Tamils return to Lanka war zone as peace talks close

Encouraged by prospects of a permanent peace, more than 100,000 minority Tamils have returned to their homes in the former war zone in northern Sri Lanka, the UN World Food program said today, emphasizing the need to feed and help them resettle.

The refugees started to trickle back home after the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) signed a landmark cease-fire agreement on Feb 22.

The government and the rebels held their first face-to-face peace talks in Thailand this week, hoping to end an insurgency in which more than 64,500 people have bee killed.

‘‘Over the last 19 years, fighting and neglect have done a lot of damage to these areas, yet tens of thousands of people are heading back to them just the same,’’ said Jeff Taft-Dick, country director for the Food Program.