Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Peaceful election in the East

Over 150000 voters cast their votes today in a key election in the Eastern province , marking the beginning of another decisive phase of the conflict in Sri Lanka. According to officials, 50-60% of registered voters in the Eastern province have cast their vote in this crucial election.

Military Intelligence had previously warned the government of LTTE plans to disrupt the proceedings of the election. According to MI reports, LTTE had deployed at least four cadres from its Black tiger regiment (suicide bombers) to target VIP movements of LTTE's rival factions in the area. Confirming these reports, one suicide bomber detonated an explosive laden jacket in Batticaloa on the 24th of February killing two members of the breakaway Pilleyan faction. Pilleyan himself is in LTTE's most wanted list due to his desertion in 2003.

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Image: Pilleyan on his way to cast his vote. Three of his bodyguards can be seen in the background. Photo: Daily Mirror

Although LTTE attacks were anticipated, the polls have been concluded peacefully, apart from few minor incidents in Valachchenei area. Final election results are yet to be released. You can listen to election results online through Lakhanda Radio Web Cast

Meanwhile in a separate development in the Eastern province, police commandos of the Special Task Force (STF) gunned down three LTTE cadres in Kanchikudichciaru jungles. Two T-56 rifles, 1 AP mine and 1 claymore mine were among the weapons recovered by STF after the incident. Although LTTE bases in Ampara fell to the STF during operation Niyathai Jaya, pockets of LTTE cadres who fled the fighting are reportedly present in the dense jungles of Kanchikudichciaru.

88 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. finnaly democracy in the east hopefully this guy loves his people enough so that he wont steal and plunder his people unlike most sinhalese politicains, well am I hoping too much

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  4. Hey Guys,

    Out of topic tho, but I hope you guys would love this news.

    The departure of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, came as no surprise to many U N Observers. Her style as well as some of the editcs emanating from her office was the main bone of contention. She was drawn into untoward criticisms of democratically elected governments while letting go of human rights violations of other groups like the LTTE. Under fire from the United States and several developing countries, for alleged dereliction of duty and reliance on unsubstantiated and dubious sources for some of her decisions, Arbour has decided to quit when her four-year commission ends on June 30, according to foreign news sources.

    LINK

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  5. From the picture shown in this blogg pillyan seem to have his own private bodyguards, perhaps armed. I thing the gosl should have given an uniform armed escort to him and that would be acceptable to any critics.

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  6. masterofall

    This loose abaran nona's resignation can be a well planned gimmick too. UN/IC is cunning than we imagine. Wait and see for the next phase.

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  8. man, first read the following and then decide it's from tamilnet.com or tamilnet.tv?

    // India risks indictment in war crimes, cautions LTTE

    Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) from its Head Quarters in Vanni on Monday released a statement condemning the Indian 'State welcome' extended to Sri Lanka Army Chief Lt. Col. Sarath Fonseka and the statements made by Indian military chiefs in this context. "[The] Indian State must take the responsibility for the ethnic genocide of the Tamils that will be carried out by the Sinhala military, re-invigorated by such moves of the Indian State," the statement said. "LTTE wishes to point out to the Indian State that by this historic blunder, it will continue to subject the Eelam Tamils to misery and put them in the dangerous situation of having to face ethnic genocide on a massive scale."

    The Indian State’s move of "propping up the politically-militarily-economically weakened SriLankan State has upset Eelam Tamils," the LTTE statement said.

    "We did not leave the ceasefire agreement and we did not start the war. We are only undertaking a defensive war against the war of ethnic genocide of the Sri Lankan State."

    "We still have not abandoned the Norway sponsored peace efforts and we are ready to take part in such efforts." ....//

    If LTTE put this type of stuff in tamilnut.com it is going to be big threat for tamilnet.tv.

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  9. 73 feet, a second LTTE boat found in Kerala.

    http://www.divaina.com/2008/03/11/news23.html

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  10. //...Local rights activists do not expect the vote to be free and fair as the government has failed to disarm rival rebel groups who are seeking election to run the district's local affairs. AFP//

    This was the final expectation of these NGOs after their failure on avoiding the election (avoiding democracy).

