Colombo: Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, locked in a power struggle with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, today (Feb 11, 2004) called for a fresh committee to discuss matters relating to the implementation of a ceasefire with Tamil Tigers, which she had earlier described as illegal.

Kumaratunga, who had earlier described Wickremesinghe's cease-fire agreement with LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) as an "illegal document" today (Feb 11, 2004) vowed to uphold the truce, after meeting the new head of the Scandinavian truce monitoring mission Trond Furuhovde.

She asked for the panel to be established for reviewing the ceasefire in place since February 2002. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) led by Norwegians was set up after the truce went into effect.

"President Kumaratunga expressed to the SLMM head her commitment to the implementation of the ceasefire agreement," the President's office said in a statement.

Her office said she wanted Defence Secretary Cyril Herath and commanders of the Army, Navy and the Air force to be included in the proposed panel. There was no suggestion to include Tamil Tigers in the panel.