SLMM chief in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 May 2002, 23:41 GMT]
The head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Retd. Major General Trond Furuhovde Friday held extensive discussions with Sri Lankan Navy officials at the Karainagar naval base in the Jaffna district in a bid to defuse the ongoing tension over the Navy’s refusal to permit access to the islets off Jaffna for political cadres of the Liberation Tigers.

The discussions centred on conditions laid down by the Sri Lankan government for allowing the Liberation Tigers to do political work in the islets off Jaffna, in accordance with the cease-fire agreement signed by the government and the LTTE.

The Liberation Tigers have already rejected the twelve conditions laid down by the Sri Lanka Navy, stating that these conditions are "humiliating."

The SLMM Chief arrived in Jaffna by a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter Friday morning. Following the discussions with the Navy, he also led the SLMM team in discussions with top army officials in the Jaffna district regarding the problems in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Government Agent of Maruthankerni division has requested the SLMM in Jaffna to take steps to reopen the Nagarkovil road in Vadamarachchi east to facilitate the movements of the resettled people in the Maruthankerni village, sources said.

In the meantime, the Federation of Vadamaradchi Fisheries Societies has requested the SLMM in Jaffna to take action to lift the restrictions which remain on fishermen.