Tigers release soldiers, ferry crew

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 October 1998, 03:50 GMT]
Six Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and three Sinhalese crewmen from the ferries "Irish Mona" and "M.V. Misen" in the custody of the Liberation Tigers were released today by S.P.Thamilchelvan, the leader of the LTTE's political wing at Puthukkudiyiruppu in the Mullaithivu district, the Voice Of Tigers (VoT) radio said yesterday evening.

They were released following a request made by the resident representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Colombo Mr. Max Huddorn, during a discussion with the representatives of the LTTE in the Vanni on September 20, the radio said.

The soldiers and crewmen were handed over to the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at Mallavi yesterday morning around 10.00, it further said.

The crewmen were taken to Colombo while the SLA soldiers are being held in Vavuniya said Army sources.

Two of the crew were arrested when the Tigers intercepted the passenger ferry "Irish Mona" on 28 August 1995. The passengers and the rest of the ferry crew were released soon after.

The ferry, "M.V. Misen" was destroyed by the Tigers on July 1, 1997, off the north-western coast of Pesalai on July 1 1997. The Tigers arrested the 9 crew. However, most of them were released shortly afterwards.

The names of those released yesterday are:


K.R.P.Sampath Perera
G.W.Dayapala Ratnapala
W.S.Nomis Singho
D.N.G.M.Jayantha Bandara
D.E.Lakshman Amarasinghe
L.P.Palitha Pushpakumara
M.A.Wijesekara Munasinghe
W.I.Loyala Fernando
S.Janaka Tenuwara