The Ceylon News

For the first time within the safety zone, LTTE Artillery-fired cluster shells Saturday attacked Moongkilaa'ru and Chuthanthirapuram. Relentless artillery fire also continued throughout the day on civilian targets. 39 civilians were killed and 128 wounded in the indiscriminate attacks. Artillery-fired cluster munitions were used in the attacks by the LTTE against civilians targets, blamed SL Army. Meanwhile a doctor attending the wounded at Udaiyaarkaddu hospital described the situation as a two-pronged genocide, one through military operations and the other by refusing medical supplies.

The environs of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) hospital had come under artillery barrage on Friday and Saturday. A civilian was killed in PTK on Saturday. Four civilians were killed in Pokka'nai and another four at Chuthanthirapuram, according to medical sources.

The remaining dead in different locations were not brought to the hospitals, sources said.

The 48-hour window given to the LTTE by the Sri Lankan government to allow the civilians trapped in the war zone to leave comes to an end on Saturday evening.
Concerned about the humanitarian situation getting worse in the region, Sri Lanka had announced temporary end to the fighting.

Now speaking to NDTV, Sri Lanka's foreign secretary Palitha Kohona has said that the Lankan army would move in after the 48-hr period.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Tigers say that 250,000 civilians in the conflict zone in north-eastern Sri Lanka want to stay to be protected by the rebels.

In an interview to an international television channel LTTE political chief B Nadesan said that the people did not wish to end up in the hands of "their killers".

The LTTE says Tamils in the conflict zone want to stay back to be protected by the rebels.

At least 16 LTTE rebels were killed in fierce clashes with the Sri Lankan army which broke through the defences of one of the remaining rebel bastions, even as the Navy sunk an approaching explosives-laden suicide boat on Friday morning.

Sri Lankan Navy attack boats deployed in the Mullaittivu seas destroyed an LTTE suicide boat around 3 am, officials said.

The navy boats deployed in the sea blockade along the northeastern coast intercepted the explosive-laden Tiger suicide craft launched from the Mullaittivu coast and destroyed it with heavy gunfire, sources said.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had on Thursday night set a 48-hour ultimatum to the beleaguered LTTE to surrender and allow free movement of civilians trapped in conflict areas and assured a “safe passage” to civilians.


“I urge the LTTE, within the next 48 hours to allow free movement of civilians to ensure their safety and security. For all those civilians, I assure a safe passage to a secure environment,” Rajapaksa said.

The statement came two days after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Rajapaksa and sought an assurance that the safety of Tamil civilians caught in the hostilities will be ensured.

Meanwhile, ground clashes continued, with army thrusting into the remaining LTTE hideouts stretching from the south of Kilaly lagoon to the Paranthan- Mullaittivu road. At present, the navy has deployed four blockades along the northeastern coast of the island to prevent arms supplies.

Not holding civilians: LTTE

Colombo, pti: Rubbishing Lankan government’s claim that it is holding civilians in Wanni as “human shields”, the LTTE on Friday said it has not imposed restrictions on anyone to leave the war zone. “We have been very clear that any individual who wishes to leave the combat zone has an individual right to move anywhere,” Tamil Tigers’ political head B Nadesan said.

With guests like VP Cheney and Senator McCain in the last week it was easy to miss this one, but Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, has just been on a working visit to Israel. There he signed an agreement establishing cooperative relations between Israel and Sri Lanka in the areas of culture, science and education.

In a meeting between Wickremanayake and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert the two discussed, what else, terrorism and the common threats they both face. Olmert had this unsurprising advice for his Sri Lankan guest: "Do not give in to terrorism because it will only bring destruction to your country. Terrorism must be fought; one must not capitulate to it." OK, no big deal – except that in these days of the dumbed-down war on terror, when the Republican Presidential nominee (intentionally or mistakenly) confuses Iran, their Iraqi Shia allies and Al-Qaeda, the Israeli and Sri Lankan examples can actually be rather informative and worth taking another look at.

The Israeli-Sri Lankan leaders’ tête-à-tête was probably not too illuminating, with lots of platitudes, mutual expressions of support and some kwetching and gewalts and whatever the Sri Lankan equivalents of those are. But the respective challenges posed to Israel and Sri Lanka, especially in the realm of suicide bombings can teach us a great deal— especially when it comes to the tendency here in the US to view terror through the prism of Islamo-fascism and peculiar and perverse shortcomings of Islam.

Since their formation in 1972, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers, have waged a relentless insurgency against the Sri Lankan state in order to fulfill their ambitions of an independent state for the ethnic Tamils (the Eelam in the group’s name means homeland). Suicide attacks—which they have carried out over 200 of in the last 3 decades—have been a prominent tactic in their participation in a civil war which has claimed some 60,000 lives in the last two decades. In recent weeks, the situation in Sri Lanka has continued to deteriorate, seeing the assassination of two members of parliament by the Tigers and a concurrent abrogation—by the Sri Lankan government—of the official cease-fire that had lasted between the parties (however tenuously) since 2006.

So are the Tamil Tigers an aberration to the otherwise Muslim monopoly on suicide attacks – or do they perhaps hint at the underlying issues that need to be addressed in successfully confronting the phenomenon? That question really gets to the heart of the critique of the current Global War on Terror that is still insufficiently heard in the US and elsewhere too – that it can after all be about what we do, the policies we pursue (we America, we Israel, we Sri Lanka) rather than about who we are – freedom loving nations merrily going about our freedom-loving business. The GWOT policy cannot be effectively countered without challenging its basic assumptions and narrative, and US foreign policy cannot turn the corner without over-turning GWOT.

So, that Sri Lankan PM visit to Israel had me reaching for my copy of Robert Pape’s book of a couple of years back - ''Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism.'' It is a study that needs to be read and re-read and injected into the national debate – not least as bombings are on the rise again in Iraq and as Presidential candidates on Middle East visits are determined to mis-lead the public again.

To re-cap, Pape, an associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago and Director of Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism, gathered the facts on 462 suicide terrorists worldwide between 1980 and 2003. He studied their lives. He read documents put out by the groups they joined. He compiled lists. He plotted numbers on graphs. The project collected data on conflicts in Lebanon, Kashmir, Chechnya, Sri Lanka and Israel, among others. Pape calls it "the most reliable and comprehensive survey on suicide terrorists that I'm aware of." His bottom line when it came to attacks involving American targets - "No matter how you slice it," he says, "it's American policy that's underneath this, not Islamic fundamentalism."

When Pape looked at the beliefs of 384 of the 462 suicide attackers, he found that 43 percent were religious and 57 percent secular. If those whose ideology he could not determine are all assumed to be religiously motivated, it brings the religious group to 52 percent.

In a New York Times op-ed in 2005 entitled "Blowing Up an Assumption” Pape writes that “one has to understand the strategic logic of suicide terrorism.” Here is a rather lengthy quote from that op-ed, but one well worth reading:

“…Since Muslim terrorists professing religious motives have perpetrated many of the attacks, it might seem obvious that Islamic fundamentalism is the central cause, and thus the wholesale transformation of Muslim societies into secular democracies, even at the barrel of a gun, is the obvious solution…

Over the past two years, I have compiled a database of every suicide bombing and attack around the globe from 1980 through 2003—315 in all…The data show that there is far less of a connection between suicide terrorism and religious fundamentalism than most people think.

The leading instigator of suicide attacks is the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, a Marxist-Leninist group whose members are from Hindu families but who are adamantly opposed to religion. This group committed 76 of the 315 incidents, more than Hamas (54) or Islamic Jihad (27). Even among Muslims, secular groups like the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Al Aksa Martyr Brigades (Fatah affiliated, DL) account for more than a third of suicide attacks.

What nearly all suicide terrorist attacks actually have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland. Religion is often used as a tool by terrorist organizations in recruiting and in seeking aid from abroad, but is rarely the root cause.

Three general patterns in the data support these conclusions. First, nearly all suicide terrorist attacks -- 301 of the 315 in the period I studied -- took place as part of organized political or military campaigns. Second, democracies are uniquely vulnerable to suicide terrorists; America, France, India, Israel, Russia, Sri Lanka and Turkey have been the targets of almost every suicide attack of the past two decades. Third, suicide terrorist campaigns are directed toward a strategic objective: from Lebanon to Israel to Sri Lanka to Kashmir to Chechnya, the sponsors of every campaign -- 18 organizations in all -- are seeking to establish or maintain political self-determination.

…Before the Sri Lankan military began moving into the Tamil homelands of the island in 1987, the Tamil Tigers did not use suicide attacks. Before the huge increase in Jewish settlers on the West Bank in the 1980's, Palestinian groups did not use suicide terrorism.

And, true to form, there had never been a documented suicide attack in Iraq until after the American invasion in 2003.

Understanding that suicide terrorism is mainly a response to foreign occupation rather than a product of Islamic fundamentalism has important implications for how the United States and its allies should conduct the war on terrorism.”

Bottom line then – it’s the occupation stupid.

Many of Pape’s findings are backed up by another useful resource on suicide bombers, Mia Bloom’s “Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror”. Bloom, who teaches at the University of Cincinnati, also pays special attention to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and further debunks the myth of this being an Islamic or Middle Eastern phenomenon. Bloom actually presents a history of suicide attackers that includes the early Jewish zealots and Sicarii of the First century and the Ismaili Assassins of the Twelfth Century. That reminds me of a slightly cheeky aside from former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami during one of the talks he gave in New York last week as a guest of the TCF and NAF, when Ben-Ami suggested that biblical Sampson may have been the first perpetrator of a suicide attack. He made that comment by the way in the context of outlining his own plan to bring Hamas into the political process, to achieve a ceasefire and support a new Palestinian National Dialogue aimed at re-constituting a Unity Government. Hamas itself began deploying suicide missions after the killing of Muslim worshipers at the Ibrahimi Mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs by a settler Baruch Goldstein, in Hebron in 1994…And it goes on.

The most shocking thing perhaps is the extent to which suicide bombings have increased exponentially in the years since Pape’s book. Robert Fisk has a piece on the sheer scale of suicide bombings in Iraq in the UK Independent newspaper:

“…a month-long investigation by The Independent, culling four Arabic-language newspapers, official Iraqi statistics, two Beirut news agencies and Western reports, shows that an incredible 1,121 Muslim suicide bombers have blown themselves up in Iraq. This is a very conservative figure and—given the propensity of the authorities (and of journalists) to report only those suicide bombings that kill dozens of people—the true estimate may be double this number. On several days, six—even nine—suicide bombers have exploded themselves in Iraq in a display of almost Wal-Mart availability. If life in Iraq is cheap, death is cheaper…Never before has the Arab world witnessed a phenomenon of suicide-death on this scale. During Israel’s remarkable occupation of Lebanon after 1982, one Hizbollah suicide-bombing a month was considered remarkable. During the Palestinian intifada of the 1980s and 1990s, four per month was regarded as unprecedented. But suicide bombers in Iraq have been attacking at the average rate of two every three days since the 2003 Anglo-American invasion.”

Ending the US occupation in Iraq may not be sufficient at this stage to end that suicide bombing phenomenon immediately but it would likely have a very significant impact and in its absence the trend shows no sign of really changing. As for our Israeli and Sri Lankan friends – ever thought that maybe the military solutions ain’t really workin’ and that root causes might be worth addressing…anyone for serious, concerted political dialogue?

