COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, July 16 (UPI) -- Norwegian mediators have begun negotiating the agenda for peace talks with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in London, while the Scandinavian cease-fire monitoring mission is crying foul in Colombo over the abduction of two monitors by the rebels.
The head of the 36-member Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Maj. Gen. Trond Furuhovde, flew Tuesday into the LTTE-controlled northern town of Kilinochchi to meet the guerrilla leaders and express his displeasure over the abduction of two Scandinavian monitors over the weekend.
According to Hagrup Haukland, the deputy head of the SLMM, Furuhovde would meet with S.P. Tamilchelvam, the political head of the LTTE, over the weekend incident.
"It is a serious violation of the cease-fire," Haukland told United Press International, referring to the abduction of the two monitors in the northern Jaffna peninsula. "It is the first time that someone has done this to us."
The SLMM has alleged that the LTTE violated the truce signed in February by forcibly detaining monitors who had been called by the Sri Lankan navy after it had intercepted two rebel boats en route from India.
While one of the LTTE boats, which had an Indian registration, escaped, the other boat was stopped and surrounded by Sri Lanka navy craft. The navy requested two monitors stationed at Jaffna to inspect the LTTE vessel.
When the monitors boarded the rebel craft, the SLMM said the rebels started the boat and began to move toward the LTTE-controlled coast. The rebel boat rammed navy vessels and fled. The monitors on board the LTTE vessel were not allowed to disembark but were released Sunday morning.
"The LTTE has sent us their report, but our monitors say that they had been detained against their will," said Haukland. "We will now have to sit and rethink our strategy."
The rebels claimed that their boat had to flee the cordon as navy boats were attacking. They had said that the monitors were detained to ensure their safety as the navy was ramming their vessel.
While the Nordic monitors were accusing the guerrillas of violating the cease-fire, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidal Helgesson and special adviser to the foreign ministry Erik Solhiem were meeting with LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham in London.
A pro-rebel Web site Tamilnet, said in a report that Norwegian officials discussed the agenda for proposed direct talks between the government and the guerrillas scheduled for Thailand. The negotiations are expected to begin next month.
The talks were to begin at least two months ago but the delay in the implementation of the cease-fire agreement and its violations have delayed the negotiations.
Meanwhile, the main opposition People's Alliance has intensified its rhetoric against the peace process. The leaders of the alliance led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga have expressed their misgivings over the peace initiative.
Sarath Amunugama, a spokesman of the alliance said that the LTTE could blackmail the government into accepting its conditions for the talks. The government has not denied any of the allegations leveled by the People's Alliance or the leftist Janatha Vimukti Perumuna.
Communal riots in eastern Sri Lanka have alienated Muslims from the peace process. At least 11 people were killed when Tamils and Muslims clashed in the Batticaloa district this month.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, an ally of the ruling United National Party, had signed a memorandum of understanding with the guerrillas in April. Now the party is split over the memorandum. A section of the Muslim Congress leaders want the MOU to be re-negotiated as Muslims were feeling insecure in the LTTE-dominated east.
The government is banking on international support to negotiate with the rebels from a position of strength. India has expressed its support to the peace process and also offered to play the role of an adviser.
Also, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is leaving for Washington this week to meet President George Bush and other senior leaders. Besides trade and economic relations, the peace initiative is high on the Wickremesinghe's agenda while in the United States.
