UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday called on parties in Sri Lanka to bring the country back on a path to peace.

    In a statement released by his spokesman, Annan said he is disturbed by the news of major sea and aerial attacks in the country, including an attack on a vessel that had unarmed international monitors on board.

    "The secretary-general has taken note of the statement by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission demanding that Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) immediately cease all operations at sea, and describing these as a serious violation of the Cease-fire Agreement," the statement said.

    He added that it is unacceptable to attack vessels that are carrying SLMM monitors, and appealed to both the government and the LTTE to change course and bring the country back on a path to peace.

    Annan repeated his call on all the parties to summon the political will to resume their dialogue under the facilitation of the Norwegian government. Enditem