Soldier deserts SLA, wants to join LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2003, 17:22 GMT]
A soldier of the Sri Lanka Army, who deserted the SLA and surrendered to the political division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was handed over to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) at the HRC’s office in Vavuniya Tuesday night, sources said.

The soldier identified as Mr. Julie Ariayaratne,25, told the LTTE that he wanted to join the LTTE's forces, the organization's political head in Vavuniya, Mr. S. Ezhilan, said.

The soldier, who belonged to the C.L.S.F division of the SLA in Omanthai, complained that he did not get any vacation to visit his home village, and because of his long absence, his wife had deserted him for another man. He said that he would not return to the SLA, sources said.

Mr. Ezhilan said that he explained to the soldier that the LTTE could not allow him to join the LTTE's forces, and handed him over to the HRC in the presence of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials.