Norwegian Special Envoy John Hanssen-Bauer has questioned the European Union’s decision last May to classify Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers as terrorists, the BBC reported Sunday.
Mr. Hanssen-Bauer told the BBC that the EU move had damaged the chances of renewed talks, aimed at ending the recent upsurge in violence.
The Norwegian Special Envoy, whose visit Sri Lanka two weeks ago coincided with an eruption of violence between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, said the EU ban had only served to harden the Tigers’ position.
The LTTE is insisting that ceasefire monitors from EU countries must leave Sri Lanka, as they cannot be considered neutral observers.
SLMM spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson told BBC Sinhala service, Sandeshaya, that members from three EU countries would leave by 31 August due to the demands of the Tamil Tigers after the EU ban.
Mr. Bauer said the reduced numbers of monitors with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) were clearly insufficient.
“We see now that the SLMM will be reduced to half its original capacity in a situation where it’s badly needed, and where the work has been more demanding than ever. I would have hoped that the situation would have been different,” Mr. Bauer told the BBC.
The non-EU members of SLMM have meanwhile decided to increase the number of monitors from their countries as members from Sweden, Denmark and Finland are leaving soon.
Iceland and Norwegian governments have decided to increase their members from 4 to 10 and 16 to 20 respectively.
Norwegian officials are yet to announce the replacement for the current head of SLMM, Swedish national Ulf Henriccson, Omarsson added.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Military affairs spokesman, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, criticised the Special Envoy’s comments.
“I would like to remind that the Norway has merely repeated the initial response by the LTTE just after the ban,” he told bbcsinhala.com.
Mr. Rambukwella said the EU took its decision to ban the LTTE after “long scientific research.”
He did not elaborate.
Shortly before the EU imposed it ban on the LTTE, the movement’s Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist Anton Balasingham warned the move “will seriously impact negatively on the already weakened peace process in Sri Lanka.”
“The hardliners in the south are urgently seeking the international isolation of the LTTE as a prelude to taking up the military option in earnest,” Mr. Balasingham said.
Sri Lanka has rapidly descended a spiral of violence since the EU ban, with hundreds of combatants and civilians dying the past month alone after Sri Lanka launched a major offensive against the LTTE mid-July, sparking fighting on several fronts.
Mr. Hanssen-Bauer told the BBC that the EU move had damaged the chances of renewed talks, aimed at ending the recent upsurge in violence.
The Norwegian Special Envoy, whose visit Sri Lanka two weeks ago coincided with an eruption of violence between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, said the EU ban had only served to harden the Tigers’ position.
The LTTE is insisting that ceasefire monitors from EU countries must leave Sri Lanka, as they cannot be considered neutral observers.
SLMM spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson told BBC Sinhala service, Sandeshaya, that members from three EU countries would leave by 31 August due to the demands of the Tamil Tigers after the EU ban.
Mr. Bauer said the reduced numbers of monitors with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) were clearly insufficient.
“We see now that the SLMM will be reduced to half its original capacity in a situation where it’s badly needed, and where the work has been more demanding than ever. I would have hoped that the situation would have been different,” Mr. Bauer told the BBC.
The non-EU members of SLMM have meanwhile decided to increase the number of monitors from their countries as members from Sweden, Denmark and Finland are leaving soon.
Iceland and Norwegian governments have decided to increase their members from 4 to 10 and 16 to 20 respectively.
Norwegian officials are yet to announce the replacement for the current head of SLMM, Swedish national Ulf Henriccson, Omarsson added.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Military affairs spokesman, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, criticised the Special Envoy’s comments.
“I would like to remind that the Norway has merely repeated the initial response by the LTTE just after the ban,” he told bbcsinhala.com.
Mr. Rambukwella said the EU took its decision to ban the LTTE after “long scientific research.”
He did not elaborate.
Shortly before the EU imposed it ban on the LTTE, the movement’s Chief Negotiator and Political Strategist Anton Balasingham warned the move “will seriously impact negatively on the already weakened peace process in Sri Lanka.”
“The hardliners in the south are urgently seeking the international isolation of the LTTE as a prelude to taking up the military option in earnest,” Mr. Balasingham said.
Sri Lanka has rapidly descended a spiral of violence since the EU ban, with hundreds of combatants and civilians dying the past month alone after Sri Lanka launched a major offensive against the LTTE mid-July, sparking fighting on several fronts.
