FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2003
LTTE to free conscripted child soldiers
PTI
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels agreed on Thursday to release conscripted child soldiers and sought human rights education for its own members, foreign truce monitors announced.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed to free the child soldiers during a ceasefire violations reviewing meeting, the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which is run by Scandinavians, said.
"In order to tackle the issue of complaints about child recruitment, LTTE suggests that meetings will be held between the parents of children that have joined the LTTE, LTTE district commanders and SLMM.
"Whenever LTTE comes across a case of actual underage recruitment done by members of their organisation, the LTTE local leadership will work to rectify the situation," the SLMM said.
It said the Tigers also presented ideas on education seminars and training for LTTE political and military cadres on matters related to human rights issues, including the rights of children.
The LTTE move came as Unicef executive Director Carol Bellamy arrived in the island to discuss the problem of LTTE child soldiers.
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