Tamil Tiger rebels were using the current cease-fire to pursue a recruitment drive, raising doubts their sincerity to hold peace talks with the government, a civil rights group and news reports said Saturday. There have been complaints that the guerrillas were forcing parents to give one of their siblings to fight the separatist war, said the University Teachers for Human Rights, a group that has been monitoring human rights situation in Tamil-majority north and east since 1988.

"There is mounting incidence of reports that read like something out of the notorious African slave trade ... The stridency and degree of force have intensified after the cease-fire," the group said.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and government forces have been observing a cease-fire since Dec. 24, raising prospects of resumption of peace talks after a gap of more than six years to settle the ethnic conflict.
The LTTE was much more brazen and confident now, and was conducting its recruitment drive even in army-controlled areas, a resident of the eastern town of Batticaloa said when contacted by the phone. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity. Bureau Report