freed by and large from the LTTE stranglehold.
Much of this thanks to ‘Colonel’ Karuna, who broke away from the Tigers. Once Karuna served his purpose he was flown out to London, where he is facing
charges for travelling on false papers.
Now that much of the eastern province has been cleared the government forces are concentrating on Vanni and Mullaitivu, LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran’s
headquarters. There are even reports that Prabakaran was injured, even killed, in an air raid.
But the Tigers who were the first to introduce suicide bombers to the world can easily bounce back. On the day Colombo announced its decision to call off the
ceasefire, the LTTE detonated a claymore mine in the heart of the capital killing four people and injuring 20.

'No military solution' for Sri Lanka
Indian authorities have once again insisted that there can be no military solution to Sri Lanka's national question.
In response to Sri Lankan government's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), India says "what is required in Sri Lanka is a
settlement of political, constitutional and other issues within the framework of united Sri Lanka".
Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a statement added that Sri Lanka could only achieve lasting peace through such a settlement that is comfortable to all
communities in Sri Lanka.
UN urges political solution
It added: "For India, any step that leads to a reduction in levels of violence and human suffering in Sri Lanka is welcome. Unfortunately, what we have seen recently
has been an increase in violence, tension and conflict in Sri Lanka".
The United Nations have also stressed the need for a political solution to end continuing bloodshed in the island nation.
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon is “deeply worried” that Sri Lank's withdrawal from CFA comes amidst increasing violence across the country,his spokesman said on Thursday.
“The Secretary-General urges all concerned to ensure the protection of civilians and enable humanitarian assistance to be provided to affected areas,” the statement
added.
US response
The US State Department has joined in the international concern at the end of the ceasefire.
The move would "make it more difficult to achieve a lasting, peaceful solution to Sri Lanka's conflict", spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"We call on both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) to avoid an escalation of hostilities and further civilian casualties."

Sri Lanka:
SLMM to terminate operational activities on January 16
* Nordic countries regret Colombo's decision to abrogate CFA
* Abrogation of CFA endangers respect for human rights - NPC
* U.N. regrets Colombo's decision to withdraw from CFA
* U.S 'troubled' by GoSL withdrawal from CFA
* Japan concerned of escalation of violence following abrogation of CFA
* France Warns Sri Lanka over Unilateral Ending of Truce
* Canada regrets Sri Lanka terminating truce agreement
*Australia concerned about Sri Lanka
* Rights group, Sri Lanka urgently needs an international rights monitoring mission following the government's decision to end a truce with Tamil rebels, a London-
based rights group said as clashes continued in the north.

* India
'No military solution' for Sri Lanka India says it regrets escalation of violence in Sri Lanka Indian authorities have once again insisted that there can be no military solution to Sri Lanka's national question.In response to Sri Lankan government's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), India says "what is required in Sri Lanka is a
settlement of political, constitutional and other issues within the framework of united Sri Lanka".
Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a statement added that Sri Lanka could only achieve lasting peace through such a settlement that is comfortable to all
communities in Sri Lanka.

* JVP: People will send govt home by April, if adopts a federal model - Wimal
If the government deviates from the 2005 mandate before the February 4th visit of Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, the people will send the govt home by the
Sinhala/Hindu New Year, JVP Parliamentary group leader Wimal Weerawansa. He was answering a question on the possibility of govt adopting a federal model in
view of the Indian PM’s visit.

*India says PM not coming Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not attend Sri Lanka’s 60th Independence Day celebrations on February 4, an Indian High Commission official confirmed yesterday.

Sinhala Tigers
Two arrested in Anuradhapura
Friday, January 4, 2008, 12:26 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 04, Colombo: Sri Lanka Police on information provided by a civilian, arrested two Sinhalese who are suspected of having direct connections with the Tamil
Tigers at Basawakkulama, Anuradhapura on Wednesday. The two suspects had reportedly undergone training by the terrorist outfit.
Police have also found two T-56 riffles, four magazines and 119 rounds in the possession of the suspects. The weapons were unearthed from the garden of one
suspect’s house on information obtained during interrogation.
Police sources said that the suspects had undergone weapon training under the Tamil Tigers at Kilinochchi after the ceasefire was signed in the year 2002. The
sources further said that information have revealed that the suspects were in the process of facilitating the Tigers to launch a suicide attack at the army transit camp
situated west of Sri Maha Bodhiya and the rest house of Mahaviharaya.
Police suspect the possibility of LTTE planning to assassinate VIPs who regularly visits religious places since the houses of the suspects are located in the close
proximity to Ruawanvali Maha Saya. Investigations have revealed that LTTE cadres had visited the suspects’ houses regularly.

