International truce monitors came under Sri Lankan artillery fire on Sunday as the prepared to open the Maavil Aru sluice gates in a deal clinched by Norwegian Envoy Jon-Hanssen Bauer.
The head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Maj. Gen. Ulf Henricsson and another monitor, Ove Jansen, narrowly escaped with their lives.
They took cover in nearby LTTE trenches as dozens of Sri Lanka Army shells were fired at their location, even though Gen. Henricsson had met with the local SLA commanders to explain his purpose before proceeding to open sluice gates.
The SLMM slammed the Sri Lankan government’s attacks which tore up the deal brokered by Norway’s Special Envoy.
“(The government) have the information that the LTTE has made this offer,” Tommy Lekenmyr, chief of staff for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) told Reuters.
“It is quite obvious they are not interested in water. They are interested in something else. We will blame this on the government.”
“The government’s response to the LTTE’s humanitarian gesture was fire,” he told Sri Lanka’s MTV channel.
The head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Maj. Gen. Ulf Henricsson and another monitor, Ove Jansen, narrowly escaped with their lives.
They took cover in nearby LTTE trenches as dozens of Sri Lanka Army shells were fired at their location, even though Gen. Henricsson had met with the local SLA commanders to explain his purpose before proceeding to open sluice gates.
The SLMM slammed the Sri Lankan government’s attacks which tore up the deal brokered by Norway’s Special Envoy.
“(The government) have the information that the LTTE has made this offer,” Tommy Lekenmyr, chief of staff for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) told Reuters.
“It is quite obvious they are not interested in water. They are interested in something else. We will blame this on the government.”
“The government’s response to the LTTE’s humanitarian gesture was fire,” he told Sri Lanka’s MTV channel.
