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Child soldiers to be demobilised

OSLO, Friday (AFP) Sri Lanka's warring parties have called for the demobilisation of child soldiers and are jointly appealing for foreign aid to help victims regain their childhood, diplomats here said.

The LTTE have been gradually disbanding their baby brigades, but aid organisations caution that the children could face dire straits.

"The LTTE will engage in a partnership with UNICEF to draw up an action plan for restoring normalcy to the lives of children and the parties called on the international community to provide financial support for such an action plan," peace broker Norway said.

In a three-page statement after four days of talks, Norway's foreign ministry said both sides underlined that children belonged with their parents and not in the work place, whether civilian or military. Hundreds of underage combatants have been freed by the Tigers due partly to the intervention of UNICEF and Amnesty International, the London-based human rights watchdog, diplomats said.

Aid agencies operating in Sri Lanka's embattled north-east report a rise in the number of child warriors freed by Tigers since they entered into a Norwegian-brokered truce with government forces in February. Aid officials say a "working group" of international humanitarian agencies and the authorities was finalising minimum standards and conditions for reintegrating child soldiers into society.

"We don't want to get into a debate on why there are child soldiers," said UNICEF representative in Sri Lanka, Ted Chaiban. "What we say is that they should not be there (as child soldiers) in the first place."

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