Army to recruit 15,000 this year
By Sunil Jayasiri
The army hopes to recruit 15,000 troops this year, following what it claimed was successful recruitment drives conducted last year even as the north east conflict
escalated, Defence sources said
"The army will launch its latest recruitment drive as soon as logistics were complete," a Defence official confirmed to the Daily Mirror and expressed optimism that
future recruitment drives would be as successful as the ones last year.
"Youth are joining the military due to the recent series of victories against the LTTE especially in the eastern region," the official said.
He said nearly 30,000 youth joined the army during the recruitment drives conducted last year and were now undergoing comprehensive training.
The latest recruitment drive comes even as the government said it would liberate the remaining areas held by the LTTE in the Wanni region this year. Meanwhile the
Navy and Air force were also engaged in a major recruitment drive.

Maheswaran

*Maheswaran was a wealthy ship operatorThiyagarajah Maheswaran who lost his life to an assassin’s bullet in a Kochchikade Hindu kovil of New Year’s day was a wealthy ship operator

*Wounded assassin key to MP’s killing:
Hulugalle
Had the assassin of UNP MP T. Maheswaran escaped after the Jan. 1 killing in a Kochchikade Hindu Temple, the government would have been serious trouble,
Lakshman Hulugalle, head of the Media Centre for National Security admitted.In an interview with The Sunday Island, the official said that the UNP-led Opposition would have then squarely placed the blame on the Rajapaksa administration.
Source: The Island lk

New Alliance meeting in progress in Batti

A meeting is in progress now among the representatives of EPDP, TMVP, EPRLF (Varathan) faction and EROS in Batticaloa on the formation of the new alliance to
contest the local poll in the Eastern Province. Comments One terror regime is going to be replaced by another.

Comments:
Posted By: Common man
So who's actually going to rig the election? GoSL or the what alliance????? Another sham election!
Posted By: selvan
Atleast for election purpose u all are thinking about "u r tamil & necessary of group work"!!! well come, but wht s ur election campaigns??? Are u all going to make
some more people as IDP's???
Posted By: Amuthan
Why did not you arrange a meeting to solve the problem of IDP.
Posted By: TAMIL ANBAN
ohhh.... good work , you guys are real enemy of tamil speaking people. why you need alliance to face election, are you afraid of TNA. TMVP abducted TNA
parlimentarian's relatives last month support govt, what will happened when somebody abduct TMVp's relatives for Duglas.
Posted By: sabesh
Incorrect, Common man. When LTTE was there, under Karuna in the East, the people knew where to go to. Karuna was answerable to everything. If something
went wrong, you could try your best to reach him to sort the problem. But now? It will be a consortium of thieves, killers and rejects. They don't trust each other.
Everyone wants to get the best and run. Look at Iraq. The situation in the East would be very similar to Iraq before and after Saddam.
Posted By: Ranjo
Oh my God! Another chance for the GOSL to watch and enjoy Tamils being killed by Tamils and Tamils being uprooted from their houses.
Posted By: Fernando
Douglas is thinking that he is serving tamil people. But tamil people belive that he is killing tamil people. He is an aragan. He is going to die definitly by gun shot.
Posted By: Ram
EPDP killing Tamils in Jaffna. TMVP killing Tamils in Batticaloa. EPRLF(Varatharaja) killed Muslims in Batticaloa. A good combination of killers to help the
Government of MR. Govt will arrange the rigging.
Posted By: Sundram
Rearmed paramilitaries are contesting the election by depriving the TNA by theats, abductions and killings. This is Sri Lankan democracy.
Source: The Mirror lk