Political parties should publicly appeal to the LTTE to stop abduction and forcible recruitment of Tamil youths as it may disrupt the Norwegian brokered peace process, a leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said. N.Raviraj, Jaffna district MP and the former mayor of Jaffna, said that although the party has not received complains from the voters, it is not in the interest of the peace process and the confidence building measures if the Tamil Tigers are forcibly conscripting the children and youth form North-East.

"We do not have direct contacts with the LTTE. But if our electorate complain, we would appeal, LTTE to stop those practises," Mr. Raviraj told BBC’s Sandeshaya.

The government and Human Rights organisations including University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) said that the Tigers have stepped up forced conscription of child soldiers. The UTHR, in its latest report, mentioned names of more than ten children abducted from their homes in Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts.

When contacted by Sandeshaya, Batticaloa district MP Joseph Pararajasingham, denied receiving any complain of abduction, extortion of forced recruitment of child soldiers by the LTTE. He, however, promised to look into the matter and comment within two days. Published: Sat Feb 2 13:09:07 EST 2002