    LTTE failed on disrupting the elections. Int.media and HR champions seems to be worrying too much on nothing bad happend on the election day.

    Less problems in the country, less work for NGOs, less money. So for more money NGOs need more problems which they can sell.

    Given the situation 50% turnout is very good. GSL is now planning PC election for east. Way to go. Hope development starts in east. East will be well ahead the north when war is end.

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  11. Ninja

    Next the inimitable monkeys will claim to be the UN...That's actually a step down from claiming to God-hood.
    In the east, Pilliyan will prove to be yet another marauder, as his administrative and intellectual inability becomes a stumbling block to the real business of governance. This is why historically so called liberators must die young to become icons,(like Che) else they fade away into jaded monstrosities, like Fidel. This will be no different.

    The only credible leaders remaining are A Sangaree and Devananda, and that is the very reason they are prime targets by the gooks. They fear the intellectual challenge which will always threaten the illiterate and cause anxiety of an unmanageable kind. For the east to become stable and have a viable economy, I hope the TULF gains the upper hand sometime.

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  12. Masterofall

    Arbor had the makings of a career bureacrat, until her high profile position led her by the nose into the typical lefty-liberal camp.

    That is a quick death, as we can see now.

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  13. ----Number War----

    Month : February

    SLDF KIA : 104 / WIA : 822 (figures given to the parliment-assume this is correct.)

    SLDF KIA : 63
    (AFP says, counting figures from defence ministry)

    LTTE KIA : 871
    (AFP says, counting figures from defence ministry)

    I am not sure about AFP means defence.lk or what saying defence ministry.
    ______________________________________________

    Jan and Feb.

    LTTE KIA : 1837
    SLDF KIA : 107

    (AFP says, counting figures from defence ministry)

    Figures given to parliment for Jan not found.
    ______________________________________________

    Sorry, I didn't mean giving a 'balance sheet' for the lives. We are given number daily by many sorces, nothing wrong you add up and see the bigger picture, this might help for a idea on reliability. If some one has time to add up figures from DN and tamilnut will be helpful.

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  14. TS,

    I agree; for the time being a "reasonable thug" would do BETTER than Ananda Sangaree.

    What development work AS has done for the past 25 years? NOTHING! except he has helped people.

    Devananda is a different breed of fish; he has done ALOT in jaffna.
    Same way TMVP has the "thuggery" that is essential for development work. But the big question is whether they will continue to win people's approval. But that is unfortunately a risk inherent in democracy which is the ONLY governing model available.

    When talking about development Premadasa is unforgettable although none of his development plans were well-thought-after. But things happened. Had he only listened to those with technical competence for technical advice things would be different. In SL many development work may it be road building, village reawakening, mahaweli, road-expansion, round abouts, overhead pedestrian bridges, etc., etc. needs a bit of thuggery. Otherwise they end up as the highway projects lagging more than 10 years behind due to VARIOUS reasons including spinelessness of successive governments.

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  15. ninja,

    good analysis. i wanted (but couldn't do it) to add up defence.lk figures for feb. SLDF casualties to compare with 104 (which must be reasonably correct as it was released in parliament).

    If the AFP calc. is correct, defence.lk figures may be taken with a 65% mark-up on own casualties!! In other words actual casualties are understated by 40%- a massive margin of error.

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  16. MD,

    Yep, if one can addup and analyse KIA/WIA daily/reported figures for own and enimy casualties from defence.lk, tamilnut, DN, DW, others for monthly wise and comparision with figures given in parliment will be useful. I don't have time obviously but wonder why some journalist don't do this as part of thier job.

    One reason may be troops dying in hospitals after some time. This reduce WIA and increase KIA but defence.lk probably don't report such events. So it is still possible thier earlier figures to be true. Another thing, if one do such calculations it would be difficult to aviod duplicates, unreported things,etc unless you are very sharp in your analysis.
    _______________________________________________

    TS,

    Let's give a chance to Pillian and see. How many (former) thugs are in parliment?