Sri Lanka ruled out a cease-fire with the Tamil Tigers on Friday despite growing reports of casualties among civilians trapped in the northern war zone, as the military pushed ahead with its offensive against the rebels.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had urged the rebels to let the civilians leave the conflict zone by Saturday and guaranteed safe passage to all noncombatants. But the government insisted there would be no let up in its war to crush the rebels and end the country's 25-year-old civil war.

"We are determined not to have a cease-fire, and we are determined to eradicate terrorism in Sri Lanka," Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters.

The military ousted the rebels, who have been fighting for a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, from all major towns after heavy battles in recent months.

The rebels are now cornered in a 115-square mile (300-square kilometer) area of jungle and villages in the Tamil-dominated north, where some 250,000 civilians are trapped, according to the Red Cross.

Samarasinghe disputed the figure, saying less than 120,000 civilians were in the war zone.

"We will continue to ... liberate those areas which haven't been liberated yet and then free these people," he said.

He denied reports that more than 300 civilians were killed in recent fighting and accused the rebels of forcibly recruiting civilians, giving them two or three days of training and putting them on the front line as cannon fodder.

"We have not targeted civilians and we will not target civilians," he said.

But Tamil Tiger spokesman Balasingham Nadesan said the government has stepped up artillery attacks on civilian areas, leaving at least 28 people dead Friday.

Most civilians are "forced to live inside bunkers and civilian casualties were mounting," Nadesan said on a pro-rebel Web site, TamilNet.

"Only a permanent cease-fire mooted by the international community and (ensuing) negotiations would resolve the conflict," he said.

Dr. Thurairajah Varatharajah, the top health official in the war zone, said his hospital in the rebel-held village of Puthukkudiyiruppu was overflowing with patients with shell blast injuries. Many of them had no beds and were forced to stay in the hallway, he said.

Accusations and counter accusations by the two sides are not possible to verify because the government has barred most journalists and aid workers from the war zone.

Human rights groups accuse the rebels of holding the civilians hostage and the military of launching heavy attacks in civilian-filled areas, including a government-declared "safe zone."

The Red Cross said fighting was continuing in the north Friday, but welcomed Rajapaksa's announcement that the government would allow civilians safe passage.

"As far as we are concerned, we will try to seize the opportunity to evacuate more people, especially the wounded with their families," said Sarasi Wijeratne, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said top U.N. officials were "seriously alarmed" over the fate of civilians in the north.

"It seems there may have been very grave breaches of human rights by both sides in the conflict, and it is imperative that we find out more about what exactly has been going on," she said.

UNICEF said many children — some just months old — have been injured, some had been killed and others are living in poor conditions.

"The best possible thing for these children and their families is to be able to move to safe areas that are free of fighting, so that they can receive support and assistance," UNICEF's South Asia director, Daniel Toole, said in a statement.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the civil war, which grew out of complaints by Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization at the heads of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

University students are holding a hunger strike in Sydney's CBD to protest against fighting in Sri Lanka's north.

Nine students have been fasting in Martin Place for three days to pressure the Australian Government into condemning the violence.

More than 100 people have gathered to support the useless protest.

Sen Thuuran, 21, says despite the heat and hunger, he will not stop fasting until the Government acts.

"I have relatives over there but I'm not sure of the situation," he said.

"We don't know if they're alive, if they're ill, if they're injured. We're not sure of anything because there's no journalists, no reports to come out of that area."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday welcomed Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's announcement of safe passage for all civilians trapped in the area of intense fighting in the North to a secure environment.

But in a statement issued by his press office, Ban also said he was still concerned by the threat to the estimated 250,000 civilians caught in the area, who are in close proximity to the fighting.

He urged the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to "do all in their power to make this safe passage a reality, and to ensure the protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law."

The secretary-general called on the LTTE, in particular, to allow civilians in the conflict zone to move to where they feel most secure, including areas controlled by the government.

He also called on the government to ensure that those civilians arriving from the Vanni and other conflict areas are treated in accordance with international standards.

"Such standards include guaranteeing their freedom of movement, providing basic services and allowing full access by humanitarian agencies," he said. "For its part, the United Nations stands ready to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance."

"The secretary-general strongly underlines the need for urgent steps towards a speedy and orderly end to the fighting," he added

