Online edition of Sunday Observer

From Deepal Warnakulasuriya in Omanthai

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (2nd L) shows the way to Sri Lankan navy officer, Ajith Boyagoda (2nd R), and his immediate family members at a reception in Colombo shortly after he was officially freed by his Tamil Tiger captors 28 September 2002. Wickremesinghe and his wife Maithree (L) hosted Boyagoda and another six soldiers who were freed 28 September by Tiger rebels as part of a prisoner swap. (AFP Photo Sena Vidanagama)

Handing over seven Tiger-held security personnel in a prisoner swap in Omanthai yesterday, the LTTE leadership announced that there were no other personnel in LTTE custody.

LTTE media coordinator 'Suda Master' told the small gathering of officials and relatives from both sides at the historic exchange ceremony in this dusty township between Army and LTTE-held zones yesterday morning that the speculation about more detainees in Tiger custody was incorrect. He was responding to a question put to him by Defence Ministry Secretary Austin Fernando about the possibility of other personnel reported missing in action being held by the LTTE.

There were emotional scenes inside the large tent in the 'no-man's-land' between Army and LTTE frontlines as the seven LTTE-held services detainees and the eleven LTTE detainees held by the Government were exchanged and welcomed by their relatives.

The prisoner swap was facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Army Commander Lieutenant General Lionel Balagalle, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri and Defence Secretary Austin Fernando officiated from the Government side while Tiger military top-ranker Lt. Colonel Deepan, Vavuniya political leader Elilen, political officers Banu and Thangan and media chief 'Suda Master' represented the LTTE.

As the cameras flashed and the large cohort of international and local media people watched, the legal documents were signed and exchanged, and the detainees from both sides were allowed to greet their relatives.

Highest ranking LTTE detainee, Commander Ajith Boyagoda, who was captured when the Sea Tigers sank his gunboat, the SLNS Sagaravardhana, was tearfully greeted by his wife and mother. His mother also greeted 'Suda Master'. The longest held LTTE detainees, the six Army personnel from the Pooneryn camp captured in 1993, were also welcomed by their relatives.

'Dead soldier turns up'

OMANTHAI, Sri Lanka, Sept 28 (Reuters) - S.H. Gunawardana's family held a funeral for him while he languished as a Tamil Tiger prisoner in Sri Lanka's ethnic war.

Told the soldier had been killed in fighting in November 1993, Gunawardana's family was given an 'urn' containing ashes and held a funeral ceremony before finding out three months later that he had been captured by the Tigers. "My family thought I had been killed until they got a letter from the Red Cross," the 29-year-old said on Saturday, when he and six other government military personnel were swapped on Saturday for 13 Tiger fighters held by the government. "It was very hard on them," Gunawardana said, patting his brother's stomach and joking about how much weight he had gained in the nearly eight years since they last saw each other.