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  17. "How many (former) thugs are in parliment?"

    just drop the "(former)". former thugs are still thugs unless and until they are REHABILITATED!

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  18. BBC LTTE Payrolled M*F have put out another anti Sri Lankan Pro LTTE article

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7286865.stm

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  19. NGOs, HR heros, BBC/AFP int.media expected a 'blood bath' due to baticlo elections. But LTTE failed again. Such reports show thier real dissapointment.

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  20. My heartfelt congratulations to all those who worked very hard to make this election a resounding success, I think it is worth mentioning few names in their order of contribution.

    1. Mahinda Rajapakse – Providing a vision while overcoming roadblocks and backward mentality

    2. Gotabhaya Rajapakse – Performing miracles behind the scene.

    3. ARMY/NAVY/AF/Police/STF chiefs for performing their duty well above the expectations

    4. Karu Jayasuriya/Basil Rajapakshe –For spearheading the development effort in the east.

    5. Mr.Karuna Amman/Pillayan – Making it loud and clear that LTTE is not the sole representative of the Sri Lankan Tamils

    6. People in the east – For enduring many hardships over a period of 25 years and finally coming out in numbers to express their true stand.

    7. Ranil Wickremasinghe – For making it clear that UNP and LTTE stand for the same objectives.

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  21. From Daily News. Unlike in the previous eelam wars, the SLA now has the ability to do night fighting on a large scale. This capability has made a hugh difference. Overall, one to one, although the wepons at the individual level are basically the same, the SLA soldier is much more superior to any LTTE cadre because of better training and high morale.


    Troops capture Tiger defence line
    Ranil Wijayapala

    MANNAR: More than 31 Tiger cadres were killed and 47 were injured as troops operating in the Mannar front, in a pre-dawn attack yesterday captured another Tiger defence line in Ilanthaivan, West of Uyilankulam-Adampan road and East of Palakkuli, Military sources said.

    A senior military official told the Daily News that troops attached to 6 Gemunu Watch and 12 Gemunu Watch operating under the 58 Division launched a major assault on the Tiger defence pushing them further towards North of Mannar.

    "Troops are now dominating in a 1.2 Kilometre stretch of Tiger bunker line in Palakkuli East," he added.

    "Ten LTTE terrorists were confirmed killed and 45 others reportedly injured during the attack that continued for nearly two hours from 2.30 am," the official added. Three soldiers were killed and 12 injured during the confrontation, he said.

    LTTE efforts to protect the defence line was thwarted as the reinforcement arriving there from the North of Mannar were engaged with artillery, sources added.

    The LTTE sustained heavy damages as two of their vehicles, one bus and a Canter truck were hit by the Security Forces' artillery fire just 500 metres ahead of the captured Tiger defence line.

    "The LTTE is still trying to collect the bodies scattered close to the captured defence line", the official told the Daily News last night.

    Meanwhile, troops operating in Manthai in the North of Thiruketheeshwaran on Sunday captured the Pradeshiya Sabha building in Manthai on the outskirts of Adampan town.

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  22. Former rebels sweep polls in eastern Sri Lanka

    http://tinyurl.com/ytnx5t

    --------=============---------

    Tamil Rebels Condemn India for Backing Sri Lanka Army

    http://tinyurl.com/24lk35

    ----------===============--------

    The LTTE is currently proscribed as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries

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  23. Dulith-
    Very well said mate.
    Can not list the points any more better.

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  24. Hi Guys,
    Could not hold my laugh off...

    http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=24929

    Wonder what the have been thinking of themselves..
    Hope neither GOSL nor INDIA panic and issue statements aginst such foolish comments.

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  27. Hats off to you Dulith...

    You are a gem...

    Keep them comming..

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  28. I think this is a big step towards better things to come.. lets hope.

    Atleast the election was comapritively peaceful than many held in the south.

    I think this is what we(myself, sri lankan, qrious etc..) were trying to say.. for a long time.. Lets hope whoever got elected could help in the dvelopment process in the east and show the world the liberation is not in vain.

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  30. President has ordered Election Commissioner TO call nomination for Eastern Provincial Council Election. Most Probably Election will be in mid May.

