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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka asks Indian help in Tamil dispute |
| 2009-04-18 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Sri Lankan leaders are urging the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and end military strikes by Tamil Tigers into a 'no fire zone'. A Sri Lankan delegation, which arrived in New Delhi on Friday, met with India's National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan, and the Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar Menon. The delegation said that as a result of military action by Tamil Tigers, around 250,000 Tamil civilians have been forced to seek refuge in a small territory about 20 square kilometers, along the coast of the Mullaitheevy district of Sri Lanka known as the no fire zone. They said that a request has been put forth to the Indian prime minister for help to stop all attacks in the no fire zone. Rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting since 1983 for the creation of an independent state called 'Tamil Eelam' are apparently not allowing civilians to leave the 'no fire zone' area and are using them as shields against military attacks. The civilians are being killed in the cross-fire, reports say. Talking to reporters after their 'valuable' meetings, R Sampanthan, a Lankan Member of Parliament, said, "We request from him (Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh) that there must be a cessation of all military attacks in the no fire zone as the only definite way to ensure the right to life of a substantial number of Tamil civilians living in the no fire zone." "We also stated that these people within the no fire zone should just not be deprived of their right to life only for the reason that they are Tamils." India for its part has asked the Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday to extend a pause in war hostilities to enable the civilians trapped in the conflict to leave for secure areas saying that the fate of the Tamils cannot be ignored. A two-day humanitarian truce ended on Wednesday and the Sri Lankan military announced it was now free to begin a final assault to end the 25-year war against the Tamil Tigers. The Sri Lankan military says only 1,000 members of the Liberation Tigers are left, and accuses the fighters of holding around 100,000 civilians as human shields. |
| Posted by:Fred |