The Ceylon News

The UN says a large number of civilians have fallen ill due to shortages in food and medicine [EPA] The Sri Lankan navy has escorted an emergency shipment of food aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross intended for civilians trapped in the country's war zone, sources say. The UN said on Wednesday that the shipment is only a fraction of what is needed to feed thousands of civilians, facing severe shortages of food, medicine and clean water in the northeast. ICRC said it was sending 30 tonnes of dry rations, but aid workers say a minimum of 2,500 tonnes a month is required for their survival. The UN said a large number of trapped civilians have fallen ill. Government forces say they are on the verge of defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after more than 25 years of civil war. Troops have taken control of most of the Tamil areas across the north of the country, trapping the LTTE in a 100sq km strip of land along the coast. The government and human-rights groups have accused the LTTE of holding the civilian population hostage, a charge it denies. In another development, India has offered to aid the evacuation of civilians trapped in the fighting. Sri Lanka's Tamils share close cultural and religious links with the 62 million Tamils of India's southern Tamil Nadu state. Emphasising the necessity of a "negotiated political settlement" acceptable to all communities in Sri Lanka, Pranab Mukherjee, India's foreign minister accused the LTTE of inflicting "much damage" on the wider Tamil community. In the past India trained and armed the Tamil Tigers, but no longer gets directly involved in the politics of the island since a disastrous military intervention in the 1980s when Indian troops, sent to enforce a peace deal on the island, ended up battling the Tigers for 32 months, losing at least 1,200 men in the process. The LTTE has been fighting for what it calls an ethnic Tamil homelamd since 1983 in predominantly Sinhalese Sri Lanka.

Tens of thousands of civilians are still believed to be trapped

India has said it ready to help in the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians caught up in the fighting in Sri Lanka.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee also told parliament the Tamil Tiger rebels had "done much damage" to the Tamil community and should lay down arms.

The UN and Red Cross have expressed deep concern for the trapped civilians.

The Sri Lankan navy has escorted a new convoy of food to the area but it is only a fraction of what is needed.

Meanhwile, the defence ministry says the army is continuing to take rebel areas in the shrinking zone the Tigers control and the government has again ruled out a ceasefire.

No independent journalists can reach the conflict zone so claims by either side cannot be independently verified.

Uproar

In his statement to the Indian parliament, Mr Mukherjee said the plight of about 70,000 trapped civilians was a "serious source of concern to us".

He said India was "actively engaged to prevent a further deterioration of humanitarian conditions" and had sent relief supplies to civilians.

Mr Mukherjee added: "The government of India is ready to facilitate the evacuation of civilians trapped in the area of conflict, working with the government of Sri Lanka and the International Committee of the Red Cross, who would take responsibility for the security, screening and rehabilitation."

He said India continued to back "a negotiated political settlement" but that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) remained "a proscribed organisation in India [that] has done much damage to the Tamil community".

His comments sparked anger among MPs of two regional parties from India's Tamil Nadu state and the uproar forced two adjournments.

There are about 62m Tamils in the state and they have close links to Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan military has made steady inroads into rebel positions

In the 1980s India sent troops to enforce a peace deal but they ended up fighting the Tigers and were withdrawn in 1990.

Concerns for civilians has led to a new convoy of food aid being sent by sea.

About 30 tonnes of rations were despatched, accompanied by Sri Lankan navy vessels.

However aid workers say civilians are facing severe shortages of food, medicine and clean water and that a minimum of of 2,500 tonnes of food a month are needed.

Meanwhile the government has again rejected calls for a ceasefire.

The Tamil National Alliance, which has 21 MPs in parliament, made the call but defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said: "We have taken a policy decision to completely root out terrorism. There will be no ceasefire with the LTTE."

The army said it had captured another rebel village and recovered 28 rebel bodies since Monday amid heavy clashes.

Denial

The rebels on Wednesday accused the air force of killing 100 civilians and injuring another 70 with cluster bomb attacks on Aananthapuram.

The rebels' political chief B Nadesan also denied UN allegations that the Tigers were stepping up the forcible recruitment of child soldiers.

"We categorically deny the recruitment of anyone below an 18-year limit," he told the pro-rebel TamilNet website.

He also said criticised the UN for "not taking effective measures to protect the life, security and interests of innocent Tamil civilians".

"Instead, the UN is engaged in fruitless exercises of accusing the wrong side."

About 50,000 soldiers are pressing the Tamil Tigers into a patch of north-eastern jungle after taking the key areas of Kilinochchi, Elephant Pass and Mullaitivu.

The Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east for a quarter of a century.

New Delhi, Feb 18: India on Wednesday unveiled its intention to play a proactive role in Sri Lanka by asking the Tamil Tigers to give up their weapons and said it was ready to work with Colombo to evacuate civilians caught up in the war zone.

Under pressure to act following widespread reports of civilian suffering in fighting between the military and the Tigers, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha that India was also ready to assist in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Sri Lanka's war-hit northeast.

Speaking even as a section of MPs from Tamil Nadu interrupted him raising slogans like "Stop the war", Mukherjee outlined at length the government's thinking on Sri Lanka, where the military has almost overwhelmed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"As the conflict enters what may be the final phase of military operations, the LTTE would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians (in its zone) and laying down arms," he said.