    - Lankadeepa reports

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  31. Heavy fight in Mannar Front

    Seems like a high casualties on both ends

    DN
    ???

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  32. Tamilnet:

    60 SLA soldiers killed in 48 hours in Mannaar - LTTE

    any info ?

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  33. 60 SLA killed and over 100 injured in mannar front

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  34. 60 SLA killed in 48 hours in Mannaar - LTTE
    [TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 13:40 GMT]
    Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Operations Command in Mannaar told TamilNet Tuesday that 60 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed on Sunday and Monday when the Tigers confronted 3 major attempts by the SLA to advance into LTTE territory in Mannaar. At Paalaikkuzhi, a large ground push launched by the SLA was thwarted by the Tigers on Monday in which 20 SLA soldiers were killed and 63 wounded. Simultaneously, the SLA has suffered heavy casualties on another push, at Parappaangka'ndal. Further, the LTTE claimed that its snipers have gunned down 18 SLA soldiers on Monday. On Sunday, 22 SLA soldiers were killed in the jungle area of Karampaikku'lam in Keerisuddaan.

    The LTTE has not released its own casualty figures.

    The Tigers claimed to have seized guns and ammunition in one of the heaviest confrontations at Paalaikkuzhi in Mannaar on Monday. 20 SLA soldiers were killed and 63 wounded in the fighting that lasted from 4:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. The SLA withdrew leaving behind their dead bodies in no-go zone. The SLA recovered the dead bodies later in the night.

    The Tigers confronted another push by the SLA at Kaaththaangku'lam in Parappaangka'ndal from 11:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m., on Monday. The SLA has suffered heavy casualties and was forced to abandon the attempt, the Tigers said. Exact casualty figures were not known.

    At the same time, 18 SLA soldiers were gunned down by LTTE snipers, according to the Operations Command of the Tigers in Mannaar.

    On Sunday, 22 SLA soldiers were killed in a heavy fighting in a jungle area in Karampaikku'lam in Keerisuddaan. The fighting lasted till 7:00 p.m. from 10:30 a.m., the Tigers

    IS THIS TRUE?????

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  35. Tamilnet:

    60 SLA soldiers killed in 48 hours in Mannaar - LTTE

    any info ?


    Already DW has said that news is full of rubbish.
    I'm sure DN will say the same...

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  36. Perein,
    Bro..really bad news..The causalty figures are much greater than stated..this is because the SLDForces have been engaged by the F-18's from the Aircraft carrier EELAM vilupulaaiii parapaharan..mate..current report says that the whole of the mannar area is one big blood bath!!..2 entire SLA divisions have been exterminated with zero LTTE casualties mate...The entire mechanised div is finished!!.Now it is time to immigrate to a rich country(US.CANADA only..not sudan) overseas sighting minority discrimination !

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  37. Srilankan-
    Bro, not sure what to say... do you think now Mannar and up north would be a nicer country... that means no good for our rubber factory..
    Funny after all those years with RW and Chandrika, LTTE could not get done a decent enough factory to produce any boots. Still has to depend on good old BATA ... at least they could have gone for DSI
    :)

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  38. Srlankan-

    Paww anee.. TN is so innocent.. Does not know how to lie...
    I wonder then have mistyped the SLA word with LTTE.
    ie: 60 LTTE BATA slippers models got killed :)

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  39. "60 SLA soldiers killed in 48 hours in Mannaar - LTTE"

    this is not even worth commenting on but since many of you asked:

    http://tinyurl.com/24rteb

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  40. Perein,
    Thanks for your coments.I am sad about our bata venture.I am happy that DSI have not taken hold over there..this would be a monumental tragedy for us.I will logging off for a few hours and will be back later or tommorrow.Take care..

