04-01-2004, 11:12 PM
<img src='http://www.tamilcanadian.com/eelam/eelam_images/Arts_Culture/un-pongu.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
<span style='color:red'>Sri Lanka Tamil Rebels To Travel To Switzerland-Officials
Copyright © 2004, Dow Jones Newswires
COLOMBO (AP)--Sri Lankan soldiers escorted at least three Tamil Tiger rebels to Colombo ahead of a trip Friday to Switzerland, a senior government official said.
The three - a Tiger official known as Karikalan and at least two others - are expected to attend a protest later this month in Geneva seeking equal rights for minorities outside a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Though still seen as terrorists by much of the world, the Tigers have become regular international travelers since a cease-fire went into effect two years ago. They are often escorted by government officials and the Sri Lankan military.
Karikalan defected from the main rebel movement after a split last month between the northern and eastern branches of the movement, though he later re-joined the Tigers' main wing.
The Tigers had been fighting a 19-year war with the Sri Lankan government, claiming discrimination against minority Tamils by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict killed nearly 65,000 people before the Norway-brokered cease-fire was signed in February 2002.
Sri Lanka goes to the polls Friday, overshadowed by violence and tensions connected to the Tiger split.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 01, 2004 10:13 ET (15:13 GMT) </span>
tamilcanadian.com
<span style='color:red'>Sri Lanka Tamil Rebels To Travel To Switzerland-Officials
Copyright © 2004, Dow Jones Newswires
COLOMBO (AP)--Sri Lankan soldiers escorted at least three Tamil Tiger rebels to Colombo ahead of a trip Friday to Switzerland, a senior government official said.
The three - a Tiger official known as Karikalan and at least two others - are expected to attend a protest later this month in Geneva seeking equal rights for minorities outside a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Though still seen as terrorists by much of the world, the Tigers have become regular international travelers since a cease-fire went into effect two years ago. They are often escorted by government officials and the Sri Lankan military.
Karikalan defected from the main rebel movement after a split last month between the northern and eastern branches of the movement, though he later re-joined the Tigers' main wing.
The Tigers had been fighting a 19-year war with the Sri Lankan government, claiming discrimination against minority Tamils by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict killed nearly 65,000 people before the Norway-brokered cease-fire was signed in February 2002.
Sri Lanka goes to the polls Friday, overshadowed by violence and tensions connected to the Tiger split.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 01, 2004 10:13 ET (15:13 GMT) </span>
tamilcanadian.com
<img src='http://kuruvikal.yarl.net/archives/PETBIRD1.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>