The government on Friday rejected the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly -- asking the Centre to stop treating Sri Lanka as a friendly nation, to slap sanctions on it and demand a referendum for a separate Tamil Eelam.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa helped the Congress-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance's performance in Tamil Nadu during last year's parliamentary elections by agreeing to halt the use of heavy weapons against the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam in the final stages of the civil war, a top Sri Lankan official has claimed.
A delegation of MPs from Tamil Nadu will be leaving for Sri Lanka tomorrow to get first hand account of the conditions prevailing in the camps housing Lankan Tamil refugees displaced by the war between the island army and the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko has convened a two-day international seminar on the alleged atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils in New Delhi on January 10-11, 2009.
Classified as 'Secret' and titled 'LTTE Threat to Canada', the intelligence report said the Canadian Tamil community was among the LTTE's largest sources of funds, having contributed up to 10 to 12 million dollars annually in past years.
Sri Lanka on Thursday blamed strategic alliances and domestic political issues, an apparent reference to politics in Tamil Nadu, for the UNHRC resolution that was backed by India to censure Colombo for its alleged war crimes during the ethnic conflict with the Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday held its first ever Cabinet meeting in the Tamil heartland of Kilinochchi, the erstwhile administrative capital of the vanquished Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam."The weekly Cabinet meeting commenced in Kilinochchi at 10 am today under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapakse," a statement said.The meeting was conducted at the administrative building of the defence forces headquarters near the Iranamadu tank.
Under international flak for his handling of the Tamil issue, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Friday that nations who sympathise with separatism are bound to become the victims of terrorism, as Sri Lanka celebrated with pomp a year of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's military defeat.
The United States on Friday asked Sri Lanka to speed up its probe into allegations of rights abuses during the civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, resume talks with Tamil parties on power sharing and reduce the role of the military in the former conflict zone.
National Television of Thamil Eelam will be beaming programmes to European nations from an undisclosed location in Sri Lanka's northeast.
The statements coming out of India on 'reclaiming' Kachchatheevu island from Sri Lanka have 'no ground', the Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda has said.
Bolstered by American and Pakistani support, Colombo is increasingly insensitive to Indian concerns over the plight of the Tamils.
'We have also been very, very clear with the government that the purpose of fighting terrorism is to bring the benefits of a democratic government to the people,' US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said. The US feels the Sri Lankan government 'hasn't worked hard enough to bring that democratic government to the people of the area and frankly, to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.'
The Home Ministry on Tuesday has issued a Look out Circular (LOC) against a USA-based Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam sympathiser Dr. Ellyn Shander, who was to have addressed a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, at the India Islamic Culture Centre .Shander has a valid Indian visa, still the LOC was issued.
Pro-Tamil outfits like Periyar Dravida Iyakkam and 'May 17 movement' celebrated the birth anniversary in various parts of the city by cutting cakes and distributing sweets.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamchief M Karunanidhi on Wednesday said Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's statement -- that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's cadres were still trying very hard to revive the conflict -- was aimed at diverting the world's attention from the alleged human rights violations in the island republic.
The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) has initiated a charity project to provide rehabilitation measures for the Tamil population of Sri Lanka that suffered due to a decades-old war between the country's defence forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The LTTE certainly did not expect to fade into oblivion, their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran a fugitive. A couple of years ago, the Tigers were rampant, scoring victories on land and sea, and terrorising Colombo with their makeshift air force. What turned things around? Probably much covert aid from governments, including India's, wary of the Tigers' propensity for redrawing boundaries by force
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday spoke to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who is on an indefinite fast in support of his demand for immediate ceasefire in the Sri Lankan army's offensive against the LTTE.
Three Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam supporters who admitted providing over one million dollars in cash to the terror group were allowed to walk free on Wednesday by the Australian Supreme Court on bonds to be of good behaviour. The supreme court was told an Australian-based charity was used as a cover to collect and send money to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the Herald Sun reported.
The LTTE said their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran bestowed the title of 'Mamanithar,' or great man, on Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Raviraj, 44, who was shot dead in Colombo on Friday.
A day after Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi stated that he viewed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo V Prabhakaran as a 'friend', Sri Lanka on Monday said that the Tamil Nadu chief minister was trying to exploit the issue for electoral gains. "Mr Karunanidhi is a Chanakya. He knows what to say and when -- not that he is not aware of Prabhakaran's attitude," Minister for Social Service Welfare Douglas Devananda said.
