International
Norway clarifies on ceasefire agreement
By Nirupama Subramanian
COLOMBO
Feb. 10.
Norway, which is facilitating the Sri Lankan peace process, today clarified that the ceasefire agreement between the Government and the LTTE had not yet been finalised, and that all three parties were still working on it. A statement from the Norwegian Embassy here said "various drafts'' of different character were under discussion between the three parties. ``In light of the fact that parts of a draft have been circulated to the media, the Norwegian Government would like to make it clear that no formal proposal has so far been presented to the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.''
LTTE cadres seek protection
Four LTTE cadres, three of them new recruits who deserted after less than a week in a training camp, have sought protection from the security forces in north-eastern Sri Lanka, the Defence Ministry said today. The three said they had been forcibly recruited on February 2 and sought police protection near Welikanda, 50 km north-west of Batticaloa, on February 8. According to a statement from the Ministry, they were abducted by the LTTE and had been undergoing training at a camp from where they managed to escape. Another LTTE cadre sought protection from the army at Sittandy in Batticaloa the same day. A Tamil rights group recently reported that the LTTE was forcibly recruiting children in the east.
A report published by the University Teachers for Human Rights said some of the new recruits who had managed to escape were too scared to return home for fear of detection by the LTTE and were hiding near their villages, with their parents secretly taking them food. The LTTE denied the accusation, but said it was recruiting "volunteers'' to the military wing of its organisation.
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