Kumaratunga hopes truce will be extended

Kumaratunga hopes truce will be extended

COLOMBO (Reuter): Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike
Kumaratunga said yesterday a two-week truce between government
forces and Tamil rebels fighting for independence was going very
well and could be extended.

She spoke after meeting members of two peace committees,
chaired by Norwegians, set up in the eastern part of the country
to monitor the truce, now in its fifth day without any major
problems.

"It is going very well at the moment. There are no serious
problems at all... I am optimistic that we can continue the
cessation for longer than the initial two weeks," she told
reporters after meeting the two committees.

She said an extension of the truce would be discussed by rebel
leaders and government negotiators, who fly to Jaffna, the rebel
stronghold, tomorrow for a third round of talks.

The two teams will operate from today in the Trincomalee and
Batticaloa-Amparai and will be supplemented by four others in the
north, which will start functioning once Canadian and Dutch
representatives arrive at the weekend.

Canada and the Netherlands are sending two representatives
each to head the committees, which will be based in Jaffna,
Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya in the north.

The truce was worked out last week by Kumaratunga and Tamil
rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, whose Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam guerrillas have been fighting a 12-year war for their
own homeland in the north and east. Over 30,000 people have died
in the conflict.

Kumaratunga's People's Alliance government initiated talks
with Prabhakaran after winning national power in August. The
second round of talks was held earlier this month.

Deputy Defense Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte said the rest of
the committees would be in place by Sunday.

"The truce has been honored except for some small incidents.
It has been honored in spirit," he said.

The pact stipulates each side maintains present positions,
keeping a minimum of 600 meters from each other.

Military sources said most of the violations had been by the
Tigers moving in the "no-go" zones around army camps.

On Wednesday, field commanders met Tamil rebel leaders and
exchanged views of how the truce was working, he said.

"They met to work out modalities to see how any violations may
be settled among themselves before going before the teams,"
Ratwatte said.

The two eastern peace committees are led by Norwegians Audun
Holm and Johan Gabrielson, who monitored the border between
Yugoslavia and Bosnia before coming to Sri Lanka.

"With the apparent goodwill between both parties, we don't
foresee any serious problems. The problems may be more on a
political level," Holm said.

He said the teams will investigate any violations reported to
them and would not go looking for incidents.

"We expect the local commanders to solve the problems and
cooperate among themselves. We will see what we can do if that is
not possible," he said.