The move follows revelations made by some of the suspects now in custody in connection with the racket which involved the issue of forged United States visas for jobs in Alaska.

The office of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs was used as the headquarters for the human smuggling operation. It came to light after Criminal Investigations Department (CID) detectives arrested eight Sri Lankan nationals heading for Alaska with forged visas. More...

Discuss this story Published: Sun Mar 12 19:32:01 EST 2006

The talks on child conscription are also expected to pave the way for discussions on human rights, the officials said, about the April 19-21 meeting in Geneva.

The rebels still hold as many as 1,358 child soldiers in their custody, despite repeated pledges to free all underage combatants, the United Nations children' agency said in a statement.

The UNICEF report same just days after two teenage would-be rebel fighters who escaped from the guerrillas revealed that the Tigers were still abducting children from Sri Lanka's north and east.

Speaking to reporters after they sought refuge with the Sri Lanka navy, the two boys aged 15 and 17 said more than 100 children _ some as young as 12 _ were receiving weapons training at a camp identified as "Three Two Base," in northeastern Trincomalee.

UNICEF said the Tigers have recruited at least 5,368 child soldiers since the Feb 22, 2002 cease-fire, some of whom the Tigers have freed. Child soldiers was one of the two main topics discussed at the Feb. 22-23 t alks.

The issue _ a major irritant for the rebels _ has ignited strong criticism against the LTTE globally.

At last months' talks, the Tigers' chief negotiator Anton Balasingham vowed to halt all child conscription.

"We have given a solemn pledge that we will abstain from recruiting underage children," he told reporters. But he argued that most of the children joined the LTTE for socio-economic reasons. Balasingham however, made a similar pledge after the second round of talks in Thailand in October, 2003.

Subsequently, there were no plans to revisit the topic _ at least this soon _ following the Tigers' pledge but that had now changed, the officials said.

They stressed that a major drawback of the truce agreement is that human rights issues like child recruitment have not been woven into the pact.

Discuss this story Published: Sun Mar 12 02:37:04 EST 2006

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said about 30 men from the Sri Lankan army together with paramilitary personnel attacked their checkpoint at Vakarai in the east of the island Friday night.

The Tigers did not say if there were any casualties. The attack came a week after a similar clash in which two Tiger rebels were killed.

There was no immediate reaction from the Defense Ministry, which has maintained its forces had nothing to do with attacks against the rebels.

The latest report came as the ministry announced an easing of fishing restrictions off the island's northern Jaffna Peninsula.

The ministry said President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also defense minister, ordered the easing of restrictions imposed after an upsurge in violence between December and January.

More than 150 people were killed during the two months before both sides agreed to meet in Switzerland and talk about implementing their troubled truce.

The sides are due to meet again April 19, but truce monitors have warned that fresh violence could jeopardize the entire peace process.

Discuss this story Published: Sun Mar 12 12:34:52 EST 2006