By Himangi Jayasundere
Minister of Defence Tilak Marapana yesterday said that the existing cease-fire will be extended even if the Government and the LTTE are unable to come to an agreement on a bilateral declaration of hostilities by February 24.

"At the moment we are trying to negotiate on what basis and on what guidelines we could come to a bilateral declaration of hostilities but if we cannot come to an agreement of that sought by the 24th, I take it that there will be once again a cessation of hostilities and LTTE will also for their part extend their cease fire so that the status quo will continue until we reach some consensual situation" he said.

Answering a question at the press conference on whether the government has sought intervention from the Norwegian peace delegation on reports that children were being conscripted by the LTTE in the North and East, the minister said that the army has not received any information of such conscriptions. But he added that in situations where children have been conscripted they have been taken into police custody along with those conscripting them and the police were in a helpless situation when the children claimed that they had voluntarily joined such persons. In such situations the police would then hand the children over to their parents he said.

The minister yesterday announced that restrictions imposed on travelling to the North and East have been relaxed. Accordingly Sri Lankan citizens travelling to the NE will not require approval from the Ministry of Defence (MOD). All non-Sri Lankans will require permission from the MOD to visit the North. However if they are recommended in writing by a Sri Lankan Ambassador or High Commissioner abroad, they will be permitted access to Jaffna without MOD approval. Diplomatic officials stationed in Sri Lanka will not require permission from MOD to travel to the North. However there may be restriction on movements from cleared to uncleared areas and vice versa the minister said.

He further said that the war risk premium at the airport has been reduced by 75% and the government was working towards reducing the premia at the sea ports. He said that representatives of Lloyds of London who were in Sri Lanka a few weeks ago to examine security measures taken by authorities at the air port and sea ports had expressed satisfaction on measures taken by the government in the Colombo, Trincomalee and Galle ports. He added that some changes have been proposed for Galle and these were being carried out.

According to him at a meeting where Sri Lanka will be represented by the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London the observations made by the Lloyds team will be taken into account in deciding whether to waive or reduce the war risk premium. "We expect some positive result", Minister Marapana said.

Commenting on the Udathalavinna incident, the minister said that he did not feel that launching a parallel investigation by the army was ‘prudent’ while CID investigations were going on and a court case pending. He said that he would await the Attorney General’s decision, then look into the CID report to verify if there were any criminal charges and then allow disciplinary action to proceed with regard to the officers concerned.