The Ceylon News

Sri Lankan troops on Monday destroyed two boats belonging to the Tamil Tiger rebels during a pre-dawn clash in the northeast of the island, the defence ministry said.

At least 10 Sri Lankan civilians were killed and dozens more wounded Sunday when artillery shells fell inside a government-designated "safe zone" in the heart of Tamil Tiger rebel territory, a health official said.

Government forces have driven the rebels from most of their strongholds in recent months and have boxed them into a tiny coastal territory in the northeast. A 7.5-mile (12-kilometer) -long "safe zone" serves as a haven for tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside rebel territory.

Dr. Thurairaja Varatharajah said six people died at a makeshift hospital inside rebel territory, and he saw four more bodies scattered among the huts of displaced people.

He said 48 wounded civilians were also admitted to the hospital, which he runs out of a school. Many of the victims suffered burns from the exploding shells, Varatharajah said.

It was unclear who fired the shells. Varatharajah said they appeared to have come from an area where government forces are stationed.

The military and rebels did not comment. Government officials have repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Humanitarian groups estimate that 200,000 people are trapped in the fighting zone and face the risk of being caught in the crossfire.

Top United Nations humanitarian officials urged the rebels Friday to allow civilians to flee the fighting, saying there are "credible reports" that some people trying to leave have been shot.

Tamil Tiger rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered marginalization by successive governments controlled by ethnic majority Sinhalese.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.

The UN Security Council took up the fighting in Sri Lanka for the first time on Friday as a senior UN official reported that dozens of people, at least, were being killed every day.

Council members, meeting in closed session, appealed to the Sri Lankan government to exercise maximum restraint and to the Tamil Tiger rebels, or LTTE, to lay down their arms and abandon the use of violence to pursue their political aims, the council president said.

Sir John Holmes, the UN's humanitarian coordinator, reported on his recent trip to the island under the agenda item "other matters" after Russia dropped its objections to the Security Council discussing the conflict between government forces and Tamil Tigers.

Sir John said 200,000 civilians were trapped by the fighting, and cited "credible reports" that the Tamil Tigers had shot at some trying to flee. He said he had urged the government to call a temporary halt to hostilities or establish a humanitarian corridor to allow people to leave, if it could be agreed.

"I also urge the Government of Sri Lanka to hold back from any final military battle in order to allow time for the civilian population to get out safely, one way or another," he said.

The briefing followed a behind-the-scenes row over whether the Security Council should discuss Sri Lanka at all.

Britain and other Western nations pushed for the briefing as a way to highlight the heavy civilian casualties.

But Russia, which fears UN intervention in Chechnya, initially argued that the council should not interfere in the "internal affairs" of a UN member state by taking up Sri Lanka. It was backed by council-member Vietnam.

This month's Japanese presidency of the 15-nation council, which has the power to impose sanctions, reassured Russia that Sri Lanka would not be put on the council's formal agenda.

The meeting ended with no UN action, but agreement that the Japanese ambassador, Yukio Takasu, could summarise the discussion to the waiting press.

"We share all serious concern about the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka, particularly in light of the large number of internally displaced persons," he said.

"The nature of the conflict here is very clear. The government of Sri Lanka is struggling against a group of people who are using military offence and sometimes the presence of internally displaced persons for advantage of the military offensive," he said. "Some members mentioned that ... LTTE has been considered as a terrorist organisation."

"We understand that the government has been taking certain precautions... but the fact of the matter is that there are still a lot suffering and damages of civilians. "We very much hope that the government continue to exercise maximum restraint and comply with international law and try to avoid the suffering and damage on the civilians."

"Much stronger concern should be placed on the behaviour of the LTTE, Tamil Tigers. We are very much concerned they are not accepting free access to the area," he said.

"I think there is a convergence of views among the members that we should appeal strongly to the LTTE that they lay down their arms and stop the violence in pursuit of their political aims," he said.

Sir John visited Vavinuya, just south of the fighting, where 36,000 refugees have taken shelter, but he was not able enter the area controlled by the LTTE.

The government, he said, had assured him that it wanted to return 80 percent of the refugees to their homes by the end of the year, once de-mining is completed.

Stepping beyond his humanitarian mandate, Sir John also urged the Sri Lankan government to take "the historic opportunity to move swiftly, after the end of the fighting, to tackle underlying political issues, and move to a generally acceptable devolution settlement on a fully democratic basis."

Sir John Sawers, Britain's UN ambassador, voiced satisfaction that the briefing had taken place.

"We, the United Kingdom and I personally, have been working for some time to ensure that the Security Council gets a full briefing on the situation in Sri Lanka," he said.

"We have a situation of the LTTE, which for us is a proscribed terrorist organisation, being under pressure, but there is also a very growing humanitarian problem there which is of great concern to us.

"We have called for a halt to the fighting for humanitarian reasons and we firmly believe that the only solution in Sri Lanka is a political settlement in which the LTTE lay down their arms and enter into a political process which provides for respect for all the communities in the country."

*LTTE must lay down arms

*Influence Tigers to let go civilians - Sir John Holmes

A UN Security Council on Friday received a briefing by Under Secretary General Sir John Holmes who visited Sri Lanka at President Mahinda Rajapaksa's invitation last week.

