The chairman of the Jaffna doctor’s union has told Uthayan that they are determined to appeal against the ban placed on their protest at Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

The doctors had been prevented from striking by a court injunction placed against a day-long suspension of services in the hospital’s outpatient’s unit but pledged to protest anyway.

In a statement to Uthayan, the union’s chairman said:

The Tamil National Alliance has told The Island it has no faith in the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee and has not yet decided whether it will participate.

A court injunction has been placed on a strike which was due to take place today at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

Jaffna Court Judge M Ganesarajah had ordered the injunction after reviewing a report submitted by Jaffna Police’s Officer in Charge, Saman Sigera, reported Uthayan.

Veteran Tamil playback singer Hariharan has cancelled his concert tour to Colombo which was set to begin on Saturday, reportedly yielding to anti-Lankan sentiments in Tamil Nadu.

"My music has spread peace, happiness and love throughout the world for at least three decades.

Photographs Uthayan

Hundreds of Tamil men and women gathered in Mannar, holding a satyagraha in protest on Saturday, at the government and military's ongoing illegal expropriation of land in Tamil areas, reported Uthayan.

The military has seized over 5,200 acres of land in Mannar alone, TamilNet said in its report on the protest, citing Tamil activists in the northern region.

The protest was organised by youth activists of Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK), a constituent of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

It was supported by the other parties in the TNA and Tamil parties outside the alliance, including the Tamil National People’s Alliance (TNPF), as well as the Democratic People’s Front from South.

Mannaar Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, together with Catholic priests, elected representatives of the civic bodies and other civil activists from Mannaar also took part.

Several TNA parliamentarians attended - Mavai Senathiraja, M.A. Sumanthiran, M. Saravanapavan, Selvam Adaikalanathan, Sivasakthi Ananthan, Vino Nokarathalingam, Appathurai Vinayamoorthy and M.A. Sivajalingam - as well as V. Anandasangaree of the TULF and Bhaskara of the DPF (Democratic Peoples Front).

Extracts from a report by The Washington Post on Friday:

Gathering in a spot that they judged safe enough to speak freely, a group of Tamil women recounted the daily humiliation of life under the victorious Sri Lankan army — almost exclusively made up of ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists.

Sri Lankan authorities have turned down a request by the parents of slain Tamil political prisoner Ganeshan Nimalaruban for his body to be handed over to them, reported JDS today.

Nimalaruban died on Tuesday after sustaining serious injuries in an attack on several Tamil detainees by security forces.

Government officials claimed he was admitted at Ragama hospital on Tuesday evening, however hospital authorities told journalists on Wednesday that they were given a dead body by prison officials.

JDS reported that according to legal sources, Nimalaruban was arrested on suspicion of links with the LTTE and was held without charge for 7 months.

Police officials told Mahara Magistrate Mapa Bandara that a funeral may disrupt law and order in the region.

The magistrate issued an injunction, preventing the the removal of the body by the parents and ordered the burial of Nimalaruban by the government.

Arrangements to bury the body in the Western Province are currently being made, reported JDS.

The Indian Defence Ministry has announced it will move members of the Sri Lankan Air Force from Tambaram air base in Tamil Nadu.

A day after strong condemnation from all major parties in Tamil Nadu, the Ministry of Defense released a statement saying the personnel will be moved.

"All Sri Lankan trainees are being sent off today from this Station as per instruction of the Ministry of Defence," said the statement.