Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Economic impact of LTTE defeat

(DN)The capture of Paranthan and Kilinochchi confirms that remaining strongholds of the LTTE Elephant pass and Mullaithivu would fall within a short period. This assessment also confirmed by many experts following events in the security section.

It is widely believed this may lead to the collapse of the LTTE as a fighting force after 25 years. Unprecedented rains in the North have delayed military advance by nearly 1 1/2 months and with improved weather conditions the above would be a reality. Full Text

Time to Act : The LTTE, it’s Front Organisations, and the challenge to Europe - I:

Global response to LTTE

(DN)Excerpts from address by Ravinatha Aryasinha, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, at the EU-US International Seminar on the LTTE, held at the Europol Headquarters in the Hague, Netherlands, 9-10 Dec 2008.

To the best of my understanding, this is the first time such a wide-ranging international group of experts have chosen to devote an entire two days to discuss with EU member states and other third affected countries, the ramifications of the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Full Text

All facilities for fleeing civilians

Rohan Mathes

(DN)President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed the relevant officials to provide all necessary facilities to the once entrapped civilians fleeing towards the Government controlled territory, from the uncleared areas.

Two camps have been established at Menik Farm and Nelunkulam in the Settikulam and Vavuniya, areas, for the exodus of displaced persons. Around 750 families are domiciled herein. Full Text

Troops reach Elephant Pass

Ranil WIJAYAPALA

*58 Division captures Elephant Pass South*

* Troops in full control of Jaffna lagoon*

*Air Force prevents LTTE building earth bund*

Security Forces yesterday reached Elephant Pass with the 58 Division troops capturing the entire southern part it and further advancing towards the North to capture it the entirely, Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka said yesterday.

According to military sources the troops of the 58 Division under the command of Brigadier Shavendra Silva have captured the area south of Elephant Pass causeway including the area in which the monument of Hasalaka Gamini who made the supreme sacrifice in defence of the Elephant Pass camp in 1991 and the southern part of the former military complex of the Army, by yesterday noon. Full Text

Winning Lasting Peace After Kilinochchi Victory

(DM)The government has been celebrating the victory at Kilinochchi as a decisive one that heralds the dawn of peace. The day that the troops entered Kilinochchi, President Mahinda Rajapaksa delivered an address to the nation at the Presidential Secretariat in which he praised the sacrifice of the Sri Lankan soldiers and called on the LTTE to surrender and give up their dream of Tamil Eelam. Although the President added that the capture of Kilinochchi should not be seen as a victory of the south over the north, the sound of fire crackers exploding in Colombo and elsewhere signaled rejoicing in the country. Full Text

Second stage has to be proceeded with care

(DM)The nation collectively paid its tribute to the security forces that braved the extremely arduous conditions in the inhospitable terrain to achieve the national objective of wiping out terrorism. Remembering those who laid their lives in the battlefield was indeed the duty of all peace-loving people. It is their hope that the forces will proceed further to accomplish its final goal.

After finally defeating the LTTE what invariably arises is the challenge of implementing the second stage to bring about a complete end to terrorism and violence. In his speech announcing the capture of Kilinochchi, President Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterated his policy of building this country as a true homeland of all communities after wiping out the menace of terrorism. The constituent parties of the government as well as some of those outside solidly backed this policy. Full Text

Lanka briefs US on military operations in the North

(DM)A delegation from Sri Lanka led by Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila has briefed the United States (US) on the military operations underway in the North against the LTTE, a statement from the Foreign Ministry stated.

During the meeting between the Sri Lankan delegation and US officials led by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher, the Deputy Minister noted that the LTTE is holding civilians as human shields and preventing them from coming to Vavuniya, where the Government had made arrangements to receive them. Full Text

New Jaffna Commander

(DM)Newly appointed Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General P. Samarasinghe assumed his duties after a brief religious ceremony on Sunday.

The ceremony took place at the Palali military headquarters before a large gathering of senior officers.

Later the new Commander inspected the guard turn-out and received the Guard of Honour accorded by the 1st Field Engineering Regiment. Full Text

COCHIN, A HAVEN FOR LTTE FUGITIVES

(DM)COCHIN: As the Lankan forces entered the Tamil-Tiger strongholds in northern Lanka scattering away the rebels, Kerala’s marine security agencies fear a large number of suspected LTTE cadres have infiltrated the Indian shore via trawlers to discreetly engage themselves as workers in fishing trawlers off Cochin coast.

Senior officials at the Coastal Base Station in Fort Cochin responsible in patrolling the Indian waters up to 22 nautical miles, said they had come across Indian trawlers with some of them, including women, speaking a Tamil dialect similar to that spoken in Sri Lanka. Full Text

“Our support to Sri Lankan Tamils to protect the language”

Staff Reporter
Not many takers for Economics, History and Tamil, says Radhika Selvi

PUDUKOTTAI: The support extended to the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam reflected its responsibility for protecting Tamil in the long run, Union Minister of State for Home V. Radhika Selvi said.

Ms. Selvi said that the elimination of a language would be an achievable matter through the massacre of the people speaking that tongue. Ethnic violence being meted out on the Sri Lankan Tamils would result in the disappearance of Tamil language in the long run. “We have been raising our voice only to check elimination of Tamil from that region,” she said delivering the convocation address at the J.J. College of Arts and Science here on Sunday. Full Text

Why the conflicts in Gaza and Sri Lanka will continue

  • Damien Kingsbury
  • January 6, 2009

The bases of insurgents may be destroyed, but their grievances demand real solutions.

