Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels warn govt troops of engaging in ceasefire violations

Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels have warned that the government troops' attack against them is in violation of the ongoing ceasefire and could lead to the disruption of the Norwegian-brokered peace process in the country.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels have complained to the Scandinavian truce monitors overseeing the ceasefire between the government and the rebels that government troops attacked one of their posts in the eastern Batticaloa district on Tuesday night.

In a letter to the truce monitors posted Saturday on their peace secretariat website, the LTTE rebels said, "The patience of the Tamil people and their leadership is running out" and "there is a general fear and suspicion that the army is in fact engaged in ceasefire violations with a view to provocate the LTTE and thereby leading to disruption of the entire peace process".

However, the military has denied any involvement in the attack.

Military spokesman Sumedha Perera said that the attack was launched by the breakaway rebel eastern commander known as Karuna in rebel-held area and it is "totally an internal matter of the LTTE".

Ever since Karuna's split from the mainstream rebel group in March and his defeat by main rebel faction one month later the two rival factions have been engaging in killing each other's fighters in the east and in capital Colombo.

The LTTE rebels suspended the peace talks with the government in April last year after a six round of direct negotiations which began in September 2002, seven months after the two sides entered the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire.

The Norwegian efforts to revive the stalled peace talks since May were futile due to the rebel intransigency.

Norwegian special envoy Eric Solheim is scheduled to arrive here on Monday in his fresh bid to revive the stalled peace negotiations between the two sides.

Source: Xinhua