Tigers, SLA open for new year's eve

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2003, 14:02 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka army will keep the entry points to Jaffna and the Vanni open until 9.30 p.m. on New Year eve as a gesture of goodwill, officials on either side of the line of control in northern Sri Lanka said Wednesday. The International committee of the Red Cross left its position on either side of the no man's land at the Muhamalai entrypoint in Jaffna at the usual closing hour.

However the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission was active at the entry point after the ICRC left, travellers said.

The Tigers announced last week that they would open their side of the entry points to the Vanni at Omanthai and in Mannar and at Muhamalai in Jaffna as goodwill measure on Christmas eve,Christmas, new year eve and on 1 January 2004. The SLA did not reciprocate the gesture on 24 and 25 December.