Over 10,000 former LTTE members are still in government custody

The suspects were arrested in 2008 in a search operation after a claymore bomb was found in a suburb of Colombo.

The seven suspects, who were residing in a temporary residence nearby, have been detained under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the emergency regulations.

But the police in a report informed the court that Attorney General has decided that not enough evidence has been found to charge the suspects.

After the military defeat of the LTTE last year, over 10,000 Tamil Tiger suspects are still in the government custody.

KP's "blood money"

The government says investigations are still being held and it is too early to release them as the LTTE still poses a threat of re-grouping.

Resettlement minister D E W Gunasekara earlier told BBC Tamil service that 3,000 former rebels had already been released from the camps.

	Moderate Tamil leaders say KP has blood in his hands

8,000 former rebels - including 600 women and 1,300 men classified as "hardcore fighters" - remained in custody, he said.

Moderate Tamil leaders and the opposition parties, meanwhile, accuse the government of ill-treating the former Tamil Tiger members while offering special treatment to the former LTTE leaders.

V Anandasangaree, the leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) told BBC Sandeshaya that the Tamils in Sri Lanka do not need LTTE’s “blood money” for reconstruction in the north and the east.

Fonseka charged

He strongly criticised the government’s apparent special treatments to Kumaran Pathmanthan- the successor to LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran - while in government custody.

Mr. Pathmanthan has publicly appealed for funds from the Tamil diaspora for his newly formed charity formed, as he says, to help war affected.

Meanwhile, the authorities on Monday filed 41 charges against the former military commander Sarath Fonseka and his secretary.

The charges include conspiring to overthrow the government and recruiting army deserters during the run up to presidential elections.