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| Sunday, 22 August 2004 |
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Talks about talks : No breakthrough From the Tamil press by S.Selvakumar President Chandrika Kumaratunga's warning to the LTTE that she would not hesitate to send troops to LTTE controlled areas in the face of growing internecine killings in the East and at the same time that she would like to meet with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was big news at the beginning of the week. Mid week, Tamil dailies quoted Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe as saying that President Kumaratunga is targeting another election. At the end of the week a Tamil daily in a banner headline said that the JVP is planning court action for the demerger of the north-east. The Thinakkural on Monday reported an intimation to the LTTE by Peace Secretariat Head Jayantha Dhanapala to await government's alternate proposals now being prepared without expressing opinions which could lead to problems. The paper quoting Indian High Commissioner Nirupam Sen said India will make available 100 million US dollars to Sri Lanka for development work in rural areas. The Sudaroli quoting knowledgeable sources said President Kumaratunga was preparing for another general election since she finds it difficult to steer the UPFA government. In another front page story the paper said that on Sunday a posse of soldiers surrounded seven LTTE cadres who went to Orr's Hill in Trincomalee for political work and later on the intervention of LTTE Trincomalee political wing leader S. Elilan the soldiers dispersed, the latter has brought this to the notice of the SLMM. The Virakesari in its lead story said that the LTTE had informed Norway that it could not accept the government proposal to recommence peace talks and as such there was no possibility of recommencing talks early, the paper quoted diplomatic sources. The Thinakaran said that Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgessen would arrive in Colombo next week to convey the government's alternate proposals to the LTTE. The Virakesari on Tuesday quoted LTTE political Wing head S.P. Thamilselvan as having told a delegation of European Union who met him in Kilinochchi that the power struggle in the South was dragging on the recommencement of talks and the Tamils were frustrated over this. The Sudaroli reported that two rebel SLMC parliamentarians Rishard Badiuddin and Najeeb A. Majid had shed their differences with SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem and agreed to work together. The Thinakkural quoted an interview by President Kumaratunga to Channel News Asia where she had said that she would like to meet LTTE leader Prabhakaran but if armed LTTE cadres created trouble she would not hesitate to send troops to LTTE controlled areas. At the party leaders meeting held on Tuesday in the Parliamentary complex all Tamil party leaders and the SLMC leader were opposed to the bill where national identity cards would be compulsory for voting in future elections. Minority party leaders pointed out that most of the people affected due to the twenty year war in the north east were living without identity cards and similarly many people in the estate sectors, too, did not have NICs, the Virakesari said on Wednesday. The Thinakkural quoting Navy sources said on LTTE boat heading towards the East in the Mullaitivu sea on Monday was turned away by the Navy. The paper in another front page story said Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe addressing the UNP parliamentary group meeting had accused the government of targeting another election at a time when the people were scared of another war and were undergoing untold hardship due to the rising cost of living. The Sri Lanka Navy has lodged a complaint with the SLMM that they have seen an LTTE trawler boat unloading boxes probably containing arms into a dinghy off the Mullaitivu shores, the Sudaroli reported. The World Bank has donated 90,000 US dollars to the Education Ministry to uplift the standard of universities, the Thinakaran said. Security forces have drawn up a new plan to curb the activities of the LTTE in the South and this plan will be implemented very soon the Sudaroli said on Thursday. The army and police were engaged in a massive search operation in Valaichenai, the paper reported in another front page story. Western provincial councillor Duminda Silva who has been charged by the police for child abuse has been suspended from the UNP, the Thinakkural reported. Private bus owners have decided to launch an indefinite strike from next Monday demanding a reasonable fare hike which they said the government is opposed to. Bandaragama police arrested four suspects who stole a dismantled iron bridge and sold to a person in Wattala, the Virakesari said. The paper also said the thieves have taken Rs. 400,000 as an advance for the bridge. The National Security Council will inquire from the SLMM as to why the latter did not take any action on certain incidents in Chalai at Mullaitivu on Monday. The Navy has accused the SLMM of not searching an LTTE trawler which was reported to be carrying suspicious cargo, the Thinakkural reported on Friday. Meanwhile the Virakesari in a front page story quoting the SLMM said that the monitoring mission has not authority to search LTTE boats but the Navy could be so under its supervision. The paper also reported that Australia has donated 10,000 metric tonnes of flour to Sri Lanka. The Sudaroli in its lead story said that the JVP was planning to go to courts against the merger of the north east which that party claim was illegal. The Thinakkural reported that Munda gas management has decided to reduce its price of a 12.5 kg cylinder by Rs. 50 and the new price will be Rs. 620 per cylinder. The Thinakaran said that Defence Secretary Cyril Herath has requested the SLMM to submit a report of the LTTE camps in the East including Trincomalee. An elderly person was killed in Muttur in the early hours of Thursday and he was said to be an army informant, the Thinakaran reported. |
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