COLOMBO Oct 7 Kyodo The United Na...

COLOMBO Oct 7 Kyodo

The United Nations upon Tuesday sharply reprimanded Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels for continuing to recruit child soldiers.

The United Nations Children's supply (UNICEF) said in a statement that it had verified a number of cases of child recruitment by way of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province.

''UNICEF teams forward the ground are working to verify the exact number of children recruited,'' said T Chaiban, local representative of the UN agency.

''But numbers are not the issue -- the recruitment of individual child is a serious violation of children's rights,'' Chaiban added.

The UNICEF statement came four days after the UN agency lay opened its first ''transit home'' for child soldiers being responded to their families at a solemnity attended by officials of the Sri Lankan sway and the LTTE as well as UN diplomats.

''This continued recruitment of children is completely unacceptable and this archetype of action undermines the work and commitment of the LTTE towards making the Action Plan for Children Affected by the agency of War a success,'' Chaiban said.

UNICEF pointed gone out that it had consistently called for an conclusion to child recruitment, most numerous recently at last week's opening of the transit center in rebel-held Kilinochchi in the north.

in succession this occasion, the Tigers ceremonially released 27 girls and 22 lads under a $14 million shoot forward funded by UNICEF.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo just discovereds International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group