Tigers welcomed on Jaffna island

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 July 2002, 03:08 GMT]
Political cadres of the Liberation Tigers Monday landed in Analaitheevu, one of the islands off the Jaffna peninsula, and received an enthusiastic welcome from the residents, Tamil press reports said Tuesday.

The LTTE team was led by the head of the movement’s political section in the Jaffna islands, Mr. Semmanan, the Thinakural newspaper reported.

After arriving at 11.30 am, the LTTE cadres were taken in a procession from the Amman Temple near the disembarkation point to the Iyanar Temple, accompanied by traditional drums.

A public gathering at the Iyanar temple, held under the stewardship of the village committee, was addressed by Mr. Semmanan and Mr. Arunthavan , another LTTE official. The Tiger cadres were then treated to a meal after which they mingled with the crowd before leaving.

The Sri Lanka Navy had initially resisted the LTTE political cadres' entry to the Jaffna islands, declaring Pungudutheevu, Nainatheevu, Eluvaitheevu, Analaitheevu, Mandaitheevu and Karainagar to be a military zones from which the Tigers could be prohibited from visiting under the terms of the ceasefire accord signed in February this year.

The matter was later partially resolved with a limited number of LTTE political workers being allowed to each of the islands, depending on the size of its population. A maximum of five workers were allowed on Analaitheevu.