The briefing did not result in a ceasefire call to Sri Lanka from the Security Council, but general agreement that the LTTE must lay down arms and ease suffering of civilians.

Sir John Holmes told reporters that humanitarian concerns about the people held captive by the LTTE remains a major concern while the concerns about IDPs who have already come to cleared areas seems less than what was feared for.

He was strongly critical of the LTTE's continuing ruthlessness by not allowing people to leave the conflict area. Sir John had good words about increasing cooperation with the Government and made positive comments about the Government's policy and objective to send back about 80 per cent of IDPs as soon as possible or within a year.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told the media yesterday that the Government is thankful to the United Nations for its better understanding of the ground situation in Sri Lanka.He was strongly critical of the LTTE's continuing ruthlessness by not allowing people to leave the conflict area.

Sir John appealed to all those with any influence on the position of the Tigers to use that influence to force them to let the civilians go.

"There is no time to lose," he said. He described the situation of trapped people as dire but acknowledged IDPS in transit camps are reasonably well. He was not aware of major outbreak of disease in the conflict area.

He gave some descriptions of his conversations with IDPs and commented on the fairly satisfactory physical conditions and the efforts made to have acceptable screening procedures.

The President of the Security Council, Ambassador Takasu of Japan , said that Sri Lanka cannot be compared with other situations like Sudan where there are implications for international peace and security, as Sri Lanka's is an internal issue where a Government is combating a group described as a terrorist organization by many countries.

The President of the Council reiterated that laying down arms by the Tigers will be the most practical way of bringing this conflict to an end. After the briefing several ambassadors to the UN told reporters that LTTE should lay down arms to end conflict.

The British Ambassador said they have all along been sympathetic to a briefing but made his position very clear that Sri Lanka is not on the Agenda of the Council and the spotlight should be on the LTTE which is a proscribed as terrorist outfit and they should lay down arms and allow civilians to go free so that political process can begin. The Russian Ambassador Vitaly I. Churkin was more categorical in saying that the briefing is a one time affair and that it will not go beyond that.

This is an internal situation against a terrorist group which the Government is trying to handle through military and political means.

Virtually rejecting India's appeal to "pause" hostilities with the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government today said the conflict will "stop immediately" when the Tamil rebels lay down their arms.

Colombo also said it had not received any formal communication so far from New Delhi in this regard.

"We have not received any communication from India. Our position is that the Tigers should lay down weapons and violence will not be there," Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told reporters when asked about his reaction to Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's appeal.

"It is reported that the LTTE has offered a ceasefire. While this may fall short of a declaration of willingness to lay down arms, it is our view that the government of Sri Lanka should seize the opportunity presented by the offer to bring about a pause in the hostilities," Mukherjee had said in a statement in New Delhi yesterday.

"We have no formal communication from India... When the Tigers lay down arms, there will be no fighting. Then the firing will stop immediately," Kohona said when asked to react to the Indian Minister's observations.

Noting with grave concern the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, Mukherjee had urged the Sri Lankan government to bring about a pause in hostilities and work for safe passage for trapped civilians.

DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday welcomed India's appeal to Sri Lankan government to seize the ceasefire offer made by LTTE and pause the hostilities to help people trapped in conflict zones, saying it came as a "whiff of fresh air."
In a letter to party workers, Karunanidhi recalled External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's statements yesterday in Tuticorn that "the opportunity (LTTE announcing ceasefire) must be utilised to facilitate the movement of innocent Tamil people out of the war-affected areas to secure zones, where proper rehabilitation is possible."

"Mukherjee's words come as a whiff of fresh air to our burning hearts," he said expressing confidence that UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh endorsed Mukherjee's statement.

The appeal had come about due to various pro-Sri Lankan Tamils activities in Tamil Nadu including adopting resolutions in the state Assembly and suicides committed by persons calling for ceasefire in the island nation, he said.

"The Government of India's call for a ceasefire gives me great relief," he said while equating it to the satisfaction over the successful medical treatment he had underwent for the last one month for back pain.

Karunanidhi said he joined the Centre in pressing for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

"Today no politician can mislead the Tamils. They suffered for the last three decades," Karuna said.

On whether he apprehended that the IDP camps in Vavuniya would be turned into concentration camps, Karuna blamed "pro-LTTE elements" for spreading such fears.

"LTTE sympathisers still want to make these allegations to mislead the international community. These IDPs need to be protected, not from anyone else, but from Prabhakaran," he said, accusing the LTTE leader of "torturing Tamils more than Hitler did to the Jews.

"There is no doubt, a tight security system is needed to protect them as well as to stop LTTE infiltration. Those who talk about the proposed camps should never forget Prabhakaran's human bombs sent to kill IDPs. The government has a good plan for resettlement of IDPs," Karuna said.

On the reasons for the success of the present government against LTTE, Karuna hailed the successful policies of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, saying the earlier governments fought the LTTE "to get political mileage".

"President Rajapaksa never expected anything from Prabhakaran and he invited the LTTE for negotiations, but when Prabhakaran was becoming more of a problem, the President banned the LTTE as a terrorist movement," Karuna said.