October 24, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 27, 1424

COLOMBO, Oct 23: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Thursday asked peace broker Norway to sack the top truce monitor after accusing him of supporting Tamil Tigers and scuttling navy attempts to seize a rebel ship.

The president’s office said in a statement that she wrote to Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik demanding the removal of Norwegian Major General Tryggve Tellefsen as the head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

“It is considered that Major General Tellefsen’s conduct has been unsatisfactory in so far as the security interests of Sri Lanka are concerned,” Kumaratunga’s office said.

Kumaratunga has been opposed to her cohabitation government’s handling of the Norwegian-backed peace process aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed that has claimed over 60,000 lives.

The Norwegian-led SLMM is charged with monitoring a truce that went into effect February 23 last year.

The SLMM has said that both the Tigers and government troops have been responsible for violations of the truce, but a majority of the more serious breaches have been blamed on the Tigers.

Earlier this week, Sri Lanka’s navy accused Scandinavian truce monitors of jeopardising its attempt to capture a suspected Tamil rebel arms shipment.

“The President has pointed out to the Prime Minister of Norway that the impartiality and objectivity of Major General Tellefsen in discharging his duties under the ceasefire agreement have caused serious doubts,” the three-paragraph statement said.

There was no immediate reaction either from Tellefsen or his office to Kumaratunga’s unexpected move which came as Tiger rebels prepared to unveil a landmark power-sharing plan by October 31.—AFP