February 12, 2003	Wednesday	Zul Hijjah 10, 1423

COLOMBO, Feb 11: The Norwegian ceasefire monitors on Tuesday said the LTTE vessel that was blown up by guerillas last week was carrying arms and ammunition.

A spokesman for the monitoring team, officially known as the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), said the team found the ammunition after breaking through a hidden cavity below the deck of the vessel.

The guerillas blew up the vessel after the truce monitors signalled it to stop for an inspection

The spokesman said the Tamil Tigers had violated an agreement signed last year by transporting arms without intimating the SLMM.

Agencies add: France was willing to offer constitutional expertise to help Sri Lanka’s warring parties arrive at a political settlement to the island’s long-running conflict, a visiting minister said on Tuesday.

Junior foreign minister Renaud Muselier said there could be closer contacts between legislators in the two countries and Sri Lanka could look at the constitutional framework in France.

“There could be a study of the constitution of my country to see how elements of it can be adopted to meet the needs of this country,” Muselier said.

He said he was struck by the determination of the people he met in Sri Lanka to work towards a peaceful resolution.—AFP