Sri Lanka stance earns plaudits

4:00AM Friday May 01, 2009
Sri Lanka's honorary consul-general in Wellington, Aruna Abeygoonesekera, has congratulated the Maori Party for blocking a parliamentary motion even though the Maori Party leans towards the Tamil Tigers.

A motion moved by Progressives leader Jim Anderton called on both Sri Lankan Government forces and the Tamil Tigers to show restraint in the present conflict so that civilians could escape from danger.

But the motion was blocked by Maori MP Te Ururoa Flavell because his party believes it is the Sri Lankan Government that should show restraint in its long fight against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

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MEDIA RELEASE FROM SPUR

Ceasefire not our aim - Miliband

Concern, civilians in NFZ only:

Lakshmi DE SILVA

No one was here to call a ceasefire to save Prabhakaran but we are here to discuss the protection of civilians that was our absolute and paramount interest. The LTTE should stop fighting, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Secretary of State David Miliband told at a press conference at the Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday. ”The LTTE was a proscribed and banned organization in our countries and they are holding citizens in the No Fire Zone.

The LTTE had killed civilians in buses and shopping areas. Our concern was about the civilians, held by the LTTE in the No Fire Zone and other civilians in the IDP camps, Miliband said.

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Miliband in stand-up row with Sri Lanka defence minister over civilian deaths

Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent
Sri Lanka has published details of an apparently heated exchange between its Defence Secretary and David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, about the safety of civilians in the area held by the Tamil Tigers.

Mr Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, his French counterpart, were in Sri Lanka yesterday to urge the Government to call a ceasefire in the war against the Tamil rebels, to allow humanitarian access to tens of thousands of civilians on the front line.

They admitted last night that they had failed in their mission after meeting the President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his Defence Secretary, who is also his brother and the man overseeing the drive to defeat the Tigers after 26 years of civil war.

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Sri Lankan minister launches angry attack on David Miliband

Sri Lanka's defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa has launched an angry verbal attack on Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband, accusing him of basing his policy on Tamil Tiger propaganda.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the president's brother raged at the co-ordinated pressure being put on his government by the international community and singled out this week's visit of Mr Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, his French counterpart, as a "waste of time".

He spoke after reports of a "stand up row" between him and Mr Miliband during a meeting in Colombo in which the Foreign Secretary was trying to persuade the Sri Lankan government to declare a ceasefire to allow civilians trapped in the fighting to leave.

Mr Rajapaksa, who is known as a passionate and feisty advocate of completely crushing the Tamil Tigers and capturing its leadership, said Mr Miliband had interrupted him during their meeting.

"Maybe it's his way but I don't mind his attitude or his ways. My issue is the present situation and why he should interfere in these things. That's what I told him. People in this country approve of what the president is doing and a leader must listen to people in his own country not the foreign minister of the UK," he said.

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Complaints Grow Over Three-Day Tamil Protest

Tuesday April 28, 2009 CityNews.ca Staff

It's a necessity borne of people dying by the thousands, trapped in a war without end.

It's a major traffic inconvenience that's keeping one of the busiest streets in Toronto shut down for days.
Welcome to the dividing lines on University Ave. where a protest by Canadian Tamils has entered its third day.

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Scuffles Break Out As Tamil Protest Enters Its Third Day

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The fine line between a protest and a mob

National Post
Published: Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Torontonians rightly celebrate the multicultural nature of their city. But such sentiments were tested this week, as an ongoing cycle of Tamil protests besieged tens of thousands of workers in the city's downtown core, adding idle time to core-bound commutes, and subjecting the country's most expensive labour to the constant angry thrum of folk drumming. There is a fine line between accommodating spontaneous political action on behalf of a legitimately concerned ethnic group seeking to express solidarity with brethren overseas -- and letting one's city be taken over by a mob.

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No sympathy for Tamil protesters
National Post
Published: Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Re: Tamils Extend Street Protest, April 28.

Like many Torontonians, I don't know much about the current conflict in Sri Lanka. I do know that a large group of Tamils waving the flag of a group my country has deemed a terrorist organization has shut down one of my city's major roads.

So, yes, they have our attention now. But has that helped their cause?

Jonathan B. Schrieder, Toronto.

Pig flu makes the Tigers eat grass

By Dushy Ranetunge in London

(April 29, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) On the morning of Saturday the 25th of April, the BBC world service telephoned me. A vehicle was on its way to provide transport to Bush House, in Aldwych.

Aldwych had many memories. It was the sight of my old haunt, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The small café adjoining the main entrance had the meanest toasted egg and bacon sandwiches in town and many a coup were plotted on those tables.

Aldwych is also the location of the Indian High Commission. This was where Nehru was beheaded recently, allegedly by an agitated bunch of flag waving protestors, some jumping in protest into that vast and ancient sewer known as the Thames River, because their team was losing back home. "Going back to your roots" has new gravitas.

