ICRC seeks release of crew stranded in S.Lanka
Source: Reuters
(Recasts with Red Cross, adds ship's owners) By Sanjeev Miglani COLOMBO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The international Red Cross was on Sunday seeking the release of 25 crew of a Jordanian ship which drifted near a stronghold of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, after the military threatened a rescue operation. The Farah III, carrying a cargo of rice, drifted off the Mullaittivu coast in the island's war-torn northeast early on Saturday after mechanical failure. "We are working on the release of the 25 captives," a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said in Colombo, declining to comment on a Jordanian news agency report that said the crew had been freed. The ship has become the latest flashpoint in fighting between the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north and the east of the island that has forced thousands of people to flee. The LTTE said the crew were safe and its representatives had met the ICRC to arrange for their return. The military accused the Tamil Tigers of forcibly boarding the vessel while it was adrift with a cargo of 14,000 tonnes of rice bound for South Africa from India. Jordan's Petra agency quoted Saeed Suleiman, general manager of al Salam company which owns the Jordanian-registered vessel, as saying the crew were handed over to the Red Cross and were due to leave for Colombo later on Sunday. The captain of the stricken vessel told Reuters by telephone from the de facto rebel capital of Kilinochchi that he and his crew were in good health. "They have taken care of us, extended great hospitality," said Ramis Jabhar, the Iraqi master of the ship which he said was now anchored off the Mullaittivu coast. The head of the LTTE peace secretariat S. Puleedevan, also said on the same call that a meeting was being held with the Red Cross on Sunday to organise the crew's safe passage home. RESCUE OPERATION Foreign truce monitors earlier urged the LTTE to respect international law and said the military was planning to launch an operation to rescue the crew of the ship. "The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has conveyed to the LTTE that the government will conduct a rescue mission to salvage the ship and its crew. SLMM has strongly advised LTTE to allow for this operation to be executed without any delay," the mission responsible for overseeing a tattered 2002 ceasefire said. The military said attempts to establish contact with the ship had failed and it was believed the LTTE had disconnected its communication systems. "The armed pirate act by the LTTE is a clear violation of international maritime laws and the navy has found it difficult to react due to the presence of the ship's crew," it said. The Tigers, fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east, have been conducting artillery duels with the military. In fresh fighting on Sunday, the rebels fired artillery and mortar bombs in Batticaloa area in the east, the military said, adding that soldiers returned fire. No damage was reported. More than 3,000 civilians, troops and rebel fighters have been killed so far this year in a series of ambushes, air raids, ground and naval battles and suicide bombings.
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