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NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN
COLOMBO, NOV 26: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam announced on Friday that as a gesture of goodwill, they would release seven soldiers they have been holding as prisoners of war.
An announcement over the LTTE radio Voice of Tigers this morning said the soldiers would be released through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday, when the group will hold its annual Heroes' Day celebrations in memory of cadre killed in combat.
The gesture has come after a string of victories for the LTTE in the battlefield, which has given the separatist group a solid military advantage in northern Sri Lanka and embarrassed the government ahead of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's re-election bid.
A spokesman for the ICRC confirmed that they had been approached by the LTTE about the release of the soldiers. The ICRC had in turn contacted the army and were awaiting a response, he said.
All seven soldiers are believed to have surrendered to the LTTE in recent battles in northern Sri Lanka. TheICRC spokesman said it was "difficult to say" whether the LTTE were holding any more POWs from these battles.
The government has declared that 122 of its soldiers went missing in action between November 1 and November 6.
Over the last decade, the number of soldiers being held by the LTTE has always been a subject of much speculation, especially for the traumatised family members of those hundreds who have been classified as missing in action.
However, the ICRC visits only 13 army and two navy personnel and 12 civilians who were taken captive by the LTTE a few years ago.
In an earlier gesture of goodwill, the LTTE released six soldiers last October, besides the crew of a freight ship they had hijacked.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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