Press reports say the targeting borders on the indiscriminate. People who put up posters for political rallies supportive of the LTTE or even supporters of political parties sympathetic to the LTTE are being murdered.

September 3

Baskaran Suresh, 31, the owner of a garage at 5th Cross Street in Jaffna and a native of Sandilipai, was shot dead in Jaffna by unidentified men on motorbikes.

C. Mathan, 28, of 4th Cross Street Pt. Pedro and a tailor by profession, was shot dead in Jaffna in a separate incident by gunmen on a motorbike.

Tamil political parties Friday said they are going to hold awareness meetings among Tamil people in Colombo from this week against the increase of abduction by the intelligence service of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).

Several Tamil youths in Colombo had been abducted by SLA intelligence unit in past and immediate action should be taken to stop this, they said.

Political pressure from Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP), parties allied with Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse, including the paramilitary Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and the timely action by the top leadership of the Asian Broadcasting Coorperation to mobilise political pressure saved the life of Kuruparan Nadarajah, the Tamil news manager of Sooriyan FM, who was being interrogated after being abducted by the Special Counter-terrorism Unit of Sri Lankan mi

“The linkages between the Karuna group and the government... seem to be very clear.”

Series of attacks provoked LTTE retaliation

The new head of Sri Lanka’s truce monitors takes over a team cut by nearly half this week amid warnings by his predecessor of “mission impossible” to satisfy both sides in the vicious conflict.

Former Norwegian army chief Lars Solvberg will run a 30-strong group after members from the European Union were ordered to quit by the end of the month by the Tamil Tigers.

“Even in a war, there are certain (groups) that are not touched, such as the Red Cross symbol and NGOs.”

‘One of the most serious recent crimes against humanitarian aid workers worldwide’

As Sri Lanka’s military launched a new offensive against the Liberation Tigers this week, India re-iterated that war was not the way to resolve the island’s conflict.

“About 12 to 15 members of the Pakistani Armed Forces, including four or five from the Pakistan Air Force, are stationed in Colombo to guide the Sri Lankan security forces in their counter-insurgency operations” - Mr. B. Raman

Rajapaksa told fellow party men at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) convention that the government has already proved “brave enough” not to be threatened by “LTTE terrorism in the north east”.

An estimated 60,000 Tamils displaced by Sri Lankan military attacks in the eastern province are caught in a humanitarian crisis which aid workers say is being deliberately deepened by the Colombo government.