4 Sri Lankans arrested, 10 GPS equipment seized -Tamil Nadu

A day after the seizure of satellite phones and other materials at Chinna Erwadi, the police on Tuesday arrested four Sri Lankans, including a hardcore Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militant, and seized 10 Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment and a consignment of other items.

The consignment included 3,360 batteries, a set top box, 11 life jackets, sample pieces of uniform cloth, 10 multi-tester meters, a generator and pistol cover, the police said.

There was also a compact disc, which contained a speech delivered by Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko at a conference held in Oslo, Norway. The consignment was meant to be delivered at Mullaitheevu.

Based on a tip-off, a Special Branch police party led by Sub-Inspector G. Manivannan intercepted a van coming from Tiruchi at Uppur, a seaside hamlet near Thondi.

Those arrested were identified as Vijayaneethan alias Naveen (26), son of Sivasekaran of Trincomalee; Rakshanandan (21), son of Sivakumar of Wanni; Ramanan (31), son of Gunaseelan of Valvettithurai; and Sivaraman (23), van driver-cum-owner. Except Naveen, the others were living in a refugee camp in Tiruchi.

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http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/31/stories/2008073155680700.htm

Top LTTE cadre arrested -CHENNAI

A top functionary of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was taken into custody here on Wednesday. Following specific inputs given by the State intelligence, the ’Q’ Branch police apprehended J. Thambi Annan alias Daniel (46) of Killinochi. “It is a very important catch. He is placed high in the LTTE’s hierarchy. Daniel was heading the procurement module of the outfit in Sri Lanka,” Director-General of Police (Law and Order) K.P. Jain told The Hindu on Wednesday.

According to police sources, Daniel played an instrumental role in procuring major consignments, including explosive substances, for the banned organisation from India and other parts of the world. He was involved in the attempts to smuggle consignments of aluminium ingots and ball bearings, which were intercepted and seized by the police in Ramanathapuram and Madurai districts in the recent months, the sources said, adding that the ‘Q’ Branch police would take custody of the Sri Lankan national, whose confessions could give leads to the source and supply network of the LTTE.

Extracted from,
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/31/stories/2008073150180100.htm

Wanni operation 30 th July 2008

Source,
SLRC

Air Force Fighter Jets destroy training camp of LTTE suicide bombers

Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets bombed a training facility of LTTE suicide bombers also known as Black Tigers located in the Iranamadu area, 3km southeast of Kilinochchi this morning (July 30).

Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara speaking to defence.lk confirmed that the terror camp was destroyed in the air raid carried out at 6.35 AM. He said, citing fighter pilots that the camp was in flames after the bombing mission.

Meanwhile, defence intelligence sources said the targeted "Black Tiger" camp was operated directly under guidance of LTTE's notorious intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman. The target was obtained after receiving real time ground information that an activity of suicide bombers was going on at the camp, said the sources. The exact location of the target was in the Thirivaiaru area , just 3 Km off from the LTTE's main stronghold at Kilinochchi, the sources added.

LTTE is a ruthless terror outfit fighting for a mono ethnic separate homeland for the Tamils in Sri Lanka since 1983. The organizations operates under extreme tribal ideologies created by its megalomaniac leader V. Prabhakaran and has unleashed one of the most barbaric terrorist wars in the world against the citizens of Sri Lanka.

Source,
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080730_05

Norwegian explanation raises more questions than answers

The explanation of the notorious Norwegian aid group NPA regarding its heavy equipment and vehicles being used by the Tamil Tigers has given rise to some more questions about their credibility than answers , analysts in Colombo said.

The aid group, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) with a controversial past of receiving allegations of aiding an African insurgency with arms and ammunition has denied it has also given heavy equipment and vehicles to the liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) engaged in war and terrorism with the government of Sri Lanka.
According to the Norwegian national news agency NTB, the heavy earth moving equipment and other vehicles now allegedly used by the terrorist group for terrorist and military activities were not given to the LTTE but were stolen by the terrorist group.

Norwegian People's Aid secretary general Petter Eide rejected the allegations, saying 'the trucks were stolen,' Norwegian news agency NTB said in Oslo.

Norwegian television documentary and a Sudanese government record show the Norwegian government used NPA to air drop arms and ammunition to a Sudanese insurgency together with humanitarian aid in the 1990’s.
The controversial use of Norwegian People’s Aid property only came to light only after the Ministry of Defense website revealed the fact and never before that either head quarters of the notorious aid group in Oslo or their counterpart in the LTTE stronghold of Kilinochchi had reported the stealing of the property to the government of Sri Lanka letters of the aid group show.

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http://www.sinhalaya.com/news/english/wmview.php?ArtID=15617

SAARC leaders to meet on August 2

Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee are set to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Council of Ministers meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Corporation on Thursday (today).

The two-day ministers meeting is commencing from today's morning at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall. According to the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh had arrived here on Wednesday.

Pranab Mukherjee was holding a series of bilateral meetings with other ministers including an important interaction with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a diplomat said. However, he refused to divulge the agenda for the talks between Qureshi and Mukherjee.

A Pakistani diplomat also confirmed that Qureshi, who has a detail meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, is scheduled to meet with the Indian minister today at the Conference Hall. In his arrival statement, Qureshi said that Pakistan and Sri Lanka have traditionally enjoyed close friendly relations.

The relations between the two were based on mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in each other's state, he said.

PM to attend SAARC summit in Colombo: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani will leave for Colombo on August 2, after his US tour where he will participate in the 15th South Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit.

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http://thepost.com.pk/IsbNewsT.aspx?dtlid=175295&catid=17

Mukherjee arrives in Colombo

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived in Colombo on Wednesday night to participate in SAARC Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday.

Sri Lanka's Deputy Foreign Minister MK Hussain Bahila and Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad received Mukherjee at the airport.

The SAARC Council of Ministers' meeting will finalise the agenda for the August 2-3 summit.

Mukherjee arrived in Colombo from Tehran where he attended the 15th Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

This year's SAARC summit is being held under the theme of 'Partnership for our people' and will also focus on launch of the SAARC Development Fund, establishing a South Asian Regional Standards Organisation, and increasing cooperation among SAARC nations with regard to criminal offences.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit is also likely to be discussed the expansion of the regional grouping.

The Sri Lankan government has stepped up security across the capital for the SAARC meeting.

Extracted from,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?

Another ‘spin’ test for India

Galle: The Indians are likely to retain the same side, that got thrashed at the SSC, for the second Test beginning on Thursday.

The Indians will have to quickly find a solution to counter the twin threat posed by Muttiah Muralidharan and Ajantha Mendis.

Agencies add: Still licking the wounds of their humiliating defeat in the first Test in Colombo, the Indians got little time to regroup and work out a definite strategy to deal with the wily Muralidharan and Mendis.

Apart from the poor batting display, the Indian bowling and fielding also left much to be desired in Colombo, and it will need a vastly-improved performance from Anil Kumble and his men to keep themselves afloat in the three-match series.

The pressure, no doubt, will be on the batsmen who surrendered meekly to the spinners in the last game, which was quite surprising considering their experience and reputation of playing spin bowling.

For a batting line-up which boasts of seasoned batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S Laxman and Virender Sehwag, the collective failure in Colombo should serve as a big blow. It will be a real test of character for these top batsmen.

The Indians have also been toying with the idea of bringing in left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha at the expense of a batsman to strengthen the spin department.

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080731/jsp/sports/story_9625953.jsp