SLA's complicity claimed in Batticaloa murders

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 April 2004, 10:50 GMT]
Head of the Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), S.P.Thamilchelvan, in a letter to the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Major General (retd.) Trond Furuhovde, said that the murder of seven LTTE cadres including four disabled Sunday night was a violation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) and that the LTTE had "credible evidence that the attackers came from the Vavunathivu SLA [Sri Lanka Army] camp direction," according to the LTTE's Peace Secretariat website.

Excerpts from the letter published in the website follow:

"Please be advised that we consider this incident wherein seven LTTE cadres including 4 disabled members have been killed with scant respect both to humanitarian norms and the CFA as one that merits immediate inquiry and remedial action. We have credible evidence that the attackers came from the Vavunathivu SLA camp direction and escaped after attack in the same direction. The distance from the SLA point and our FDL is only 500 m and therefore the logical conclusion is that the attackers could not have passed through the SLA point without being noticed.

"We are afraid that putting aside this incident as one carried out by elements closer to Karuna may be too simplistic. Making use of the Karuna factor, any Para-military groups working alongside the SLA, whether with the blessing of the SLA or other wise, may continue to act in this manner and create havoc and confusion.

"We request of you therefore to take this matter for an in-depth discussion and ensure that no such violation takes place in the future. This gains more significance in view of our commitment to the peace process and the necessity to uphold the integrity of the CFA in the present political context."