Tamil Tiger rebels have killed hundreds of civilians trying to flee the northeastern war zone, a defector from the rebel ranks has told the Sri Lankan state television. In a video interview released on the Sri Lankan defence ministry website, Daya Master also alleged that children as young as 13 have been conscripted by the rebels even if they were ill, Al Jazeera's David Chater reported. Master said 200 civilians were shot by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a village inside the conflict zone in January. Master, a former spokesman of the LTTE, has been under interrogation in Colombo, the capital, since crossing the government line from the combat zone 10 days ago. He said: "The propaganda by the LTTE was that these people died because of military shelling by government forces. "They forcibly recruit children even if it is just one child in a family ... When the children were taken the parents attacked the recruiters and they [rebels] retaliated by beating the parents." 'Children forcibly recruited' Chater said it was impossible to verify whether the interview was conducted under duress or to challenge Master's claims. Chater said that in footage released from pro-rebel Tamil websites and TV stations, heavy shelling inside the conflict zone is shown. He said it was impossible to verify when the pictures were taken.
The rebel chief said the fight for a separate Tamil state would continue regardless of what happens on the battle field. Fighting between the rebels, who are seeking a separate state, and the Sri Lankan government has been raging for months. 'No ceasefire' Mahinda Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan president, has said the government will not halt its offensive against the rebels, despite calls from the EU and aid organisations to do so. He said on Thursday: "We have no plans to go for a ceasefire with the Tigers [and] they have a little time left to drop their weapons and surrender." His comments came a day after the foreign ministers of Britain and France, David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, visited the island to push for a truce and aid agency access to civilains trapped in the conflict zone.
According to the UN as many as 6,500 civilians may have been killed and another 14,000 wounded in the government's offensive against the LTTE so far this year. The government has blocked most aid agencies from working in the north, and has put civilians who are escaping the fighting into camps guarded by the military. Aid workers who have visited the camps have testified to food shortages, lack of sanitation, a desperate medical situation and chronic overcrowding. Although the LTTE has been condemned for using civilians as human shields, the UN says both sides in the conflict may be guilty of war crimes. |
LTTE 'murdered 200' in Sri Lanka
Global Pressure Heats Up to End Sri Lanka War
Neither the United Nations nor European foreign ministers have convinced the Sri Lankan government to stop what they say is their final push to end the 25-year civil war.
British and French foreign ministers on Wednesday urged the government to implement a humanitarian ceasefire in the battle. Earlier this week U.N. Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes called for both sides to stop fighting while on his three-day mission to the tiny island nation.
"Protection of civilians is absolutely paramount at this moment. The LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] must end preventing civilians leaving the conflict zone and the fighting must stop," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters, according to Reuters.
Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner are calling for the government to allow the U.N. and aid workers access to the war zone. The Sri Lankan government has also denied independent press access to the conflict areas.
The United Nations estimates that about 50,000 civilians are still trapped in a 4-square-mile stretch of land in rebel-held territory on the country's northeast coast.
The civil war began nearly three decades ago with the LTTE's desire for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Hindu Tamils who they believe are treated like second-class citizens. The Buddhist Sinhalese government strongly denies this claim.
On Monday, the Sri Lankan military ended the use of heavy weapons and combat aircraft in what it says is an effort to protect the tens of thousands of civilians caught between warring sides. Although shortly after the announcement, the rebels claimed the government had not kept its word, according to TamilNet, a Web site created for the ethnic minority Tamils.
The Media War: State TV Broadcasts LTTE 'Confession'
Earlier today, two top former LTTE rebels confessed on Sri Lankan state-run television that the Tamil Tiger rebels had killed fleeing civilians.
"LTTE stopped people from leaving, but the strong managed to escape. The LTTE killed many fleeing civilians," said George Master, a translator for an LTTE strategist.