The Ceylon News

The military is under pressure to call a temporary halt to the fighting

The Sri Lankan government says it is considering a humanitarian pause in the offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in the north-east of the country.

The pause would allow civilians caught up in the fighting time to escape.

A senior foreign ministry official told the BBC that the details for a halt would be worked out shortly.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan military said more than 50 Tamil Tiger guerrillas were killed in land and sea battles in the north-eastern region.

"The government is considering a humanitarian pause and the modalities will be worked out shortly," Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Dr Palitha Kohona told the BBC, without elaborating further.

The Sri Lankan government has been under immense pressure from the UN and other international bodies to call a temporary halt in the fighting to allow time for tens of thousands of trapped civilians to escape.

The UN says nearly 3,000 civilians may have been killed and 7,000 others injured in the fighting in the last two months.

Fierce clashes

Earlier, the military said two separate clashes in the north-eastern region had left more than 50 rebels dead.

There has been no reaction from the Tamil Tigers to the claims but pro-rebel websites said the rebels were offering stiff resistance in the area.

Neither version of events could be independently confirmed, as journalists are not allowed to report from inside the conflict zone.

Meanwhile, officials say more than 1,600 civilians fled the war zone and reached government-controlled areas on Monday.

The government says more than 61,000 people have already fled from rebel-held areas and have been housed in special camps in the northern region.

The Tamil Tiger rebels appealed again Tuesday for a halt to fighting in their war against the Sri Lankan government, though they denied they were on the brink of defeat despite being backed into an ever-shrinking pocket of land.

The appeal for a cease-fire from S. Pathmanathan, in charge of international diplomatic relations for the rebels, comes as the government says it is close to crushing the rebels and ending 25 years of civil war.

Pathmanathan was quoted by the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site as saying the international community needed "to apply adequate pressure on the government to enter into a cease-fire with the Tigers."

There was no immediate comment from the government, which has said in the past that it would agree to a cease-fire if the rebels laid down their arms first. Pathmanathan called that "not realistic."

Even though the rebels have suffered a string of military defeats in the last several years and are now fighting desperately to defend a narrow strip of jungle and beach measuring just 8.4 square miles (21 square kilometers) on Sri Lanka's northeastern coast, Pathmanathan said it was a temporary setback.

"It is wrong to assume that the LTTE is in a weakened position. The LTTE is a versatile and resilient movement," he said, using the acronym for the rebels' formal name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Most of the area the rebels occupy has been designated a "no-fire" zone by the government to protect trapped civilians. The U.N. estimates there are 150,000 to 190,000 such people, resulting in dozens of deaths each day. The government disputes the U.N. figure, saying half that number are stuck in the area.

The government and international bodies have accused the rebels of holding the civilians as human shields, and this week the Ministry of Defense said the rebels were mounting heavy artillery and mortar attacks from the zone.

Pathmanathan denied that the rebels were holding the people against their will.

"The Tamil people have lived with us in the areas that were under our governance and have moved with us in the recent displacements seeking our protection," he said.

Verification of the competing claims was not possible because independent journalists are not allowed into the conflict area. Direct contact with the rebels in the north is also no longer possible because communications links have been cut.

The Tamil Tiger rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have faced decades of marginalization by successive governments controlled by ethnic Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.

The Sri Lankan Navy sank four Tamil Tiger boats yesterday in a battle that left at least 26 rebels dead and struck a huge blow against the feared Sea Tiger suicide fleet, officials said.

The dead in the four-hour battle off the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka included Maran, a senior figure in the Sea Tigers, the rebels’ naval division, a government spokesman said. Maran’s boat was hit as it fled after making a failed attempt to break a navy blockade. One navy sailor died.

The Sea Tigers were developed during the 1980s to smuggle in equipment to the rebels’ ground forces but also dabbled in piracy and came to specialise in suicide missions, using fibreglass boats packed with explosives against the Navy. In February the Government claimed that it had killed Soosai, the Sea Tigers’ commander, in an air raid.

The separatist Tigers have lost a string of strongholds on the ground in fighting in recent months and are now said to be pinned down in only 8.4sq miles (22sq km) of jungle and beach in Mullaittivu district.

At least 24 Tamil Tiger rebels and a navy sailor were killed in a major sea battle off Sri Lanka's northeast coast on Monday, a navy spokesman said.

Government forces sank four boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) off the coast of Mullaittivu, spokesman D. K. P. Dassanayake said.

He said one sailor was killed and three more wounded in the sea battle. The battle came as ground troops stepped up attacks against the Tigers who have been cornered in a narrow strip of jungle in Mullaittivu.

Sri Lanka's military said Thursday it had brushed off a Tamil Tiger counterattack by killing 30 guerrillas, pinning the rebels in a rapidly shrinking area and moving closer to ending the quarter-century-long civil war.

Ethnic Tamil lawmakers, meanwhile, rejected the president's invitation for talks, urging the government to first ensure the safety of civilians trapped in the war zone.

The latest fighting took place on the edge of an enclave controlled by the rebels, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged north. The rebels tried to attack government lines at the village of Iranaippalai, the military said.

"We successfully repulsed the attack and over 30 LTTE cadres were reported killed," military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

Nanayakkara said a number of soldiers were wounded in the battle, but did not give details.

Access to the war zone is restricted and it was not possible to confirm the report.

The rebels have been battling since 1983 for a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka where it once controlled a large swath of territory, but a series of major victories by government forces in recent weeks has pushed them into a small pocket on the coast.