Sri Lanka has vowed to continue its military offensive against the rebels [EPA] Sri Lanka has said there will be "no ceasefire" with Tamil Tiger fighters, despite growing international fears over the fate of 250,000 civilians trapped by the fighting. Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka's human rights minister, rejected calls for a ceasefire on Friday, vowing to continue the military offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). "There will be no ceasefire," Samarasinghe said. "We will continue with our military operations and we will continue to liberate areas which had not been liberated so far." Video Sri Lankan refugees gain no respite away from war Samarasinghe's announcement came despite a call by Louis Michel, the EU's humanitarian aid commissioner, for a ceasefire to allow trapped civilians to flee the combat zone. "This is an escalating humanitarian catastrophe. We are extremely worried about the terrible situation facing people trapped in the fighting," Michel said in a statement. Attack suspended On Thursday, the government announced it would temporarily suspend its operations in order to allow civilians to flee the fighting. Focus: Sri Lanka Q&A: Sri Lanka's civil war The history of the Tamil Tigers Timeline: Conflict in Sri Lanka The military said it would not cease all combat operations, but would stop shooting to allow civilians to get out as it did for a UN convoy on Thursday that carried out 226 seriously wounded people. The Sri Lankan government pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce with the Tigers a year ago, and has since been battling to dismantle the rebel's de facto mini-state in the north. Following months of heavy fighting, government troops have captured the Tiger's political capital of Kilinochchi and, later, the Tamil Tiger bastion of Mullaittivu on the northeast coast. Government forces say they have confined the Tamil Tigers into a 300 square kilometres pocket of territory in Mullaittivu district. Humanitarian relief organisations say that about 250,000 civilians are still trapped in the rebel-held area. Tony Birtley, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from Sri Lanka, said that in general civilians did not appear to be fleeing the fighting. "The military are saying they're not coming because the Tamil Tigers are refusing to allow them out, that they are using them as a human shield. There are even stories of mines being put around their settlements to stop them from leaving," Birtley reported. "Of course, the Tigers say that people are scared to come because they may be abused by the army, they may be killed by the army and they'll almost certainly go into a camp to be interrogated by the army. "It's very unclear why [civilians are not leaving], but these people have spent a long long time living under the Tamil Tigers ... and there's a lot of distrust." 'Safe passage' In an appeal published on a government website, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's president, said the Tigers were endangering the civilians' lives by refusing to let them flee. "I urge the LTTE, within the next 48 hours, to allow free movement of civilians to ensure their safety and security. For all those civilians, I assure a safe passage to a secure environment," he said. The military also accuses the Tigers of firing artillery from populated areas inside an army-declared no-fire zone with the hope of creating a crisis to build pressure for a truce. The Tigers deny that and have continually accused the military of firing into the no-fire zone. The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in the fighting since last week. The government says that the reported numbers are too high, but it has not provided an exact figure. It also insists there have been "zero civilian casualties". More than 70,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka's civil war, which grew out of complaints by Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalisation at the hands of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi, Jan 30: A day after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave “48-hour deadline” to LTTE to give “safe zones” for Tamil civilians, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in India, Romesh Jayasinghe, said that the ball was now in the court of the rebel group and they have to act.

Jayasinghe further said that his country would mull over India’s demand of extraditing Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Jayasinghe said that the Sri Lankan government has already given “48-hour deadline” to LTTE to allow free movement of the civilians trapped in the war-hit northern parts of the island nation amidst hope that the conditions of civilians will improve in days to come. However, the LTTE has not responded to the calls yet, the United Nations said.

LTTE not heeding to truce call: UN

Earlier in the day, the UN said that all hopes of a ceasefire with the LTTE have been dashed, as the rebel group is not answering any calls for a truce. The organisation further underlined that there are no 'safe zones' for Tamil civilians as announced by Rajapaksa on Thursday night.

In a telephonic conversation with the news channel, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Colombo, Gordon Weiss, said that the LTTE has not responded to the ceasefire pleas. Weiss said, “We are waiting for a response from the LTTE. For any passage for the Tamil population's safe evacuation, they will have to welcome the call from government. They have to respond.”

Meanwhile, James Elder, spokesman for UN children's agency UNICEF, told the channel that only children were being taken out from the war zone.

A UN convoy carrying hundreds of people wounded in shelling between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan military left the war zone on Thursday after being held back two days ago, Weiss said. "The fighting is only intensifying," he said, in an interview with UN Radio.

In the meantime, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed serious concern over reports of deteriorating conditions of some 250,000 civilians trapped in war torn northern Sri Lanka, increasing civilian casualties, massive displacement and alleged human rights abuses.

"The perilous situation of civilians after many months of fighting, multiple displacements and heavy rains and flooding is extremely worrying," Pillay said.

"We are all seriously alarmed by the situation," she said, "as are many of the NGOs and other organisations operating in Sri Lanka."

An estimated 250,000 civilians are trapped in areas of northern Sri Lanka where fighting continues between government forces and the separatist LTTE.

Nearly 5,000 people have managed to cross the zones held by the group to government-controlled areas since late November, the UN said.

Pillay expressed concern at the highly restricted access to the Vanni region for aid agencies and impartial outside observers, including journalists and human rights monitors, noting that it "only adds to concerns that the situation may be even worse than we realise."

She also cited reports of forced recruitment, including of children, as well as the use of civilians as human shields by the LTTE. She condemned the fact that safe zones promised by the government have subsequently been subjected to bombardment leading to civilian casualties.

"People trying to flee the conflict areas are reported to have either been prevented from doing so, or to have been arbitrarily detained in special centres," she said.

"It seems there may have been very grave breaches of human rights by both sides in the conflict, and it is imperative that we find out more about what exactly has been going on."

The conflict had reached a "critical" stage, noted the High Commissioner. "While the government has made military gains on one hand, the rule of law has been undermined on the other."

"The killing of the prominent newspaper editor Lasantha Wickrematunge earlier this month was the latest blow to the free expression of dissent in Sri Lanka. The searing article he wrote prophesying his own murder is an extraordinary indictment of a system corrupted by more than two decades of bloody internal conflict," she noted.

She said there had not been any successful investigations or prosecutions of political killings, disappearances and other violations committed in recent years.

"It is the government's duty to provide safety to all Sri Lanka's citizens, whatever their ethnic origin or political views," Pillay said.

LTTE stepped up indiscriminate artillery barrage towards the heart of 'safety zone' since Thursday noon killing at least 44 civilians and causing injuries to 178, initial reports from Vanni said. The shelling has targeted Chuthanthirapuram 100-housing scheme, where at least 7 civilians were reported killed. 16 civilians were reportedly killed and scores wounded near St. Antony's Church in Chuthanthirapuram.

At least 7 civilians were killed at Iruddumadu, where the 'safety zone' begins.

The UN says it is seriously concerned for civilians in the region

Sri Lanka's president has promised safe passage for 250,000 civilians trapped by fighting in the north-east.

Mahinda Rajapaksa urged the Tamil Tiger rebels to ensure the free movement of civilians from the region, but the government has ruled out a ceasefire.