Amidst the waving of the team flags, which is proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000, and adjusting the team scarf, they would whisper into their mobiles, checking the score, back home. It was not looking good. Two top players of the team, the Geneva veteran George and Daya, the masterful one, had surrendered. Winston Churchill looked on disapprovingly, as the Tigers ate grass at Westminster.

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Captured senior Tamil Tiger urges rebels to surrender

Taped statements a propaganda coup for Sri Lanka

Stewart Bell, National Post
Published: Tuesday, April 28, 2009

COLOMBO -- A senior member of the Tamil Tigers who surrendered to Sri Lankan troops last week is urging the cornered rebels to lay down their arms.

Velayutham "Daya Master" Dayanithi said the Tamil rebels were using civilians as human shields and had fired at those who attempted to flee the war zone.

The "LTTE was keeping the Tamil people as hostages," he said, using the acronym for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels. "Nearly 200 civilians died due to LTTE fire. LTTE propaganda was that these people died because of military shelling."

The Tamil Tigers' former media coordinator, Mr. Dayanithi, who goes by his nom de guerre Daya Master, gave himself up on April 20 after crossing the frontline from the rebel-held area to the government side. He is now detained in Colombo.

The National Post viewed a video recording of the interview. It was conducted Saturday under military supervision but he appeared relaxed as he told his story and answered questions on camera.

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Canadian Tamils warn of civil war in Sri Lanka

REALLY! So what do they think they have been fighting for the past 3 decades ? Sinhaya

Toronto, April 28 (IANS) Sri Lankan Tamils have warned of a civil war on the island nation if Colombo does not reciprocate to the Tigers' call for a ceasefire and called for strong action by the Canadian government.

Sri Lankan Tamil here staged night-long protests in the heart of the city Monday and wrote a strongly worded letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

'Tamil Canadians are fearful that in the next 24 to 48 hours a civilian bloodbath will ensue if the government of Sri Lanka does not reciprocate the LTTE's offer to a ceasefire,' the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) said in the letter.
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New Year celebrations bring new hope for re-settled communities...

Just a couple of years ago the eastern province of Sri Lanka, with it's civilians being oppressed by the LTTE, was not in any different situation from the current one the civilians of Vanni are facing. This video shows how the life has changed for the Eastern province for better, ever since the Government forces over ran the LTTE, and secured a peaceful life for it's people. May be US Secretary of State who again asked for a cease fire in Sri Lanka should first visit these areas in the East, or at least watch these videos, before subjecting it's civilians to further hardships, with her ridiculous request from the GOSL. -Sinhaya

"Brothers in arms"

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

EDITORIAL: Tigers at bay

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, one of the world's most violent terrorist outfits, are surrounded in northern Sri Lanka and about to be destroyed - but Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and European self-styled peacemakers are getting in the way of victory. The meddlers should let Colombo finish off this menace.

We can only imagine American satisfaction if we had al Qaeda in this position. It is unconscionable for the United States to castigate its Sri Lankan ally for prevailing in its war against terrorism.
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A response to Hillary from a Sri Lankan in US

Rescue Operation situation discussed on CNN

Sri Lankan Ambassador to USA, Mr. Jaliya Wickramasuriya interviewed on CNN

Reporter near Sri Lanka's front line

Thousands of civilians continue to pour out of Sri Lanka's war zone as they try to escape crossfire between government troops and Tamil Tigers.

The UN is sending a humanitarian team to northern Sri Lanka, where it says 50,000 people are trapped by fighting. The BBC's Charles Haviland is travelling with the Sri Lankan army near the front line in the north east of Sri Lanka.

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

Horses Arse!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Sri Lanka Amb. to the U.N. H.M.G.S. Palihakkara on CNN

Sri Lankan civilians 'escape' video of Navy Rescue

A long match! Freedom from the Tyranny

‘They treat us animals as we did not have any money to give them, they would not let us go. When we ran away they shot us like a hunters shooting animals, many of us injured, some of us who ran with us died with LTTE’s bullets. It's terrible what they do to the poor Tamils’

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2009

By Rajeswary Balasubramaniam

(April 22, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Watching the exodus of Tamils on the 20th of April 2009 from the so-called no-fire zone to the military controlled area was very moving. They were crossing Nanthik Kadal, a lagoon between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military. It is more like the episode where Moses led his people from Egypt to the promised land of Israel. The red Sea opened a path for the exodus to cross but in the Nanthik Kadal the exodus have to swim in water sometimes up to their neck, carrying their kids, possessions and whatever they can carry.

This is a pivotal point in Sri Lankas history. A group of people were the hostages for a ruthless group who used these powerless Tamil people as their last weapons against the Sri Lankan army.

The prosperity of the Tamil community suffered immensely for the last thirty or more years due to oppression by the leaders who they thought were going bring them freedom. Many took their lives to the West and the poor, the oppressed caste who did not have any money to buy their way out, faced the hardships of losing their kids to forced conscription and being moved from place to place to protect their ’protectors’.