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  41. Bro's ;-)
    You know, when you learn to drive in Sri Lanka, all the driving instructors will ask you to remove your footwear. It is a must for them. In the west, however no driving instructors will ask you to remove your footwear.
    Now, if you took most of the 'professional' drivers in Sri Lanka, they drive with bare feet or bata - not with shoes on, simply because they are used to driving bare feet.
    Similarly, the LTTE cadres when they are trained they wear only these bata slippers (bata slipper is a synonym for flip-flops in Sri Lanka, just like Kandos for chocolates or S-Lon for PVC pipes)I know as a matter of fact that the LTTE cadres prefer bata slippers to boots as they feel very comfortable with them. But nowadays, the LTTE commando units are training with Boots on and soon you will see the LTTE kicking SLA's back with boots!

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  42. "this is not even worth commenting on but since many of you asked:

    http://tinyurl.com/24rte"

    :-D

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  43. Puli-
    When LTTE terrorists running away would they still wearing the BATA ?

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  44. DN's been looking at the birds, hope no one seen while you are checking those pictures :)
    LOL

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  45. Army.LK says that most of the dead on the Mannar front in the recent fighting are women. The LTTE seems to be experiencing a serious shortage of men.

    "Names of the twenty-six deceased LTTE cadres, as announced by LTTE transmissions, are as follows; (1) NEELAMALAR (2) PAWALA NEELA (3) SHAMY (4) KALE THAMIL (5) SUWANPA (6) VENNA MARAN (7) NEELA MAHAL (8) JANAKI (9) KOMADHI (10) JENNI (11) DHARSHANI (12) ACHINI (13) ARNIMALAR (14) ISHARA (15) INDIYAWANY (16) PURACHCHI NEELA (17) NIVEDANI (18) MADHAVI (19) PUNIDHA (20) NINILVELI (21) ITHITHAVAN (22) IKANPAOADI (23) KOMAHAL (24) VEDDHALVANI (25) S. JANAKI and (26) PAVANDI.

    Their names suggest that most of those fallen LTTE cadres were women or girls who were new to the art of fighting."

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  46. we'll see what the real bullshit is when the real casualties are revealed at the end of the month again, and that 104 KIA figure last month is just the begginning, why didn't they say how many were missing in action? all you guys say tamilnet is bullshit but if you added up the casualties released for last month they were pretty accurate if you consider the number of SLA MIA.

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  47. casc,
    "Their names suggest that most of those fallen LTTE cadres were women or girls who were new to the art of fighting."

    Those are from Malathi regiment. Not all cadres were inexperienced and young. There were some seniors among the dead.

    puli,
    You argument is.. well....amusing.

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  48. 60KIA and 100WIA source tamilnet

    oh wow I totally believe that story since Tamilnet never lies

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  49. DN btw great comment on the news item

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  50. thiru so 1 million dead is pretty accurate ha?? in a few months the casualty rate would be more than the population of sri lanka

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  51. DefenceNet,
    I am sorry to have to correct you like this ahhhh!..they were not from the malathi regiment but fishermen who were fishing on dry land..ahhh!!

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  53. DefenceNet,
    My sincere apologies for my last 2 comments..will delete them

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  54. Patriots,

    Interesting situation with the LTTE. Looks like they are scraping the barrel to find more manpower or womenpower. For many years, the LTTE, at least for propaganda purposes, tried to present itself like a conventional military organization (e.g., Sea Tigers, Tamil Eelam Air Force, Lt Cols, Brigadiers, etc). While this image looked good in photographs (blue tiger stripes and green tiger stripes), the reality is that they never had the numbers nor the military culture to become a professional military organization. Now that the SLA is in the LTTE backyard the so called Sea Tigers will have to fight land battles soon.

    Puli gave a very interesting explanation of why many Sri Lankans are accustomed to wearing Bata slippers. But replacing Bata slippers with boots is not going to make a LTTE cadre a professional soldier in any sense of that word.

    One of the favorable outcomes from the SL perspective is that these fiefdoms within the LTTE fiefdom are already fighting among themselves for supremacy, and eventually the whole structure might collapse from within. We saw that with the Karuna situation. It started out because Karuna had a dispute with Pottu Amman, and it ended when Karuna joined the GOSL. The Daily Mirror said today that the #3 person in the Sea Tigers was probably killed at the instigation of the #2 or #1 within that structure. Many people suspect that the Tamil Chelvam bombing was successful because someone in the inside made that information known. The end of the LTTE may come much sooner than the outcome of the land battles.

