SL says ready to re-look at truce pact with LTTE

Colombo, May 7: Sri Lanka today claimed that it was ready to re-look at the Norwegian-brokered Ceasefire Agreement with the Tamil Tiger rebels, citing the skyrocketing number of truce related violence as a cause for concern.

''We are committed to the Ceasefire Agreement, but concerned when looking at the (truce) violations. It is time to now re-look at it to see whether you could go ahead with it or abrogate it,'' Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters here.

''It is up to the Norwegian facilitators to talk to the LTTE in this regard,'' said Mr Rambukwella, who is also the Minister of Foreign Employment.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, he said the government reserves the right to hit the LTTE if the ''national security is threatened''.

''On the basis of the national security, the government reserves the right to act further that may result further violations,'' he said, adding that the February 2002 agreement had been violated more than 10,000 times and was virtually dead.

Commenting on the recent ruling by the Nordic truce monitors that the government's aerial surveillance over the LTTE-held Wanni areas using spy planes was a truce violation, Mr Rambukwella said that Nordic monitors ''have no right to talk about it''.

He said the military, in fact, would step up its aerial surveillance of rebel-held territory using spy planes following the LTTE's newly established air capability.

He said the government was now busy upgrading and developing air-interceptive capabilities to the Sri Lankan Air Force in order to neutralise the LTTE air threat.

The light wing air craft of the LTTE have carried out four sorties over the capital and a military complex in the northern Jaffna peninsula since March 26 and escaped unchallenged.

According to the February 2002 truce pact, either party should give 14-day notice in advance if they want to abrogate the ceasefire agreement.

Several attempts by the international community have failed so far to convince both the parties to give up their military option completely and to end the bloody ethnic conflict through political negotiations.

UNI

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