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Don't enter Wan Ela camp, SLMM advises Sihala Urumaya

by Ranil Wijayapala

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Deputy Chief Hagrup Haukland yesterday came down hard on the Sihala Urumaya's decision to visit the controversial Wan Ela camp terming this as a "provocative act" by a third party.

"We are telling the Sihala Urumaya not to enter the area of the controversial Wan Ela camp as the Government has not so far decided to remove the camp by force," Haukland said.

"We do not welcome any involvement by another political party in the issue and it is totally wrong to do so as it would lead to a serious situation," he added The Sihala Urumaya in a letter to Defence Minister Tilak Marapana has requested security for their planned visit to 'Wan Ela' camp tomorrow. Defence Secretary Austin Fernando told the Daily News that the Ministry has been informed about Sihala Urumaya's proposed visit to Wan Ela camp and a decision was to be taken after a discussion with the Minister.

He said as soon as he came to know about the proposed visit he informed the SLMM Chief requesting them to take action after contacting the relevant parties.

Haukland said he was aware of the letter sent by the Defence Secretary and said that the SLMM would tell the Sihala Urumaya not to go ahead with their proposed action as soon as they get a chance to contact them.

"We are expecting to respond to the Defence Ministry on Monday morning," Haukland added.

A spokesman for Sihala Urumaya told the Daily News yesterday that they are planning to take over 1,000 people to Manirasakulam and walk towards Wan Ela camp and stage a peaceful protest demanding the camp's immediate removal."We are expecting to reach Manirasakulam on Tuesday around 11 am," the spokesman added.

The SLMM ruled that the LTTE has violated the Ceasefire Agreement through the construction of a camp in a Government controlled area and requested the LTTE to remove the camp immediately.

However, the LTTE refused to abide by the SLMM ruling on the camp and continued to justify their position saying that the camp has been constructed in the LTTE-controlled area before the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement.

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