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Sri Lanka 's rebels to start upgraded radio broadcast Jan.16, may reach Tamils in India
Associated Press,
Thu January 2, 2003 02:26 EST .
DILIP GANGULY -Associated Press Writer-COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) Sri Lanka - 's Tamil Tigers will start their upgraded radio broadcast services from Jan. 16, reaching a wider area with more programs, sources close to the rebels said Thursday. The rebels of Liberation Tigers of Tamil eelam, who have fought a separatist war in Sri Lanka - 's north and east since 1983, are banned in India, but enjoy some support in Tamil Nadu. The government's decision to allow the import of the new radio equipment has been criticized in a section of the Sri Lankan media, but the rebels' political leader, S.P.Thamilselvan, said the new services would help keep the Tamil people informed about the peace process. The government and the rebels are currently observing a February 2002 cease-fire agreement that stopped fighting between the two sides. ``We regard the new equipment as very essential in this climate of peace ... to inform Tamil people on all issues affecting the current peace talks,'' TamilNet Web site quoted Thamilselvan as saying. The Web site gives a Tamil perspective of the civil war, which killed more than 65,000 people.
Published: Thu Jan 2 03:44:58 EST 2003
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ASK WIMAL!
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This session has now ended!
ANSWERS 1-17, 22-23 HERE!.
The Lanka Academic is delighted to announce its next guest in its
series of Q & A sessions: Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, the Propaganda
Secretary, a member of the Political Bureau, and the leader of the
group of Parliamentarians of People's Liberation Front (JVP), in Sri
Lanka. Submit your questions for Mr. Weerawansa and view his answers
here. As usual, we will forward your questions to
him in batches and will post the answers as they arrive.
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Major General Fonseka will not be transferred - Defense Sec
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo,
SLT 7.30 a.m Thursday 2 January.
Defense Secretary Austin Fernando said that Major General Sarath Fonseka,
Security Forces Commander in Jaffna will not be transferred because some one
requests him to be transferred. Speaking at a media conference held at the
Ministry of Defense, yesterday (Wednesday) Fernando said, " We have not
received any letter from any politician or anyone else requesting General
Fonseka to be transferred from the North. The transfers are not done on
anybody's request." However, Fernando said that Admiral Sarath Weerasekaras
transfer was a routine one and the government did not do it on anyone's
request. Reports said that United National Party Member of Parliament
T.Maheshwaran asked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe to remove General
Fonseka and Admiral Sarath Weerasekara, the top commanders from the Jaffna
peninsula. Speaking on the issue of High Security Zones, Fernando said that
there were conflicting reports on the number of house and people who have
been displaced because of the high security zone. "General Fonseka's says
that 8000 houses would have been there while the Government Agents figures
are 15,000. The LTTE says that 29,000 houses would have been in the zone. It
is not clear and we have to get the correct figures. We got to verify and
plan the whole thing." In response to a question the defense secretary said
that Army's presence in the area cannot be considered as a violation of the
MOU signed between the LTTE and the government. Commenting on his tour to
the North on Tuesday the defense secretary pointed out that people in
Gurunagar told him that they were not harassed by the Armed forces and even
the government agent confirmed it. The Defense Secretary also said that the
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission would fix a meeting on 14 January in Muhamalai
to discuss the issues concerning the High Security Zones. He was of the
opinion that some of the issues could be resolved by discussions. Fernando
emphasized, "We are optimistic" However, the defense secretary lamented that
the LTTE would not be willing to give up their heavy weapons. He said, " It
looks that they are not willing to give up the heavy weapons.
Published: Wed Jan 1 20:31:05 EST 2003
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Ranil to send report to Chandrika on broadcasting equipment issue
The Hindu (International),
Thursday, Jan 02, 5.30 PM EST.
By V.S. Sambandan
COLOMBO. JAN. 2. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, will send a report to the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, tomorrow on the controversial import of radio broadcasting equipment for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a senior Prime Ministerial aide told The Hindu. ``The report will be sent tomorrow,'' the aide said, adding that he did not see the issue boiling over into a major problem.
More...
Published: Thu Jan 2 17:43:48 EST 2003
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