The rebels have not commented but in the past have insisted the people want to stay to be protected by them.

The UN says it is seriously concerned about civilians. Health officials and rights groups say hundreds have died.

Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapakse, says the numbers are exaggerated and aid agencies are panicking.

Meanwhile, the UK has announced it is doubling its emergency humanitarian aid to try to protect civilians.

'Rights breaches'

President Rajapaksa said that the rebels were refusing to let the civilians leave.

"I urge the [Tamil Tigers], within the next 48 hours to allow free movement of civilians to ensure their safety and security. For all those civilians, I assure a safe passage to a secure environment," he said.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Colombo says there has been no response so far from the rebels and that communication with them is very difficult.

The European Union on Friday called for a halt to the conflict.

INSURGENCY TIMELINE 1976: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam form in the north-east 1987: India deploys peace-keepers to Tamil areas but they leave in 1990 2002: Government and rebels agree ceasefire 2006: Heavy fighting resumes 2009: Army takes main rebel bases of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu S Lanka army in ghost 'Tiger' town Rebel weaponry rendered useless Voices from Sri Lanka In pictures: Army advance

EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said: "This is an escalating humanitarian catastrophe. We are extremely worried about the terrible situation facing people trapped in the fighting."

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was again calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire".

But the Sri Lankan government has ruled out a truce.
Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters on Friday: "We will continue with our military operations and we will continue to liberate areas which have not been liberated so far."

Our correspondent says that displaced civilians who do manage to leave the war zone are held in government-managed camps to which there is no media access.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has said she is extremely concerned about the well-being of people caught up in the fighting.

She said the situation could be worse than generally realised because of the restrictions to access to the war zone.

The army is facing monsoon conditions in its push into the jungle

Ms Pillay said there appeared to be "very grave breaches of human rights by both sides in the conflict and it is imperative that we find out more about what exactly has been going on".

On Friday, the Reporters without Borders group also appealed to President Rajapaksa to allow local and foreign journalists to report freely.

The Red Cross says the humanitarian situation in the north-east "remains precarious for thousands".

"Stocks have been depleted and sustainable ways of producing food locally have become almost nonexistent," it said.

The UK has said it is doubling its emergency humanitarian aid with another £2.5m to support Red Cross operations and help maintain relief convoys.

Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander said: "Not enough aid is getting through to those who desperately need it."

Heavy fighting

On Thursday, aid agencies said they had evacuated hundreds of wounded civilians, including 50 critically ill children, to a hospital in the town of Vavuniya.

The pro-rebel TamilNet website quoted a rebel spokesman, S Puleedevan, as denying reports the rebels had initially prevented the Red Cross convoy from leaving.

Mr Puleedevan described the reports as "mischievous".

The military says it is involved in a final push against the retreating rebels.

It has captured the key towns of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and the strategically important Elephant Pass in recent weeks.

The BBC's Ethirajan Anbarasan is at Elephant Pass with the army.

He says he can hear artillery fire 15km (nine miles) to the south and has been told there is heavy fighting there.

Our correspondent says commanders are confident the fighting will be over in the coming days - though they do not specify how long exactly it will take. They are upbeat and say rebel resistance is crumbling.

He has been told another 10 rebels have been killed in the latest fighting, though this cannot be independently verified.

Colombo, Jan 30: At least 16 LTTE rebels were killed in fierce clashes with the Sri Lanka Army which broke through the defences of one of the remaining rebel bastions, even as the Navy sunk an approaching explosives-laden suicide boat this morning.

Sri Lanka Navy attack boats deployed in the Mullaittivu seas destroyed an LTTE suicide boat around 3 am this morning, officials said.

The navy boats deployed in the sea blockade along the north-eastern coast intercepted the explosive-laden Tiger suicide craft launched from the Mullaittivu coast and destroyed it with heavy gunfire, sources said.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa last night set a 48-hour ultimatum to the beleaguered LTTE to surrender and allow free movement of civilians trapped in conflict areas and assured a "safe passage" to civilians.

"I urge the LTTE, within the next 48 hours to allow free movement of civilians to ensure their safety and security. For all those civilians, I assure a safe passage to a secure environment," Rajapaksa said.

The statement came two days after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Rajapaksa here and sought an assurance that the safety of Tamil civilians caught in the hostilities will be ensured.

Meanwhile, ground clashes continued, with Sri Lanka Army thrusting into the remaining LTTE hideouts stretching from the south of Kilaly lagoon to the Paranthan- Mullaittivu road, the Defence Ministry said.

At present, Lanka Navy has deployed four blockades along the north-eastern coast of the island to prevent arms supplies and LTTE cadres from escaping via sea route.

Colombo, Jan 29: A senior leader of the Tamil Tigers has been seriously injured in an attack by advancing government troops, a pro-rebel website said Thursday.

"A senior leader and special member of the LTTE K.V. Balakumaran was seriously injured during an attack by the Sri Lankan army at Udaiyarkattu area in Mullaitivu Monday and is admitted to the intensive care unit," pro-LTTE puthinam.com website report said.

The military is yet to comment on the report.

According to Tamil politicians, Balakumaran was formerly the leader of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) and joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in early 90s with a few hundred cadres.

A break-away group of the EROS led by Shankar Rajee is openly critical of its former leader Balakumaran and the LTTE.

Political sources said Balakumaran joined the Tamil militancy in the early 1980s after he was arrested by the police for allegedly aiding a Tamil militant group to carry out a major robbery at a bank he was working in.

Balakumaran is the second seniormost leader of the LTTE to be wounded after the beginning of the current phase of fierce clashes between the government troops and the LTTE since August 2006.

In November 2007, LTTE's former political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan was killed in an air raid by the Sri Lankan air force jets in Kilinochchi, which was captured by the troops in January this year after months of fierce fighting.

