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'Only 5000' Tamil Tigers in custody | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nearly 5000 ex- Tamil Tigers are currently under government custody, the minister in charge of rehabilitation has said. Prison Reforms and Rehabilitation Minister Chandrasiri Gajadheera said most of them will be released soon and those who are regarded as "hardcore" Tigers will be charged in due course. He was speaking at a ceremony in the northern Sri Lankan town of Vavuniya to release 100 former Tamil Tigers. The minister said the government decided to release them to mark the Christmas Day. The minister urged freed rebels, 98 men and two women, to participate in elections. It is the latest group to be freed from the camps where they have been held since the Tamil Tigers were defeated by government forces last year. Nearly 12,000 former Tamil Tigers surrendered or taken into custody after the end of the hostilities in May, 2009, according to government figures. Former Rehabilitation Minister DEW Gunasekara, Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Brig Sudantha Ranasinghe and other official attended the ceremony. | LOCAL LINKS  Sri Lanka war panel 'pro-LTTE'24 December, 2010 | Sandeshaya 160 'Tamil Tigers' remanded in custody22 December, 2010 | Sandeshaya 'LTTE ordered killing of surrendees' 13 December, 2010 | Sandeshaya Daya Master appeals for LTTE suspects14 November, 2010 | Sandeshaya EXTERNAL LINKS The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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