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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka: President calls for civilians to be freed from conflict |
| 2009-01-31 |
| .(AKI) - Sri Lanka's president has urged the Tamil Tiger rebels to allow an estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in the northern war zone to flee to safety following reports of heavy civilian casualties during the conflict with government forces. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has pledged to guarantee safe passage for the civilians trapped in the region. Human rights groups have accused the rebels of holding the civilians hostage and accused the military of launching heavy attacks in areas where civilians are located, including a government-declared "safe zone" in the north. Sri Lanka's military says it is trying to secure the north-east coastline to encircle Tamil Tiger rebels as part of a final assault in the north of the island. Troops were on Tuesday moving north from the captured rebel town of Mullaitivu to take a 30kilometre stretch of land. The military says it hopes to control the entire north within weeks. The United Nations has expressed concern about the fate of the civilians and one UN official said both sides appeared to have committed "grave breaches of human rights." The rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the military deny the charges. In an appeal published on a government website on Friday, President Rajapaksa said the rebels' refusal to let civilians leave the area was endangering their lives. He accused the LTTE rebels of putting their heavy artillery inside the "safe zone" and using it as a "launching pad" for attacks on government troops. "I urge the LTTE, within the next 48 hours to allow free movement of civilians to ensure their safety and security. For all those civilians, I assure a safe passage to a secure environment," he said. The military said the president's statement did not amount to a unilateral 48-hour truce and said the offensive was continuing on Friday. Meanwhile, the Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF) appealed to the president to allow both local and foreign journalists to freely report on the fighting against the Tamil Tiger rebels. The group also asked the government to bring an end to violent attacks against members of the independent Sri Lankan press. "Like the Israeli army in Gaza, the authorities in Colombo have decided to prevent media and humanitarian organisations from working freely," RSF said in a statement. The International Committee of the Red Cross said humanitarian aid workers must be allowed to enter the strife-torn region and their premises must be protected from shelling and looting, as required by international humanitarian law. The ICRC noted it is the only international aid agency to have remained permanently in Vanni over the past four months with the agreement of both sides, working with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 "Like the Israeli army in Gaza, the authorities in Colombo have decided to prevent media and humanitarian organisations from working freely," RSF said in a statement. When the press stops acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the enemies of freedom, when "international non-Governmental organizations" quit aiding, abetting, and directly assisting warring factions, then perhaps we could find a little outrage in our souls at their present "predicament". At the moment, not a drop! |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-01-31 13:19 |