The Hindu : SLMM rules out one-sided de-escalation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 27, 2002

International

International

SLMM rules out one-sided de-escalation

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO. DEC. 26. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) today ruled out any one-sided reduction in the balance of forces between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), weakening the Tigers' argument for gaining a military upper hand in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Trond Furuhovde, head of the SLMM, a team of Nordic truce overseers, also termed as "unrealistic" any normalisation programme that was at the "expense of security".

In a clear message that the humanitarian argument could not be advanced for de-escalation of Government troops, Maj. Gen. Furuhovde said: "In Jaffna, simply dismantling the `high security zones' for resettlement and handing over land for cultivation will decrease both security and combat potential of the Government forces".

The "balance of forces", he added, "is the basis of the ceasefire agreement and disturbing that balance is disturbing the ceasefire''.

The observation gains significance against recent demands by the LTTE for de-escalation of Government forces in the north as a precondition to resettlement of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The main argument by the Tigers was that the humanitarian issue of resettlement of the IDPs could not progress without de-escalation. "We want the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, so that it will increase the confidence of the civilians," the LTTE spokesman, Daya Master, told The Hindu this evening, before the SLMM statement was released.

Sorting out the linkage between humanitarian and military issues, Maj. Gen. Furuhovde said: "Representatives of the LTTE have stated that maintaining their military strength is vital if they are to be successful in their negotiations. What applies to the LTTE in this context should also apply for the Government. The paradox in the peace argument is that the priority of normalisation goes before that of security, while both rest on the present military balance. In order to build peace, the forces on both sides must be kept stable. An unrealistic normalisation program in the name of progress and development should not be allowed to come into force at the expense of security, as this could undermine the building of permanent peace".

Meanwhile, the LTTE today ruled out disarming its cadres and decommissioning weapons and said these were "non-negotiable issues". In a pointer to the difficulties that the peace process is headed for in the months ahead, the LTTE, in a statement published in the TAMILNET website, said raising such issues "at this stage'' and to "stipulate it as a condition for humanitarian issues of resettlement has a diabolical motive of disrupting" the peace process.

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