The rebel holdouts — along with tens of thousands of terrified civilians — are confined to just 8.4 square miles (21 square kilometers) of jungle and beach on the northeastern coast.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa invited the Tamil politicians for talks Thursday evening to discuss the situation in the north. The Tamil National Alliance, the largest political party for ethnic Tamils, said it told Rajapaksa it would not participate until the government halts its military campaign and gives more food and medicine to people trapped in the war zone.

"Any political dialogue can be meaningful only when the humanitarian crisis comes to an end," TNA lawmaker Rajavarothayam Sambanthan told a news conference, adding that about 50 civilians are killed in the fighting daily.

The United Nations and European Union have recently voiced concern over the fate of civilians in Sri Lanka's conflict.

The government has rejected criticism it has not done enough to help them, and Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management Mahinda Samarasinghe said Thursday that "sufficient food and medical supplies" had been sent to help the people. The government last week sent 10 tons of medicine — enough for two weeks, he said.

"We will ensure that there will be no shortage," he told a news conference.

John Holmes, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official, said Thursday that the international organization estimates between 150,000 and 190,000 civilians are trapped by the fighting and cannot escape, resulting in dozens of deaths each day.

The government says the number is 50,000 to 60,000, and accuses the rebels of using them as human shields in a bid to avoid defeat.

U.S. diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo said the U.S. has urged Sri Lanka's government to cease shelling in areas where there are large numbers of civilians, including hospitals.

"We've had promises, but we need to see results," she said. "The government of Sri Lanka must pay more attention to protecting the civilians in this conflict."

Sri Lanka's U.N. ambassador Hewa M.G.S. Palihakkara told reporters he would recommend his government consider a pause in fighting if the rebels are cooperative.

"If the LTTE's ready to let these people go, I will posit it to my government to let these people go," Palihakkara said.

The military says more than 55,000 civilians have escaped since the beginning of January.

All are being put into temporary camps, and Samarasinghe said the government decided to transfer the management of camps from the military to a civilian agency, upon the recommendation of Holmes.

Red Cross and ICRC and UNHCR officials will be present when people are screened to make sure they are not rebels, he said.

The rebels could not be reached for comment, because communication with their stronghold has been severed.

Associated Press reporter Krishan Francis in Colombo and John Heilprin at the United Nations contributed to this report.

At least 31 Tamil Tigers and six soldiers were killed and over 30 rebels injured in fierce fighting between Sri Lankan security forces and the guerrillas in the northern combat zone as the troops repulsed a series of LTTE attempts to breach their forward defence lines.

Successive bids by LTTE to launch concentrated assaults at the military forward defences north of Iranapalai and east of Puthukudiyirippu were neutralised, the army said today citing battlefront sources.

It said sporadic fighting and small-scale door-to-door operations are continuing in the area targeting rebel pockets and resistance positions.

In Puthukkudiyirippu and Karaiyamullivaikal, troops advanced into rebel territory killing 13 Tigers and injuring 19 others, security sources said. Six soldiers also lost their lives in intense fighting in Puthukkudiyirippu.

During subsequent search operations conducted in the region, troops recovered bodies of six LTTE rebels, four T-56 assault rifles, two hand-grenades and a rebel boat.

At least 12 rebels were killed and 15 others seriously injured following fierce fighting between troops and LTTE north of Iranapalai yesterday, the military said.

Meanwhile, 380 more civilians fled LTTE areas to take shelter in government-held territory, officials said.

Colombo, March 29: Sri Lankan government has never used food and medicine as a "weapon of war" in their conflict against the LTTE, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said, insisting that his forces have been restrained in their advance so as to prevent civilian casualties.

Contending that Sri Lanka was perhaps the only state that has "fed" an insurgent group, Rajapaksa said supplies of essential items have not been disrupted and humanitarian reasons were behind the slowing down of security forces' advance in the past weeks.

"The government has never used food and medicine as a weapon of war (against LTTE). Indeed Sri Lankan state is one, if not the only, nation that has fed an armed group who is trying to dismember it by violence," he told a gathering here.

He said no one could confirm the number of people killed or injured and it is impossible to determine a civilian from a combatant when the LTTE cadres, who are not in uniform, mingle with civilians and fire on Sri Lankan forces from their midst.

Rajapaksa claimed that the LTTE has also stepped up forced recruitment including that of children.

"The Sri Lankan Armed Forces have very clearly stated that their operations are conducted in such a manner so as to ensure that no civilians are killed or injured," he said.

"That is why their (security forces) advance over the past few weeks has been so slow (in Wanni)," he said.

Amid reports that embattled LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran may escape to Thailand, the southeast Asian nation has assured the government here that it would not allow its territory to be used to destabilise friends like Sri Lanka.

"Sri Lanka's call for measures to counter terrorism that may spill over to the region and beyond following the military defeat of the LTTE in Sri Lanka received strong support from Thailand," the Foreign Ministry here said.

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in Bangkok yesterday that Colombo's concerns about attempts by terrorists to operate in the region would be further addressed.

He reaffirmed that Thailand would not allow anybody to use its territory to destabilise friends like Sri Lanka with which it had long-standing cultural and religious ties.

Thailand's assurance came against the backdrop of reports that Thailand, Malaysia or some European nation could be amongst the options Prabhakaran may explore to seek refuge.

The Thai Prime Minister said that it was in "all our interests" to end terrorism, adding that Sri Lanka's interests in this regard will be reciprocated.

