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Released POWs Saroj Pathirana in London, Monday 21/01/02 1740 GMT. Chief Engineer Sunil Perera, Mahinda Dias, and Pushpakumara, all from the captured M V Mission vessel, and Sri Lankan Army’s W.S.Premananda, R.G.Rupasinghe, A.L.Attanayake, and four others were released and heading for Colombo after being handed over to the relatives by the Tamil Tigers. A.K.Boyagoda, Sisira Priyankara De Silva, T.P.Gamini, Nimal Nishantha, P.B.M. Jayalath, Jayakumara and S.H.Gunawardhana are still to be released, W.S. Premananda told BBC’s Sandeshaya, in an exclusive interview from Wanni minutes after their release. Published: Mon Jan 21 12:44:08 EST 2002

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Ten POWs Released by LTTE Saroj Pathirana in London, Monday 21/01/02 1340 GMT. Ten Prisoners of War (POW) has been released by the Tamil Tigers, as a goodwill gesture towards peace talks...

Government could deproscribe LTTE Before Talks- Asgiriya Mahanayake Thero Saroj Pathirana in London, Monday 21/01/02 1325 GMT. If the LTTE is sincere in finding a peaceful solution to the country’s ethnic conflict, the government could lift the ban on the organization and proceed for talks, Asgiriya Mahanayake Most Ven...

JVP condemns police transfers Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 6 p.m. SLT Monday January 21. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in a press release today has condemned the transfer of 111 policemen...

IB official helped LTTE leader escape, says book TOI/IANS, January 21. When Indian troops were hunting for Tamil Tiger ideologue Anton Balasingham in Sri Lanka in 1987, he quietly escaped to India, lived in Bangalore and then flew out of Chennai with the help of a senior Indian intelligence official, according to a book written by Balasingham's wife...

Navy pulls out of fight with LTTE flotilla The Hindu (International), 22-01-2002 . . Sri Lanka's Navy pulled back from a confrontation with a flotilla of Sea Tiger boats in the island's northern waters in the early hours of today, as the Government followed the LTTE in announcing an extension of the current truce till February 24...

Lift ban on LTTE, says TULF The Hindu NUS, Colombo, Jan. 21. (PTI). Sri Lanka's main moderate Tamil party has welcomed the Government's positive response to the LTTE's ceasefire and relaxation of a goods embargo on the north, but insisted that the Government lift the ban on the rebel group to pave the way for talks...

PM to make policy statement tomorrow Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 3.10 p.m. SLT Monday January 21. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe will make a policy statement in parliament tomorrow, Tuesday, January 22, 2002...

Norway's peace attempt in Sri Lanka gets a boost Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 1.15 p.m. SLT Monday January 21. Norway's attempt to facilitate a peace process in Sri Lanka has received a boost after both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE extended a one month old ceasefire to a further 30 days...

TULF wants local polls postponed Gulf-News, 22 January 2002. A key Tamil political party in Sri Lanka has called for the postponement of local elections to be held in March saying that it could affect proposed peace talks between the Tamil rebels and the government...

Lanka peace thrust may hook global aid, says report The Indian Express, january 20. Sri Lanka’s latest peace efforts may help it get a better deal from international donors, as it moves towards an agreed ceasefire with the LTTE ahead of a meeting of its aid club due in Paris shortly...

Sri Lankan Govt. extends truce The Hindu NUS, Colombo, Jan. 21 (PTI). Sri Lankan Government has extended its ceasefire with the LTTE by another month, a day after the rebel outfit announced a similar decision...

MoU to be basis for talks Gulf-News, 21 January 2002. The Memorandum of Understanding to be signed between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will be the basis for the proposed talks between the two sides, the state run newspaper said yesterday...

Sri Lankan plane makes emergency landing after Briton's suicide bid Ananova, 21 January 2002. A SriLankan Airlines made an emergency landing at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport on Sunday after a British passenger attempted suicide...

Sri Lankan Tamil Rebels Extend Unilateral Ceasefire People's Daily, January 21, 2002. Sri Lankan separatist Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for independence in the north and east of the country announced on Sunday that they will extend the unilateral ceasefire for one more month to facilitate Norwegian- brokered peace process...

Defeated Sri Lanka politicians drive off in official cars Yahoo/IANS, 21 January 2002. Sri Lanka's new government has launched a major search for dozens of luxury cars and four-wheel drive vehicles that have disappeared together with defeated politicians...

