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by Ranil Wijayapala

The Government and the LTTE yesterday agreed to further relax restrictions in fishing in the Northern sea after their first meeting of the Sub-Committee on De-escalation and Normalisation (SDN) held yesterday in the no-mans area in Omanthai.

The two parties yesterday agreed to open eight entry points in the coast of Jaffna to engage in fishing on a day and night basis.

The Government and the LTTE representatives also agreed to open two entry points each in the islands of Karainagar, Kayts, Mathagal and Pungudutivu for fishing, officials added.

The locations of these entry points will be announced on November 13 by the latest, for further relaxation of fishing in the Northern sea.

The first meeting of the SDN represented by the Government and the LTTE was held in the no-mans area in Omanthai in Wanni under the Chairmanship of Norwegian Ambassador for Sri Lanka Jon Westborg.

The Government delegation headed by Defence Secretary Austin Fernando and the LTTE delegation headed by LTTE Batticaloa leader Karuna discussed matters relating to security in the North East and normalisation for nearly five hours, officials added.

The Norwegian Embassy announced last night that the two parties discussed and agreed on procedural matters and identified issues to be resolved by the SDN.

Further the parties agreed on dates for district meetings and representatives to participate in these meetings.

District level meetings will be held in Jaffna, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai to ensure that decisions taken would be embedded in local knowledge.

The meeting took place in a cordial and constructive atmosphere, the Embassy added.

The next meeting of the SDN will be held in Omanthai on December 14, at 10 a.m.

Major General Shantha Kottegoda who represented the Government delegation at the Thailand peace talks also participated as a member of this delegation.

The team also included Major General S. R. Balasuriya, Rear Admiral S. P. Weerasekera of the Navy, SSP Nimal Lewke of STF, Group Captain Kolitha Gunatillleke and several other officers of the Army and Police.

The LTTE team headed by Karuna included, head of the LTTE Peace Secretariat Pulithevan, Colonel Theepan, Jaffna political wing leader S. Illamparty, Batticaloa political wing leader Kaushalyan, Colonel Pathuman and Thilak from Trincomalee and Colonel Jyame and Elilan from Wanni and Seliyan from the Sea Tigers.

The meeting of the SDN came as an outcome of the second round of peace talks held in Thailand early this months. At the second round of talks the two parties agreed to hold meetings on military, political and economic issues without waiting for the next rounds of talks.

Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Trond Furuhowde also participated at this meeting.

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