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Students, principals face arrest in Vavuniya
By Chris Kamalendran

School children participating in a protest demonstration organised by pro-LTTE groups against the army's demand to remove web belts worn by LTTE women cadres when they enter government-controlled areas.

Education officials or principals who permit school children to take part in anti-government demonstrations in Vavuniya will be arrested and prosecuted in courts, the military and police have warned.

This decision was conveyed to them at a conference presided over by Wanni Commander Susil Chandrapala at the Vavuniya District Secretariat. The education officials and the school principals were told that they should prevent school children from taking part in political activities against the government as it could lead to civil unrest in the area.

LTTE kills soldier in Muhamali

A soldier was shot dead yesterday by Tamil guerrillas in the Jaffna peninsula. Army sources said the soldier from the Vijayaba Infantry Regiment who had gone missing in Jaffna on Friday was shot dead in the Muhamalai area last afternoon.

They said it was not immediately clear how the incident had taken place. The LTTE in a statement last night claimed that the soldier along with two others had strayed into an area controlled by them and after being detected they had tried to escape into the army held area.

The LTTE cadres had reportedly ordered them to surrender but two of them had escaped while the third had attempted to lob a hand grenade at the guerrillas prompting them to 'react', the statement from the LTTE's Wanni headquarters said. The Army, however, denied this claim. Only one soldier went missing, a senior officer said last night.

The LTTE had informed the Scandinavian monitors about the incident and arrangements were underway to handover the body to the Army through the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC).

Late last year another soldier was shot dead in the same area by the LTTE when he entered an LTTE controlled area.

The warning came as a sequel to school children taking part in an anti-independence celebration organised by pro-LTTE groups in Vavuniya on February 3, while the official ceremonies organised by the government were boycotted by the students.

They were also informed that school children would be taken into custody in the event they took part in such demonstrations. Vavuniya North Education Director V.R.A. Oswald who took part in the meeting said Army and Police officers had explained the consequences of using children in anti-government political activities.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Sanath Rajapakse who also took part in the meeting said they believed student involvement in political activities could also disturb the peace process.

He said that police will be deployed around schools to prevent any organisation making use of children in anti-government demonstrations. Major General Chandrapala had clarified from the LTTE's area leader Elilan about students being taken for anti-government protests during school hours, but he had denied any involvement of the LTTE in these protests.

The participation of students in anti-government demonstrations has become a common feature in the north with pro-LTTE groups allegedly provoking them. The latest demonstration took place in Manipay on Friday when students joined huge crowds in protesting against the alleged attacks by Army-Police riot squads.

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