SriLankan ties up with SasiaNet Gulf-News, 21 January 2002. SriLankan Airlines has tied up with SasiaNet to implement an automated, interactive hotel reservation system - Roomsnet...

Relatives seek details about missing troops Gulf-News, 21 January 2002. With the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels setting the stage for talks between the two sides family members of soldiers who have been declared missing in action have renewed a campaign to ascertain details of the missing soldiers...

US to Use Own Yardstick Regarding De-proscribing Tamil Rebels in Sri Lanka People's Daily, Monday, January 21, 2002. U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ashley Wills said on Sunday that the U...

US-BASED MALAHAT ENERGY CORP ENTERS SRI LANKAN JOINT VENTURE Nothern Light, Monday, January 21, 2002 2:39 AM EST . COLOMBO, Jan 21, 2002 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- US-based Malahat Energy Corporation has entered into a joint venture agreement with Sri Lanka's Fentons Limited to create FM Energy Corporation Limited...

Chandrika for more guarantees The Hindu (International), 21-01-2002 . COLOMBO, JAN. 20. With Sri Lanka's latest Norwegian-guided peace process underway, the LTTE seems to be at pains to maintain that it is under no pressure to negotiate even as the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, has advised the Government to obtain more guarantees from the Tigers before talks...

11 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees arrive The Hindu (Southern States), 21-01-2002 . A fresh batch of 11 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees arrived at Otthapatti near Mukuntharayar Chathiram on Sunday...

Sri Lanka to stage early local elections Gulf-News, January 20. The Sri Lankan government has decided to hold early local elections with exceptions to boost its working majority at village level...

Relatives seek release of Lanka soldiers Times of India, JANUARY 20, 2002 5:02:54 PM . The relatives of Sri Lankan soldiers missing in action while fighting Tamil Tigers travelled to a rebel-held area on Sunday seeking the release of prisoners held by the rebels, officials said...

SP Udugampola and army insiders should be treated as traitors Ranmali Wijesuriya in Colombo, SLT 11.55 a.m Sunday 20 January. "Superintendent of Police Kulasiri Udugampola who arrested and ill- treated five army men who did heroic deeds against the LTTE and the army personnel who incited him should be treated as a traitor" number of Army officers told The Lanka Academic today...

Chandrika fears her bodyguards HT - P.K Balachanddran, 20 January 2002. Since President Chandrika Kumaratunga had expressed deep fears that she might be killed by her political opponents and not just the terrorist LTTE, the Sri Lankan government on Friday allowed her to retain her trusted bodyguards even in the midst of a major shake up of the police force...

Lankan firearms amnesty a damp squib Times of India, 21 January 2002. A two-week amnesty granted by the Sri Lankan government to hand over illegal arms has been a failure and police are now preparing to crack down on politicians and criminals in possessions of weapons...

Road blocks eased to Lanka's most sacred tree Times of India, 21 January 2002. Police lifted most of the road blocks in this north-central town and allowed Buddhist pilgrims freer access on Sunday to what they believe to be the world's oldest and most sacred trees...

Sri Lankan Govt Wants to Sign MOU With Tamil Rebels Xinhuanet, 20 January 2002. The Sri Lankan government hopes to sign a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels to provide the basic foundation for a negotiated settlement to the country's long-running ethnic conflict, the official Sunday Observer said...

A Weapon of Choice for Some Northernlight, 21 January 2002. Suicide missions have been going on across the globe for generations, causing hundreds of deaths every year...

Sri Lanka's Relatives of Missing Servicemen to Meet Tamil Rebel Leader Xinhuanet, 21 January 2002. A total of 2,500 relatives of servicemen declared as missing in action left for the Vanni area controlled by separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lankanon Sunday to seek the release of servicemen believed to be held captive by the rebels, government officials said...

Years of fighting leave Sri Lanka's Wanni in poverty Yahoo India, 21 January 2002. Not much is produced in Sri Lanka's northern Wanni except poverty...

Opposition agrees to head PAC and COPE but rejects Deputy Speaker’s post Island, 20 January 2002. The PA was expected to accept the government’s offer to head the two watchdog committees, Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprise [COPE] and Public Accounts Committee [PAC] tasked with ensuring that public enterprises are run properly and are economically viable, political sources said yesterday...

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