Norway and Iceland to dominate international truce monitors

Truce monitors from Norway and Iceland are to dominate the composition of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the international observer team of Sri Lanka's fragile truce with the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Thorfinnur Omarsson, the spokesman for the SLMM, said Saturday "Iceland will raise by four their membership to 10 while Norway will raise its monitors to 20 from their current number of 16".

He said truce monitors from Sweden, Denmark and Finland will leave the SLMM by Sept. 1 -- the deadline set by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels for the exclusion of European Union (EU) member states from the truce monitoring group.

The LTTE after the EU decision announced late May to list them as a terrorist outfit demanded the exclusion of EU member states from SLMM.

The rebels claim the EU representatives would be prejudiced against them as a result of the proscription.

37 of the 57 member SLMM came from EU nations including its chief, the Swedish national retired Maj Gen Ulf Henricsson.

Omarsson, the SLMM spokesman, however, said no decision had yet been taken as to who would replace Henricsson.

The SLMM was deployed in Sri Lanka's north and east provinces to observe the Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in February 2002.

Both sides blamed each other for continued violations of the truce. The SLMM's rulings of violations weigh heavily against the Tigers but that had not helped SLMM to win any goodwill from the government.

The government too has at times criticized the truce monitoring group for alleged bias towards the Tigers.

The SLMM has quit areas where fighting has raged between the rebels and the government forces during the last two weeks.

The international community has urged both sides to return to the negotiating table by ending hostilities that has displaced over 100,000 people creating a huge humanitarian crisis.

Source: Xinhua