Christians Under Attack

 IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

TWO youths have revealed how they escaped from the Tamil Tigers after they were kidnapped by the Sri Lankan rebels, given weapons training and briefed on suicide operations. The young men, now in the care of UNICEF, confirmed the suspicion that the Tamil Tigers, also known as the LTTE, are continuing with child abductions, despite assurances to the contrary given to the international community at Geneva talks earlier this year.

Yesterday, as he extended a six-month state of emergency in the country, Rantasiri Wickremanayake, the prime minister, said: "Last month, the killings and attempted killings came down. We want this trend to continue and so we need to extend the state of emergency."

Mr Wickremanayake said there had only been ten killings and nine attempted killings since the two sides met last month in Switzerland for their first high-level talks since 2003 - a vast improvement on earlier in the year.

But the divide between the two sides remains vast. Mahinda Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan president, has repeatedly ruled out Tiger demands for a Tamil homeland and the rebels have threatened a return to a two-decade war that has killed more than 64,000 people, if they do not win concessions.

In an interview this week, the two young abductees, named only as K Vinoharan, 15, and S Chandrakumar, 17, from the country's eastern port city of Trincomalee, recalled how they were forcibly taken away by an armed LTTE group and held captive for one week before they escaped earlier this month.

The teenagers revealed that there were more than 200 youths, including some as young as 12 and 13, receiving weapons training at a camp, which houses one of the main rebel training facilities in the rebel-held territory around Trincomalee.

Vinoharan said five LTTE fighters grabbed him from the clutches of his pleading brother while they returned home from school on 1 March.

"They grabbed me and hit me when I screamed. They put me in the van and drove away as my brother kept pleading with them to let me go," he said.

The youths described how they went through strenuous training in weapons combat at the Trincomalee rebel camp and were told by their leaders to prepare to sacrifice their lives.

"We were shown the sea and told if war breaks out we will have to attack the navy and, if required, jump on the navy boats and explode bombs that will be strapped around us," the two boys said.

Senior LTTE leaders were said to have visited the training camp on numerous occasions and witnessed first hand the progress of the training sessions.

After six days in captivity, Chandrakumar and Vinoharan managed to make their getaway at night along the seashore adjoining the rebel training camp.

The recruitment of children by the LTTE is on the increase, Amnesty International said in its latest report.

Amnesty said even a large international presence following the tsunami has not significantly helped protect children from LTTE recruitment.

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