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No mandate to probe killings, says SLMM
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said yesterday it could not investigate killings allegedly carried out by the LTTE as it was not part of its mandate. "We are not entrusted with investigating. It is only monitoring that we are entrusted with according to our mandate as ceasefire monitors," SLMM spokesperson Oscar Solnas said.

"We share the sentiments of the government with regard to the escalating killings. We are worried but we cannot investigate," Mr. Solnas said following comments by the Government spokesperson and Minister Mangala Samaraweera that the Government had entrusted the SLMM with the task of looking into the recent killings.

The SLMM spokesperson reacting to accusation, mainly from the JVP that it was not effective in bringing the LTTE to book, said that the SLMM was doing everything it could by trying to increase communication between the military and the LTTE.

"We are inquiring. There is a distinction between inquiring and investigating. We are taking the matter seriously," he said but refused to comment when asked what steps the SLMM had taken to take the issue up with the LTTE.

"The best we could do is to initiate a dialogue between the LTTE and the government," he said adding that the meeting between the military and the LTTE last Wednesday in Ampara was an example of such dialogue.

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