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Sri Lankan war in endgame, 100,000 escape rebel zone

By C. Bryson Hull and Ranga Sirilal – COLOMBO (Reuters)

Thousands more civilians surged out of Sri Lanka's war zone on Wednesday, while soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels fought the apparent endgame of Asia's longest-running war despite calls to protect those still trapped.

In the third day since troops blasted through a massive earthen wall built by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and unleashed the exodus, the military said at least 100,000 people had been registered for onward transit to refugee camps.

Among those who came out was the LTTE's ex-spokesman Daya Master, a former schoolteacher who was the Tigers' voice to the English-speaking world for years and arranged media visits to the self-declared state the separatists had fought to create. The military said he was the most senior rebel to surrender, an act that is in contravention of LTTE founder-leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran's dictate that followers wear cyanide vials to be taken in case of capture.

U.N. CONFIRMS EXODUS

The United Nations confirmed this week's outflow.

"It is 60,000 plus and counting, and we have heard various reports of up to 110,000 coming out," said the U.N. spokesman in Colombo, Gordon Weiss. He cautioned the reports were preliminary and not confirmed.

The LTTE has accused the military of fabricating the numbers and of capturing people it says are staying by choice. It has ignored all calls to free civilians while urging a truce, and on Tuesday vowed no surrender despite facing overwhelming firepower.

Independent confirmation of battlefield accounts is difficult because outsiders are generally restricted from it.
Dashing the LTTE's hope India would step in to help a group it trained in the 1980s, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday told reporters: "We have no sympathy for the terrorists, but every sympathy for the civilians."

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Two key Tamil Tigers 'surrender'

Two senior Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have surrendered to the military, and are seeking refuge, the army says. It says that the rebels' media co-ordinator, Daya Master, gave himself up along with a top interpreter, named George, who worked for senior rebels.

Correspondents say that if the reports are true it will be a major setback for the rebel leadership. It has insisted that rebels should commit suicide by swallowing cyanide capsules rather than be captured. The army says that the pair arrived at the army defence line at Puthumathalan on Wednesday morning along with family members. It says they were in "in the company of fleeing civilians".

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French Police arrests the unruly Tamil Diaspora

Watch out Canada... This is what will happen if you continue to let these pro LTTE diaspora act the way they do, inconveniencing the Canadian citizens. They do not understand the word NO! They may drop the RED flag and carry a BLACK flag, but they will cry till their faces turn BLUE, to get what they want. All we can say is Viva La France! -Sinhaya

Norway eats "American Pie"

Asian Tribune, Tue, 2009-04-21 00:59 By Dimuth Gunawardena

........And I knew if I had my chance, That I could make those people dance, And maybe they’d be happy for a while ....... Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more step

It is all over, the floodgates have finally opened, more than 100,000 civilians already have crossed over to the safety and security of Sri Lanka government (GOSL).

The Tamil Diaspora agitated worldwide. Emotions are high. Words like ‘genocide’ are thrown around carelessly as per the dictates of crass politicking. Fed for years on an opiate called Eelam, and having secured considerable benefits courtesy Eelamist propaganda including citizenship in Western capitals and lifestyles unimaginable by the thousands held captive by Prabhakaran, it is but natural for these people to scream until they are hoarse at this historic moment when the bubble of Eelam is about to be blown in their faces.
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"Not to bow down to international pressure for a ceasefire" - Canadian Tamils Peace organization

Tue, 2009-04-21 13:05 Toronto, 21 April, (Asiantribune.com):

Canadian Tamils have told the Government of Sri Lanka not to bow down to the pressures exerted by the international community. Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy has urged Sri Lanka to reject all NGOs and multinational supervision on Sri Lankan soil and allow only state mechanism to oversee the welfare of the Internally Displaced People (IDP). "We believe the NGOs pose a threat to democratic governance and a challenge to the National interest."

The Peace organization of the Tamils in Canada said, "We request our political leadership to protect Sri Lanka's Sovereignty!"

Freedom is not free, it comes with a price. We demand that our Government to honor the sacrifices of our brave soldiers who laid their lives and shed their blood to protect Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty and freedom."

Given below the full text of the press release put out by Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy based in Toronto, Canada:
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TIME IS RIGHT FOR CANADA...

Media release by the Consulate General of The Democratic Socialist Republic Of Sri Lanka.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW/DOWNLOAD THE PDF

Paris Tamil protest turns violent, leads to arrests

French police arrested 210 people on Monday as a demonstration in central Paris by Tamils angry at the situation in Sri Lanka turned violent. France is home to an estimated 70,000 Tamils.

TUESDAY 21 APRIL 2009

AFP - French police arrested 210 people on Monday as a demonstration in central Paris by Tamils angry at the situation in Sri Lanka turned violent.

