More than 700 former Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have been reunited with their families, after taking part in a rehabilitation program.
A ceremony led by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse was held Saturday in northern Sri Lanka to mark the occasion.
The Sri Lankan government says there are about 12,000 rebels or suspected rebels undergoing what it calls rehabilitation, following a 26-year civil war that ended last year with the rebels' defeat. The government says the program includes vocational training to help them get a job.
At one point after the war, there were more than 300,000 ethnic Tamils being held in squalid, overcrowded camps. The government has since released many of them, amid international pressure.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.