Sri Lanka Government's Reconnaissance Flights Irk Tamil Rebels

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, May 16, 2002

Sri Lanka Government's Reconnaissance Flights Irk Tamil Rebels

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Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels are irked by the air force reconnaissance flights over the north and east of the country, claiming that it is a violation of a truce agreement signed between them and the government.

In a letter to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission(SLMM) head, retired Norwegian Major General Trond Furuhoved, Tamilchelvam, head of the political section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said it is a negation of the confidence building exercise undertaken by the government.

He urged the SLMM to prevail upon the government to desist fromaerial surveillance which is violation of the spirit of the truce agreement.

Government forces, however, said that they will continue routine surveillance activity which they consider are not in violation of the ceasefire agreement.

"The agreement does not prohibit carrying out surveillance by both sides," an officer was quoted by The Island newspaper on Thursday.

The surveillance is carried out mostly by Israeli built Unmanned Aerial Vehicles which are the air force's main source of reliable information and real time intelligence.

The acting head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Hagrup Haukland said that while it did not constitute a direct violation of the truce agreement it is definitely not in the spirit of the agreement.

The government and LTTE rebels are observing an indefinite ceasefire in terms of an agreement they signed in February this year. Both sides are expected to hold peace talks in Thailand in June.

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