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  55. casc,
    Thanks for the comments.We want as many of the battle hardened LTTE cadres to kill each other or themselves and not live to fight another day.This means that the army wont have to spend their time hunting these guys down and their ideological rot wont corrupt future generations.

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  56. Srilankan

    Bro I agree with you. Some of their people are beyond redemption. They need to be removed from the scene for the sake of future generations of Sri Lanka.

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  57. senkadagala sinhaya, tamilnet has never claimed a million SLA casualties you must be confused with the defence.lk figures for ltte KIA, as i said last month's tamilnet's figures weren't far off.

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  58. well I'm sorry if ealmists cant add sums up

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  59. at 9 pm todya Liberation tigers of tamil ealam repulsed Sri Lanka Army attack from two flanks at the prappankandal area Sri Lankan casualties 100, 000 dead and 200,000 wounded Sri Lanka army immedeatly pulled out of the east and set defensive positions at Kandy. a further 500,000 were killed in the chaotic retreat

    I wouldn't not be surprised at all if Tamilnet put up a article like that.

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  60. LTTE casualties 1 dead and 2 wounded

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  61. man I can't belive that people still even consider TN as a serious news saouse I think that Tamilnet.tv is much much more serious, on GOSL part I don't go to defence.lk either only sites I bother watching about war is Defencenet and Defencewire

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  62. 15000000 ltte bunker lines destroyed, 4000000 ltte child soldiers killed, prabhkaran killed for the 100th time, killinochi and mullathivu captured within 10 minutes and only 1 sla soldier suffers minor injuries-defence.lk

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  64. well the thing is thiru defence.lk always emphasied the fact thta army is using limited and slow offensive so something like SLA capturing mullativ and killinochi in 10 mins is wont be put on that site
    but please keep on trying to kill every joke

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  65. Guys,
    Even though I am not an active member of this blog I thought I should let you guys aware of this, I think its not worth at all to argue with those LTTE supporters, just be cool, ignore whatever they say. This is one big weakness which is common for most of our Sinhalese people. We easily get angry. I think we should learn some good things from these western people such as how to stay calm even we are under any pressure. We must correct this error somehow. By arguing with these people we are making a thread unnecessarily lengthy. This is just an idea.

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  66. Does anyone have a map which shows the concentration of forces?
    Defnet, could you publish at least a crude map showing how far the SLA has advanced?

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  67. masteroall

    true true i just found them really amusing

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  68. Moshe

    Thanks for your reply, but I don't quite agree that thuggery is a necessity to get anything done in SL. I worked for approx 20 years in Sri Lanka in the Financial field and have been involved in quite a few very successful ventures. I was also instrumental in completely facilitating a major infra-structure project in a north Colombo residential area with a group of private entrepreuners, on a project which was deemed impossible, non-viable by other professionals.The project was a major success, purely because of the involvement of private sector managerial expertise.
    What Sri Lanka needs is greater private sector involvement in public projects. When these are financed by the private financial sector, it all works really well. Contrary to popular belief, I personally experienced public servants whole heartedly supporting such projects without any expectation of a gratuity / kick back. Not just once or twice, but many times.
    Sri Lanka is a land that is just one step behind its true reality, only because of the negative perceptions of its own people.

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  69. // The LTTE is under severe strain due to LRRP activity. One reason for LRRP successes is growing resentment within Wanni residents against the LTTE. Some are clandestinely helping the LRRP. The LTTE Intelligence Division is trying hard to check this and hundreds of Tamils were detained and interrogated. In one case an entire family was executed on charges of accommodating LRRP members at their house. In another instance the father of a ‘Maaveerar’ (great hero) LTTE martyr was punished for allegedly being in possession of explosive devices.//- DBS Jeyaraj

    http://transcurrents.com/tamiliana/archives/575

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  70. MasterOfAll
    You hit the nail right on it’s head. unless you live and work here, one can’t understand how far behind we are in SL.Whatever we have gathered good must be imported to SL,like wise much can be leaned from SL too, beneficial to the westerners. We must learn from one another's to make a better world we live in. I am glad that US is giving our cops some sort of training if it is going make things better is to be seen.

