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The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has released 10 Sri Lankan prisoners of war as a humanitarian gesture, a spokesman for an association of families of servicemen missing in action said.
The prisoners, three of them soldiers in rebel custody for eight years, sailors from vessels captured in 1997-98 and others were handed over at Mallavi in the rebel-held northern Vanni region to representatives of the association.
LTTE's political wing chief S P Thamilselvan said in a farewell speech that his leader V Pirabhakaran had ordered the release of PoWs as a humanitarian and goodwill gesture.
Hundreds of peace activists and members of families affected by the civil war were present at the function.
According to E P Nanayakkara, president of the Relatives of Servicemen Missing in Action, nearly 60 peace groups joined hands to cross over to Vanni to convey a strong message that the people of the Sinhala-majority southern Sri Lanka wanted peace.
Tamil newspapers quoted Pirabhakaran as saying the prisoners were treated with dignity and compassion in LTTE custody and wanted similar treatment to Tamil prisoners incarcerated in jails in the south.
The LTTE has in the past declined to make public the exact number of prisoners in its custody, maintaining that the figure is very small and that it is known to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The families of hundreds of soldiers declared missing in action believe they are still alive in LTTE prisons and make frequent appeals to the rebels to release them.
Meanwhile, an influential Buddhist prelate in Sri Lanka has said the government can relax the ban on the LTTE if the militant group is prepared for negotiations without any pre-conditions and favoured grant of autonomy to Tamil-majority areas in a united Sri Lanka.
In remarks that came as a shot in the arm for the United National Party-led government's peace moves, the Mahayanake Thera of the Asgiriya Chapter, Kandy, said the government may relax LTTE's proscription if they are willing to come for unconditional peace talks.
The Mahasangha, the powerful Buddhist clergy, would also not oppose granting autonomy to the Tamil people of the north to some extent to run their own affairs within a united country, Sri Buddharakkhita Thera of Asgiriya told a UNP delegation that called on him on Monday.
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