Colombo - The Sri Lankan navy Friday began a detailed search
of a vessel carrying relief aid from Britain for Tamil refugees,
which it intercepted the previous day, a navy spokesman said.
Sri Lankan authorities accused the ship, the Captain Ali, which is
sailing under a Syrian flag, of having forced its way into Sri Lankan
territorial waters. In a statement released on a government website,
the Defence Ministry said the ship was 'carrying supplies' for the
now defeated Tamil rebels.
The vessel was seized by the navy some 150 kilometres west of
Colombo.
'We have found medicines and medical equipment and so far we have
not found any harmful items on the ship,' navy spokesman Commander
DKP Dassanayaka said.
The ship is reported to have embarked from Britain, carrying aid
for the members of the Tamil minority who were displaced by the
fighting between the army and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) and are now held in government-controlled camps.
Relief aid cannot be distributed without the involvement of the
state authorities.
Dassanayaka said that the ship had 15 people on board, including a
member of the former Norwegian-backed ceasefire monitors identified
as Kristjan Guomundsson. He is reported to be the captain of the ship.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed no prior approval had been given
for the ship to enter Sri Lankan waters, but also said no
instructions had been issued on what action would be taken.
The government declared victory over the LTTE on May 18, after
most of the group's leadership was reported killed. Thousands of
civilians are believed to have been killed in the last days of Sri
Lanka's 26-year civil war.
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