Former Tamil rebels tie knot at mass wedding

More than 100 people said to be former Tamil Tiger rebels were married yesterday in a mass wedding ceremony as part of the government's rehabilitation plans for ex-fighters after a 25-year separatist war.

Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi witnessed the mass wedding of 53 couples, who the government said had all fought to create a separate state for minority Tamils in the north and east of the Indian ocean island nation.

Ravichandra Rasikeshara, a 26-year-old who said he worked as a paramedic for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), married another former fighter, 22-year-old Thaksarani. "We don't want an Eelam [a separate state], we want freedom and a happy family life," Ravichandra said.

The mass wedding came just over a year after Sri Lanka's military declared victory in the war against the LTTE following a bloody final campaign. More than 100,000 people died during the conflict. All of those married are being held in military custody in the northern town of Vavuniya.

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