Tamil Tiger rebels fighting in Sri Lanka for a separate state are expected to release 10 prisoners in the latest goodwill gesture in the build-up to possible peace talks.
A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the 10, some of whom have been held for up to eight years, would cross the front line later today after being handed over to a group of relatives who travelled to the rebel-held Wanni area in northern Sri Lanka yesterday.
Three of the 10 are soldiers and the others are crew captured from Sri Lankan ships.
The move by the Tamil Tigers comes during growing hopes of talks between the government and the rebels, with both sides saying they had extended a month-long ceasefire due to expire this Thursday. It is the first ceasefire in seven years to be observed by both sides.
An estimated 64,000 people have died since 1983 when the Tamils began fighting for a separate state in the north and east of the country.
Hopes of talks to end the ethnic fighting have risen since the election of a pro-peace government in December, with both sides inviting Norway to revive its role as a go-between.
The government has also eased an economic embargo on rebel-held areas, another demand of the Tamil Tigers.