A Swedish special envoy is visiting the Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka, according to a press statement issued by Swedish embassy here on Friday.

Ambassador Anders Oljelund and a colleague from the Swedish foreign ministry Anna Valve had departed for the rebel held Kilinochchi district from the northern Jaffna town, Swedish embassy official Carryl Rosairo said in the statement.

"The main objective of the Swedish mission is to discuss the current situation in Sri Lanka with the parties - the government and the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam", the statement said.

The government's defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella earlier said that Oljelund is to discuss the Tiger's demand to exclude the representatives from European Union (EU) member states including Sweden, Denmark and Finland from the international truce monitoring group, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam), after the EU's decision at the end of May to ban the Tigers, blamed the EU of being biased and said that SLMM members representing the EU nations would be prejudiced against the rebel group.

The Swedish special envoy's visit comes at a time when the Norwegian backed peace process and the cease-fire is in disarray.

More than 64,000 people have been killed since the mid 1980s until then in the bloody armed conflict aimed at cresting a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east regions.

Source: Xinhua