Hundreds of Tamils youths have applied to join Sri Lanka's police force for duty in the troubled east where the military recently routed Tamil separatists, Jayantha Wickramaratna told the media on today.Around 4,000 new police officers are required for the Tamil-majority eastern region and the government plans to enlist recruits locally, police spokesman said.Government forces, last month, captured the last LTTE base in the east, a victory that gave the government control of the region for the first time in 13 years.Wickremaratne said already five new police stations have opened in newly captured areas and 11 more will be created shortly.
He said of the 421 applications received so far, 224 were from ethnic Tamils and 193 from Muslims who also speak Tamil, but consider themselves a distinct ethnic group. "That's a good sign. We need police officers who can speak Tamil," Wickremeratne said, adding it would help better serve people in the area.
Muslims are Sri Lanka's second-largest minority after Tamils and generally oppose the LTTE and their mythical struggle against the people and government.
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