Sri Lanka slams Nordic claim that truce saved 10,000 lives

Sri Lanka has slammed a claim by the Nordic countries that the now abrogated Ceasefire Agreement with the Tamil Tigers had saved 10,000 Sri Lankan lives.

The Sri Lankan government peace secretariat Monday described as 'dubious' the claim by foreign ministers of five Nordic countries late last week that the truce pact with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had saved as many as 10,000 Sri Lankan lives in the first three years of its existence.

The Norway-brokered pact was signed in February 2002, and five Nordic countries jointly monitored its working. But last week, the Sri Lankan government unilaterally abrogated it, saying that it was a 'non-functioning' agreement, which facilitated violence rather than peace.

The government statement said that the Nordic ministers showed signs of ignorance of the rulings of the fully Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) as well as the concerted attacks conducted by the LTTE.

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