COLOMBO Feb 25 Kyodo Scandinavian...

COLOMBO Feb 25 Kyodo

Scandinavian monitors overseeing the implementation of a breathing-time between the Sri Lankan conduct and Tamil Tiger rebels sought Norwegian control intervention Tuesday after the militants disobeyed a directive to release a policeman and a soldier being detained from them.

The couple men, captured when they strayed into rebel-held territory in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, are being detained in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in defiance of repeated appeals from the direction and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for their freedom.

''We told the Norwegians about this point in dispute because of their part as facilitators,'' said Hagrup Haukland, delegate head of the mission.

in succession Sunday, the SLMM brokered the release of seven armed militants detained at the navy within government-controlled territory in exchange for a guarantee from the LTTE that the policeman and soldier would be immediately released.

''They have still not been released,'' Haukland said. ''It is not enough to promise. The LTTE must now act.''

The Norwegian control has been trying to facilitate a negotiated peace after sum of two units decades of war that has left more than 60000 dead in succession both sides.

below the cease-fire agreement between the LTTE and conduct neither party may register areas held by the other carrying weapons or wearing military uniforms.

The policeman captured from the Tigers last week was in uniform while the soldier, who has been in captivity since Dec 24 had been armed. the pair claimed to have mistakenly strayed into rebel areas.

The cease-fire deal, which athwart the weekend completed one year, does not specify what actions are to be taken if either party defies SLMM directives.

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