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by Manjula Fernando and Ranga Jayasuriya

The LTTE said yesterday that the peace process will not be derailed as a result of Monday's incident in the Mullaitivu seas.

The LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham is reported to have said in Kilinochchi on Tuesday, we are determined to participate constructively in the peace process. We want to convince the world especially the Sinhala people that we are committed to peace".

Balasingham's comments came after the sinking of an LTTE vessel in the seas off Mullaitivu by the Navy patrol ship 'Sayura' when their command to halt for inspection was not heeded by the flagless and nameless vessel.

LTTE later said 11 cadres including four senior members were killed in the incident which seriously injured one Naval officer and wounded three others.

Balasingham acknowledged that the Navy can "maintain territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country without fighting the LTTE under the Ceasefire Agreement."

The LTTE chief negotiator had reiterated that they will not pull out of the peace process whatever the political situation.

"But it might be difficult for us, if forces like JVP who are opposed to peace come to power." Balasingham will meet visiting Norwegian deputy foreign Minister Vidar Helgessen today (13) in Kilinochchi. The talks will focus on the preparations for sixth round of peace negotiations in Hakone, Japan.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission Chief Tryggve Tellefsen was due to meet LTTE political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan in Kilinochchi last evening in order to diffuse tension resulting from Monday's incident.

The meeting came after Thamilselvan's strongly worded letter to the SLMM and the Defence Minister Tilak Marapana claiming that Monday's incident "will have far-reaching implications on the peace process". "The head of the mission will hear the LTTE version of the event. He will request the ship's registration details," SLMM spokesman Teitur Torkellson told the Daily News.

The meeting will also focus on developing safeguards to avoid the recurrence of such events, he added. The SLMM Chief on Tuesday afternoon met Defence Secretary Austin Fernando and Navy Commander Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri, where the Navy Commander described the course of action the Navy took after they detected the suspected vessel in the sea off Mullaitivu.

The discussions also centred around how to deal with similar situations in the future, Haukland said.

"We should sit down and find out a definite mechanism to deal with such situations in the future", he said.

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