STF hampering Tsunami relief work, Tigers tell SLMM

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 April 2005, 16:56 GMT]
The Special Task Force (STF), the elite counter insurgency arm of the Sri Lankan armed forces, is blocking the Liberation Tigers from delivering Tsunami aid in many areas of the Batticaloa-Amparai district, LTTE leaders told Nordic truce monitors during a meeting in the eastern district Thursday. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials urged the Tigers to resume meetings with Sri Lankan armed forces in the east during the meeting. LTTE leaders had, however, pointed out that such meetings had been futile in the past.

SLMM officials had discussions Thursday about recent cease fire related issues with the Col. Bhanu, special commander of LTTE forces in Batticaloa-Amparai and Mr. Irasaiah Ilanthirayan, head of the Tigers’ political division for the region in Kokkaddicholai.

"We told the truce monitors that we would consider resuming the meetings with the Sri Lankan armed forces of the latter send officers who can keep the promises they make and have the authority to implement them", an LTTE spokesman in Batticaloa said.

The involvement of Sri Lanka military intelligence in the continuing killings in the east and the disarming of paramilitaries under the terms of the cease fore agreement were also discussed, he added.

"We stressed to the SLMM that Colombo should realize the danger of waging an insidious shadow war against us by deploying paramilitaries against us from Polannaruwa", he said.