The Sri Lankan government has decided to withdraw from the Norwegian-backed ceasefire agreement with Tamil rebels signed nearly six years ago, a government minister said Wednesday according to DPA. The government's defence spokesman, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, said the government has decided it should pull out from the truce agreement, but he didn't give a date for the pull out. The agreement was signed in February 2002 by then prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe - currently the opposition leader - and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Under the agreement either party has to give 14 days notice before withdrawing from it. The truce has been virtually ignored since rebels renewed attacks on government forces in December 2005 and the military responded by launching a series of operations against them. However, neither party had officially withdrawn from the truce and a Scandinavian team of ceasefire monitors remain in the country.