"French people, react", "Sarkozy, help us" chanted several hundred demonstrators as they gathered near the Gare du Nord train station for the protest, which had not been declared to the authorities.

The demonstration quickly turned violent as protestors began turning over bins and throwing bottles at police. One policeman was among four people injured, said the authorities, who held 164 of the 210 people initially detained for further questioning.

The windscreens of three buses, two cars and a lorry were smashed and a scooter set on fire, according to AFP journalists at the scene. Police said the demonstrators might be charged with belonging to an "armed gathering" as the bottles they threw could be considered weapons.

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35,000 Civilians rescued by the Sri Lankan Forces!

Wanni Operation 20 th April 2009

Foreign Diplomats were Given an Opportunity to Observe the NFZ Via UAVs



The Massive Civilians Exodus

Steve Janke: What happens when the Tamils don't get their way?

Posted: April 20, 2009, Full Comment, Steve Janke, Canadian politics

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka. They've never won that fight. They are now fighting to stay alive. They seem about ready to lose that fight as well, which raises questions about what happens when they lose.

The Tamil Tigers still have one weapon left, and that is the ability to have supporters rally in foreign capitals. Such a Tamil rally is happening today in Ottawa:

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Rescue operation an unexpected success!

MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2009 - courtesy of defencewire.blogspot.com

The Chronology of the Operation today...

Around 11.45pm- 12 midnight, a team of Special Forces (1SF) and another team from 2 Commando led by Colonels Athula Kodippili and Ralph Nugera breached the 12km LTTE earthbund.

The teams cleared a stretch of 3km from Puthumathalang towards Valaimadam. Heavy fighting erupted between the LTTE and the Special Forces. Large volumes of LTTE artillery and mortar fire from the NFZ started landing on the LTTE bund.

The Special Forces took the lead and went on an aggressive bunker-busting operation. Troops reported heavy casualties to the LTTE via communication sets. By the time the bund was cleared, 11 Special Forces soldiers including a Special Forces Captain had laid down their lives.

Soon afterward, thousands of civilians took to their heels and started running towards the now breached LTTE earth bund as Tigers started running in the opposite direction unable to face the SF and Commando squads. The Special Forces and Commandos temporarily halted their offensives and allowed the civilians to come.
READ THE FULL STORY AT DEFENCEWIRE BLOG

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam: Essential Points

Mackenzie Briefing Notes - Issue # 25--April 2009

By John C. Thompson
A Fascinating Terrorist Group

Arising in the mid-1970s, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have become one of the world's leading terrorist groups. Following the classic model of a 'National Liberation' movement of those years, they escalated their activities in the early 1980s to create a guerrilla force, and the resulting civil war has continued ever since.

The LTTE remain noteworthy for several reasons. These include:

1. A history of innovative tactics and techniques. The LTTE were (until surpassed by various Palestinian groups during the 2000-04 Second Intifada) the most prolific users of suicide bombing tactics, pioneered the use of the suicide belt-bomb, and introduced many new tactics including the use of hang-gliders and ultra-light aircraft, frogmen, improvised submarines and much else.
2. A unique use of Émigré communities to support their cause. While the use of emigrated nationals to support various homeland conflicts is an old story; the Tigers were unique in facilitating the Diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamils into Western democratic states. As hundreds of thousands of Tamils made the transition from poor refugees and newly landed immigrants to prosperous citizens, they were controlled to a degree never seen before and systemically milked for contributions to support the LTTE's war effort. Diaspora organizations that opposed Tiger perspectives were simply not allowed to exist.
3. An immediate resort to sophisticated organized crime. There is a very long history of various insurgent movements turning to organized crime to meet their expenses and payroll; this is usually a gradual process. As the Tigers helped establish the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora, they also used it as a foundation to help spread an international network of smugglers and narcotics traffickers. The vast majority of Tamil émigrés are law-abiding with little tolerance for the criminals in their own community: Yet the speed with which Tamil organized crime networks became established in the 1980s and early '90s was remarkable.
4. Close harmonization of all aspects of the movement. Few terrorist groups act in isolation. Most have some manner of political front, arrangements for logistics, and mechanisms to raise money through legitimate and criminal means. For the LTTE ever since the early 1980s, a variety of political fronts, fundraising organizations, arms and equipment purchasing, and various criminal enterprises have always worked closely together.

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LTTE's Suicide Boat Factory in Thailand

Costs of policing Tamil protests raises concerns

OTTAWA — As the Tamil-Canadian vigil on Parliament Hill enters its third week, with a fresh wave of demonstrators expected on Tuesday, area politicians are calling on the federal government to cover the extra costs of patrolling the protest.

“As a clear and pragmatic point, the federal government should be paying for these services that are provided from the City of Ottawa,” Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar said Sunday.

The price tag for the Ottawa police’s involvement has not yet been tallied, but councillor Eli El-Chantiry, chairman of the Ottawa Police Services Board, said he has asked for a breakdown of expenses to be presented later this month.