Thamilselvan, who had led several attacks against the security forces, was posthumously conferred rank of 'Brigadier' by the rebel leadership.

Carrying out a fight-to-finish campaign against the LTTE, the Sri Lankan army said last week that the 95 percent of the war against the LTTE is over and the rebels are now confined to a 300 square km area in the north-eastern Mullaitivu district where they were holding thousands of civilians as human shields.

London, Jan 29: The outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) procured war-stores and raised funds for its activities in the UK, an ongoing trial of a 'prominent figure' in the Tamil community here has revealed.

Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar, 52, a self-confessed member of LTTE, was found to have procured material, electric components and raised funds for the organisation banned in UK despite warnings by the authorities to stop his activities.

Some of the components he procured allegedly had "an obvious terrorist purpose", the court was told, though Chrishanthakumar, also known as Shanthan, has denied any conspiracy charges.

He is also charged with amassing a hoard of military equipment including machetes, combat boots, camouflage clothes, spades and handcuffs, The Daily Telegraph reported today.

Another charge alleged that he received terrorist documents including guides to underwater warfare systems, explosive ordnance disposal and mine clearance.

He is also accused of two further offences - receiving money and belonging to a proscribed organisation, namely the LTTE.

The five offences are alleged to have taken place between January 2003 and June 2007.

Three other men, Jegatheswaran Muraleetharan (Muralee), 46, and his brother, Jeyatheswaran Vythyatharan (Vithy), 40, from Powys, Wales, and Murugesu Jegatheeswaran (Jegan), 34, from Mitcham, south London, are charged with receiving electronic items for use in terrorism. All have denied the charges.

Fears for the safety of hundreds of thousands of people trapped in Sri Lanka's war zone are rising as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fight for survival against a resurgent Sri Lankan army. Skip related content

Here are some scenarios of what could happen next in one of Asia's longest running wars:

ARMY'S MARCH TO THE SEA:

This month alone, soldiers have run the Tigers out of their self-proclaimed capital Kilinochchi, the Jaffna Peninsula and the port of Mullaittivu, a major LTTE operations base.

When hostilities were reignited in 2006, the rebels held 15,000 square km (5,792 sq miles). Now, the army's commander, Lieutenant-General Sarath Fonseka, says they have only 300 square km (116 sq miles) of jungle and a diminishing stretch of the northeastern coast left.

Much as U.S. civil war Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman made the rebel Confederate army surrender by forcing them to all but jump in the sea at Savannah, Georgia, Fonseka is doing the same -- unless his troops seize the coast and surround the LTTE.

Since the Tigers have vowed not to give up and wear vials of cyanide around their necks in case of capture, surrender seems unlikely.

ARE THE TIGERS NOW TOOTHLESS?

Many analysts say the rebels are down to about 2,000 capable fighters and have little future as a conventional force against an army that has been built up and armed for the sole purpose of defeating them, after suffering past losses.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has given his full backing to the military and the combat veterans behind its transformation, his brother Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Fonseka.

The LTTE still can carry out suicide bombings in the capital Colombo, and is blamed for one just after Kilinochchi fell.

Fonseka has said he expects the hardest-core Tigers to go underground and conduct hit-and-run attacks once the war nears its end. He also said the army was ready to counter that.

WHAT ABOUT CIVILIANS IN THE WAR ZONE?

Aid agencies estimate there are about 250,000 Tamil refugees in grave danger in the shrinking war zone, and the International Committee of the Red Cross says hundreds have been killed in exchanges of fire that struck hospitals.

Rights groups and the government accuse the Tigers of forcibly conscripting people as fighters or labourers and of keeping them trapped in the war zone. The LTTE denies that.

The army last week set up a safe zone and urged people to go there; they say the rebels responded by placing artillery and heavy weapons inside it to foil civilian movement.

The rebels in turn say Sri Lanka has deliberately hit the no-fire zone and is targeting civilians. The military denies that.

IS INDIA GOING TO INTERVENE?

No. Despite protests from Tamil politicians in India, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made it clear he has no plans to stop Rajapaksa's war against a group his country lists as a terrorist organisation. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited on Wednesday, and made no mention of a truce but instead talked about Indian assistance in post-war reconstruction.

DOES MILITARY SUCCESS MEAN EARLY ELECTIONS?

Rajapaksa's popularity is riding high on the war. Signs of early polls abound: the election budget this year has been quadrupled, polls are due in two provinces in February and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) has assumed a campaign stance. Allies say there are plenty of factors that will influence Rajapaksa's decision on timing. He is aware that the UNP's main criticism is the state of the $32 billion (22 billion pounds) economy.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE ECONOMY?

As predicted, both the Colombo Stock Exchange and the sliding rupee currency got a boost from Kilinochchi's capture. Both swiftly went back to moving on their own fundamentals as they have throughout the quarter-century war.

Sri Lanka is suffering from costly short-term foreign debt, low foreign exchange reserves and a high deficit. Key exports like tea and clothing have been hit by the global slowdown and the war is expected to cost nearly $2 billion this year.

IS ANY OF THAT A RISK TO RAJAPAKSA?

Not really. His mainly rural power base has been largely shielded from economic woes through populist budgets and development projects. Rajapaksa is also counting on a flood of post-war reconstruction money to come in after fighting ends.

That could be complicated by three violent attacks on the media this month, which have angered many donor countries -- who have yet to apply the only real leverage they have: money.

The troops are pushing the Tigers into a shrinking territory

Heavy monsoon rains were falling as we approached the outskirts of Mullaitivu in a Sri Lankan armoured personnel carrier.

"We had to fight here for one week or so," said Colonel Arun Aryasinghe, as he showed us a huge earthen defence line constructed by the Tamil Tigers. "It was a very hard battle."

