Let truce monitors stay

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insist that Nordic monitors from European Union nations Sweden, Denmark and Finland quit the island by Sept. 1 in light of a new EU ban against them, which would remove two thirds of the mission.

Swedish Ambassador-at-Large Anders Oljelund's visit comes against a backdrop of near daily attacks and clashes between the military and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which many fear could spiral out of control and into renewed civil war.

"It is a question of seeing if they (Tigers) can reconsider what they are saying -- that they have to leave," said Lotta Jacobsen, acting head of mission at Sweden's embassy in Colombo.

"The visit is to say: Please let them stay."

The rebels insist 37 monitors from the three countries must leave, which would leave just 20 members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) from Norway and Iceland -- not enough to properly monitor a 2002 truce stretched to breaking point.

That would also mean the ejection of the head of the monitors, retired Swedish Major General Ulf Henricsson.

Rebel political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan told Reuters this month the Tigers would only reconsider their position once the EU removes them from their list of terrorist organisations.

But no-one is clear on what will happen if the unarmed monitors ignore the unilateral Tiger ultimatum and stay on.

"What does the demand mean? Have they threatened the safety of EU nationals or not?" asked SLMM Thorfinnur Omarsson. "We have to get more clarification on what this deadline means."

"If they can't guarantee (our) safety, they are not committed to the ceasefire agreement," he added. "In the end, it's up to the three countries involved to make a decision."

He said opinions ranged from withdrawing the mission to ignoring the LTTE demand and continuing work as normal.