Colombo: Sri Lanka's military today (Mar 16, 2004) sought formal approval from local authorities to begin work on a monument to commemorate Indian soldiers who died while fighting Tamil Tiger rebels in the island.

Sri Lanka's Chief of Defence Staff Lt Gen Lionel Balagalle said he wrote to the Colombo Municipal Council this morning seeking permission to set up the war memorial at a popular public park in Colombo.

"I have asked the Mayor this morning to get us the necessary clearances to begin work," Balagalle said. "We want to locate this new memorial right next to the ones commemorating those who died in World Wars one and two."

He said the idea of a war memorial for the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was suggested by him when he met with his Indian military counterparts in December and also had talks with Defence Minister George Fernandes.

"We suggested to our Indian colleagues that they provide us with the design of a monument they would like us to put up," he said.

"We have got two designs from the Indians."

He said he wanted all the names of 1,155 Indian troops who died in Sri Lanka during their 32-month deployment in the island to be engraved at the site.

"We have also asked the Indian authorities to give us all the names of non-military personnel such as the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) who sacrificed their lives," Balagalle said.

He said both President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were supportive of the idea of setting up the IPKF monument and he believed army engineers would be able to carry out the work soon.