Jaffna villagers write to Ranil

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 May 2002, 17:28 GMT]
Residents of Varani, Maaseri and Kudamiyan in Jaffna wrote to Sri Lankaís Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe Saturday asking him to relocate the Sri Lanka army camp blocking the main road through their villages in accordance with the ceasefire agreement between his government and the Liberation Tigers. More than five hundred villagers have signed the letter. The SLA camp is in the midst of the village, straddling the main road. The military occupies twelve houses in Varani.

A spokesman for the villagers said that the army had the authority to take over and occupy the houses under the Emergency Regulations.

"The army has no legal basis for holding on to our houses because the Emergency lapsed last year. We expect the army to respect the law which it claims to uphold and vacate our homes", the spokesman for the villagers said.

Varani is on the road from Kodikamam to Nelliyadi.