SRI LANKA: TAMIL TIGER (LTTE) REBEL LEADER VELUPILLAI PRABHAKARAN MEETS WITH HEAD OF SCANDINAVIAN MONITORING MISSION SET UP BY LAST MONTHS CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT

Record ID: 647100

  • Title: SRI LANKA: TAMIL TIGER (LTTE) REBEL LEADER VELUPILLAI PRABHAKARAN MEETS WITH HEAD OF SCANDINAVIAN MONITORING MISSION SET UP BY LAST MONTHS CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT
  • Date: 7th March 2002
  • Summary: (W2)KILINOCHCHI, SRI LANKA (MARCH 7, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV: HELICOPTER CARRYING CEASEFIRE-MONITOR TROND FURUHOVDE, A RETIRED NORWEGIAN GENERAL, ARRIVING IN LTTE (LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM) HELD TERRITORY 0.08 2. LV: TROND FURUHOVDE BEING WELCOMED BY LTTE OFFICIALS 0.19 3. SV: SECURITY GUARDS OUTSIDE LTTE HEADQUARTERS 0.25 4. SV: NORWEGIAN DELEGATION ARRIVING; DELEGATION HEAD FURUHOVDE SHAKING HANDS WITH LTTE LEADER VELUPILLAI PRABHAKARAN 0.44 5. VARIOUS OF DELEGATIONS SITTING AROUND TABLE MEETING (6 SHOTS) 1.31 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KILINOCHCHI, SRI LANKA
  • Country: Sri Lanka
  • Reuters ID: LVACSKZSZFFASMIL0HOJ3JRWWSAM
  • Story Text: The reclusive leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels says an
    "historic" ceasefire agreement he signed with the government
    has laid a base to end Sri Lanka's nearly two decade-long
    ethnic war.


    Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chieftain
    Velupillai Prabhakaran also praised the role of Norway, under
    fire from nationalist and Buddhist groups in the south, for
    bringing the two sides closer to the negotiating table.

    The ceasefire agreement signed last month "laid a strong
    foundation for the peace process and negotiated political
    settlement," Prabhakaran was quoted as saying by the pro-LTTE
    Tamilnet website.

    Prabhakaran met on Wednesday (March 6) night with retired
    Norwegian General Trond Furuhovde, the head of a Scandinavian
    monitoring mission set up by the truce agreement, in
    Kilinochchi in the rebel-held Wanni territory in northern Sri
    Lanka.

    It is one of the very few times Prabhakaran has met a
    foreigner since he began fighting for a separate Tamil state
    in the north and east of the island in 1983.

    Furuhovde leads a team of 18 monitors from Norway, Sweden,
    Denmark and Finland who will monitor the ceasefire as the two
    sides move towards their first peace talks in seven years to
    end the fighting that has left 64,000 dead.

    Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament this
    week he hopes the talks begin within three months.

    Four previous serious peace bids all ended in bloodbaths.

    Prabhakaran also asked the monitors to help speed up the
    opening of the northern end of the A-9 highway to enable
    Tamils to travel from Jaffna peninsula to Colombo, the
    national capital.

    That section of the highway passes through the famed
    Elephant Pass, the Tiger-controlled access point to the
    peninsula.

    The southern end of the A-9 was opened last month as part
    of the confidence-building measures agreed to by the
    government and Tigers.

    Furuhovde, who travelled to Wanni on a government military
    helicopter, was expected to return to Colombo on Thursday
    (March 7) evening after visiting Elephant Pass.

    Nationalists among the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese
    majority have denounced the ceasefire agreement as a sell-out
    and accused Norway of being biased.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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