New head prepares for mission impossible

A Sri Lankan soldier checks the bag of a bus passenger arriving through a key entry point to Colombo at Kelaniya Saturday. Sri Lankan police arrested 18 people including two women and seized a cache of weapons including grenades and mines. PHOTO: AFP

Former Norwegian army chief Lars Solvberg will run a 30-strong group after members from the European Union were ordered to quit by the end of the month by Tamil Tiger rebels.

The 25-nation bloc branded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a terrorist group in May, prompting the rebels to retaliate by demanding the ouster of EU members Sweden, Finland and Denmark from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

"It's a mission impossible to keep the parties satisfied," said retired Swedish general Ulf Henricsson who formally steps down this week.

Henricsson said the monitors had come under fire from both sides during his attempts to rule on violations.

"It's very easy just to realise that with 50 percent of the people (now), you are doing 50 percent of the job. That's a concern," he added.

"It's much easier to hide the shit that both parties are doing," Henricsson said, highlighting extra-judicial killings and attacks using fragmentation mines blamed on both sides.

Solvberg, who arrived in Sri Lanka last week, joined Henricsson in meetings with senior figures from both sides before the Swede's departure.

As a "goodwill" gesture, according to a pro-rebel website Saturday, the rebels released a policeman held for nearly a year following a request by Henricsson.

But Henricsson warned peace hopes were not high even though the two sides are in a military stalemate.

He said there were few signs of a negotiated settlement and said the reduced monitoring force faced a tough task at a time of increasing violence with at least 1,500 people killed since December.