Military officials here said today that the deserters would be released from paying their bonds, but had to repay any loans obtained by them.

In this countrywide programme the deserters would be issued with a discharge certificate stating that they were lawfully released from the military.

The military has already obtained the cabinet approval for the programme, which intends to facilitate the deserters to engage in productive employment. Soldiers who deserted within three years have the discretion to rejoin the army.

However, the deserters who engaged in criminal acts would not be entitled to this scheme.

Police say a large number of deserters are engaged in criminal and illegal acts around the country using the weapons they secretly removed from the battlefields. Published: Tue Mar 4 11:46:31 EST 2003

Vedda Chief Uruwarige Wanniyaleaththo has said they were interested about a community representative in the national legislature.

"Of late I have started to think that it would be good if we have a representative in Parliament," he said.

"However, there is a drawback. People clash with each other because of politics," he added.

The Vedda chief also said he would welcome back former Veddas resettled in the Mahaweli scheme as long as they had not brought shame to the indigenous community in Sri Lanka.

"When the government was setting up villages under the Mahaweli scheme, we appealed to the authorities concerned not to settle our community people there. Now our people are imprisoned in these villages and they can’t go hunting," the Vedda chief said.

"We have not laid down any laws on anyone who wants to return. Anyone can leave the forest and live in villages if they wish as long as they do not bring shame upon us," he said.

"I know that our people who went to live in villages under the Mahaweli scheme are fed up with their new lifestyles," he said.

The Vedda community recently conducted a survey which revealed that majority of Veddas resettled did not like to leave the forests. There are 1148 Veddas still living in forests. More... Published: Tue Mar 4 05:12:39 EST 2003

During talks in January, the warring parties appointed a women's committee to ensure the active participation of women in the peace process.

A two-day meeting of the Subcommittee on Gender Issues beginning Wednesday in the rebel-held northern town of Kilinochchi is to draft terms for the new committee's mandate and structure, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.

The government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam signed a Norwegian-brokered cease-fire agreement a year ago to stop decades of fighting that had killed nearly 65,000 people.

Women's groups estimate that more than 30,000 women were widowed by the war, forcing them to become the breadwinners for their families traditionally a male-dominated role in this south Asian nation.

The Norwegian government has appointed Astrid N. Heiberg, professor of psychiatry at the University of Oslo, as an adviser to the committee, the official said.

Heiberg, who arrived in the island last week, has already met with representatives of various women's groups and also visited displaced women.

The government team is headed by Kumari Jayawardene, a top women's activist, while the rebel team is headed by Sivahimi Subramaniyam, a senior leader of the rebels' women's wing.

Adele Balasingham, wife of the rebels' chief negotiator Anton Balasingham is expected to also play a key role in the committee. Published: Tue Mar 4 05:36:27 EST 2003