His remarks came during a half-an-hour meeting he had with Bogollagama, who spelt out the dangers to the region and across the world because of the LTTE.

Bogollagama said the LTTE was trying to establish itself in new sanctuaries and continuing to engage in criminal activities such as arms smuggling, narcotics trade, human trafficking and money laundering.

The minister, who was on a day-long visit to Thailand, said that terrorism in all its forms must be rooted out.

Bogollagama also called on his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon.

Bogollagama's concerns that remnants of the LTTE would not only try to re-establish themselves in new locations, but join hands with other terror groups and even turn into mercenaries offering their skills and expertise in terrorism found resonance in the high echelons of the Thai government, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Vejjajiva asked Colombo to provide information to Thai authorities about such activities. The Thai Defence Minister also assured Colombo that Thailand would not allow its soil to be used as a launching pad for "LTTE terrorism".

Earlier, Bogollagama pointed out the steps being taken to expand political pluralism, among other things, which had been long denied to the people of Sri Lanka's embattled north.

The Sri Lanka Foreign Minister said the government had a public mandate to end terrorism in the country.

"But while internally the government might end terrorism, he (Bogollagama) sought support from the region and outside to guard against any efforts in the long run by the LTTE to mushroom elsewhere," the statement said.

The UN says there are now 190,000 civilians caught in the crossfire in northern Sri Lanka [Reuters] Both sides in the Sri Lankan conflict have been urged to stop fighting and allow for a "humanitarian pause" as UN officials revised their estimate of civilians trapped in the war zone up to 190,000. The UN, backed by the US and Britain, blamed Tamil separatists for the plight of civilians caught up in the conflict, with dozens believed killed in recent weeks and many more wounded and without medical treatment. Speaking in New York on Thursday John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said he was particularly concerned about civilians being prevented from leaving the combat area by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Speaking after an informal UN Security Council briefing Holmes said he was pressing for urgent humanitarian access to the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka. "We suggested the idea of some kind of humanitarian pause to allow that to happen and to allow the civilian population to leave," he said. "This is an extremely worrying situation and therefore, our first appeal is to the LTTE to let the civilians out in a safe and orderly fashion." LTTE 'cornered' The government says its forces have confined the LTTE to an area of about 21sq km, most of which is a government-declared safe zone, on the island's northeastern coast near the town of Puthukudirippu. Rosemary DiCarlo, the US representative to UN for special political affairs, expressed "real concern" on Thursday over the increasing death toll and condemned the LTTE's use of civilians as human shields. IN VIDEO Tamil Tigers reject human shield accusations More Videos... "We call on them to lay down their arms, renounce violence and negotiate with the government." DiCarlo also criticised the Colombo government for continuing to shell areas heavily populated by civilians in its efforts to end a 25-year civil war by subduing the LTTE. "We are very concerned that the government of Sri Lanka continues its shelling in areas where there are large numbers of civilians, very close to hospitals and civilian facilities, we understand quite a number of civilians have perished because of these attacks," she said on Thursday. "We've had promises, but we need to see results." But the Sri Lankan military has rejected the claims that it had fired on civilians. 'Every precaution' Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the spokesman for Sri Lanka's defence ministry, told Al Jazeera on Friday that government forces have been taking every precaution against loss of innocent life. He said that, contrary to the claims, thousands of civilians have sought the military's protection from the fighting, with more coming daily. Hews Palihakkara, Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN, said the government had declared a 48-hour ceasefire period but the LTTE was preventing civilians from leaving. "If the LTTE is ready to let the civilians go today, I will persuade my government to agree to any modality. You can call it a pause or something else," he said. Charges rejected A senior LTTE commander has also denied using civilians as human shields and rejected government claims that they were being kept hostage in the combat zone. The LTTE has denied claims it is using civilians as human shields [Reuters] In a statement smuggled out of Sri Lanka to Al Jazeera, Ilampirathi, an LTTE "lieutenant-colonel" in Puthukudirippu, said the group was not stopping Tamil civilians from leaving. "It's a false allegation by our enemies. Our people are determined and continue to stay here despite the attacks from the enemies," Ilampirathi said, responding to questions posed by Al Jazeera and filmed last month. "Our people are helping the fighters in every way possible to fight the Sri Lankan forces. "They say they have to fight if they are to survive." Media access to the war zone is tightly controlled and claims by either the Sri Lanka government or the LTTE cannot be independently verified.

A total of 55,286 Tamil civilians have fled the fast-shrinking LTTE territory in the northern combat zone to take shelter in government-held areas since January this year, officials said today.

The latest batch to cross over from battle-scarred Wanni region yesterday comprised 1,386 people -- 413 men, 378 women, 315 boys and 330 girls, an official of the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services said.

Thousands of civilians are trapped in a strip of jungle and beach along the island's northeast coast where troops are fighting to flush out the remnants of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

The official said 55,286 civilians have crossed over to government-held areas from Wanni till now.

The Indian government has also commended the relief efforts by the Sri Lankan government for the displaced people arriving from Mullaitivu, an official release said here today.

It said Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Alok Prasad has expressed his appreciation when he called on Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva recently.

Minister de Silva thanked the High Commissioner for continuously providing services for the displaced at the 'welfare villages' set up by the Sri Lankan government.

The Sri Lankan government early this month sent 500 metric tonnes of food rations for the displaced civilians in Wanni, the biggest shipment so far, Commissioner of Essential Services S B Divarathna said.

