SLMM finds it necessary to make the following clarification, due to inaccurate news coverage and incorrect quotes by some media of the meeting between SLMM and the political leadership of LTTE in Kilinochchi last Sunday, 28th September.

The Acting Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, SLMM, Mr. Hagrup Haukland, has been wrongly quoted in different Media yesterday and today, regarding the possibility of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces using force to remove the LTTE camp in Wan Ella area. In this respect there have been made several enquiries by the Media to SLMM Headquarters in Colombo. Therefore SLMM finds it necessary to state the following:

At 06:23 in the morning of Saturday June 14th 2003 Major General Tryggve Tellefsen, The Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), received information from the Defense Secretary, Mr. Austin Fernando, that the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) had intercepted two ships, one small and one larger around 100 nautical miles off the East coast of Sri Lanka.

The Ceasefire Agreement signed by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on February 22nd, 2002 is in force. Any suspension of planned sessions of Peace Talks has no impact on the validity of the Agreement or the adherence of the two Parties to the Ceasefire. Both Parties have confirmed this to Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). SLMM will continue to monitor the Ceasefire and working on assisting the Parties in solving disputes that arise and normalizing the situation in the war torn areas in North and East Sri Lanka.

Course of Events – Versions of the Government and LTTE
At 10.00 on the morning of March 10th 2003 Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) received information from the Sri Lanka Government’s Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process, that the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) was engaged in a sea incident around 240 nautical miles off the East coast of Sri Lanka. The SLN was said to have intercepted an unknown merchant ship believed to be a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) vessel. Major General Tryggve Tellefsen, the Head of SLMM, immediately contacted the Sri Lanka Navy Commander and requested that the Navy would keep the merchant ship under close observation, maintain a certain distance from it and avoid any confrontation until a SLMM monitor had been moved to the scene. The Navy Commander informed the Head of SLMM that a firefight had already taken place between the vessels. At 10.10 SLMM contacted the LTTE Headquarters in Kilinochchi via telephone, and asked if LTTE had information on any LTTE vessel in this area. The question was to be relayed to the LTTE leadership as soon as possible.

The Cease-fire violations, human rights and Muslim affairs were the matters discussed at a meeting held between representatives of the Government of Sri Lanka, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission on the 28th of February 2003. The meeting was held at the Divisional Secretary’s office in Vavunativu, Batticaloa district. The leaders of the Parties’ delegations were Mr. Austin Fernando, Secretary of Defence and Col. Karuna, LTTE Eastern Commander. Major General Trond Furuhovde, Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), chaired the meeting. A representative of the UNICEF was also present in the meeting.

To avoid future clashes between the forces of the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), over LTTE cadres using military uniform type of belts in Government controlled areas the following interim arrangements have been made by Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and accepted by both parties:

The Muslim factor, Provocative actions and Child recruitment were the matters discussed at a meeting on recorded complaints and violations of the Ceasefire Agreement, held between representatives of the Government of Sri Lanka, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission on the 30th of January 2003. The meeting was held at the Divisional Secretary’s office in Vavunativu, Batticaloa district. The leaders of the parties’ delegations were Mr. Austin Fernando, Secretary of Defence and Col. Karuna, LTTE Eastern Commander. Major General Trond Furuhovde, Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) chaired the meeting.

Decreasing amount of complaints and violations of the Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been the overall development in the Ceasefire during the last months. This is a positive and ongoing development. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission is still receiving complaints about Child Recruitment of LTTE, and even though their number have clearly been going down the last months, SLMM would like to see an immediate end to this practice.