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Two thousand five hundred people are due to leave for the Vanni Saturday on a peace mission to seek the release of servicemen believed to be held captive by the LTTE. The J.R. Jayawardena Cultural Centre in Colombo was packed on Tuesday with people registering for the peace mission organised by the Association of Relatives of Servicemen Missing in Action. The President of the association E.P. Nanayakkara said, “Approximately 2500 people from all over the country have registered to go [to the Vanni.]” Leaving Colombo at 2 P.M. Saturday, a group will proceed to Anuradhapura first where they will join others. On Sunday, the entire group will travel to Madhu in the Mannar district approximately 45 km from Vavuniya. Nanayakkara said that they planned to distribute gift parcels to families in the Madhu Camp.  Nanayakkara began the association after his son who was in
the Sri Lanka Air Force was declared missing five years ago. Since then he
has been campaigning for peace. The organisation is engaged in a vigorous
attempt to determine the whereabouts of about 2000 military personnel whom
they believe to be in LTTE custody. Nanayakkara said, “We have been
informed through certain sources that they are there.”
According to Nanayakkara, both the government and the military are in full support of the journey. He said that an informal meeting with Thamilchelvam, LTTE’s political wing leader, had also been confirmed. In a landmark visit last year, Nanayakkara, along with his wife and several others, met with Thamilchelvam. Describing the trip, Nanayakkara praised the hospitality extended to them by the LTTE and said, “We were given a warm welcome and treated very well.” Hopes are high for this visit. Nanayakkara said he expected to raise the issue of the prisoners and their possible release. He said that if the LTTE agreed to release the military personnel and civilians officially declared as being in LTTE camps, his organisation would consider appealing to the government for the release of LTTE suspects accused of minor offences. He said, “We hope they will at least release even two or three prisoners as a goodwill gesture for this trip.” Foreign diplomats from the Norwegian Embassy, the Indian High Commission, the American Embassy, the British High Commission, the French Embassy and the Australian High Commission have been invited to send representatives to join the mission. However, Nanayakkara said, “We have not received any response yet.” He continued to express his belief that people-to-people contact was essential to the peace process. “No one is benefiting from this war. We just want it to come to an end,” he added.
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