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Over 50 Sri Lankan Illegal Immigrants Dead in Trawler Capsizing Xinhuanet, 04 February 2002. At least 50 Sri Lankan illegal immigrants feared dead or missing when a trawler carrying some 150youths heading for Italy capsized on Sunday in the sea off Matara,about 160 kilometers south of capital Colombo, local police said. The trawler which started midnight Saturday from Negombo near the country's only international airport, some 30 kilometers northof Colombo, collided against a rock in the sea and capsized early Sunday due to heavy rain. Police said that 10 bodies have been recovered and 12 survivors have been brought to Matara hospital. Rescue operation is underway. Some of them might have swum to the shore and escaped, police said. More... Published: Sun Feb 3 22:56:15 EST 2002

Related News Stories · Bid to enter Italy flounders off Devundera  - Island · Boat carrying Lankan migrants sinks  - South Nexus

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Election 2001 Results How Did We Do? - See how LAcNet election results projection fared.

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PSD chief surrenders Gulf-News, 04 February 2002. The chief of the Presidential Security Division (PSD) who was wanted by courts for threatening a fellow police officer surrendered yesterday and has been released on bail, official sources said...

Pottu Amman says Indian intelligence is in touch with him HT -P K Balachanddran, 04 February . Pottu Amman, the shadowy chief of the intelligence wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and "accused number two" in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, says that Indian intelligence agents have conveyed to him New Delhi's willingness to build bridges with the LTTE...

Lanka frees 2,500 convicts to mark freedom day Times of India, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2002 1:24:02 PM. Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga is to grant amnesty to some 2,500 prisoners to mark the nation's 54th anniversary of independence, officials said Sunday...

Sri Lanka seeks unity to end decades of ethnic bloodshed theAge.com, 04 February 2002. Both sides of Sri Lanka's co-habitation government today called for unity to end decades of ethnic bloodshed as the country prepared to mark the 54th anniversary of independence from Britain...

Ansal plans Rs 225-cr Lanka housing project Economic Times, 04 February 2002. The Delhi-based Rs 150-crore Ansal Housing and Construction Ltd (AHCL) is planning a new housing project in Sri Lanka...

No plan to impeach Chandrika - Ranil Gulf-News - Sinha Ratnatunga, 04 february 2002. The new United National Front government has conveyed to President Chandrika Kumaratunga that it has no plans to impeach her even as both sides of Sri Lanka's cohabitation government called yesterday for unity to end decades of ethnic bloodshed as the country prepared to mark the 54th anniversary of independence from Britain...

'A historic opportunity for constructive cohabitation' CDN, 04 February 2002. A historic opportunity has arisen for the two major parties to evolve new systems of constructive cohabitation and collective action to resolve the separatists conflict, says President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in her Independence Day message: "We have to attempt to replace the conflictual political culture with one that is consensual", she adds...

Till UNF brings in amendments to LG polls act Polls chief wants North-East GAs to accept nominations Island, 04 February 2002. Commissioner of Elections Deyananda Dissanayake requests all Government Agents in the North East to carry out their duties and accept nominations for local government polls until the United Front Government takes steps to bring amendments to postpone the polls in the North-East, authoritative governmental sources stated on Friday...

Pondicherry Hotel owners suspend bandh plan The Hindu (Southern States), 04-02-2002 . The Association of Hotel Owners in Pondicherry, which has called for a bandh on February 5 to protest the imposition of eight per cent sales tax on cooked food sold by hotels, restaurants and sweet stalls from February 1, has postponed the agitation following an assurance from the Chief Minister that he would consider their plea...

Appeal LTTE to Stop Forced Conscription- TNA Saroj Pathirana in London. Saturday 02/02/02 1800 GMT Political parties should publicly appeal to the LTTE to stop abduction and forcible recruitment of Tamil youths as it may disrupt the Norwegian brokered peace process, a leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said...

Mahinda R to be Appointed Opposition Leader Saroj Pathirana in London. Saturday 02/02/02 1230 GMT Senior leaders of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) have decided to appoint Mahinda Rajapaksha as the Leader of the Opposition, The Lanka Academic reliably learns...

