06 October, 2006 - Published 17:11 GMT

Aid worker murder probe 'very slow'

International aid agencies have appealed to Sri Lanka authorities and to Tamil Tigers to allow aid workers to access populations trapped by the ongoing violence in the north and east.

Representatives of 28 international aid organisations who met in Paris called for the parties to the conflict to abide by international law and respect humanitarian aid workers.

The agencies also expressed concern on the delay in investigating the murder of aid workers in Muttur.

War crime

17 aid workers of Action Contre La Faim (Action against Hunger -ACF) were found dead with gunshot wounds on 04 August as battle continued for the control over Muttur.

“The investigation is always postponed. We are dying to see something concrete started,” ACF Executive Director, Benoit Miribel, told BBC Sandeshaya.

The international agencies said they were “appalled by this war crime”.

The ACF said although the officials have shown “a goodwill”, nothing concrete is happening find the culprits.

SLMM report

“We feel it is not at all a priority,” Benoit Miribel said.

The executive director however admitted that the ACF was also responsible for the safety of their workers.

The agency did not expect aid workers and the journalists to come under attack, he said.

“If you are a journalist or an aid worker in a conflict zone usually you are not targeted,” Miribel told bbcsinhala.com.

Government objects

The former head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Ulf Henricsson, has told the meeting that the Sri Lanka military was responsible for the killing.

The fact that the military did not allow monitors to visit the scene of the crime strongly indicates their involvement, he said.

But the Second Secretary from the Sri Lankan embassy in Paris, representing the government, has protested Henricsson’s statement.

The former head of SLMM has refused to provide his evidence saying he would only produce his report on the killings to an independent commission.