SLA-LTTE meet Wednesday to resolve Kurankupanchan standoff

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 July 2003, 11:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials said that a meeting has been arranged for Wednesday between Sri Lanka Army and Liberation Tigersof Tamil Eelam to resolve the matter related to the LTTE's establishment of a camp in the Kurankupanchan area which the SLMM claims falls within the Sri Lanka Government controlled area, reports said.

22 Brigade Commander of the SLA, J. Senaweera, and District Head of the LTTE, Col.Pathuman are expected to participate in the meeting.

Norwegian head of SLMM Major General Triggve Tellefsen who visited Kinniya Monday to assess the current positions of the two sides regarding the new camp will also join the discussions, reports said.

The SLMM had earlier said that the construction of a new camp by the LTTE in Kurankupanchan was a violation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.

The LTTE had conveyed its stand to the SLMM in Trincomalee, saying that the Sri Lanka Navy had earlier violated the MoU by establishing a new SLN camp at Gopalapuram in the north of Trincomalee district, and the SLMM should ensure that the SLN's Gopalapuram camp is dismantled first before asking the other party to the MoU to follow suit, SLMM sources said.