Lankan PM promises to address humanitarian concerns Press Trust of India, Colombo,Saturday, February 02, 2002. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has promised to do more to alleviate human suffering in the north and end the harassment of Tamils, amidst continuing protests by fishermen in Jaffna and Tamil detainees in various jails in the south...

LTTE Creates Special Task Force Saroj Pathirana in London. Saturday 02/02/02 1650 GMT Tamil Tigers have recently created a Special Task Force (STF) in Vanni under the personal guidance of supremo Vellupilai Prabhakaran, media reports said...

US pledges full support for Norway-backed Lanka peace efforts The Hindustan Times, Washington, February 2 . The United States has urged the Sri Lankan government and LTTE to engage in a productive dialogue to resolve the conflict and said Washington's policy towards the rebels will not be affected by any move to remove the domestic ban on them...

"Long Ranger" goes to Supreme Court Sunday Times, 03 February 2002. The Army Officer, who was arrested by the Kandy Police together with his soldier colleagues following the raid on the Army Safe House at Athurugiriya has filed a fundamental rights petition before the Supreme Court...

Cong. opposes India hosting LTTE, Colombo talks The Hindu, 02-02-2002 . The Congress today vehemently opposed the idea of India either hosting or facilitating talks between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan Government...

Italian navy to hunt illegal immigrants BBC South Asia, Saturday, 2 February, 2002, 11:45 GMT . Italy will give its navy new powers to prevent boats carrying illegal immigrants from landing on its shores...

Sri Lanka Government to re-open road BBC South Asia, Saturday, 2 February, 2002, 10:16 GMT . Officials in northern Sri Lankan say the government has agreed to re-open a key road which runs through rebel territory later this month...

Rights group asks Oslo to protect Tamil civilians from LTTE The Hindu (International), 02-02-2002 . Tamil human rights group has asked Norway, which is facilitating a peace process in Sri Lanka, to protect civilians in the north- east of the island by ensuring that the LTTE stopped political killings, extortion and the recruitment of child soldiers...

A bitter pill Frontline- D.B.S. Jeyaraj, 02 February 2002. THE cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have demonstrated on numerous occasions that they are prepared to embrace death by biting the potassium cyanide capsules hung around their necks when confronted by the danger of being captured...

Sound, a reality for him now The Hindu (Southern States), 03-02-2002 . Silence may be golden. Only to the average ear. But for those atrophied into silence over the years, sounds are divine...

Drawing conclusions: political Buddhism as a spent force Globe and Mail, 02 february 2002. - A reader expressed surprise that I had included Buddhism in a list of religious traditions that have been invoked to justify wars and political upheavals...

Chandrika hits out at moves to arrest security chief The Hindu (International), 03-02-2002 . The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is in tense co- habitation with a politically opposed Government, has lashed out at moves to arrest a senior police officer in charge of the Presidential Security Division(PSD) and said it was an attack on her office...

Acid attack on NDP General Secretary Daily Mirror, 02 February 2002. The National Democratic Party's General Secretary S.A. Kandasamy - who broke away from the CWC last year - suffered burn injuries after an unidentified man threw acid on his face in his Kollupitiya office, police said...

Sri Lanka wants duty-free apparel exports to U.S. IANS/Yahoo- Christine Jayasinghe, 02 February 2002. Sri Lanka will push for duty free status in the U.S. for the flagship apparel industry and has hired a firm of Washington lobbyists to help, a senior minister said...

Sri Lanka 2001 tea exports 294 mln kg vs 288 mln Nothern Light, 02 February2002. - Sri Lanka has retained its position as the world's largest exporter of tea by selling a record 294 mln kilograms last year, official figures showed...

Low pressure brings rain The Hindu (Southern States), 02-02-2002 . The rain last night and this morning in certain parts of the State, particularly in the coastal belt, was caused by a trough of low pressure over the south Sri Lanka and neighbourhood, according to the Meteorological department...

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