The United Nations, backed by Britain and the United States, has pressed for a "humanitarian pause" in strife-torn Sri Lanka and blamed Tamil rebels for the plight of trapped civilians.

United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes told reporters after an informal UN Security Council briefing that his main concern "is the civilian population trapped in the combat area and not being allowed out by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)."

He added that he was pressing for urgent humanitarian access to the combat area in northern Sri Lanka.

"We suggested the idea of some kind of humanitarian pause to allow that to happen and to allow the civilian population to leave," he said. "This is an extremely worrying situation and therefore, our first appeal is to the LTTE to let the civilians out in a safe and orderly fashion."

Rosemary DiCarlo, a senior US delegate to the UN, also voiced her government's "deep concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka" and slammed the LTTE, which she pointedly recalled is viewed by Washington as a terrorist organisation.

"We certainly condemn the fact that they (LTTE) use civilians as human shields ... We call on them to lay down their arms, renounce violence and negotiate with the government," she added.

DiCarlo also chided Colombo for continuing to shell areas heavily populated by civilians.

She said Washington had urged Colombo to cease the shelling and had received promises. "But we need to see results," she added, urging the Sri Lankan government to "pay more attention to protecting the civilian population."

Her British counterpart John Sawers also blamed the LTTE for the plight of civilians in the north of the country.

"It is the LTTE which is preventing them from doing so (leaving the combat area)," he said. "We condemn their action in that regard. We call on both parties to respect humanitarian law, cease use of heavy weapons and to everything to protect civilian lives."

Sri Lanka's UN Ambassador HMGS Palihakkara said his government shared concern about the fate of civilians, and noted that Colombo had declared a 48-hour ceasefire period.

He accused the LTTE of preventing the civilians from leaving.

"If the LTTE is ready to let them go today, my government will agree to a modality, a pause," the envoy said. "The quickest way to end the conflict is for the LTTE to lay down their arms and let these people move."

In Colombo, a government minister meanwhile said the Tamil Tiger rebels had lost more of their territory in northern Sri Lanka and their total defeat was now "imminent."

Government troops have confined LTTE fighters to an area of 21 square kilometres (eight square miles), most of which is a government-declared safe zone, said Keheliya Rambukwella, minister for foreign employment and the government's defence spokesman.

"Therefore, it is apparent that the LTTE are now at the imminent brink of defeat," he said.

At the height of their power in the mid-1990s, the Tigers controlled more than two-thirds of the Indian Ocean island's coastline and one third of the total land mass.

The collapse of the Tigers began two years ago, and accelerated after the government pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce in January 2008.

Claiming that the LTTE has lost its control over most of the territory in north, Sri Lankan government on Thursday said the defeat of Tamil Tigers is now "imminent."

"It is apparent that the LTTE are now at the imminent brink of defeat," Defence spokesman and Minister for Foreign Employment Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters.

Rambukwella said the LTTE rebels have been restricted to 21 sq kms out of which 20 sq kms is a government-declared safe zone.

In the mid-1990s, the rebels controlled more than two-thirds of the island's coastline and one third of the total land mass.

Accusing the LTTE of using the "safe zone" to launch attacks on government forces, Rambukwella said the Tamil Tigers are using the civilians as a shield and are carrying out atrocities on them.

He said the fighting was now moving into a phase of intense close-quarters combat.

Meanwhile, four top LTTE commanders were among 30 rebels killed yesterday when Sri Lankan troops repulsed a massive Tamil Tiger attack in Pudukudiyirippu, the last town held by them in the embattled north.

Colombo, March 26: Hours before President Mahinda Rajapaksa holds parleys with Tamil and Muslim outfits on the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka, a pro-LTTE party today said it will abstain from the meet as it is not ready for talks before the government halts the military offensive in the north.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), at the same time, asserted it would not "condone" the LTTE rebels if they have indulged in killing of Tamil civilians.

The LTTE remnants are boxed in a small patch of land in the north with the Lankan troops fighting to flush them out. Thousands of Tamil civilians are trapped in the war zone.

"The government will have to halt all the military operations in (northern) Wanni before we agree for a meeting with the Sri Lankan President," TNA parliamentary leader R Sambanthan told reporters.

Asked whether the LTTE was involved in killing of Tamil civilians, Sambanthan said his party will not "condone" it if the Tiger rebels have resorted to such acts.

Sambanthan said future talks with Rajapaksa would also be subject to the government ensuring "adequate" supply of food and medicines to the displaced Tamils and allowing UN, the Red Cross and NGOs to freely take part in humanitarian operations.

There was no immediate word on whether the scheduled meeting will be cancelled following the pro-LTTE party's decision to abstain.

Chennai, March 25: India will "wait and see what steps are actually taken" by Sri Lankan government to implement a power devolution package that would fully satisfy the island's Tamils in view of President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently expressing his commitment in this regard.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a reply to a letter by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on the Lankan Tamils issue, noted that Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa had said that steps to work out a devolution package were being initiated immediately.

"We may wait and see what steps are actually taken," he said.

Singh said during discussions with Sri Lanka, India had consistently proposed a temporary cessation of hostilities which could be utilised to facilitate movement of the Tamil population out of war zone to safety areas and proper rehabilitation facilities could be arranged.

India had urged the Sri Lankan Government to fulfil its commitments to the Tamil population in Sri Lanka and come up with a proper devolution of powers to the provinces in that country, the Prime Minister said.

"We have indicated that this should also include assurances of equality and equal rights for Tamils, as is the case for other citizens of Sri Lanka," he said in the letter, a copy of which was released to media by the Tamil Nadu government today.

