[September 24 2010]
Norway is to evaluate the defunct ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed between Sri Lanka and the LTTE in 2002 to continue its support in post war development activities in Sri Lanka, the Norwegian Embassy sources said.
According to a statement by the Embassy, the Norwegian peace engagement in Sri Lanka from 1997 to 2009 will be evaluated by an international team consisting of professionals from Europe and Sri Lanka
The decision was taken after President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s meeting with the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York, on Wednesday. President Rajapaksa said that he would expect Norway to continue with its support to develop the country.
The Norwegian brokered CFA was highly criticized at the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), where several key personalities in the peace process claimed it was drafted in consultations with the LTTE making it favourable for the terrorists.
The President Rajapaksa appointed the LLRC to find the root causes for the 30-year-old conflict and it also looks into the short comings of the CFA.
The both leaders expressed their wish to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. Norway’s Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim was there at the meeting.