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| Sunday, 30 March 2003 |
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SLMM to fix 'lines of control' by Ananth Palakidnar Recent confrontations between the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the LTTE both on land and sea that looked in danger of jeopardising the peace process, has compelled the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) to take on a more effective role to ensure the ceasefire is not violated by either party in the future. This will include the establishing of precise lines of control between the LTTE and government forces. Effective from April, the SLMM will step up its vigilance both on land and sea and also introduce new ceasefire monitoring measures to prevent further clashes between the Armed Forces and the LTTE. SLMM spokesman Teitur Torkelsson told the Sunday Observer that the recent incidents both on the land and sea in the North and the East had compelled the SLMM to make the existing measures more effective to strengthen the ceasefire. "As far as the land areas controlled by the LTTE and the Armed Forces are concerned three new measures have been worked out by the SLMM to ensure the safety of both sides" he said . The new measures to be taken are: * Draw the precise line of control between the Armed Forces and the LTTE, particularly in the eastern region so that both sides know their limits. * Create crossing points for both sides to travel without leaving room for misunderstandings and suspicions. * Workout a release mechanism for both parties in the event members of one party are held captive by the other. The SLMM will also in future play a more decisive role in patrolling and monitoring vessels, in the seas of the North and the East, Torkelsson said. He further said that a special meeting would be convened with the LTTE and the Government in April to announce the new measures. According to SLMM sources 189 complaints had been made from January this year and 67 of them had been ruled as ceasefire violations. The total number of complaints made to the SLMM last year were 2109 and 491 of them were considered ceasefire violations. |
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