Resettlement of Sri Lankans displaced in LTTE battle by September end: Official

Colombo, Aug 20(ANI): A top Sri Lankan official has said that the resettlement of those displaced in the country's battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would be finished by September end.

Chandra Fernando, a presidential advisor on north and east development, said that all efforts were being made to complete the process.

"We hope to be able to complete the resettlement before end of September. There are only 28,000 people left to be resettled in Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi (the former rebel strongholds in the north)," Xinhua news agency quoted Fernando, as saying.

"Our progress has been good compared with most other countries where large numbers of people had been displaced," he added.

He further said that the resettlement in Mannar and Vavuniya districts was now 95 percent complete.

About 300,000 people were displaced during the final stage of the conflict in May 2009 when government troops crushed the over three-decade-old LTTE campaign to set up a separate Tamil homeland. (ANI)