Mullaitivu used to be one of the Tigers' most important bases. Now the Sri Lankan flag flies overhead, and government troops are in complete control.

But they have inherited a ghost town, full of broken buildings. Apart from men in uniform, a stray dog wandering through a burnt-out shop was one of the only signs of life.

When the Tamil Tigers were forced out, they took Mullaitivu's civilian population with them into the surrounding jungles.

Guerrilla tactics

For almost a year, as Sri Lankan troops have advanced from the south, the story has been the same. They have taken territory, boosted by better weapons and weight of numbers.

But the local population has melted away in front of them.

Why has the army suddenly had such striking military success?

It is partly because they have taken on the Tigers at their own game - guerrilla warfare.

The army has changed tactics - and those tactics have been working

They have deployed small teams of fighters deep in the jungle, and sent out highly manoeuvrable boats to take on the Tigers' fledgling navy.

Now the rebels have their backs to the wall, holding a shrinking but still significant piece of land. Estimates of their remaining strength vary, but they are unlikely to go down without a fight.

Some of the fighting is pretty close to Mullaitivu. The sound of shell fire echoes through the empty streets.

Just to the north is the final stretch of Sri Lankan coastline under rebel control. If - and they will say when - government forces reclaim it, the Tigers will be surrounded and cut off from the sea.

'Exaggerated' numbers

International aid agencies say a quarter-of-a-million civilians are already trapped in the war zone, and hundreds of people have been killed and injured. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has spoken of a major humanitarian crisis.

But the man running this war, Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, told me that the numbers were exaggerated.

"It's wrong information," he said, "it is all propaganda. I'm not saying the Red Cross is lying but they are exaggerating."

People who have been into rebel-held territory paint a very different picture, of traumatised civilians moving from place to place with little shelter and no security.

There is little sign of life in the town

A United Nations spokesman told me that UN staff had seen dozens of people killed by shell fire.

But with his troops patrolling the streets of Mullaitivu, and other towns which had previously been under rebel control, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is scenting victory.

The defence secretary categorically ruled out the prospect of any kind of ceasefire for humanitarian reasons.

"No ceasefire," he said. "Why should we?

"Every time there is a ceasefire, the LTTE [Tamil Tigers] use that to their own advantage. That's why this war has been dragging on for 30 years."

And his aim now?

"The mission is... eradicating terrorism and destroying the LTTE completely."

But once again - away from the eyes of the world - it is the civilians of northern Sri Lanka who are suffering.

Sri Lanka has maintained its push against the LTTE in the face of claims that civilians have been killed [AFP Hundreds of people wounded in the crossfire between Sri Lankan government forces and Tamil Tiger fighters have been removed from the war zone on a UN convoy, the world body says. The rescue operation in the north of the country on Thursday came as the Sri Lankan army maintained its assault against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). "The convoy just crossed the frontline with hundreds of the civilians wounded by the fighting, including 50 critically wounded children, who are being moved to a ministry of health hospital in Vavuniya," Gordon Weiss, a UN spokesman, said. Government forces have pushed the Tamil Tigers into a 300sq km pocket of territory in Mullaittivu district. But humanitarian relief organisations say that about 250,000 civilians are still trapped in the rebel-held area. UN concerned Speaking from northern Sri Lanka on Thursday, Tony Birtley, Al Jazeera's correspondent, said: "The United Nations agency is Sri Lanka is now seriously concerned for the well-being of civilians in the small and ever-shrinking pocket in the north of the country, which is controlled by the Tamil Tigers." Government forces have the Tigers in a stranglehold, he said. "The army and air force will use its aerial power and reconnaissance ability when they move into thick jungle around Mullaittivu," Birtley said. "At the moment, the government forces are fighting on conventional lines, as we understand. We have seen a number of army casualties. "The army maintains it is inflicting more damage on the LTTE but we only have their word for it." The LTTE has accused the army of shelling a no-fire zone it set up last week for civilians. TamilNet, a pro-LLT website, on Wednesday said 23 civilians were killed and 121 wounded, quoting unidentified medical sources. But the Sri Lankan government insists there have been "zero civilian casualties" in its operations, and that the LTTE has moved its artillery into populated areas. 'Civilian tragedy' Jacques de Maio, the head of Red Cross operations for South Asia, said on Wednesday: "People are being caught in the crossfire, hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded. "It's high time to take decisive action and stop further bloodshed because time is running out." "It is high time to take decisive action and stop further bloodshed because time is running out" Jacques de Maio, the head of Red Cross operations for South Asia The military says the LTTE, which claims to be fighting for the creation of an independent Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka, wants to create a "last-minute civilian tragedy" because the army was about to completely defeat them. Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said claims of civilian deaths are part of a "cheap propaganda exercise" by the LTTE. The government has said civilians are being forced to move with the Tigers to act as human shields, but there has been no independent confirmation that is the case. The Red Cross' De Maio said: "When the dust settles, we may see countless victims and a terrible humanitarian situation unless civilians are protected and international humanitarian law is respected in all circumstances." Village captured On the war front, Sri Lankan forces pushed into the northern village of Visuamadu, held by the LTTE, on Wednesday, a defence ministry official said. He said the Tigers withdrew their long-range artillery guns into an area declared a 35sq km "safe zone" for civilians, and were firing at the military from there. The military seized Mullaittivu on Sunday, which they said was the LTTE's last urban centre. A fresh offensive against the LTTE was launched by the government late last year, shrinking the northern territory under its control. Thousands of people have been killed in Sri Lanka since the LTTE launched its war in 1972.

