COLOMBO, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), which has been observing the cease-fire between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tigers, has a new Head of Mission.

    Ulf Henricsson, a 64-year-old Swedish national, took over the leadership on Saturday from Hagrup Haukland, SLMM officials said.

    Henricsson thus becomes the first non-Norwegian to head the 60-member truce monitoring body drawn from Nordic countries.

    The SLMM was entrusted with the task of observing the truce in Sri Lanka brokered by the Norwegian facilitators in 2002.

    Trond Furuhovde, Trygve Tellefsen and Hagrup Haukland who had headed the SLMM previously were all Norwegian nationals.

    The incoming Head of Mission's immediate task will be to prepare for the crunch talks in Geneva between the government and the rebels starting from April 19.

    The meeting is aimed at reviewing the progress since the last round of talks in Geneva in February.

    Both sides made assurances to stick to the provisions in the February 2002 cease-fire agreement which is under severe strain.

    Since the February talks the Tigers and the government have traded accusations of truce violations with SLMM having to make its own rulings on the violations.

    SLMM has repeatedly appealed to the two sides to maintain the cease-fire in order to engage in talks with a view to finding a permanent peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sri Lanka.

    The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels have been fighting for a separate homeland for the minority Tamil community in the northern and eastern regions.

    The conflict which escalated in the mid 1980s had claimed over 64,000 lives until the ongoing truce came into force in February 2002. Enditem