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  71. Kevin,
    I agree with you! Absolutely correct!

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  72. Sri Lanka charges Tamil Tiger leader for murder

    LINK

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  73. Well said CASC,

    It's absolutly true, It's the propaganda that helped a lot for LTTE to survive. It was just an image building excercise to show to the world that the outfit was a conventional proffetional army but in reality it's just a rag tag gurrilla outfit.

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  74. BBC, AFP, Norway, LTTE, NGO, UNP = 0

    Democracy = 100

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  75. TS,

    Your points are taken well.
    What i meant was DEVELOPMENT WORK done by governing agencies. Of course the pvt. sector is the ultimate best in the actual work but when things are planned many quarters oppose it and i have seen instances where people refusing to move to another location and as a result development work stopped!!

    Especially CBK's time ALOT of these happened. When Premadasa was around a similar thing happened when weerasighe mallimarachchi promised to expand a certain stretch of road. People simply refused and started creating trouble until "some thugs" cleared the way!!

    This is not the right way but it works. Ask people around some great roads premadasa did; in almost every case some form of "thuggery" was used for a noble work. In the context of the East this is more important. If LTTE, SLMC, TNA, UNP fellows still remaining in the East co-operates with the new TMVP rulers without disrupting their INTENDED work, i will be surprised!!

    Even the election was like that. TMVP had to use a little bit of that to compel Tamil voters to come and vote as they were scared. How the TMVP ran its election campaign is also no secret!

    This is why we need a little bit of thuggery in the East to aggressively push forward development work.

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  76. casc,

    with all due respect i disagree
    "The end of the LTTE may come much sooner than the outcome of the land battles."

    OK you used the word "may" but it is even less certain because the way the LTTE is powered by the tamil elam seeking Diaspora. Imagine hundreds of millions of dollars every year for the LTTE. Some bugger will drive the LTTE and run until we send them to hell.

    I hate to say this but if the bloody tigers attack big somewhere the equation changes too quickly. The not only the public support suffers but also the IC will compel SL more to seek a peaceful resolution out of concern for SL thinking that the LTTE would continue attacking.

    I think it is still TOO EARLY to talk about LTTE's demise. We haven't entered the tiger hearland yet!! The coalition forces thought the most difficult part was to capture Iraq until they realised that controling/patroling it is the most difficult!

    We need to hold the LTTE's head under water for another long time for it to suffocate and die. even after it collapsed i want to sever its head so that there is no doubt it has died!

    But the going is good.

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  78. Guys,

    People who are living in Sri Lanka, specially in Colombo area, Please be careful of these Magnetic bombs!

    Please pass this on to everybody...

    LINK

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  79. Moshe,

    Bro, this scenario is hypothetical and is not an absolute certainty.

    Basically, the LTTE meets the definition of a cult. It champions the cause of Tamil separatism but is basically a personality cult that is devoid of a coherent ideology. The absolute obedience of followers was possible because of very effective “brain washing” techniques. In the initial formative period, they enforced a strict code of personal conduct to isolate people and to brain wash them into obeying every command. E.g., No smoking, drinking, fraternizing with women, a ban against getting married etc. Some of the Black Tiger cadres came from LTTE run orphanages. Therefore, they have been totally isolated from society from a very young age. People who are isolated from normal human society, especially from a young age, are amenable to brain washing of this type. With the ageing of their cadre, especially the leaders, it is no longer possible for the LTTE to enforce this code. The recent India Today magazine article calls the LTTE leadership a “group of middle aged men.” What happened to Karuna has happened to other members of the group. One day Karuna got married and had kids, and basically wanted to give his kids a better life. I read a Canadian newspaper several years ago which said that the CSIS estimates that there about 10,000 Sri Lankans in Canada who have received some type of paramilitary training, basically ex-LTTE. Except for a few nut cases, it is safe to say none of these folks would ever go back to their previous life style. The recent bust of the prostitution racket carried out by the LTTE in Colombo is another good example of why they can’t enforce the code any more. The LTTE fellow who was the handler of one of the prostitutes fell in love with one of the women, Sudu akka. He said that he did not want to die because of her. Just like this situation, the LTTE is no longer able to command absolute obedience from its followers. VP was able to keep this personality cult alive for a long time because there was no effective opposition to him. One way he made sure that there were no challengers to his authority was by eliminating potential opponents like Mahattaya. I think the situation is totally different today. VP is basically a bunker rat today. Like Hitler he is a raving madman who trusts no one. Just like Count Von Stauffenberg and many of the German higher command who plotted against Hitler in 1944, I believe there are some machinations that are going on within the LTTE that might spell the end of the LTTE from within.