International charitable organizations, accused of siding with the rebels in Sri Lanka's civil war, are denying the charge. The country's defense ministry has stated aid groups find continued bloodshed there "a lucrative business" and want terrorism to prevail in the South Asian island nation.

Government soldier stands guard at roadside check point in Colombo, 16 Mar 2009

One of the international aid organizations working in Sri Lanka is rejecting the military's accusation it is part of a "vicious coalition" seeking to prolong the country's civil war.

In a statement posted on its Internet site, the Defense Ministry mentioned by name CARE International. It accused one of its local workers, who reportedly died last week in shelling in a "no-fire zone," as being a "hardcore" cadre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. A bitterly worded military release Tuesday accused CARE and other international aid groups of actively supporting terrorism in Sri Lanka.

From its international headquarters in Geneva, CARE spokeswoman Melanie Brooks tells VOA the organization, which has operated in Sri Lanka since 1950, has never sided with the rebels during the decades-long civil war.

"CARE does not support terrorist activities," Brooks said. "CARE is not a political organization and we do not have any political affiliations."

Melanie Brooks says the government is well aware of the humanitarian mission of international aid organizations, such as hers.

"We do obviously work very closely with the communities in Sri Lanka, with the government in Sri Lanka," Brooks said. "And everything that we do must be done in cooperation with communities and the people of Sri Lanka on the ground."

The military says the rebels, fighting for Tamil independence, are now confined to less than 30 square kilometers of jungle and beach. The rebels once controlled a wide swath of the northern part of the country.

A number of international organizations have recently spoken about the toll the latest clashes in northern Sri Lanka are taking on civilians.

The government has accused the United Nations and other organizations of inflating the numbers of civilians killed and trapped in the war zone.

While some local workers of international aid groups remain in the conflict area, the Sri Lankan government prohibits international employees of such organizations, as well as independent journalists, from traveling to the north. That has made it difficult to verify the situation there.

Sri Lanka's government says since Tuesday more than 1,500 civilians crossed into military-held territory near the last town still held by the Tamil Tigers.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a Tamil homeland free of control of the island's Sinhalese majority. The rebel group LTTE is considered a terrorist organization by a number of countries, including the United States and India.

Colombo, March 25: Five farmers were killed and two wounded in a suspected Tamil Tigers attack in a village in Sri Lanka's eastern province, the defence ministry said here Wednesday.

It said that the killing took place at Neelapola, a village at Kantale in the Trincomalee district, late Tuesday night, when a group of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres stormed the village.

The wounded people have been rushed to hospital.

The military had said that the LTTE has now been boxed into a mere 28 square km land area in the Mullaitivu district in north-eastern Sri Lanka, facing a multi-pronged military onslaught.

It said that the number of civilians fleeing the rebel-held areas defying LTTE orders was on the rise and over 47,000 displaced people have entered the government-held areas since the beginning of 2009.

They are being temporarily housed in welfare centres and villages in the northern Vavuniya district.

Colombo, March 25: Sri Lankan troops forcing their way into the last strongholds of the Tamil Tigers have captured a hideout of the rebels' intelligence wing chief, Pottu Amman, in the north-eastern Mullaitivu district, the defence ministry said Wednesday.

It said that the 58 Division have captured "the safe house (that) was used by both Pottu Amman and (another LTTE leader) Kapil Amman" in the general area south of Iranapalai at the Mullaitivu battlefront after fierce clashes Tuesday.

The ministry said that the troops during the subsequent search operation "have also found a jeep believed (to be) used by Pottu Amman himself".

The capture of the hideout of Pottu Amman has come amid media reports that he was now leading the offensive against the advancing troops along with the elusive rebel chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran and his elder son Charles Antony.

Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman are wanted in India for their links with the 1991 assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The defence ministry in a separate report said that the 58 Division troops have "repulsed an LTTE offensive thrust against the advancing military formations, north of Iranapalai", inflicting heavy damages among the rebels Tuesday.

"The LTTE terrorists had made a desperate attempt to breach the military forward defences, only to be left in total disarray due to intense armour and small arms fire by security forces," it said, charging that the rebels have continued to fire heavy artillery and mortar from several locations at the declared No Fire Zone.

The military had said that the LTTE was now boxed into a mere 28 square km land area in Mullaitivu district and was facing a multi-pronged military onslaught.

It said that the number of civilians fleeing the rebel-held areas defying LTTE orders was on the rise and over 47,000 displaced people have entered the government-held areas since the beginning of 2009.

They are being temporarily housed in welfare centres and villages in the northern Vavuniya district.

Diplomatic skirmishing in the UN Security Council between the US and China over the war in Sri Lanka underscores their growing rivalry in every corner of the globe. Both powers are intent on staking out their claims in Colombo as the 25-year conflict on the island reaches its climax.

Last week UN Security Council members Austria, Mexico and Costa Rica, backed by the US and Britain, called for an informal briefing on the humanitarian crisis facing tens of thousands of people trapped by the war in northern Sri Lanka. China, supported by Russia, blocked the move declaring that it was "an internal matter" for Sri Lanka and was not a threat to international security.

None of this diplomatic posturing should be taken at face value. All of a sudden Washington has begun to express concern about the plight of tens of thousands of civilians caught in fighting as the Sri Lankan army closes in on the remaining pocket of territory held by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The US media is now peddling a similar line. The New York Times, for instance, published an article on Sunday about the plight of refugees and the "challenges of peace". American ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake declared he was worried that the government was dominated by "certain hard-line Sinhalese elements" and appealed to President Mahinda Rajapakse to "reach out to the Tamil and Muslim communities".

