The Sri Lankan security forces have so far identified 737 hardcore LTTE cadres among 11,686 cadres who had surrendered during the last phases of the war.A local daily quoting the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa reported that efforts are on to rehabilitate LTTE combatants and resettle the war displaced, but those involved in serious incidents had to be prosecuted according to law.These hardcore Tiger combatants, all men are being held separately from others undergoing rehabilitation at different government-run centres.According to Rehabilitation and Law Reforms Minister Dew Gunasekera there are two categories of LTTE cadres in government custody. He said: “There are about 600 to 700 men and women arrested over a period of time by successive governments. Among them are persons held in connection with high profile assassination bids targeting VIPs. The second category comprises those, who were taken in during the final phase of Eelam war IV.”After the conclusion of the war in May last year, the military with the support of the police questioned surrendered LTTE cadres to establish their involvement in terrorist operations. Senior police officials said that they had an opportunity to use LTTE informants to identify hardcore terrorists taking cover among civilians.Minister Gunasekera said that they would make every effort to expedite cases of those held on terrorism charges. Acknowledging the difficult task ahead, he said that Tamil political parties continued to take up the issue regularly in Parliament.