Scandinavian monitors have been proposed in an agreement that would enforce a ceasefire and put in place the groundwork for direct peace talks to end nearly two decades of ethnic war in Sri Lanka. The agreement said Norway would appoint the head of a monitoring mission who would answer to the Norwegian government, asked by both sides to act as a go-between to end the bitter conflict. "The Sri Lanka monitoring mission shall be composed of representatives from the Nordic countries," the draft said. It also called for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), fighting for a separate Tamil state in the north and east, and the government to provide monitors in six districts affected by the war which has killed more than 64,000 people.

The accord would also require the two sides to give 14 days notice before calling off the truce should peace talks collapse, something that has happened four previous times. A three-day notice period was used during the last truce, which ended in April 1995 when the rebels attacked the eastern port of Trincomalee. Bureau Report