The article described the "cold peace" in the island's eastern province, which has been firmly under army control since mid-2007. In Batticaloa, there are "army checkpoints in the town centre, armed thugs prowling back streets and continuing reports of abductions and disappearances."

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the president's brother, justified such police state measures, saying: "The war is like a cancer. Even after curing a cancer, there is a period for radiation treatment. It is the same with the war on terrorism."

Until recently, however, the US has quietly backed President Rajapakse, the war and the military's gross abuse of democratic rights. But as the army made rapid advances into the LTTE's remaining territory from early January and the defeat of the LTTE appeared likely, the US made a tactical shift. It began to call for a "political solution" to the conflict—a deal, not with the LTTE, but with sections of the Tamil elite to temper the decades of anti-Tamil discrimination that gave rise to the war.

Washington's concern is that ongoing communal tensions will not only destabilise Sri Lanka, but neighbouring India, which has become America's key economic and strategic partner in the South Asia. New Delhi is worried about the potential for political unrest to spill over in southern state of Tamil Nadu where Tamils have historic ties with Sri Lanka. The "humanitarian issue has been raised as a means of pressuring the Rajapakse regime to make concessions.

India and the US share another common concern—the growing influence of China in Sri Lanka. While India has had to be cautious in its support for the Sri Lankan war, China has provided military and financial aid to Colombo with no questions asked. Chinese sales of arms including fighter jets, sophisticated radar, anti-aircraft guns and other military hardware and munitions have helped tip the balance in the country's protracted civil war. Visiting last month, Defence Secretary Rajapakse thanked China for its "steadfast support" in strengthening the "war on terrorism".

China's decision to block a UN Security Council discussion was also welcomed by the Sri Lankan political establishment. An editorial in last weekend's Sunday Times denounced the mounting pressure "from the Western countries where there has been heavy lobbying by Sri Lankan expatriates and a group of international ‘bleeding hearts'. These moves in the UN, it declared, "have been shot down by Sri Lanka's steadfast ally in its war on terrorism—China."

Like the US, China's manoeuvring in the UN is guided by self-interest. Beijing conveniently forgot about its principle of "non-interference in internal affairs" when it came to the US interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the case of Sri Lanka, it has used the argument to curry favour in Colombo by blocking a UN debate and to defend its unconditional support for the government and its criminal war.

The pay-off for Beijing has been a $US1 billion deal with Colombo in 2007 to construct a major port facility in the southern town of Hambantota. The first stage of the project, being built by Chinese corporations and largely with Chinese finance, is due to be completed at the end of 2010. When completed it will include a container port, a bunkering system, an oil refinery, an airport and other facilities that are expected to transform Hambantota into a major transshipment hub.

The importance of the project for China is obvious. Hambantota on the southern tip of Sri Lanka is just six nautical miles from the main east-west trade route across the Indian Ocean. Around 70 percent of China's oil imports is shipped via this sea lane from the Middle East through the Strait of Malacca to Chinese ports. Acutely aware that its shipping would be vulnerable in the event of any conflict, especially with the US, Beijing has been expanding its navy and developing a "chain of pearls"—port facilities along this trade route. Hambantota, like the Chinese-built port of Gwadar in Pakistan, is one such pearl.

The US and India are intent on countering China's strategy. Thus under the guise of humanitarian concern, India has sent a military medical team to Sri Lanka. Earlier this month the US proposed to send a Marine Expeditionary Brigade to northern Sri Lanka to evacuate refugees—an offer that appears to have been turned down.

Like the diplomatic posturing in the UN Security Council, none of these moves—by either side—is motivated by concern for working people in Sri Lanka who have born the brunt of 25 years of war. Rather the small South Asian island, like other parts of the world, is being drawn into the international rivalry that is intensifying as the global economic crisis deepens and foreshadows far more catastrophic conflicts.

Sri Lanka said 50,000 civilians have fled to government-controlled areas since January as the army tries to defeat the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in its last strongholds in the north.

The number was reached when a group of 1,164 people arrived in Puthukkudiyiruppu in the northeast, the government said in a statement on its Web site yesterday, citing the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services.

“The ministry expects an increase in the number of civilians crossing over from the conflict zone in the next few days,” the government said. Soldiers are fighting in the Mullaitivu region where the army says the Tamil Tigers control only 28 square kilometers (10.8 square miles) of territory.

The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates as many as 150,000 people may still be caught in conflict areas in the northeast. Aid groups and the United Nations have repeatedly called on the government and the LTTE to stop fighting to allow food and medicines into the area and people to leave.

“It is very difficult to have a precise estimate as people have been displaced so many times,” Sophie Romanens, an ICRC spokeswoman, said by telephone from the capital, Colombo, yesterday.

Cease-Fire Call

The head of the LTTE’s political wing called for a cease- fire at the weekend to allow aid to reach civilians, saying the Tamil people are being subjected to “genocidal warfare.”.

“Non-stop artillery and aerial attacks are creating an unbearable situation,” B. Nadesan said in an interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government has ruled out any truce with the LTTE and is demanding the group’s unconditional surrender. There has been no official communication about a truce from the LTTE, Lakshman Hulugalle, director for the government’s Media Center for National Security, said yesterday.

