UNICEF says Rebel Group Recruited Tsunami-Affected Children

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Tamil Tiger rebels recruited three tsunami-affected girls to their ranks but later released two of them, UNICEF officials said Thursday.

The girls, ages 11 and 12, were reunited with their parents, and UNICEF was working to secure the release of the third, who was 15 years old, said Geoffrey Keel, a spokesman for the agency.

The three were from eastern Batticaloa and Ampara, among the areas that were worst hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

The rebels are known to recruit children to bolster their ranks in their fight for a separate Tamil homeland. Peace talks stalled two years ago amid demands by the rebels for wide autonomy in the Tamil-dominated north and east.

Since the rebels signed a truce with the Sri Lankan government in 2002, more than 3,500 children have been enlisted by the insurgents, according to human rights groups.

Children accounted for a staggering 40 percent, or 12,000, of Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll of nearly 31,000. Another 800,000 people have been left homeless.

Ted Chaiban, UNICEF's chief for Sri Lanka, said preliminary data indicated that nearly 1,000 children had been orphaned by the tsunami and another 3,200 lost one parent.

The rebels repeatedly have denied actively recruiting children, saying that any minor who joins their forces does so because of poverty or the loss of parents.

In 2003, the rebels agreed with both UNICEF and the government to free all child combatants, but the U.N. agency has accused the insurgents of continuing the practice.

Chaiban also said there were at least six cases of child abuse in camps and two cases of attempted trafficking. He stressed that the figure could change because some cases have not been reported.

Police this week arrested a man for allegedly trying to sell his two granddaughters, ages 7 and 9, to foreigners.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)