Scandinavian monitors say Tiger attack on navy boat a truce violation

Scandinavians monitoring a truce between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tigers ruled Friday that the rebels were in breach of the ceasefire when they attacked a naval patrol boat.





Scandinavians monitoring a truce between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tigers ruled Friday that the rebels were in breach of the ceasefire when they attacked a naval patrol boat. The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) violated the ceasefire agreement by attacking the craft three days ago.

There were no casualties in the shooting.

However, a member of the team monitoring Sri Lanka's fragile ceasefire was slightly injured after diving for cover when the patrol boat was fired on near the eastern port of Trincomalee, the military said.

The cease-fire monitoring group has no legal clout to enforce their rulings.

A spokeswoman of the monitoring group however said the Tigers had undermined the spirit of the ceasefire and violated part of the agreement that refers to the use of direct or indirect weapons against each other.

The truce between the government and the LTTE went into effect from February 23, 2002.

The monitoring of th