The Sri Lankan army is continuing to shell areas declared a “no fire zone,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement today.

“We receive reports of civilians being killed and wounded daily in the ‘no fire’ zone, while the Sri Lankan government continues to deny the attacks,” Brad Adams, the New York-based group’s Asia director, said. “The Tamil Tigers’ use of civilians as human shields adds to the bloodshed.”

Aid Supplies

The government is providing food and aid by land and sea for displaced people in the north and the military is making every effort to avoid civilian casualties, Rajapaksa told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a telephone conversation last week, according to the government’s Web site.

Sri Lanka’s navy is evacuating civilians by sea from near the port of Mullaitivu, under the flag of the ICRC. A group of 495 people was brought out by ship two days ago, the 13th such evacuation in recent weeks, the Defense Ministry said yesterday on its Web site.

The UN said earlier this month as many as 2,800 people may have been killed and 7,000 injured since January, describing the casualties as “truly shocking.”

Civilian casualties have “skyrocketed” since January, Human Rights Watch said.

“The situation of civilians trapped in the conflict zone is aggravated by the acute shortage of food, sanitary facilities and medication as international humanitarian agencies cannot deliver sufficient supplies to the conflict zone,” it said.

The government accuses the LTTE of holding thousands of civilians in combat zones. The Tamil Tigers say that people are staying in LTTE-held territory of their own free will because they don’t want to be placed in government-run internment camps.

Tamil Tiger fighters attacked an army special forces unit near the eastern port of Batticaloa on March 22, killing three soldiers, the TamilNet news agency in the north reported, citing the LTTE’s political division in the district. The army hasn’t commented on the report.

The LTTE, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and India, has been fighting for a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east of the country for 26 years. The conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.

As the Sri Lankan army prepares to dislodge the Tamil Tigers from its stronghold in the embattled north of the country, the military said they were ready to inflict a "decisive blow" to the guerrillas.

A top minister earlier warned of "terrorist acts" by the desperate LTTE as the troops in Mullaitivu districts' Pudukudiyirippu battlefront stepped up assault in which at least 10 LTTE rebels were killed.

"According to information made available to us by the security forces they expect to enter the last phase during the next two weeks. Hence the next two weeks will be very decisive," said Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Minister of Mass Media and Information.

"Therefore we believe there is a possibility of terrorist acts intensifying in various parts of the south.

Thus citizens should be vigilant about the surrounding and their personal security,” he told reporters late last week.

Meanwhile, the LTTE sustained severe damages during confrontations with troops yesterday in Pudukudiyirippu area, said the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), which is linked to the Lankan army.

During a subsequent search operation troops recovered 9 bodies of LTTE fighters killed in the clashes, the army said. Troops suffered minor damages in the clashes, the MCNS said.

Separately, Lankan troops of the Task Force-2 inflicted heavy damages on the LTTE during a confrontation in Pudukudiyirippu yesterday, the MCNS said, adding one body of LTTE cadre was recovered.

Meanwhile, the army strengthen the defences after gaining control over the Iranapalai general area, the Defence Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in a report last week said that humanitarian conditions in the north-eastern war zone are deteriorating as thousands of civilians in safe areas are at risk of shelling and lack safe drinking water and sanitation.

The Sri Lanka Navy is providing safe passage for civilians trapped in the war zone, the defence ministry said. At least 494 civilians were evacuated on board "MV Green Ocean" yesterday. The evacuation of patients and civilians trapped in the LTTE areas in Mullaithivu is being carried out under the ICRC flag, it said.

Fighting, which has escalated in the past two years, further flared after the government in January 2008 pulled out of the 2002 cease-fire pact with the rebels.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state for the minority ethnic Tamils, alleging marginalisation of the community for decades by governments dominated by the Sinhalese. Over 70,000 people have been killed in the civil war in the Island nation.

Confident that Sri Lankan troops will achieve bigger success in their battle against the LTTE, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake has said there would be "more breaking news" on the war front soon as security forces killed 38 rebels in fierce fighting in the north.

"In a few days there will be more breaking news. Civilians are unfortunately getting trapped between the LTTE and security forces," Wickremanayake told a public rally on Saturday. The Lankan troops have recaptured most of the rebel-held territories in the north in recent months, taking over the LTTE de facto capital of Kilinochchi and establishing full control over Jaffna peninsula.

"I wish to state that terrorism will be eradicated from this country before long," the Prime Minister said. His comments came as Lankan troops pushed further to flush out the remaining LTTE cadres holed up in a small area in the northern conflict zone.

Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said 10 Tiger rebels were killed in Pudukudiyirippu area on Saturday, while as many as 28 were gunned down by the troops on Sunday.

In another setback to the LTTE, "Sri Lankan security forces brought the important Iranapalai junction in the east of Pudukudiyirippu in Mullaittivu completely under their control yesterday," the Defence Ministry said.

