LTTE, SLMM meet in Sampoor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 January 2006, 17:23 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sunday at a two-hour discussion held at LTTE district political secretariat in Sampoor at 10 a.m. with Mr. Arthur Tveiten, head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) based in Trincomalee, registered complaints on the violations of the ceasefire agreement by the Sri Lanka security forces now taking place in the district, LTTE sources said.

Mr.Elilan brought to the notice of the SLMM that the Sri Lanka Police Department is recruiting home guards within the Kantalai police division. A preponderence of Muslims are expected to be recruited and posted as a group in Thoppur and Muttur areas after two weeks' training. He said contentious issues between the Muslim and Tamil communities have been amicably resolved and there is a sense of mutual trust prevails between the communities.

Deploying Muslim home guards, as a group, is likely to strain the relationship between the Muslims and Tamils in these areas, he said. The Sri Lanka Government is pursuing a deliberate plan to create permanent rift between these communities, he informed the SLMM.

Mr.Elilan further told the SLMM that government armed forces are conducting cordon and search operations in Tamil areas of the district. Muslim and Sinhala divisions are generally spared, he said.

During these operations the troops harass Tamil civilians. Troops enter houses of Tamils, ransack the house in blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, he said.

Mr.Elilan said the government troops have blocked Tamil civilians from Pattalipuram village traveling through the SLA sentry in Thoppur to other parts of the district. This has caused severe hardships to Tamils living in Pattalipuram and has deprived them of valuable social contact with Muslim people in neighboring areas.

Thoppur is a Muslim dominated village in the Muttur division.