“I have asked staff to get a detailed report for every dime and nickel spent from Day 1, and I can imagine the number is not going to be pretty,” said El-Chantiry. “But I can assure you I will be requesting assistance from the federal government whenever we have the number.”

Protest organizers have indicated that as many as 25,000 Tamil supporters are expected on the Hill Tuesday. While police say they are prepared to handle a large crowd, they don’t expect a repeat of what happened during the early days of the demonstration, when downtown traffic was ensnared and buses were rerouted, creating commuter havoc.

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Ottawa police move in to remove picket signs from protesting Sri Lankan Canadians in support of the Tamil Tigers as they continue the third day of protests in front of Parliament Hill on April 9. (Photograph by: Wayne Cuddington, Ottawa Citizen)

'Thousands flee' Sri Lanka combat

At least 25,000 civilians have fled a Tamil Tiger-held area in northern Sri Lanka, the military says.

People escaped after troops broke through a fortification which had been blocking their advance into the Tigers' last stronghold, the army said.

Aerial video showed thousands of people filing out of the combat zone. Tens of thousands remain in the area, which has seen heavy fighting for months.

The government says the rebels must now surrender or face a final assault.
READ THE STORY & VIEW THE VIDEO AT THE BBC SITE

Civilian exodus spells defeat for Tigers: S. Lanka

COLOMBO (AFP) – Tens of thousands of civilians on Monday escaped from the area still held by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, signalling that the rebels' "complete defeat" was imminent, President Mahinda Rajapakse said.

Showing AFP aerial video from a military spy plane over the tiny area where the Tigers are staging a last stand, Rajapakse said 35,000 non-combatants had crossed the lines into government-held territory within a five-hour period. The military said the surge of civilians had continued 10 hours after the initial exodus of men, women and children.

"The footage clearly shows that the people are defying the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and escaping. They are running to safety," the president said.

"What we are doing is not a military operation, but the world's biggest hostage rescue."

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Sri Lanka gives rebels 24 hours to surrender

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 13 mins ago
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka gave the Tamil Tiger rebels 24 hours to surrender or face a final military assault, after the military rescued 35,000 civilians from the last swath of rebel territory, officials said.

A video grab taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle and released by the Sri Lankan government shows thousands of people the military said fled an area held controlled by the Tamil Tiger separatists in northeastern Sri Lanka on April 20, 2009.

The government issued the ultimatum, giving the Tamil Tiger rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and his fighters 24 hours starting Monday at noon to surrender before the military launches a final assault aimed at crushing the insurgents and ending the island nation's 25-year civil war.
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Oprah Winfrey Says No

LTTE publicity stunt ‘Walk to Oprah Show’ fizzles

By Hassina Leelarathna

(April 20, Los Angeles, California, Sri Lanka Guardian)

The much-publicized ‘Walk to the Oprah Winfrey Show’ by a group of Sri Lankan Tamils from Canada has gone down as a ‘walk to nowhere.’

A spokesperson for the Oprah Show confirmed there were no plans to feature the walkers on the show. The announcement comes in the wake of an online petition opposing the walk reaching a count of over 16,000.

The Oprah Show became an unwitting Eelam battleground after the group’s six men, claiming to be ‘students,’ declared they had started trudging from Toronto to Chicago, Illinois, a distance of 840 kilometers (520 miles), with the stated purpose of appearing on the Oprah Show ‘to publicize human suffering.’ The first day of the walk was March 4.


While carefully avoiding any reference to the war in the Wanni and the Tigers, the event carries the hallmarks of a well-organized LTTE stunt, with advance media publicity and a website exclusively launched to record the walk. Titled ‘Oprah, Give us a Voice’ and bearing Oprah’s photo in the header, the web site includes a public poll titled ‘Should Oprah Give Us a Voice’ and a comments section, both blatantly manipulated to show an overwhelming number want Oprah to feature the walkers on her show.

In response, the Los Angeles-based activist group, Sri Lankan Patriots (SLP), salvoed an online petition titled ‘Oprah, Say no to LTTE Terrorists,’ warning Ms. Winfrey the walkers were sympathizers of a brutal terrorist outfit and calling on her not to feature them on her show.

Since its creation just a week ago, the petition has drawn a whopping 16,000-plus signatures from Sri Lankans and others worldwide.

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Luxurious life of Pirabhaharan Family Exposed

The Western world is led to believe by the pro LTTE diaspora that their leader is not a terrorist, but a leader of a rebel group fighting for their freedom. Most of them say LTTE has no option but to "fight" the oppressors SL government and even justify the suicide bombing as self sacrifice. The world knows that the LTTE kidnap and kill their own, use young women as suicide cadres and use child soldiers for combat, robbing their childhood and youth for a so called "freedom". But does everyone, including the Tamil diaspora really know who enjoyed this freedom, while they are duped into thinking there's a cause? Here's the proof that while the youth of Vanni, sacrificed their life in thousands, how Prabhakaran's own family and children benefited.- Sinhaya

CLICK HERE FOR THE TAMIL VERSION

Guilty verdict for UK Tamil head

The founder of the British Tamil Association has been convicted of two terrorism charges.