AS SRI Lankan Government soldiers occupied the Tamil Tigers' stronghold of Kilinochchi, Israeli soldiers began to enter Gaza. One case represents a separatist movement in perhaps the final throes of a failed struggle for independence; the other the administration of a territory about to be pushed from power. Full Text

Concerns of civilian deaths rise in Sri Lanka

(yahoo)COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lankan forces overran another village Monday and moved closer to seizing a strategic base from the Tamil Tigers, but concerns are mounting for the hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the rebels' shrinking territory.

The government has chased the rebels out of much of their de facto state in the north in recent months — taking their administrative capital of Kilinochchi last week — but the offensive is complicated by the presence of an estimated 300,000 civilians in rebel territory. Full Text

The Tigers' last stand

Driven from their northern headquarters, Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels face defeat

(economist)THE long conventional war in Sri Lanka, pitting the Sinhalese-dominated government against the vicious rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority, is almost over. On Monday January 5th the army was reported to be bombarding the LTTE’s remaining scrap of territory in north-eastern Sri Lanka, after last week taking the rebel capital of Kilinochchi, which the LTTE ruled for a decade of its 25-year armed struggle. Full Text

National Post editorial board: Keep the Tamil Tigers out of Canada

(NP)On Friday, Sri Lanka's army captured Kilinochchi, the de facto capital of the Tamil Tigers. This marks a crippling blow for the Tigers, a rebel militia and terrorist group that first took up arms more than a quarter-century ago. It also poses an indirect security risk for Canada: As the Tigers are routed from the battlefield, Ottawa must guard against fleeing Tiger leaders seeking sanctuary among this country's large Ontario-based community of expatriate Tamils.

The Tigers -- more formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- have been on the defensive for several years now. In the northern part of the country, the Sri Lankan army has taken a number of Tiger-held towns and outposts. In the eastern part of the country, the LTTE military apparatus has disintegrated completely, thanks largely to defections and infighting. Full Text

No military solution - India

Shiv Shankar Menon
Policy on LTTE leader's extradition has not been changed, says India
(BBC)Indian authorities have once again stressed the importance of finding a political solution to Sri Lanka’s national question.

In what appear to be the first official response since Sri Lanka military captured LTTE's former political headquarters, Kilinochchi, India's Foreign Secretary re-stressed that there is no military solution for problems facing Sri Lanka.

“There is no military solution to Sri Lanka’s problem, no matter how the military situation might fluctuate,” Shiv Shankar Menon told journalists in Delhi. Full Text

Sri Lankan Tamils confident of LTTE to bounce back

Chennai, Jan 5 (ANI): Many Sri Lankan Tamils living in Tamil Nadu expressed disappointment on the fall of Tamil Tigers' de facto capital Kilinochchi but confident that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would bounce back.

Around one thousand of refugees from Sri Lanka are saying in the several places in Tamil Nadu. Kottapatu is one such camp in Thiruchirappali district of the state where thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils are staying. Full Text

India has always demanded Prabhakaran's extradition: Menon

(yahoo)New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) India has consistently urged Sri Lanka to extradite Tamil Tiger chief V. Prabhakaran, an accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said here Monday.

'We have consistently demanded the extradition of Prabhakaran… this is a request we have renewed repeatedly,' Menon told reporters.

Asked to comment on the advances being made by Sri Lankan forces in key Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) bastions, Menon said while the military situation may vary from time to time, India advocated a political solution to the decades-old ethnic conflict. Full Text

Tigers constructing new defence line from Iranaimadhu to Ooriyaan

(TC)The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)organization has begun constructing new defence lines to prevent the Sri Lankan armed forces from moving further into tiger – controlled territory to the east of the Jaffna – Kandy road known as A – 9 highway.

The latest tiger move comes in the wake of the Army gaining control of Paranthan, Kilinochchi and the entire stretch of roadway up to a point two km south of Elephant pass.

The new LTTE defence line begins south of Kilinochchi in the Thiruvaiyaaru east and the northern tank bund of Iranaimadhu reservoir and extends northwards to Ooriyaan along the shores of the Jaffna lagoon. Full Text

Army moving into Elepahnt Pass as Tigers begin withdrawal

(TC)The Sri Lankan armed forces have started moving into the “Aanai Iravu” or Elephant pass region as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) commenced withdrawing from the area.

Soldiers of the 58 division commanded by Brig. Shavendra Silva began moving towards Elephant pass from two directions.

One column proceeded along the axis of the Jaffna – Kandy road known as A – 9 highway from a place called Umaiyaalpuram , north of Paranthan. Full Text

Army Captures More Places in Eastern Wanni After LTTE Withdrawal

(TC)The Sri Lankan armed forces have made significant gains in the Eastern Wanni region after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) began withdrawing from several areas held by them earlier.

Among these places were the culturally important Vatraappalai , home to the famour Amman temple and the strategically important Oddusuddan along the A – 34 highway

Troops have also cleared the area from Mankulam to Thaniootru on the A – 34 or Mankulam – Mullaitheevu road. Full Text

Sunday, January 4, 2009

LTTE receive heavy damages in confrontations; 12 LTTE bodies found - Mullattivu front

(defence.lk)Troops of 59 Division had several confrontations with LTTE terrorists while engaged in consolidating operation to extend own defence line through out the day, 4 January.

According to the latest military report, troops of 14 Vijayaba Infantry Regiment (VIR) has been tactically infiltrated the LTTE-built earth bund in general area south of Chemmalai today (4 Jan). A body of LTTE terrorist killed during the confrontation was also found in a search operation conducted. Full Text

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