LTTE accused of recruiting over 5,300 child soldiers

COLOMBO: The United Nations Agency for children on Tuesday announced that over 5,300 children had been recruited by Tamil Tiger rebels under the cover of a ceasefire and asked the guerillas to immediately free the underage combatants.

The UNICEF said it had recorded 5,368 cases of reported child recruitment in Sri Lanka since January 2002, just a month before the ceasefire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Colombo went into effect.

UNICEF wanted the plight of children taken up during talks between the two sides next week on saving their troubled ceasefire. Two-days of talks start in Geneva from February 22.

The rate of child recruitment may have slowed in the past six months to an average of 43 a month and only 79 children had been released during the same period.

The UNICEF said it shared its concerns with the LTTE during a meeting on Sunday.

"Recruitment of even one child is unacceptable according to the Convention of the Rights of the Child," UNICEF Representative in Sri Lanka JoAnna VanGerpen said in a statement.

"Of particular importance remains the unresolved situation of child recruitment, which led UNICEF to yet again appeal to LTTE to cease the recruitment of children and to release all children within its ranks," UNICEF said.

"Since January 2002, UNICEF has recorded 5,368 cases of reported child recruitment in Sri Lanka."

Last week, the LTTE announced the release of 28 child soldiers ahead of face-to-face peace talks with the Colombo government starting February 22.