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| Sunday, 10 February 2002 |
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Catholic Church condemns child-soldier recruitment by E. WEERAPPERUMA The Catholic Church will vehemently condemn any attempt by the LTTE to recruit children below 16 years of age for military activities, said the Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph. Speaking to Sunday Observer from his Mannar Bishop's house, the Bishop said that at times allegations were exaggerated and the truth of such rumours should be reviewed and authenticity ascertained. While i was at the Piramanalankulam army checkpoint waiting to leave for Madhu Camp there were rumours that the Tigers taking advantage of the present situation of the govt. in relaxing certain measures in the LTTE held areas, they were busy indoctrinating and brainwashing people to recruit children for the Tiger army. As a result, parents flee from their houses with their children. The Sunday Observer also learnt from reliable sources that the LTTE leadership has relaxed its laws in respect of marriages of the youth in the Tiger army. According to information, men who are over 29 and women over 24 in age level could marry. This means there would be some vacancies in the Tiger army. Commenting on this, the Mannar Bishop said: "Armies need new recruitment and he could not say anything against it without verifying the facts. But, if the Tigers were in the process of recruiting young children below 16 years of age, according to the rumours, the Catholic Church would strongly condemn it. The Tigers might not agree with us. But then we will tell them that 'we beg to differ'." "While in the North, the Sunday Observer also understood that the Tigers were making use of the present situation to buy everything in large numbers from the Vavuniya town to meet the requirements of the people in the uncleared areas before the forthcoming Sinhala-Tamil New Year so that the people in those areas would be able to celebrate the occasion and then move for for next showdown. "The Vavuniya Government Agent's office sources denied this allegation. "The Tigers have seen the sincerity of the Wickremesinghe government. They also know the people at the grass-roots level force them to give up war and enter into negotiations. The world is watching their movement very carefully. Therefore, they would do nothing to disturb the peace moves. They have also been told that this was the only chance they have at hand to settle the matter", the sources added. Meanwhile, Piramanalankulam army checkpoint that enables people in uncleared areas and cleared areas to cross under security will be closed shortly with the opening of the A 9 - Jaffna-Kandy-Colombo Road. Vavuniya Government Agent K. Ganesh said that necessary sheds will be set up at the A 9 road for the people going through it, and Piramanalankulam will be henceforth used for the benefit of the Madhu pilgrims during the two major feast days July 2 and August 15. The A 9 road will be kept open from February 15 for civilians and, from Feb. 16 for cargo vehicles, the GA added. |
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