At a meeting with the Defence Secretary Mr. Cyril Herath, held in Colombo on the 4th October 2004, Head of Mission of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Major General (ret) Trond Furuhovde reiterated the SLMM stance on the issue of the two Home Guards being detained by the LTTE in the Trincomalee district.

He stated that the SLMM does not find acceptable acts of apprehending persons in order to put on pressure for release of detainees of either party to the CFA. Moreover, the SLMM Head of Mission noted that there is no logic in connecting the two completely separate cases of the current detention of the two Home Guards and the list of names put forward by the LTTE, citing ten cadres arrested by the GOSL more than a year ago. The cadres were duly processed through the judicial system in accordance with National Law.

Furuhovde explained that the SLMM has engaged itself intensively at the local level in Trincomalee in trying to persuade the LTTE to release the detained Home Guards, even though they had been apprehended carrying firearms within LTTE controlled area. Furthermore, the SLMM has also taken up this issue with LTTE Political Wing leader Mr. Tamilshelvan at top-level meetings in Kilinochchi.

The Head of SLMM also explained to Mr. Herath that an organisation in Trincomalee had apparently attempted to increase its public profile by taking ownership of the issue while at the same time trying to discredit the SLMM. At times this had translated into irresponsible behaviour, which had to some extent hampered the SLMM in Trincomalee in its all-important work that is to monitor the CFA.

The SLMM urges the LTTE to re-examine its position on the issue of the two detained Home Guards and hopes for their release. The SLMM furthermore, urges political organisations in Trincomalee to reconsider their actions, which in recent weeks have caused some inconvenience to the SLMM.

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