But the jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on three other charges against Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar, 52, of south London. He was found guilty of supplying bomb-making equipment for the Tamil Tigers and receiving documents for the purpose of terrorism.

The Tamil Tigers became a banned organisation in the UK in 2000. The jury at Kingston Crown Court was also unable to reach a verdict on one charge against co-accused Jegatheeswaran Muraleetharan, or Muralee, of Powys, Wales.

He had denied receiving electrical components for the purposes of terrorism. 'Terrorist purpose' Chrishanthakumar, known as Shantham, is a property valuer from Norbury, in south London, and the founder of the British Tamil Association.

Born in Sri Lanka, he was head of the United Tamil Organisation in the UK until it was proscribed in 2001. The court was told he had been warned by the UK authorities in 2004 after he bought boots and handcuffs for the Tigers' police force.

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Minister refuses to meet Tamil protester

By KENNETH JACKSON, SUN MEDIA , The Ottawa Sun

OTTAWA -Tamil-Canadian protesters took down their flags once again yesterday, hoping to facilitate a meeting with the federal government.

But Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon's office dashed their hopes by refusing to meet. Protesters have been on the sidewalks along Wellington St. in front of Parliament Hill around the clock since April 7 and vow to stay until the government helps achieve a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. The protest includes people who have been staging a hunger strike since April 8.

TERRORISTS

Government representatives have refused to meet the protesters as long as they continue to support the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a group fighting for a separate state in the south Asian country. They are listed as a terrorist group by Canada.

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National Post editorial board: Sympathy for Tamils, but not Tigers

Posted: April 16, 2009, 8:00 AM by NP Editor Editorial, Full Comment

The ongoing Parliament Hill protests and hunger strikes by Tamil Canadians are meant to stir our lawmakers into action against Sri Lanka, whose government is waging a successful military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers. If anything, however, the protests have had the opposite effect: Just as radical Canadian Muslims attract disgust when they raise the flags of Hezbollah or Hamas, so too do Tamils who fly the flag the of the LTTE, a terrorist insurgency that once controlled much of Sri Lanka. What’s worse, the protesters have flown the LTTE flag alongside the Canadian flag — an insult to our own country.

As we have written several times before, we are not without sympathy for the cause of the Tamil people, many of whom have been treated as second-class citizens by the Sinhalese-dominated government in Colombo. Indeed, the Tamils would have had a rightful claim to the world’s sympathy — if the LTTE, which fights for an independent Tamil homeland, hadn’t itself adopted such inhumane tactics since its formation in the 1980s. The Tigers perfected the tactic of suicide bombing, deploying explosive-wrapped killers by the dozens even before the practice had caught on in the Arab world.

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Diplomatic furore in Colombo: US Ambassador Robert Blake attempts escape mechanism for LTTE through UN, Norway

Thu, 2009-04-16 04:41 – Asian Tribune

• US Ambassador Blake known to have frequented social functions and parties of LTTE supporters and sympathizers in Colombo, but Ambassador denied association with LTTE supporters and intermediaries

• Attempting to bring UN Peace Keeping Force for LTTE leadership to surrender and escape

• Norwegian envoy in Colombo Torre too linked in the manipulations

Colombo, 16 April, (Asiantribune.com):

Top international diplomatic source revealed that the LTTE has established contact with the United States of America through Norwegian facilitation to get safe passage for the LTTE Leaders by way of a surrender, through the United Nations.

The surrender of the LTTE through the United Nations has been a move which has been suggested by the current LTTE leadership and has been endorsed by Robert Blake, United States Ambassador in Sri Lanka, who has been actively persuading the Government of Sri Lanka to allow the LTTE Leadership and cadres to obtain safe passage to another country using the good offices of the United Nations.

It now appears that Ambassador Blake is now only interested in creating a safe passage for Tiger Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, his son Charles Anthony and his most vicious intelligence operative Pottu Amman and other senior leaders who are collectively wanted for genocide and other crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka.

The 48- hour ceasefire that was negotiated and agreed upon by the Government, at the insistence of Ambassador Blake, on the sidelines of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year on the 13th and 14th April in Sri Lanka, has not yielded a single trapped civilian from moving from the ‘No Fire Zone’. Even Ambassador Blake is known to have told his associates that the LTTE will “never release the civilians” during the ceasefire, and thus the question being asked is why did Blake then champion a ceasefire? The fact that the ceasefire which was brought about by the pressures of the international community has not yielded the proper results is causing the Military to suspect a conspiracy to enable the LTTE leadership to escape.

