Soldiers' release tomorrow

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 November 1999, 18:59 GMT]
Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited the 7 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in the custody of the Liberation Tigers this evening in the Vanni, the spokesman of the ICRC Harasha Gunawardene said.

The seven soldiers, surrendered to the Liberation Tigers during the Operation ‘Unceasing Waves-3’ this month, are to be released and handed over to the tomorrow morning at the Mallavi office of the ICRC.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has an agreement with the SLA and LTTE to transfer these soldiers on Saturday from the Vanni to Vavuniya, ICRC spokesman Harasha Gunawardene said.

He added that these seven soldiers would be escorted by the ICRC personnel overland to Anthonyarpuram and from there by boat to Mannar and from Mannar overland via Medawachchiya to Vavuniya on Saturday afternoon.

The ICRC hopes that a positive security environment would prevail during the transfer, he said.