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| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
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SLMM moots local level dialogue Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission chief Hagrup Haukland said the SLMM was working "hard" to bring the security forces and the LTTE to a local level meeting in Jaffna and would raise the need for a local level dialogue when he meets the Defence Secretary at the routine weekly meeting tomorrow. Haukland said a local level dialogue between the two parties is important to de-escalate the prevailing tension in Jaffna. "One issue to be taken up at the meeting is the need for a local level dialogue between the two parties in Jaffna," he said referring to the scheduled meeting with Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse. Earlier a meeting was scheduled between the Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Sunil Thennakon and LTTE area leadership on Monday afternoon after seven soldiers were killed in a claymore mine explosion in Kondavil on Sunday. Security forces representatives cancelled the meeting at the last moment, having been informed by the Peace Secretariat that a high level political dialogue was required between the two parties before any local meeting to be taken place as the killings of the seven soldiers have caused serious strains on the peace process. Haukland said the SLMM had told the LTTE to "do its utmost to calm down the situation" and commended the security forces for the restrain shown in the aftermath of claymore mine attacks. "If they did not act with restraint, situation would have been totally different," he said. (RJ) |
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