In one of the most critical statements ever against the LTTE, Mukherjee recalled that it was an outlawed group in India and accused the Tigers of having "done much damage to the Tamil community".

"India is ready to facilitate the evacuation of civilians trapped in the area of conflict, working with the government of Sri Lanka and the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) who would take responsibility for the security, screening and rehabilitation of these internally displaced persons," he said.

Mukherjee was referring to thousands of Tamil civilians who have been trapped in a small area in Mullaitivu district where the military has ringed the LTTE guerrillas.

International rights groups have accused the military of shelling them and the LTTE of preventing them from leaving the area. Both have denied the allegations.

In his statement, Mukherjee said that in the last two weeks, nearly 35,000 civilians have come out of LTTE held areas.

"Sadly, some of those escaping from the conflict have been caught in crossfire, and in recent incidents have been stopped and even killed by LTTE cadres," he said.

The minister said "a serious source of concern to us has been the condition of civilians and internally displaced persons, mostly Tamil, caught in the zone of conflict... The LTTE were reportedly using them as human shields".

He said India's strong concerns for the safety, security and welfare of the civilians "have led us to stay actively engaged to prevent a further deterioration of humanitarian conditions".

At the same time, Mukherjee urged Sri Lanka to undertake a "normal democratic political process" in the Tamil-majority north and multiracial east".

"In our view, after 23 years of conflict, there is today a political opportunity to restore life to normalcy in the northern province and throughout Sri Lanka…. the full implementation of the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution would be a significant first step.”

"Honourable members would recall the 13th amendment was introduced to give effect to the India-Sri Lanka accord in 1987. Going beyond the 13th amendment on the question of devolution of powers would be significant."

He added that New Delhi was ready to work with Colombo "in their important tasks of rehabilitation and reconstruction which lie ahead in Sri Lanka, particularly the north and east.”

"The government will continue to stay engaged in the process of bringing enduring peace to Sri Lanka, working with the government of Sri Lanka and the various communities in Sri Lanka in pursuit of our common security and prosperity."

Members from the PMK and MDMK voiced their unhappiness with Mukherjee's statement by staging noisy protests near the speaker's chair, leading to the Lok Sabha being adjourned briefly. The protesting MPs, all dressed in black, said they wanted India to intervene urgently to bring about a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

Expressing concern over the plight of thousands of civilians caught up in the fighting in Sri Lanka's north, the UN office here said Monday the Tamil Tiger rebels were "actively" preventing people from leaving the war-zone.

"The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) continues to actively prevent people leaving, and reports indicate that a growing number of people trying to leave have been shot and sometimes killed," the office of the UN resident and humanitarian co-ordinator in Colombo said.

The UN said tens of thousands of civilians, including a large number of children remain in the Wanni pocket, and were experiencing "serious shortages of food, medicine, and clean water, and as a result increasing numbers are becoming ill".

It said the efforts to bring in more food and medicines "have not yet been successful" and stressed that it is imperative that these needs be met.

"While the designation of the new safe zone has provided some respite for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped for weeks by heavy fighting which has killed and injured many people, reports from yesterday (Sunday) indicate that there was some fighting inside the zone," the UN statement said.

"This fighting led to the deaths and injury to yet more civilians. The United Nations calls for the Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE to refrain from fighting in areas of civilian concentration," it said.

The statement said there were indications that children as young as 14 were being recruited into the ranks of the LTTE.

It said 15 of UN staff members and their families were also prevented by the LTTE from leaving the war-zone.

"Fifteen UN staff and 75 of their dependents, 40 of whom are children, and 35 of whom are women, remain in the same area, have also been prevented from leaving by the LTTE. Fifteen of these children have contracted respiratory diseases, a serious indicator for a population which is now in dire need of humanitarian assistance," it said.

Despite their own vulnerable position, the UN said, many of these staff members played an important role in helping with the distribution of 8,400 of tonnes of food to the civilians of the Wanni over the past four months.

"We are especially concerned that one staff member was reported forcibly recruited into the LTTE yesterday. The UN calls on the LTTE to immediately release him, to desist from further recruitment of civilians, and to permit passage for people who wish to leave, especially the women and children," the statement said.

Sri Lanka on Tuesday appealed to the world community, the US in particular, to put pressure on the LTTE to release civilians being held captive in the war zone, a day after the UN said rebels continued to "actively prevent" Tamils from leaving the embattled north.

The appeal was issued by Sri Lankan Ambassador to the US Jaliya Wickramasuriya on Monday.

"As the LTTE terrorists continue to put innocent civilians, who seek safety from the conflict zone, in harm's way, we urge the international community and especially the United States to put pressure on the leadership of the LTTE to immediately release the remaining civilians held captive in the conflict zone," the Sri Lankan Ambassador said.

The United Nations yesterday issued a statement saying, "the LTTE continues to actively prevent people leaving and reports indicate that a growing number of people trying to leave have been shot and sometimes killed".

Wickramasuriya on Tuesday said the orchestrated suicide bomb attack, earlier this week, at a government center where civilians had come to receive humanitarian assistance and medical treatment was a reckless attempt by the LTTE to intimidate other civilians from seeking safety and security.