Sweden asks Tigers to seek peace

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are in Europe seeking a bigger share of tsunami aid were asked by donor nation Sweden on Tuesday to get back to the negotiating table and take action to avoid recruiting child soldiers.

A six-man delegation has visited Norway, which leads efforts to turn a current truce into permanent peace, and is expected to visit Germany, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Finland and others.

Sweden's International Development Minister Carin Jamtin met the LTTE and "gave a clear message that they must try to find a solution and get back to negotiations", said Anna Hoglund, head of the Asia desk at the Swedish Foreign Ministry.

"The Minister mentioned the recruitment of children by the LTTE," Hoglund told Reuters.

Another aide said the minister expressed Sweden's objections to this. But Hoglund said Sweden did not condition aid on peace talks and senior Tiger official S. Puleedevan, who was at the meeting in Stockholm, said: "We don't want to link both issues." The Tigers are focusing on securing a special mechanism to ensure they get a bigger share of the aid and say this is a condition for wider talks to seek permanent peace.

"If both sides agree to reach agreement on the joint mechanism, then there are a lot of prospects for the peace process," said Puleedevan, head of the LTTE's Peace Secretariat. Puleedevan said the LTTE tried to ensure that when it was told of children among its ranks "we investigate the details and they are immediately handed over to their parents". More than 2,000 children had been returned to their parents, he said.  - Reuters