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Tamil Tigers controlled non-profit group: RCMP

World Tamil Movement raised money for weapons purchases, police allege

Stewart Bell, National Post Published: Wednesday, April 15, 2009

TORONTO -- The Tamil Tigers directly controlled a Canadian registered non-profit organization that fundraised and produced propaganda for the Sri Lankan guerrillas, according to RCMP documents released on Wednesday.

The documents allege that the director of the Toronto-based World Tamil Movement of Ontario was personally appointed by the leader of the Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who is wanted by Interpol for terrorism. In addition, the documents claim the World Tamil Movement was told in 2005 to help raise $7-million to finance the purchase of anti-aircraft missiles and artillery needed to fight a war for Tamil independence.

The hundreds of pages of seized documents and unproven police allegations are the result of Project Osaluki, an RCMP counterterrorism investigation into the Ontario fundraising activities of the Tamil Tigers. Documents concerning a related investigation in Quebec were released last week.
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Documents allege group was being controlled by Tamil Tigers

Posted: April 15, 2009, 9:45 PM by Ron Nurwisah

Transcripts of interviews with Tamil suspects. Part one, part two
Translations of documents hinting at fundraising for weapons. Part one, part two

We are not afraid of LTTE: Priyanka Gandhi

Lucknow, DH News Service:
Congress’s star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi on Monday said that her family was not afraid of threats from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

“We have been victim of the LTTE...we are not afraid of it,” Priyanka, who is currently campaigning in her brother Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Amethi, told reporters.
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Now, CM finds fault with LTTE

Mon, 13 Apr, 2009,03:15 PM.

Three days after he said that LTTE leader Prabhakaran should be treated with dignity if arrested by Lankan forces, Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi said that a solution to the Sri Lankan Tamils problem could not be found till now because the outfit had adopted ‘wrong ways’ going by the ‘wrong advice’ of some people in the State.
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In a statement here, he said, ‘a solution to the Sri Lankan Tamils problem could not be found yet because the LTTE had acted in wrong ways, heeding to the wrong advice of the wrong people in Tamilnadu.’

‘Those who did not read history or turning a deaf ear to the advice given by learned people, might laud the Nedumaran group. But independent observers, who have love and affection for the Sri Lankan Tamils, are well aware of the fact. I am one among them,’ he said.
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Sri Lankans in Germany write to Foreign Minister Steinmeier

By Lal Guneratne from Berlin

(April 12, Berlin, Sri Lanka Guardian) The "Sri Lankan against LTTE Terror - Germany" (SLGLTG) group have written to Frank Walter-Steinmeier, the foreign minister and the next chancellor candidate from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Germany, about the deteriorating situation in Puthumathalan area in Northern Sri Lanka, and requesting the support of the German government to put pressure to the LTTE release the civilians trapped in the fighting.

The group note that the Sri Lankan government has created a “no-fire” safety zone to keep the civilian population away from areas of conflict. However, the LTTE has placed heavy artillery within this “no-fire” zone, putting these civilians in grave danger. The group also note that the LTTE are forcibly recruiting civilians to be used as human shields in clear violation of their human rights and shooting the civilians who flee the LTTE grip.

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Sri Lanka Army says truce underway despite rebel attack

There you go Canada (Liberal politicians & terrorist sympathizers) and the world... This is what a ceasefire or a truce can bring to the issue in Sri Lanka. While the forces observe a truce due to the New Year celebrations, the LTTE continues to attack them from the safe zone, and also gone on a rampage killing innocent villagers. How much more evidence does the world need before realizing it's too late to put a stop to these LTTE terrorists? -Sinhaya

COLOMBO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's military Monday said here that the two-day truce in the northeastern battlefront got underway Monday despite the Tamil Tigers firing a shell and killing a soldier.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has fired a mortar shell and killed a soldier in sniper attack, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkarasaid.

Nanayakkara said the forces did not retaliate. "The LTTE has fired one mortar shell wounding one soldier and killed another soldier in a sniper attack in Puthukudiyiruppu area this morning, but we have not retaliated.
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Sri Lanka strip Norway of peace-broker role: official

COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday stripped Norway of its role as broker of the island's moribund peace process, a government official told AFP.

The decision comes as the Sri Lankan government says it is on the verge of totally crushing Tamil Tiger rebels, and ends a decade-long effort by Norway to bring an end to one of Asia's longest-running ethnic conflicts. "The government of Sri Lanka perceives that there is no room for Norway to act as (peace) facilitator," the official said, adding that a formal letter was handed over to Norway's ambassador to Colombo, Tore Hattrem, on Monday.
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Sri Lanka summons Norwegian envoy after embassy attack

www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-13 15:55:42
COLOMBO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has summoned its Norwegian Ambassador in Colombo to lodge a protest over Tamil Tiger supporters in Oslo attacking the Sri Lankan embassy in the Norwegian capital.

Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka's foreign ministry secretary told reporters that Torre Hattrem the Norwegian Ambassador was called to foreign ministry in Colombo. Sri Lankan embassy in Oslo was stormed into by supporters of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels on Sunday. They damaged the property but no one was injured.

