Lanka resettles over 1,000 displaced Tamils

Sri Lanka has resettled over 1,000 internally displaced Tamils in their towns and villages in the country's war-torn northern region.

The government resettled 1,161 displaced Tamils -- 1093 persons (319 families) in Kondaweli DS Division and 68 persons (17 families) in Manthei-- in Kilinochchi district on Tuesday.

Arrangements are also being made to resettle around 800 IDPs in Nedunkeni north and west on Wednesday, officials said.

They said the government was paying a great deal of attention to resettle all displaced persons.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has, meanwhile, appealed for funds to the tune of $ 23 million to assist the resettlement in the north.

The funding for the FAO emergency response plan aims to promote self-sufficiency and prevent further dependency on food aid for some 50,000 rural families returning to the northeast of Sri Lanka, a statement said.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said he cannot give a time period for the completion of houses for the displaced in the north.

"How can I give a time frame? I am not a carpenter or a mason to answer that. Neither am I a civil engineer," the prime minister told the Daily Mirror newspaper in reply to a question.