Sri Lanka rebels recommit to truce, monitor safety

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers yesterday recommitted to the island's 2002 ceasefire and said they had told mediator Norway that they will ensure the safety of Nordic truce monitors.

But while both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government have now told Norway that they will honour the truce, many fear it is just a matter of time before rash of attacks and clashes reignite a two-decade civil war.

"We have committed to the ceasefire agreement and Norway's facilitation role and giving diplomatic immunity and protection to the SLMM monitors who are working in the northeast," S. Puleedevan, head of the Tigers' peace secretariat, told Reuters referring to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

"When it comes to the protection of the SLMM, on the part of the LTTE, we can give a 100 per cent security guarantee," he added by telephone from the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

The Tigers said they had sent a letter to Norway to respond to a set of questions asked after the rebels walked out of crunch talks in Oslo earlier this month without meeting the Sri Lankan government delegation.

That in turn came after the Tigers warned the monitors to stay away from navy boats after a close shave in May when the rebels fired at a patrol boat with a monitor aboard. Violence has since soared.

The Tigers did not comment on their previous demand that members of the monitoring mission from European Union nations leave after the EU banned them as terrorists.

"We don't want to comment on that at the moment since we have just sent the letter to the Norwegians," Puleedevan said.

"The problem is paramilitary groups are colluding with the armed forces. So if the paramilitary groups start targetting the SLMM, then their lives might be in danger," he added.

"These groups are a big threat to the ceasefire and the peace process."

The announcement comes just a day after the Tigers warned they would resort to any strategy -- including suicide bombers -- if a conflict that has killed more than 65,000 people resumes all-out, and that the effects would be felt throughout the island.

More than 700 people -- around half of them civilians -- have been killed in a string of ambushes and attacks this year, and the government and rebels are poles apart over the Tigers' demand for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils in the north and east.

"It is the most positive thing we could expect at this time, even though it is still at the level of words and it has to be seen whether it will be committed to action," said Jehan Perera of non-partisan peace advocacy group the National Peace Council.

"At least they have not rejected the Norwegian-facilitated peace process," he added. "Both sides seem to not want it to spiral out of control."

- REUTERS