Sri Lanka has rejected a European Union call for an immediate ceasefire in fighting between government troops and the rebel Tamil Tigers in the north of the island. The EU had urged the two sides to halt fighting to allow humanitarian aid to reach a so-called "safe zone" in the thin sliver of territory where fighting is continuing.
"What are we going to achieve with a ceasefire other than giving in to the demands of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]?" Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka's foreign secretary, said on Tuesday. He said that the Tamil Tigers would use any interruption in the fighting to acquire weapons and regroup.
| Sounds like someone who's been there before ... |
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external relations commissioner, said on Monday that the ceasefire was needed as the situation for civilians trapped in the war zone was "very dangerous". "Approximately 170,000 people ... are being trapped in the northern part of Sri Lanka and neither the Sri Lanka government or the LTTE has until now accepted our appeal," she said. Ferrero-Waldner said that an EU delegation would travel to the country to push for the ceasefire.
| I wouldn't let the delegation land. Send them home, finish off the LTTE and take care of the true civilians. |
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