"This is a serious issue. Norway has legal obligations to protect our embassy", Kohona said adding that Sri Lanka would press the Norwegians to force them to book the perpetrators of the attack.

"We will urge legal action. The attackers have video filmed the whole attack. This will help them to identify the attackers", Kohona said.

Norwegians have apologized Colombo for the attack, reports from Oslo said.

Britain bans ‘Mercy Ship’ bound for Wanni

By Jamila Najmuddin
The British government has banned the humanitarian aid ship ‘Mercy Mission’ from leaving the shores of Britain to deliver aid to thousands of civilians trapped in northern Sri Lanka until the appropriate clearance was given by Sri Lanka, government sources said yesterday.

The ship was expected to carry over 2,000 metric tonnes of food and medical aid for the civilians in the Wanni collected by British politicians and celebrities, various British Tamil charities and British based organisation ‘Act Now’ over the last few weeks. The ban, preventing the ship from sailing to Sri Lanka was declared by the British government after serious concerns were raised by the Sri Lankan authorities about the ship’s cargo.
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Boucher raises possibility of talks with LTTE for surrender

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher has raised the possibility of having an individual meeting with LTTE leaders to discuss a surrender under which the LTTE would lay down their weapons.

This was discussed during a meeting with Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona who had met with top U.S. State Department officials on Friday where the end of the 25-year-long conflict with the LTTE was at the core of the discussions, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said.
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So what happened to US policy of not negotiating with terrorists? -SINHAYA

Dr. Palitha Kohona denounced allegations that Sri Lankan security forces are shelling civilians

Washington DC, 12 April, (Asiantribune.com): Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona vehemently denounced allegations that the Sri Lankan security forces are shelling civilians within the government-declared no-fire zone. He said there is no substantiated evidence to support this claim. "Furthermore," he added, "there is no advantage at all to the security forces in shelling civilians."

The Foreign Secretary also noted that it was the government -- not the LTTE -- that had declared the no-fire zone to protect the civilians the LTTE had "herded" into this small area. “The government believes that 30,000 to 60,000 civilians are held forcibly by the LTTE as a human shield in a small area north of Mullaittivu," Dr. Palitha Kohona said .
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Norway apologizes for Sri Lanka embassy attack

As expected the world is starting to see the true stripes of the Tamils protesting around the world. Below is a video of pro LTTE Tamil protestors attacking the Sri Lankan Embassy in Norway. We wonder how long the rest of the world is going to stand by idly and watch these so called "peace loving" terrorist supporters extend their fury. Canada please take note... This could happen in our city, as these are done by LTTE backed terrorists, and you have allowed many of them into Canada, in the name of FREEDOM-Sinhaya

www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-13 06:04:26
STOCKHOLM, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Norwegian government apologized to Sri Lanka after several demonstrators of the Indian Ocean island country's minority Tamils broke into the Sri Lankan embassy in Oslo on Sunday, according to reports reaching here from Oslo.

The Norwegian government condemned some unauthorized persons to enter the Sri Lankan embassy and would order the police to give better protection of the embassy, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement.
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NORWAY WEB SITE

Tamil protesters storm Sri Lankan Embassy in Oslo

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OSLO -- Police say Tamil protesters have entered the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oslo, smashing windows and destroying office equipment. No casualties were immediately reported.

Police spokesman Tor Groettum says about 100 demonstrators joined Sunday's protest of the treatment of Sri Lanka's treatment of its ethnic minority Tamils during a military offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels. Groettum says the demonstrators went on a rampage before police intervened. He says police couldn't immediately identify who had been responsible for the damage. No arrests were made.
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Suspected LTTE sympathisers damage embassy in Oslo

Sri Lanka “disappointed” with Norway for not taking protective measures

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government on Sunday night said a group of hooligans suspected to be sympathisers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam raided its mission in Oslo and caused extensive damage.

“It is a shocking incident and we are disappointed with the Norwegian government for not taking proper measures to protect a diplomatic mission right in its national capital. Luckily, no official in the mission was injured but the damage to the property is extensive,” Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told The Hindu.

Asked about the attackers’ identity, Dr. Kohona said the government was convinced that the LTTE was behind the attack. He said the mission was under threat from sympathisers of the Tigers for several weeks now.

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New years' halt to Sri Lanka fighting - president

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka's president on Sunday ordered the military not to attack the Tamil Tigers during a two-day holiday in order to allow thousands of civilians to escape a no-fire zone where they are being held by the separatists.

Soldiers have encircled the remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a 17 square km (6 sq mile) no-fire zone on the northeast coast, and are close to crushing them as a conventional force and ending Asia's longest-running civil wars.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that people should be "given uninhibited freedom of movement from the no-fire zone" in the Sinhala and Tamil New Year period on Monday and Tuesday.

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