Thursday, December 29 2005 15:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Scandinavian truce monitors in Sri Lanka today (Dec 29, 2005) issued a stern warning that the island could slip back to war unless the latest wave of violence was arrested and the parties resumed peace talks, a day after peace broker Norway said the fragile ceasefire was at risk of collapse.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which draws members from five Nordic nations, said they themselves were under threat following the latest spiral of violence that has claimed over 83 lives this month alone despite the truce. "This spiral of violence is not conducive to a badly needed high-level meeting between the parties," SLMM chief Hagrup Haukland said in a statement. "If the trend of violence is allowed to continue, war may not be far away".

He said the 'volatile situation' had made their own monitoring work difficult and they were also threatened by unidentified elements.

"The SLMM cannot operate in an insecure environment", he said.

He said only talks between Colombo and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) could bring peace to Sri Lanka.

Yesterday, Sri Lanka's peace broker Norway urged Sri Lankan government and LTTE to immediately resume talks.

Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim said in a statement that Oslo was 'deeply concerned' about the recent wave of violence and warned that the entire peace process was at risk.

"The high level of violence and the tragic loss of life are putting the ceasefire agreement at risk and will make it very difficult to secure further progress in the peace process", Solheim said.