Sri Lanka colludes in child abductions rights croup

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's government is colluding in the abduction of children as soldiers by militants seen as an ally in a raging civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels, US-based rights group Human Rights Watch said today.

While the Sri Lankan government and renegades led by breakaway rebel commander Karuna deny working together, Human Rights Watch echoed United Nations allegations that the abductions would have needed cooperation.

''After years of condemning child recruitment by the Tamil Tigers, the government is now complicit in the same crimes,'' Jo Becker, Human Rights Watch child rights advocate, said in a statement to mark the release of a new 100-page report.

International aid workers say abductions by both the Karuna group and the mainstream Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been rife in the restive eastern district of Batticaloa amid a new chapter in the island's two-decade civil war.

Earlier this month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for an immediate investigation into reports some elements of the military were involved.

''AT LEAST TACIT SUPPORT'' Human Rights Watch's report 'Complicit in Crime: State Collusion in Abductions and Child Recruitment by the Karuna Group' says areas where abductions took place were ''firmly under government control, with myriad military and police checkpoints and security force camps''.

''No armed group could engage in such large-scale abductions, and then hold and train the abductees for combat in established camps, without government knowledge and at least tacit support,'' it added.

The Karuna group, which split with the Tigers in 2004, is striving to mould itself into a political force that could take over civil administration in the east, and have offices in Batticaloa district on streets guarded by government troops.

The government denies any ties to the group, and says it has started an investigation into the allegations made by the United Nations and aid groups but has no evidence to go on.

''The government is not going to cover up anything of that sort. If there is recruitment and ... certain elements of the government security services are involved, then we will investigate fully,'' said government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella.

''No evidence is available up to now, but with the UN and Human Rights Watch repeatedly making these comments, certainly we ... will be taking it very seriously and doing our best to see whether there is any involvement.'' When UN envoy Allan Rock last year alleged troop involvement in abductions, the government dismissed them out of hand, accusing him of misleading international donors.

UN children's agency UNICEF lists 1,685 cases of underage recruitment by the Tigers outstanding as of December 31 2006, and 165 cases of underage recruitment by the Karuna group. Human Rights Watch believes that number is far higher.

The Tigers have resumed their fight for an independent state for minority Tamils in the north and east, leaving a 2002 truce in tatters. More than 67,000 have been killed in fighting since 1983.

REUTERS PB BST1320