The several thousand Tamil civilians being placed in jeopardy by the LTTE as the end game draws near shows the LTTE's callous disregard for its loyal supporting cast of civilians/low level cadres drawn into the separatist Eelam cause.
International Human Rights (HR) groups, Media and Diplomats are the most vocal as they pressure Sri Lanka for a Ceasefire, and not quite loudly enough, for the LTTE to lay down arms. HR groups who are spearheading these calls should surely be familiar by now with the LTTE's operational strategies, and that the LTTE has no concern whatever for the people under its control, other than how these people could be used in order for the LTTE to survive, through ceasefire or truce, for future rounds of guerilla war.
The HR groups and Media must also know they are being used as pawns by the terror outfits to assist them in the new "human shield" tactic. The traditional position of HR groups has been as critics of the Oppressors, usually governments, and as supporters of the oppressed. However, the "human shield" necessitates HR groups to reassess their own position and strategies, as it becomes clearer that they must develop more nuanced alternate strategies for supporting civilians in the control of terror groups while alienating the terror group itself. Is this possible? If not, what options do they have?
Obviously, the aim should be to liberate and free as many civilians as can be managed, and to ride it out for as long as possible WITHOUT giving hope to the LTTE that "intervention" in the guise of saving the civilians will come to pass. In practical terms this "wait out" has also to be limited so that the military advantage gained is not lost. Whatever be the case, the final confrontation could no doubt be a harsh one, and would be the point at which the world would have to take the moral stand and in this case, support the Sri Lanka government. Under no circumstances should the "human shield" consideration supercede the routing of the LTTE at this final stage. That would be inexcusable, for it would leave a terrible example of the world's incompetence, and lead to more widespread use of the human shield as a terror tactic.
This dilemma and the only position left for HR groups to adopt at such junctures would negate the very raison d'etre of the HR groups. Therefore, rather than working as critics of governments, HR groups should assist and cooperate with the world's nations in looking for better, more sophisticated ways by which to have civilians can be extricated from the stranglehold of the terror groups, without falling into the trap of simply criticizing governments that are in the process of striving hard to handle very tricky disaster situations. Bringing criticism and sanctions against governments would only lead to HR groups being treated as unwelcome, and would result in extending civilian suffering from beyond the camp environment to other populations spread across the entirety of these countries.
Add to this the special responsibility of the media in this day and age of competitive and immediate communications. Their's is a very special role as the watchdogs of the Fourth Estate, and a difficult one at the best of times to keep ethical and objective balance in reportage. It becomes especially so in times of economic stress as is being experienced globally today.
HR activists and the Media should weigh in the fact that if the LTTE is allowed to succeed in using the "human shield" in Sri Lanka, this will fast become the newest ploy used in copycat style by intransigent terror groups the world over. Sri Lanka with its long conflict and LTTE terrorist dimension, has become the laboratory for the world's terror outfits today as they hone their tactics and learn from each other. In this scenario, it is critical that the world does not allow this terrorist experiment to yield the 'wrong' results. The world cannot afford not to get it RIGHT this time around.
It is unlikely that the LTTE will allow any more civilians to escape. The dilemma for all concerned then, is how to deal with the inevitable killings as the army squeezes the "human shield" in, through a day-to-day perhaps man-to-man fight. The 70,000 or more civilians who stayed behind may also be armed. Would the end justify the means as it did in Hiroshima? In this case, the common sense answer, sadly, is "Yes" - for not only Sri Lanka, but for the whole world. And yet, it will leave a scar that will forever remain in Lanka's history....the price the nation will have to pay for having kept the LTTE going for so long, especially through a foolish Ceasefure Agreement, and the price for regaining security of the island while hopefully eliminating one expert terror group from the world.
As always, prevention is better than cure, so the real answer to terrorism is to nip things in the bud so that terror groups do not have the chance to start up. Sri Lanka's is the first democratic government of the modern world forced to face the predicament of the "human shield", and deserves some special understanding and support instead of the one-way assault that it received at the hands of witnesses from the Human Rights, Media and Diplomatic branches of the international community at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing a few days ago

Sri Lanka's troops have gained from Tamil Tigers a further 1.5 kms on the A35 highway in the north, military officials said Saturday.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the military spokesman, said the troops are consolidating in the Mullaithivu district's Iranapalai area which is regarded as the Tamil Tigers' intelligence operations headquarters.

Meanwhile, Minister of Media Laxman Yapa Abeywardena told reporters here Saturday that the military believes that the final stage of the battle would happen during the next 2 weeks.

"We warn the public to be on alert for desperate action by the LTTE. They could resort to destructive action. There could be acts of terror in the south of the country", Abeywardene said.

The military also said that at least 20 Tiger rebels have been killed in sniper attacks by the military on Friday.

Most killings by military snipers against the rebels on a single day came at Puthukudyiruppu west and Iranapalai area, officials added.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels are currently limited to 25 sq kms in Puthkudyiruppu, the last LTTE presence in the north after government troops scored a series of win over the rebels since mid 2006.

Troops now say they are on the verge of completely crushing the LTTE's over three-decade old campaign to carve out a separate homeland for the minority Tamil community.

The military is currently on the look out for the entire senior leadership of the LTTE having deployed a tight sea cordon to prevent them from fleeing.

LTTE artillery shelling killed 46 civilians Friday inside the safety zone in the besieged pocket in Mullaiththeevu. LTTE-fired shells hit 6 tarpaulin shelters of the IDPs in Maaththa'lan Friday, killing 16 civilians. Meanwhile 4 civilians were killed around 11:00 a.m., 300 meters near the coastal spot, where the ICRC was transporting wounded civilians. On Thursday, 39 civilians including 11 children were killed and at least 17 civilians were reported killed inside the safety zone on Wednesday.

6 civilians were killed in Pokk'anai when a single shell hit an IDP hut around 1:00 p.m. on Friday.

The remaining casualties were reported in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, Iraddaivaaykkaal, and Valaignarmadam.

Heavy shelling was reported in Pokka'nai and Maaththa'lan areas within the safety zone since 11:00 p.m. Thursday.