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No acceptance of sovereignty: LTTE
By Chris Kamalendran
LTTE's Political Wing Chief S.P. Thamilselvan has disputed the claim that his organisation has accepted Sri Lanka's sovereignty by signing the P-TOMS (Post-Tsumani Operational Management Structure) agreement last week, and instead warned the Government of breaching the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of 2002 and then gone on to slam the Government's law-enforcement agencies for their inability to stop killings of their own intelligence officers.

In a scathing indictment on the Government, within a week of signing the P-TOMS agreement, the LTTE spokesman and right-hand man of its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, told The SundayTimes in an exclusive interview this week that they would openly flout the CFA and protect their own men during movements between their Wanni Command and their Batticaloa Command unless an assurance was given by Colombo that it could provide adequate security.

The LTTE threat comes in the wake of an abortive ambush on some of its cadres who were being transported under government security forces guard.
Reacting quickly to the LTTE ultimatum, the Defence Ministry together with the Norwegian truce monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has lined up an emergency meeting for tomorrow.

The ultimatum given by the Tamil guerrillas to provide their own security for cadres moving between the northern and eastern provinces will be taken up by the Scandinavian monitors with the Defence Ministry tomorrow amidst moves by the LTTE to make use of the sea route to transport its cadres. SLMM head Hagrup Haukland told The Sunday Times yesterday that LTTE’s position will be taken up for discussion with Defence Secretary Ashoka Jayawardena.

The issue was discussed separately with Government Peace Secretariat Chief Jayantha Dhanapala on Friday. “The LTTE has asked us to give a clear guarantee that its vehicles will not be attacked while being escorted by the army and the SLMM,” Mr. Haukland said.

LTTE Political Wing Leader Thamilselvan, before a meeting with Mr. Haukland on Thursday said they would be forced to use armed escort for their cadres through the sea, if the Government failed to provide proper security to their cadres.The demand for security was made following a land mine explosion on a bus carrying 40 LTTE cadres including Ampara district Political Wing Deputy leader Kulimban and other senior cadres who were heading from the Wanni to Batticaloa. Mr. Thamilselvan in an interview with The Sunday Times said the understanding reached with the SLMM was that the security forces will travel in the same vehicle along with the LTTE cadres, but they had not travelled in the vehicle.

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