"No truth in SLMM statement"- Trinco LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2004, 13:39 GMT]
Trincomalee district political secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Monday said ''there is no truth in the statement by the media spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) to BBC that the LTTE detained two monitors in Trincomalee district on 6 January, 2004.''

''We are shocked and dismayed over the statement made by the SLMM spokesperson to the BBC radio on January 11,'' said the LTTE statement.

The LTTE Trincomalee district political secretariat has requested the SLMM to avoid from issuing such untrue statements in future.

Full text of the LTTE statement follows:

''Two monitors of the SLMM in Trincomalee on 6 January this year entered our camp run by female cadres disregarding their warnings, without prior notice and without our permission. Our cadres prevented them from entering the camp. SLMM Trincomalee head Mr.Kurt Spur brought this matter to our notice. We explained to Mr.Spur the facts about the incident.

"Mr.Spur accepted our position and tendered an apology for the incident. Thereafter the two SLMM monitors decided to return to their office in Trincomalee.

"The Norwegian ambassador who visited Sampoor on January 8 held discussion with our military commander Colonel Pathuman. During the discussion we brought to his notice the entry of two SLMM monitors into our camp without permission was wrong. We requested the Norwegian ambassador to visit the site where the incident took place. However a decision was taken at the discussion to adopt a procedure that is to be implemented by both parties to avoid such incidents in future.''