22.6.2008
Sri Lanka's military has launched a campaign to track
down and arrest up to 12,000 army deserters who failed
to take advantage of a government amnesty, a spokesman
said on Sunday.
"About
5,000 responded to the general amnesty we had from May
2 to the 30th," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
"We
are now trying to get at 11,000 to 12,000 deserters who
did not respond to the amnesty."
He
said most of the desertions had taken place several years
ago, and asserted that there had been no exodus in recent
years despite heavy fighting with separatist Tamil Tiger
guerrillas.
In
2003, the government moved to legally discharge from the
security forces some 51,000 deserters if they agreed to
pay any money they owed the military, while those wanting
to rejoin were considered for fresh enlistment.
However,
military officials said despite that offer, thousands
were still listed as deserters in the ranks of Sri Lankan
security personnel numbering about 200,000.
Sri
Lankan security forces are locked in combat with Tamil
Tiger rebels whose strength is not known, but estimated
at between 5,000 to 15,000.
A
2002 Norwegian-arranged truce began to unravel from December
2005 and Colombo formally pulled out of the ceasefire
in January this year.
Tens
of thousands have been killed in Sri Lanka's drawn out
Tamil separatist conflict.
Courtesy - Yahoo