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.