SLMM continuing functions as usual - Spokesman

Rashomi Silva

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission yesterday said the Mission members still have access to all parts of the island and they continue to monitor the truce between the Government and the LTTE.

With two more weeks remaining of the deadline imposed by the LTTE to replace members of the European Union countries with non-EU members, the SLMM Mission spokesperson Thorfinnur Ommarsson said that any amendments to the Ceasefire Agreement which has spelt out the composition of the truce monitors should be negotiated by the Government and the LTTE with the facilitation of the Norway. Ommarsson said: "It is up to the Government and the LTTE to decide if they want to replace EU member countries with others."

He recalled that at the time of signing both parties agreed to have monitors from Nordic countries. Chief of Mission Gen. Ulf Henricsson, who is also from the EU-member Sweden had a meeting with some of the LTTE political wing members including chief of political wing S.P. Thamilselvam and LTTE peace secretariat head Pulithevan last week.

Following the European Union ban on the LTTE as an international terrorist organisation in June, the LTTE said they have no faith in truce monitors from EU member countries and demanded removal of monitors from Sweden, Denmark and Finland, which account for over two-thirds of monitors. The Government maintained that any change to CFA should be done through talks and with the consent of the signatories to the CFA.

The Government's argument was that the 37 monitors from the three EU countries in the SLMM team function in their individual capacities.

If the EU members are forced to leave as was demanded by the LTTE before the end of this month it would leave the 60 strong monitoring body with less than 25 members from Norway and Iceland, the two non- EU Nordic countries.