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| Sri Lanka |
| President orders brief New Year halt to Sri Lanka fighting |
| 2009-04-13 |
| The Sri Lankan president on Sunday ordered the military not to attack the Tamil Tigers during a two-day holiday in order to allow thousands of civilians to escape a no-fire zone where they are being held by the separatists. Soldiers have encircled the remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a 17 square km no-fire zone on the northeast coast, and are close to crushing them as a conventional force and ending Asia's longest-running civil wars. President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that people should be "given uninhibited freedom of movement from the no-fire zone" in the Sinhala and Tamil New Year period on Monday and Tuesday. "With this objective in view, his excellency has directed the armed forces of the state to restrict their operations during the New Year to those of a defensive nature," the presidential statement said. There was no immediate comment from the LTTE, whose agreement to let the people go is essential. The United Nations and witnesses say people are being kept as human shields and forced conscripts or being shot as they try to flee. In late January, Rajapaksa gave a 48-hour window of safe passage to civilians and urged the Tigers to let them go, but the rebels refused. The LTTE so far has refused any diplomatic entreaties to get them to let people leave whom they insist are staying by choice. Diplomats have been working furiously to negotiate an exit strategy for the people, who number 60,000 according to the government and around 100,000, according to the United Nations. Surrender: Rajapaksa again urged the LTTE to surrender. "In the true spirit of the season, it is timely for the LTTE to acknowledge its military defeat and lay down its weapons and surrender. The LTTE must also renounce terrorism and violence permanently," the statement said. The Tigers have vowed not to give up their fight for a separate nation for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority, which has engulfed the Indian Ocean island nation in a civil war that has killed at least 70,000 since 1983. Britain: Meanwhile, Britain welcomed the government ceasefire in Sri Lanka announced on Sunday, calling on the Tamil Tiger rebels to do likewise while insisting that civilians had to be free to leave the conflict zone. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said international access to provide aid and investigate alleged abuses was "essential". "I very much welcome the announcement by President Rajapakse of a pause in the fighting between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE," Miliband said in a statement. "The UK's concern for the civilians caught in the fighting is acute. It is vital that they are now able to move freely out of the conflict area. "I therefore believe it is essential that the LTTE now agree to their own pause in fighting and allow civilians to leave. The pause must be long enough for all those who want to leave the conflict zone to do so safely. "Temporary relief for civilians must be the first step towards a resolution of the conflict," Miliband added. |
| Posted by:Fred |