Jaffna travellers arrive in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 November 1998, 16:02 GMT]
The Lanka Muditha, a cargo vessel chartered by the Sri Lankan Government to transport civilians to and from Jaffna, arrived at the eastern port of Trincomalee this morning around 9.30. A civilian passenger said that about 1000 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and 626 civilian passengers had travelled on the ship from Jaffna.

Officials from the Dutch and Canadian embassies in Colombo were present in Trincomalee to meet their respective nationals who had been stranded in Jaffna following the curtailing of civilian air flights to the northern peninsula.

Meanwhile, nearly 200 civilians demonstrated in Trincomalee today, urging the authorities to make arrangements for them to sail to Jaffna. The demonstration was backed by the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), said sources.

Last week, the Lanka Muditha sailed from northern port of KKS with 525 civilian passengers and 500 soldiers, said sources. However, the ship returned to KKS few hours after setting out, after the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) escort which was meant to meet it was attacked by the Liberation Tigers off the seas of Mullaitivu.

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