NGOs in Kilinochchi demand release of TRO staffers

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 February 2006, 11:23 GMT]
The Kilinochchi Federation of NGOs staged a peace protest march Friday 17th in Kilinochchi at 10 am, demanding the release of the seven employees of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), abducted at gun point and held captive for more than 20 days in the Wellikanda region by paramilitaries. The marchers condemned the abductors and demanded that the TRO staffers be released immediately.

Protesters started from the Kandasamy temple in Kilinochchi proceeded to the Kilinochchi goverment secretariat where Mr. V.Subramaniam, the joint secretary of the Kilinochchi Federation of NGOs, handed a memorandum demanding the release of the abductees to the Government Agent, Mr. T. Rasanayagam, sources said. Mr Rasanayagam assured the protesters that he will forward the memorandu to Sri Lanka,s President Rajapakse.

Mr. Ganeshapillai, Vice president of the Kilinochchi district NGOs, Mr. T. Rajagopal of the TRO spoke in this event while Mr. Rajan, the coordinator of the TRO read the memorandum, sources said.

The peace protest march took place at the same time as a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter was taking the representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to Colombo to participate in the talks in Geneva between the Sri Lanka government and the LTTE.