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Sri Lanka: ICRC facilitates handover of wounded soldier
to authorities
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Colombo (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today facilitated the handover to the government authorities of a wounded Sri Lanka Army soldier who had been receiving treatment in the Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital, in the LTTE-held area.
The ICRC visited the soldier in the hospital on several occasions to check on his physical well-being and provide him with toiletries, clothing and bed linen.
In its role as a neutral intermediary between both parties to the conflict, the ICRC was able to arrange for the soldier to leave the LTTE-held area to receive specialist medical treatment in the government-controlled areas.
For the past three days the ICRC has been negotiating with the parties to secure safe passage for 70 patients, some of them in a serious condition, to Vavuniya Hospital.
The patients, who were referred by Ministry of Health doctors, urgently require specialist care available only in government-controlled areas.
For further information, please contact:
Carla Haddad Mardini, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 24 05 or +41 79 217 32 26
Sarasi Wijeratne, ICRC Colombo, tel: +94 11 250 33 46 or +94 773 1588 44
See also ICRC media contacts
This article on www.icrc.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
