By Our Defence Correspondent
The peace process gathered even more momentum yesterday, with the release of prisoners of war by both sides.

Seven security forces personnel were handed over to the government by the LTTE through the International Committee of the Red Cross at Omanthai, the frontier town north of Vavuniya.

The government in turn released 11 LTTE suspects who had been in custody for up to nine years under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, in connection with various attacks on military and civilian targets.

The event was the centre of much fanfare, with the commanders of the army, navy and air force being present, and shaking hands with the LTTE’s Northern Area Commander Colonel Theebas. The ceremony was organized jointly between the Sri Lanka Military Police and the LTTE Police.

The seven security forces personnel released are Commander Ajith Boyagoda of the Sri Lanka Navy, and six army soldiers. Four of them, S. B. Gunawardena, S. R. Jayakumar, T. P. Gamini, and D. S. Priyanka De Silva, are from the 3rd Gajaba Regiment, and two, P. B. Nawindra Jayalath and T. M. Nimal Dissanayake, from the Sri Lanka Light Infantry.

The soldiers had been captured by the LTTE during the massive attack on the Pooneryn army camp, while Commander Boyagoda was captured after his ship, the Offshore Patrol Vessel SLNS Sagarawardena, was sunk by the Sea Tigers off Mannar in September 1994.

The exchange of prisoners had been scheduled to take place before the start of the peace talks at the Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand last week, but was delayed due to legal problems over charges pending against some cadres that the LTTE wanted released.

With the release of prisoners, the LTTE has released all security forces personnel it had in custody, according to the repeated official statements of the Tigers.

Unfortunately, families of hundreds of service personnel who are still listed as missing in action, now have little or no hope for the return of their loved ones.

The release of prisoners is similar to what took place during the peace talks of 1994/95 in late 1994. However, there are some marked differences. During the 1994 release, the LTTE did so spontaneously, with no negotiating or third party involvement from the Norwegians or anyone else. Neither did the government release any detainees from its side.

In 1994, the release was done by the LTTE clearly to show its friendly intentions towards the new government of then Prime Minister Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who was preparing to send a team to LTTE-held Jaffna for peace talks. Also, the prisoners held by the LTTE were released on a staggered basis over several weeks, with the obvious intent of gaining the most propaganda advantage for the LTTE. It was not until several months later, in January of 1995, that a ceasefire was declared.

Also, the LTTE did not release all of the prisoners that it held at the time, which it is doing now. All those who were released in 1994 were sick or weak after years in captivity, most of them having been captured when the Mankulam, Kokkavil and Kilinochchi army camps were overrun in 1990, or the Oddusudan police station in the same year.

Interestingly, Commander Boyagoda was taken prisoner in September 1994, at a time when Prime Minister Kumaratunga was exchanging notes with LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in order to get the peace process started, but was not among those released by the LTTE during the months that followed. The attack on the Sagarawardena was a clear attempt by the LTTE to prove their strength on the eve of peace talks.

The same is true of the six soldiers, who were captured more than a year before Mrs. Kumaratunga was elected. It is therefore clear that the LTTE in 1994 was releasing only those who were sick or weak, and had been in captivity for many years.

At the time, the LTTE did not give an official statement of how many service personnel it was holding, unlike now, when it has categorically stated that it has no more prisoners.

In the present case, the release of prisoners is not an integral part or pre-condition of the peace process, but is an added aspect which is intended to be a symbolic show of both sides commitment to the peace process. On the side of the government, there is a clear and unequivocal commitment by the United National Front government under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to take the peace process as far and as long as they can.

However, it remains to be seen if others involved in the peace process, specifically President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the LTTE, are as committed.

The President has been something of a wild card in the country’s turbulent politics over the last few months, and her constant clashes with the UNF government have caused much concern that she will dissolve parliament or dismiss the Cabinet after its first year in office ends on the 5th of December.

For its part, the LTTE is at present content with going along with the peace process, since the international environment is not conducive to it going back to war. However, it is well known that the Tigers have recruited thousands of new cadres, and received numerous shipments of arms and ammunition, and are therefore more than ready to go to war at very short notice.