Scandinavian monitors to rethink sea activities in Sri Lanka

0 Comments | Asian Political News, July 22, 2002

COLOMBO, July 15 Kyodo

Scandinavian truce monitors said Monday they will rethink the nature of their activities at sea after separatist Tamil Tiger rebels forcibly held two of their members on a trawler the pair had boarded to inspect.

''This is a very serious incident,'' said Hagrup Haukland, deputy head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). ''We will have to evaluate and rethink the way we are conducting our activities at sea.''

Haukland asserted, however, that their monitoring work on land will not be affected.

The Norway-led Nordic mission only started its maritime operations in June after two near-clashes at sea between navy and rebel boats.

Members usually travel on navy patrol craft or arrive at the scene on request.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants on Saturday forcibly held two monitors after they boarded a Tiger-controlled fishing trawler to search for any items banned under a cease-fire deal signed between the LTTE and the government in February.

The vessel had been among two earlier intercepted by Sri Lanka's navy near the tiny island of Talaimannar in Palk Strait between Sri Lanka and India.

The monitors, a man and a woman, were released after midnight in the rebel-controlled town of Kilinochchi. It was the first time monitors from the Nordic mission had been forcibly held by the rebels.

Maj. Gen. Trond Furuhovde, head of the Norway-led Nordic mission, on Sunday castigated the rebels for their action, calling it a serious violation of a truce deal and accusing the LTTE of having mistreated the monitors.

Haukland said the LTTE had subsequently sent the monitors a report on their version of events but stressed the SLMM would go by the account submitted by its own members.

The LTTE-associated TamilNet Web site reported Monday that the incident had occurred after navy vessels attacked an LTTE fishing trawler in what amounted to a ''serious violation'' of the cease-fire agreement and blamed the navy for ''provocative actions.''

The news site, which provided excerpts of a letter sent by LTTE political wing leader P. Thamilchelvam to Furuhovde, also claimed that the monitors had been assured of their safety on board the boat.

Under the cease-fire deal signed between LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, both parties to the conflict are responsible for the protection and security of SLMM members. Both parties must also ensure their freedom of movement.

The LTTE have been fighting since 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in a war that has left at least 60,000 dead on both sides.

The Norwegian government, which brokered the cessation of hostilities, has been trying to start direct negotiations between the two sides for the first time since 1995. But differences over the implementation of some of the truce deal terms have delayed the start of talks to be held in Bangkok.