March 6, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 2, 1424

KILINOCHCHI (Sri Lanka), March 5: A Sri Lankan soldier and a policeman, held captive by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for a period of around two months and one week, respectively, were released on Wednesday in a decision taken by LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

The decision to release the two captives was taken after the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the Norwegian ceasefire monitors headed by SLMM chief Tryggve Tellefsen met the guerilla leader, LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, and head of the LTTE political wing, S. Thamilchelvam, at the LTTE headquarters.

The SLMM over the weekend had sent the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief a written decree asking him to ‘obey’ the ceasefire following a spate of truce violations by the Tamil Tigers.