Colombo: Stepping up its campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Sri Lankan government on Wednesday decided to scrap its ceasefire agreement with the terrorist outfit signed in February 2002.
There would, however, be no ban on the LTTE as of now.
"We have decided to give notice for abrogation of the ceasefire agreement though there is no ban on LTTE as of now," a top government official said after a cabinet meeting.
Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said, "The government has taken a policy decision not to have any further agreement with a terrorist outfit since Norway-facilitated 2002 ceasefire agreement has failed."
Under the Norwegian-brokered truce agreement, it was said that the accord "shall remain in force until notice of termination is given by either party to the Royal Norwegian government".
Such a notice would have to be given 14 days in advance of the effective date of termination, it had said.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in fighting between the military and the LTTE since December 2005 when the first major violation of the agreement took place with the rebels launching an attack against the government.
The situation deteriorated in the subsequent months with clashes between the two sides becoming an almost daily feature.
The LTTE had been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils in Sri Lanka. About 70,000 people are estimated to have lost their lives in the conflict.
Signed in February 2002, the voluminous ceasefire agreement had provided for checks and balances, besides monitoring of the violations of the treaty, which had sought a negotiated solution to the ethnic issue.
"The overall objective of the government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is to find a negotiated solution to the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka," the agreement had said.
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