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| Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
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UNP supports government for peace talks Tamil Press by S. Selvakumar Five Sri Lanka Naval personnel who were sent to the US for training have disappeared, the Sudaroli said on Monday. The SLMM said the Ceasefire Agreement between the government and the LTTE was in jeopardy following the Welikanda attack on LTTE cadres in which Tiger Batticaloa-Amapara Political Head E. Kaushalyan and five others were killed. The LTTE complained to the SLMM that government troops had carried out a grenade attack on their Mannar political office, the Thinakkural said in a front page story. The military suspects that anti-aircraft missiles had been placed at the LTTE runway in Iranaimadu where two aircrafts of the LTTE had been stationed. Batticaloa District Parliamentarian S. Jayanandamoorthy (TNA) in a statement said that he was thoroughly opposed to President Chandrika Kumaratunga's visit to Batticaloa on February 20 to lay a foundation stone and commence reconstruction work to tsunami hit areas. The Thinakkural on Tuesday led with the story that President Kumaratunga refused to meet with JVP leaders but had a near two hour discussion with Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe when the latter attended a meeting summoned by the President to discuss tsunami related relief operations. The Colombo-Chennai ferry service plan was abandoned following opposition by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalitha. Government servants affected by the tsunami would be paid an year's salary as advance, the Thinakaran reported. UNP's Deputy Secretary General Tissa Attanayake said whether the JVP remains in or leaves the government the UNP would support the government if peace talks resume, the Virakesari said in its main news item. The Virakesari led with the story of several demonstrations and rallies in Mannar, Jaffna and Kilinochchi condemning the Welikanda killings of LTTE cadres. The paper also carried pictures of the demonstrations. The Sudaroli in its main story said a LTTE team would visit European countries soon to complain to the international community that the government had discriminated against the Tamil speaking people affected by the tsunami and was getting ready for a war. An Indian, deeply religious Hindu woman Mother Amritanandamai met with Minister Douglas Devananda and agreed to provide Rs. 65 million to build 300 houses in tsunami hit areas, the Thinakaran said in a front page story on Thursday. The Thinakkural in its lead story said Norwegian facilitators were attempting to arrange a meeting between the Tigers and security forces in the East in a bid to diffuse tension between the LTTE and security forces in the aftermath of the Welikanda killings. S. P. Thamilselvan flew in a Sri Lanka Air Force Helicopter from Karadianaru in Batticaloa to Sampur's LTTE controlled areas in Trincomalee on Wednesday, the Sudaroli reported. Jaffna demonstrated against the Welikanda killings consecutively for the third day on Wednesday, the Virakesari said in a front page story. All Tamil papers on Thursday gave prominence to baby-81 case where the Court established the parents who claimed the baby as the parents of the baby. The Thinakkural on Friday led with the story that Cabinet approval had been granted to the upper Kotmale Power Project and the CWC, too, had extended its support to the project. In another prominently displaced front page story the paper said the Canadian Government had rejected a call by the Conservative opposition to ban the LTTE in that country and the main reason cited was requests by Norway and America that such a ban would jeopardise the peace process and the paper quoted the Canadian Foreign Minister telling the Parliament. The Virakesari quoted Thamilselvan and said the LTTE had written to the United Nations on a UNICEF report that the LTTE had proscribed children under-18 years to their fighting cadres. Government had allocated a sum of Rs. 2 billion to purchase about 2 million metric tonnes of paddy in the Maha season at Rs. 15.50 and 16.50 per kilo through co-operative societies, agricultural centres and Markfed, the Thinakaran said in its lead story. |
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