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by Frances Bulathsinghala

Close to five thousand people including top professionals, businessmen, artistes, trade unionists and those from the border villages will travel to the uncleared areas of Vanni on January 19 a 'humanitarian good-will mission' that will create a base for the peace process. Forty organisations are being represented in the peace mission which is targeted to complement the peace efforts of the Government and the ceasefire initiated by the LTTE on December 24.

Kingsley Rodrigo of PAFFREL, the main organiser of the project said that there has been a positive response from the military hierarchy towards the visit and that they do not envisage any obstacles.

The co-ordination of the visit from the North East area is to be handled by the Catholic clergy of the areas.

Rodrigo said that the civilians embarking on this mission will focus on meeting the families living in the uncleared areas. They will also provide them with dry rations and clothing to over one thousand families. Rodrigo said this would be a goodwill gesture that will prove to the people of the uncleared areas in Vanni that the average citizens in the South are not war oriented.

However E. P. Nanayakkara, President of the Association of Relatives of Servicemen Missing in Action who will join the mission with one thousand five hundred members from his organisation, said that they will be meeting Thamilchelvam, Political leader of the LTTE, and several other LTTE leaders. Nanayakkara has been informed of the confirmation of this meeting from the LTTE office in London, as well as the headquarters in Vanni.

Nanayakkara who has been on a crusade for the past five years to locate nearly two thousand military persons who have been declared as missing in action, continues to believe they are being held captive by the LTTE. "We have got proof that at least half of this number might be with the LTTE. Our ambition at this visit is to request the LTTE to provide us with genuine information and to make a goodwill reciprocation to our visit by releasing some of the prisoners of war".

However he added that 'there would be no hard feelings' if the LTTE proves beyond doubt that they do not have the number of POWs that the association assumes they have. "We are involved in a mission that would assist in the peace process. As parents of soldiers we have suffered through this war and we would welcome a lasting solution to7 war.

Even if we do not find our children again, we would make up our minds that our sacrifice was not in vain", Nanayakkara said making his comments on behalf of the members of his organisation.

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