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| Sunday, 4 July 2004 |
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Solheim discusses Karuna affair From the tamil press by S.Selvakumar With the arrival of Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim, Tamil dailies once again concentrated on talks on peace talks. When the LTTE raised the Karuna issue with Solheim the tone of the stories was much biased and personalistic. The Thinakkural on Tuesday quoted LTTE political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan as having told the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Chief Trond Furuhovde that since the new government assumed office there is confusion and difficulty in adhering to the ceasefire agreement and this situation could jeopardise the ceasefire agreement itself. The Virakesari on the same story quoted Thamilselvan and said the government and the Army through the help of Karuna is creating unrest in the East and this could be a threat to the peace process and the Ceasefire agreement. JVP parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa has said that his party is not opposed to the President seeking the support of the Jathika Hela Urumaya, the Virakesari said. In another story the paper quoted JHU spokesman Athureliya Rathana Thera saying that if the UPFA government apologises to the JHU and its MPs for its past activities the JHU is prepared to extend its support to the government. Tamil National Alliance chief V. Anandasangaree has denied reports in certain media that his party will set up branches in foreign countries, the Thinakaran said. Sumith Makalanda, Sri Lanka's envoy in Chennai has told a press conference in India that the United Nations' was willing to foot the bill for transportation if the Sri Lanka refugees living in India wish to come back to their country. Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim was due to meet the President after talks with the LTTE in Kilinochchi on Wednesday. Earlier he was scheduled to meet the President first, the Thinakkural reported on Wednesday. SLMM chief Trond Furuhovde briefed Solheim at the Norwegian Embassy on Tuesday on the talks he had with Thamilselvan where the latter charged that Karuna with the help of the Army was attempting destabilise Batticaloa. Jeyaraj - Arumugam meeting Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle had lengthy discussions with CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman on Tuesday in a bid to woo that party's support to the government before Parliament meets on July 20. The Thinakaran said that senior UNP members were critical of the party hierarchy's decision to appoint Myown Mustafa to the national list and they had pointed out that A.H.M. Azwar would have been a better choice. The Virakesari quoting the BBC said that LTTE has taken into custody seven cadres of the Karuna faction from an area in Battiacloa controlled by the Tigers. The Thinakaran on Thursday said Federal Party Parliamentary group leader R. Sampanthan has accepted an invitation from London based Tamil organisations to travel to European countries and address meetings to stress the importance of Interim Self Governing Authority for the Northeast. He is already in London in this regard. LTTE has told Solheim that the government did not act with confidence and honesty in recommencing the peace process and until a solution is found vis-a-vis Karuna's affair the Tigers will not participate in the peace process, the Thinakkural said. Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has told Erik Solheim that the UNP's position is peace process should recommence soon, the Virakesari reported on Thursday. The paper also said that despite efforts by seven European countries to develop and uplift the standard of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, current trend in the peace process has stalled all operations in this regard. Virakesari quoted a Jaffna based NGOs website. Operation to change sex The Virakesari on Friday had an interesting report about a young man from Jaffna who had undergone an operation in a leading private hospital in Colombo to change his sex at a cost of Rs. 2.5 million. The paper did not identify the man (now a woman) but said he had a longstanding friendship with a man in London which developed into love affair. He now wants to travel to London to marry him. Hence the sex change. The paper also reported that six Indian fishermen imprisoned in the Mannar jail had escaped. JHU Parliamentarian Ven. Ellawela Medananda Thera addressing a meeting in Matara has said that the much talked about rivalry between Karuna and Prabhakaran is fictious and Karuna is on a spying mission in Colombo gathering information. He would soon return to Wanni and join Prabhakaran, according to the Thinakkural. Speaking at the same meeting Ven. Athureliya Rathana Thera has said that if the government attempts to impose further burdens on the people the JHU will take steps to defeat the budget. |
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