Brussels, 31/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) accused the government armed forces of murdering 17 employees of Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Mutur in the east of the country, on 6 August. In a press release, it states it is convinced that no armed group other than the security forces could possibly be responsible for this act. The Sri Lankan leaders rejected all form of responsibility, casting doubt on the independence of observers. The UN is uncertain about the possibility of continuing its operations in the region.
We recall, moreover, that Norwegian General Lars Johan Sølvberg will, on Friday, take the place of his compatriot, Ulf Henricsson, at the head of the mission, which will now be comprised of only about twenty Norwegian and Icelandic members further to the departure of its Swedish, Danish and Finnish observers. After their movement had been included on the EU list of terrorist organisations, the armed rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) called on nationals of EU Member States within the mission (39 observers out of 57) to leave the island by 1 September.