The Ceylon News

Sri Lanka's military Thursday denied rebel allegations that it had killed 129 people by firing into a designated safe zone where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped.

A pro-rebel Web site accused the military of shelling a narrow "no-fire" zone on the island's northeast coast where the remaining forces of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are mixed in with the civilians.

TamilNet.com said the casualty figures included children because a child-care center was hit Wednesday in the single "most cruel carnage" on civilians in the safety zone.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara denied the accusation, saying, "We have not fired into the 'no-fire' zone."

Accounts from the front line cannot be verified because independent journalists are barred from the war zone. Both the military and the rebels have accused the other of carrying out war crimes.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983 in a war that has killed more than 70,000 people.

Government troops have captured vast swaths of rebel territory in a massive military campaign in recent months. That has pushed the Tamil Tigers into the "no-fire" zone, which was set up in January.

The fate of the civilians trapped there has become a matter of international concern, with the United Nations and aid groups warning of a bloodbath if all-out fighting breaks out there.

The government and aid groups accuse the rebels of using the civilians as human shields, and have called for them to be allowed to go. There are also calls for the government and the rebels to pause their military operations so a solution can be worked out to move the civilians to safety.

The rebels are trapped with the civilians in an area that measures just 7.7 square miles (20 square kilometers).

U.S. experts estimate there are more than 100,000 trapped civilians. The government says only 30,000 to 40,000 people remain.

The military has used loud speakers mounted on vehicles to call on the rebels to release the civilians and surrender themselves.

Its seem to be, Norway Tamils are not expecting to help Tamil Civilians in safe Zone and helping LTTE group keep fighting with SL army. Those europe Tamils are worry about loosing LTTE and not worry about Tamil Civilians.
Some 20 Sri Lankan Tamils held a hunger strike on Wednesday outside Norway's government offices which they blocked for the second straight day, urging Oslo to act in its role as mediator in the Sri Lankan conflict.

Norwegian television showed the hunger strikers camping out under tents raised in front of the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who is currently on holiday.

"Norway has let us down," the Tamils shouted. The demonstrators demanded to meet with a senior government official and urged Norway to call an emergency meeting of Sri Lanka's aid donors to bring an end to the government's offensive against a rebel holdout in the northeastern part of the island.

Norway mediated a now-defunct ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in February 2002.

Oslo has served as mediator since 2000 at the request of both sides, but its role has diminished sharply since Colombo announced the end of the ceasefire in January 2008.

Yesterday, the demonstrators in Oslo handed a written appeal to a Norwegian government representative demanding an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

The document also called for an end to bombings, authorisation for humanitarian organisations to work on the ground and the dispatch of international observers in the conflict zone.

On the brink of handing total defeat to the beleaguered LTTE, Sri Lankan army on Wednesday asked the remaining rebel fighters in the island's north to surrender and release the civilians trapped in the conflict zone, where at least 26 Tamil Tigers were killed in the latest fighting.

Army personnel urged the rebels through loudspeakers to allow the Tamil civilians in Pudukudiyirippu to cross over to the government-controlled region and hand themselves over to the security forces.

Forty two civilians yesterday moved to the government areas from the 'No Fire Zone' (NFZ), the 20 sq kms stretch in the north were the LTTE is now confined to, taking to over 65,000 the total number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who shifted from the rebel-held territory.

The NFZ in Pudukudiyirippu area of Mullaittivu, though demarcated by the government as a safety zone for civilians held by the Tigers, has now also become the sanctuary for the top rebels leaders, including LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Defence Ministry said.

Meanwhile, troops engaged in confrontations with the LTTE cadres manning the last rebel earth bund situated near the NFZ in west of Ampalavanpkkanai.

Army snipers deployed in the Forward Areas killed 11 LTTE rebels, the military said. Soldiers are now maneuvering towards northern bank of Nanthikadal lagoon in Mullaittivu, which is still under LTTE control.

Expressing concern about the plight of the civilians trapped in the "no fire zone" in northern Sri Lanka, the US has asked the rebel Tamils to release them and urged Colombo to engage Tamils for a political solution.

The call was made by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake during a discussion with several US-based organisations representing members of the Tamil Diaspora.

Discussing the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka, the two officials emphasised the urgent need for the Government of Sri Lanka to engage Tamils, including Diaspora communities around the world, to find a political end of the conflict, the State Department said Wednesday.

They also emphasised US concern about the plight of the civilians trapped in the "no fire zone" in northern Sri Lanka and called on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to release the civilians.

Boucher and Blake reiterated that both the Tamil Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka should stop firing into and from the no-fire zone and outlined the steps the US has taken to support the civilians in the no fire zone.

The two officials welcomed the opportunity to listen to the concerns and perspectives of the American Tamil Diaspora community and to share the steps the US is taking to address the humanitarian crisis,

Boucher and Blake said that they would like to continue the dialogue with the Diaspora community and urged participants to continue to share feedback. The discussion took place at the State Department with Blake speaking via a digital video conference at the US Embassy in Colombo.

A top UN official on Wednesday underlined the need for a halt in the fierce fighting in Sri Lanka and asked the LTTE guerrillas to allow trapped civilians cross over to the safe zone as government forces prepared to to inflict a “decisive blow” to the rebels.

“I believe that a series of humanitarian pauses must be initiated immediately to allow civilians to leave and humanitarian actors to provide life-saving relief to the remaining population,” said Mr Walter Kälin, the Representative of the UN Secretary-Gen eral Mr Ban Ki Moon on Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.

Mr Kälin urged Sri Lanka to pause offensives against Tamil Tiger rebels to enable the IDPs to cross over to the government held areas in the Wanni while asking them to brace for the huge challenge of rehabilitating thousands of fleeing Tamil civilians in the coming days.

Winding up his four-day visit to Sri Lanka, Mr Kälin also asked the LTTE to allow the besieged Tamil civilians under its control to move over to the army areas.

“Extraordinary efforts will be required of the Government, the United Nations, non-governmental organisations and donors, acting in cooperation, to successfully meet the humanitarian needs of this population, as well as those of the tens of thousands exp ected to arrive in the coming weeks and months,” he said in a statement. - PTI