Friday, July 7 2006 10:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: With violence showing no signs of abating in Sri Lanka, international peace monitors in the island's embattled northeast are finding the going tough.

Monitors from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the five-nation Nordic body whose future is in doubt after the Tamil Tigers ordered its European Union constituents to get lost, are facing hostility from both the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), SLMM sources said.

"There are increasing cases of SLMM members finding themselves ignored by both parties," a source sources over telephone from Batticaloa, in Sri Lanka's east coast.

"Naturally, it is frustrating," he said.



"In a few cases, local LTTE cadres and (Sri Lankan) soldiers have simply refused to cooperate," he said.

But the source quickly added that there had been no physical violence against any of the nearly 60 monitors.

An SLMM source based in Colombo admitted that things were difficult because of the unending violence in the north and east that has claimed over 800 lives since December 2005. The total number of truce violations is many times more.

Asked if this was proving to be frustrating, the source said: "Yeah, I guess so, perhaps at an individual level. Sometimes the two sides can be difficult but it is not that bad."

The SLMM is made up of monitors from Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Their job is to oversee the 2002 ceasefire agreement between the LTTE and Colombo.

After the 25-nation European Union banned the LTTE in May, the Tigers refused to accept monitors from Denmark, Sweden and Finland, saying they can no more be considered neutral.

Since the three countries account for 37 of all monitors, the SLMM urged the LTTE to reverse its decision. The Tigers have refused and asked members of these countries to quit by Sep 1.

It was also in May when the LTTE tried to attack a ship carrying Sri Lankan troops off the east coast with one SLMM monitor on board. The LTTE later denied it had targeted the vessel or that it was aware of the monitor's presence.

Since then, the SLMM has stopped all sea monitoring activities. "Obviously, if the LTTE cannot guarantee our safety, then that is it," the Colombo source said.

Even before violence escalated in Sri Lanka's northeast in December, the SLMM had been toying with the idea of upping the number of monitors. But now the main task is to find replacements for those who may have to quit by Sep 1.

One Tamil source in Colombo with contacts in the northeast said the LTTE "sounds very uncooperative" but added that the SLMM was now recording more ceasefire violations by the government.

"The SLMM will also find their work more difficult because government forces are less amenable in matters of impunity," the source said.

Colombo has already reacted furiously to a detailed SLMM report on ceasefire violations.

The Nordic body had also come under attack in the initial years for ignoring many killings, mainly blamed on LTTE, because the monitors were more concerned about ensuring that the truce held. This led to skepticism about SLMM's role.

Tamil sources referred to the June 25 torture killing by government forces of a Tamil man, Baskaran, at Anbuvelipuram, a suburb of Trincomalee following a grenade blast. The next morning his body, with clear signs of torture, cuts and beating, was found. His mouth and hands had been tied with his shirt.

SLMM monitors arrived on the scene but, after talking to the troops, could give no assurance to locals that such an incident would not happen again.

Diplomatic sources say the monitors' main problem is that they cannot call anyone directly to account. Many ordinary residents who approach the SLMM also get threatened by both soldiers and the LTTE.

"Nevertheless, you must realize that the monitors have provided relief in many, many instances. This cannot be denied," said one source.

"At the end of the day, if the Tigers and the government don't want peace, why blame the monitors?" he said.