Colombo: The government is in the final
stages of releasing 150 rehabilitated former LTTE cadres in
Sri Lanka`s northern Vavuniya district, a top military
official said on Tuesday.
Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, the Commissioner
General of Rehabilitation, said the former Tamil Tiger cadres
are currently undergoing a final test in mason skills,
handicraft work and paintings.
The authorities are making arrangements to release the
150 LTTE cadres on Friday after the completion of the
rehabilitation programme.
The announcement comes amid plans by the government to
lift the draconian emergency laws in force in the country for
most of the past 30 years.
Prime Minister D M Jayaratne told the parliament that
steps have already been taken "to lift emergency regulations
in consultation with the (National) Security Council".
The rehabilitated former combatants have been given
training in vocational, language and communication to improve
their skills and their educational knowledge, authorities were
quoted as saying by Colombopage, the Sri Lankan online
newspaper.
Some 11,700 LTTE cadres had surrendered to the security
forces during and after the final phase of the ethnic war that
ended in May 2009.
So far 7,969 of them have been released and 2,879 former
cadres are being rehabilitated in camps, according to Major
General Ranasinghe.
He said the former LTTE fighters could play a pivotal
role in rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in the
war-ravaged northern province.
PTI
