New Delhi
3 January 2008
India was mulling her options a day after Sri Lanka decided to
terminate the 2002 ceasefire agreement with the LTTE. The Ministry of External Affairs
did not respond to requests for a comment. It was preoccupied with preparations for
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to China later this month. Even a condemnation
of the recent incidents of violence was hard to come by.
Norway, a key player in the Sri Lankan peace process, was quick to respond with regret
that Colombo decided to terminate the ceasefire agreement. The United States Embassy
in Colombo issued a statement too, in which it condemned the killings of members of the
Sri Lankan armed forces and civilians in Wednesday's attack on an Army bus and the
assassination of a legislator, Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, on Tuesday.
Norway has threatened to withdraw the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM.) "The
termination of the agreement will primarily affect the Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring
Mission, as its mandate is set out in the agreement. It may therefore be necessary to
withdraw the mission," it said in a statement issued in Oslo. "This would weaken efforts
to protect the civilian population, which would be most regrettable," said Norwegian
Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim.
The SLMM was created as an integral part of the ceasefire agreement. It is composed of
representatives from Nordic countries. At present, monitors come from Iceland and
Norway.
"I regret that the government is taking this serious step," Mr Solheim said, "This comes
on top of the increasingly frequent and brutal acts of violence perpetrated by both
parties, and I am deeply concerned that the violence and hostilities will now escalate
even further."
Norway said that it is maintaining a close dialogue with the parties in Sri Lanka in spite
of the escalation of hostilities. "Since bringing the parties together in Geneva in October
2006, Norway has informed them that no further initiatives will be taken until requested
by the parties themselves," it said in the statement.
In 2000, Norway was formally invited by then Sri Lankan President Chandrika
Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and the LTTE to act as facilitator for the peace process. The
invitation was renewed most recently by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in
January 2006.
The ceasefire agreement was adopted on February 22, 2002. Norway served as
facilitator for the negotiations that led to the agreement. If either party wishes to
terminate the agreement, it is required to give notice of termination to the Norwegian
Government 14 days in advance.
The US Embassy in Colombo, in turn, has urged the Government of Sri Lanka to
investigate the circumstances of the killing of Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, a United
National Party member of the Sri Lankan Parliament, and to arrest and prosecute those
responsible without delay. "We call on all parties to seek a negotiated, peaceful
settlement of the conflict," it said in a statement.
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