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  80. casc,

    An internal collapse like you say is the best that can happen to the LTTE. That will ensure peace unlike a war victory which will never be 100% complete as small scale skirmishes would continue for a long time.

    But the tamil elam demand is made not only by brain washed fellows; but also by 99% ordinary tamils originated from the north. Most likely there will be someone to take over this task from the LTTE after VP.

    Sorry mate, i still am reluctant to think that this giant squid LTTE will die soon. It is a good hypothesis to articulate on as such a situ. will need new strategies than now, but it is too far fetched.

    We haven't still reached the LTTE heartland and all the violent battles lie ahead.

    I expect some of the following to happen when the LTTE nears it's real end.

    1. a massive attempt to buy out the govt. by money
    2. attempts to somehow get race-based devolution of power so that the region in charge of the north can be manipulated to save the LTTE
    3. a large civilian exodus mainly tamils out of the country (for very stupid reasons most of the northern tamils think that they are safe because of the LTTE; they say no riots after 1983 because of the LTTE!!!)
    4. tamil nadu will go mad
    5. some NGOs, TNA, some UNPs, and other LTTE supporters will take "drastic" measures to save the LTTE.
    6. many foreign politicos will try to stop the war with a zeal never seen before
    7. many "moderate" politicians will display their true colours
    8. a big reawakening of the nation never seen before
    9. VERY large investments; a rush to invest in SL even before the LTTE actually dies to get the "first-mover" advantage in many fields most notably in hotels and leisure, IT, outsourcing, mining, shipping, banking, population related services.

    The last is the surest way to measure the real end of the LTTE as investors are adeqately informed by various groups on what lies ahead. In 2002 i experienced that most investors knew that things are going to get much worse after the CFA and avoided investing in SL; some borrowed from state banks and invested!!!! ALL (yes all) attempts by the govt, to attract FDIs for SLT, SATHOSA, CTB, NLB, NIC, CINTEC(?),hotels, etc. etc. failed. Just follow the NON-SL investors - they know where the money would be!! - my boss used to say. BTW most tamils who came to SL in 2002-4 sold their properties and went!!! They also knew what was coming.

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  81. I was checking traffic rankings on Alexa of few sites i frequently visit. Guess what i found; DN is among the top 500 sites in SL.

    Defencenet.blogspot.com traffic rank in other countries:
    Sri Lanka 488

    http://tinyurl.com/25cbaf

    And for the last 3 months, their reach has gone up by 128%

    Congrats DN.

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  82. Moshe
    You said that the government’s attempt to attract investors have failed. This is true and I honestly think our politicians are truly worried about this in the true senesce because with deliberate restrictions that are being put in the country only make the investor to crawl to them either with a bribe or a commission. I know it from own experience and to survive in SL,either you have to be a crooked person or a thug. Our model citizens are in the shape of Mervin Silva. our leaders or our people have no pity on those who have brought in their life’s savings. Clever Tamils taken out their wealth for this very reason. My valuable investments are encroached so badly, not even the best intended judges can’t solve it after 2 decades in never ending cases. My friend can’t even erect a metal gate to his multimillion complex due to deliberate red tape of the horrible local athorities,who may be expecting a bribe. Country is in a bad shape unless the government is willing to face the reality.

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