COTANZ Newsletter 28 February 2007 Tear 2 Drop 9

Tamils in Sri Lanka Need Help from International Community
28 February 2007
Tear 2 Drop 9

Civilian deaths in the North and East since Rajapakse's election
(November 19, 2005 to Date)
1379

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LTTE condemns GoSL for endangering the lives of foreign diplomats
[Tue, 27 Feb 2007, 05:31 GMT]

Military Spokesman of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Irasiah Ilanthirayan, expressing deep regret for the injuries caused to the foreign diplomats who landed in the military airfield of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) in Batticaloa and the Weber Stadium where 23-3 Brigade Commander's military headquarters is located, condemned the Government of Sri Lanka for having endangered the lives of foreign diplomats bringing them into the artillery launchpads inside the military zone without following diplomatic procedures. Full story >>

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The LTTE cannot be defeated militarily, US tells Sri Lanka
[ RxPG ][ Feb 25 12:35 GMT ]

Describing the situation in Sri Lanka as 'serious', the US envoy to the island nation has warned against attempts to underestimate the Tamil Tigers and asserted that they cannot be defeated militarily. Ambassador Robert Blake also said in a telephonic interview from Colombo that his country 'respectfully disagreed' with those in Sri Lanka who feel a military solution was possible to end the dragging Tamil separatist campaign. The ambassador, who took charge in September 2006, made it clear that only devolution of powers that satisfy the 'legitimate aspirations' of the Tamil minority could be the basis for any negotiations between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -. [ full story | comments (6) ]

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TNA appeals to international community to back Tamil self-determination
[ TamilNet ][ Feb 24 13:45 GMT ]

Sri Lanka’s ongoing military campaign leaves Tamils with no option but to seek self-determination and self-rule, the country’s largest Tamil party said Friday. In a statement to mark the fifth anniversary of the Ceasefire Agreement between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called on the international community to recognise the Tamil struggle pointing out that in the past five years, “the Sri Lankan government has utterly failed to alleviate the sufferings of the Tamil people. Neither has it contributed meaningfully to a lasting solution to the national conflict.” [ full story | comments ]

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Arrest of director of publishing house in Sri Lanka!
[ IHRA ][ Feb 26 18:54 GMT ]

Today, at 10pm Sri Lankan time, officers from the ‘Terrorist Investigation Division’ (TID) arrested Dushantha Basnayake a director of ‘Standard Newspapers Private Limited’ (SNPL) in Colombo. Standard Newspapers’ print the popular Sinhala weekly ‘Mawbima’(motherland), a newspaper that has been under severe attack from the President Mahinda Rajapakse. The TID officers who arrived at around 6pm (Sri Lanka time) had interrogated Mr. Dushantha Basnayake at his office for nearly four hours, when a phone call from a top Defence Ministry official precipitated his arrest. [ full story | comments (6) ]

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The genocide of Tamils is continuing and the killing fields are extending. Therefore a humble request to Government, Ministers, Members of Parliament of New Zealand and NGOs representatives:
- Persuading the GOSL (Government of Sri Lanka) to curtail the killing of Tamils and activities of the armed gangs and paramilitaries operating in the Northeast of Sri Lanka
- To support a political arrangement reflecting the Tamil people’s right of self-determination

COTANZ
The Unified Voice of New Zealand Tamils

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