Five Tamil protesters forced their way on Monday into the Indian High Commission and smashed bullet proof glasses while thousands agitated against the Sri Lankan military offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, prompting the mission to seek "adequate security" to protect its offices.
In two letters purportedly written in Tamil by a suicide bomber Colonel Rooben, one of the Black Air Tigers, who the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam claims that flew the LTTE aircraft that hit the headquarter of Sri Lankan Air Force and its base near Colombo on Friday, has urged the Tamils of Tamil Nadu and of the Vanni area of Sri Lanka to join the outfit's military battle against the Lankan government.
"If Dr Singh makes it to Colombo, which would be the first in several years, it would undoubtedly be a big blow to LTTE, which is why pro-LTTE parties in Tamil Nadu are objecting it."
The presence of Vaz, parliamentarian from Indian-dominated Leicester East, and a fellow Labour MP, Joan Ryan, drew an angry response from the Sri Lankan High Commission, which released a statement claiming that the event was a 'clear violation of the UK terrorism laws.'
At an all party meet in Chennai on Tuesday chaired by Chief Minister K Karunanidhi a resolution was adopted that if the central government does not ensure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka within two weeks, all Members of Parliament from the state would resign. Leaders of the Congress, Communist Party of India and CPI-Marxist were also present at the meet. Opposition parties including the J Jayalalitha-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Vaiko-led MDMK.
Sri Lankan Air Force pounded identified LTTE hideout located in the jungles south of Puthukudiyirippu, Mullaittivu, believed to be frequented by top Tamil Tiger leadership, including supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. According to Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, Air Force spokesperson, the air raids targeted the hideout believed to be frequented by Prabhakaran.
Sri Lanka on Tuesday claimed to have found slain Tamil Tiger chief Vellupilai Prabhakaran's personal gun and body armour, seven months after overrunning the last Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam bastion in the decisive battle at Nanthaikadal lagoon off the northern coast.The arms used by Prabhakaran were found buried 15 feet under the ground at Vellamulliwaikkal area in Mulaittivu along with scores of suicide kits and several anti-aircraft guns.
In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Central Investigating Agency's former chief investigating officer K Ragotham speaks about the conspiracy and the hurdles that were faced in a probe in which many aspects were hushed up.
An Indo-Canadian was arrested and asked to leave the country after he allegedly gave an inflammatory speech in support of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at an event, where the flag of the outlawed Tamil rebel group was also hoisted.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna arrived in Colombo on Thursday on a four-day official visit to boost up bilateral relations, amid growing Chinese footprints in Sri Lanka.
The Tamil Nadu police on Wednesday refuted media reports about possible intrusion of Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam cadres in the state following the discovery of some boats with bullet marks along the Rameswaram coast recently.
Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department has arrested the head of the finance division of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation, a front organisation for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, in Jaffna.He is alleged to have provided millions of rupees to the Tiger rebels for their war efforts. Investigations have claimed that he had provided TRO funds to slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, its political head S Thamil Selvan and several key members.
The Sri Lankan government on Thursday sought to assure India that its ongoing offensives on the Tamil Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi was being carried out by following zero civilian casualty doctrine and all assistance was being provided to displaced Tamil civilians.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will undertake a three-day visit to Sri Lanka from Monday. She is expected to visit the north eastern provinces of Sri Lanka -- including Vayunia, Yazhpanam and Trincomalee -- to check the rehabilitation of the Tamil population, who were displaced by the military's offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Rao is also expected to prepare the ground work for the official visit of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Colombo.
While earlier reports indicated the vessel was carrying 200 Sri Lankan migrants, unidentified Canadian sources say there are at least 500 people on board, including women and children. There are mixed reactions in Canada too. Some say the vessel should not be given nod to anchor on the country's shores, others say it is a ploy of the beleaguered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to regroup outside of Sri Lanka.
Tamil journalist Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam, who was sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment in Sri Lanka for links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has received two prestigious international awards. Global Media Forum and the US branch of Reporters Without Borders on Monday announced that Tissainayagam has been selected as winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism. The award would be presented in October.
The actor said he took the decision after founders of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Vaiko and Thol Thirumavalavan respectively, and Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi leader T Velmurugan asked him to consider withdrawing from the programme.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighters were dressed in Indian army uniforms during the final battles of the nearly three-decade long civil war, former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka has said.
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