The army says it means to "eradicate" the Tamil rebels

LTTE has denied Red Cross and UN reports of a major humanitarian crisis in the north, where troops are fighting Tamil Tiger rebels.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the BBC that he had a policy of "zero" civilian casualties.

The Red Cross believes that hundreds of civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands more are trapped.

With aid supplies mostly blocked, the UN plans to make a new bid on Thursday to evacuate badly injured civilians.

It will be the second time in three days that a United Nations convoy, trapped in the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu, will attempt to reach hundreds of critically wounded civilians, including at least 50 seriously injured children, the UN said from Colombo.

It is seeking permission from the Tamil Tigers to cross the front line during a lull in fighting and ferry the injured to Ministry of Health hospitals in Vavuniya that can cope with their wounds.

India has sought assurances that civilians trapped by the fighting in northern Sri Lanka will be protected.

At a meeting, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee urged Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa - the defence secretary's brother - to expand "safe zones" for those displaced.

'Exaggeration'

Gotabhaya Rajapakse said both the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UN were wrong about the situation in the north.

INSURGENCY TIMELINE 1976: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam form in the north-east 1987: India deploys peace-keepers to Tamil areas but they leave in 1990 2002: Government and rebels agree ceasefire 2006: Heavy fighting resumes 2009: Army takes main rebel bases of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu India's dilemma in Sri Lanka Voices from Sri Lanka Tamil diaspora voices

"I'm not saying they are lying but they are exaggerating," he said.

He also ruled out any ceasefire for humanitarian reasons, saying it would give the Tigers a chance to reorganise.

"The purpose of this offensive is to eradicate them," he said.

The military say they are involved in a final push against retreating rebels.

Moving north from the captured rebel town of Mullaitivu, they are trying to secure the north-east coastline to encircle the rebels and say they hope to control the entire north within weeks.

The ICRC said earlier that hundreds of civilians had been killed and a quarter of a million people were trapped by the fighting.

The ICRC based its figure of dead on body counts by its staff in local hospitals.

It called on the government troops and rebels to allow immediate and free access to the combat zone for humanitarian workers.

But Sri Lanka's Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights said it was the rebels who were preventing the evacuation of civilians, not government forces.

It accused the Tigers of bombarding and killing civilians and suggested the Red Cross suffered from "either wilful ignorance or naivete" when it accused both sides of endangering civilians.

Mullaittivu (Sri Lanka), Jan 28: On the hunt for elusive Tiger supremo V Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan security forces have stumbled upon a damaged bullet-proof car that could have been used here by either LTTE chief or other senior rebel leaders.

The rugged-looking covered pick up wagon, fitted with double steel sheets to escape bullet hits, was found in thick jungles near here as Lankan forces scour the area for the LTTE topmen, a senior defence official told here.

It is a crude improvised version of a bullet-proof vehicle, unlike the new technologically advanced bullet-proof cars available off the shelf, he said.

"It was perhaps used by the senior LTTE leaders," Nandana Udawattee, the Brigadier commanding the specialised 59 division of the army, explained and said in previous encounters too, the Lankan forces had come across such vehicles in battles.

The military feels that as the battle to the finish intensifies, some of the Tiger leaders including Prabhakaran were believed to have been using the such vehicles to coordinate operations as also to escape attack or injury.

In November, Lankan troops had fired on a passing such vehicle killing the LTTE cadre at the wheel.

The Lankan Army thinks that these crude bullet-proof vehicles were brought ashore in freight ships.

The defence official said the drawback of these vehicles was that they became heavier and slower in movement due to heavy steel plates that slowed them down.

During the battles to capture the main town of Mullaittivu, the army also recovered an improvised mortar launcher.

Chennai, Jan 28: AIADMK leader J Jayalalaithaa on Wednesday rejected Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s invitation to visit the war-ravaged northern parts of his country, and instead asked her political opponent and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to go there.

Rajapaksa had on Tuesday, while meeting visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, invited Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa to Sri Lanka to persuade the Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down arms and enter into the democratic mainstream.

However, the AIADMK supremo told a press conference in Chennai that she is turning down the Sri Lankan President’s offer as she is a staunch opponent of the LTTE and her call for them to lay down arms would not lead to anything.

Taking a dig at the Tamil Nadu CM, Jayalalithaa said that Karunanidhi should visit the neighbouring country as he has always been a staunch supporter and close friend of the LTTE. If the DMK chief makes an offer to Tamil Tigers, they would listen to him, she added.

Jayalalithaa further said that ceasefire in the war-ravaged island nation can be achieved only if LTTE rebels lay down arms.

Karuna threatens to sue Jaya over charge on Lankan relief fund

Describing the AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa's allegation as defamatory that Karunnidhi had "siphoned off" money from the Sri Lankan Relief Fund constituted by the Tamil Nadu government, the Chief Minister today sent a legal notice to her demanding an "unconditional" apology.

The notice, sent on his behalf by Additional Advocate General P Wilson, said Jayalalithaa's statement was "highly defamatory and liable for criminal prosecution and punishable" under different sections of IPC.

"You have accused my client with defamatory malicious statement that it raises doubt in the minds of the people as to whether the funds were appropriated and taken over by the Chief Minister and his family fold. My client has answered as to how the fund is being utilized," Wilson said in the notice.

Having held the position of Chief Minister in the past Jayalalithaa should be "knowing pretty well," about functional aspects of the government in the matter of collection, accounting and utilisation of such funds, the notice said.

"Knowing fully well the entire mechanism involved, you have made such reckless statement with malicious intentions. Your statement is highly defamatory (and) made with the sole purpose of lowering the dignity of my client and also the officials of the state government, in the eyes of the public," the notice said.

If Jayalalithaa does not tender her apology within three days of receipt of the notice "we will have no option except to initiate proceedings for defamation in criminal law and also claim damages," the notice said.