Abductions Worry Sri Lanka Students

BBC News, Valaichchenai

By John Sudworth

Four years ago the Tamil Tigers agreed a ceasefire with the Sri Lankan government, but talks aimed at ending the violence forever and solving the island's political problems have yet to make a breakthrough. In eastern Sri Lanka there is an uneasy peace.
In the town of Valaichchenai swarms of children in immaculate white uniforms are on their way to school.

They make a startling contrast with the Sri Lankan soldiers in army-issue green moving along the same streets in the morning heat.

Glimpses of Sri Lanka's uneasy peace are everywhere, from the neon tea shops next door to military checkpoints that bristle with guns, to the Buddhist shrines hemmed in by razor wire at the side of the road.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4834274.stm