The pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) stayed away from an all-party meeting convened by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday.
Hours before the meeting, in a letter addressed to Mr. Rajapaksa, the TNA said priority must be given to resolution of the humanitarian crisis before it assumed catastrophic proportions and that any political discussion must follow such resolution.
Sources in the government maintained that by not taking part in the meeting convened by the President, the TNA had missed an opportunity to put forth its viewpoint on the prevailing situation in the north and the ethnic conflict.
"The President extended the invitation in good faith. The negative attitude of the TNA would not deter the President from continuing his efforts to generate consensus on a political solution to the ethnic conflict," said a senior official.
The TNA letter said: "Since you have hitherto consistently followed a policy of ignoring the TNA in regard to all political issues in the north-east, we are glad that you now wish to engage in discussions with us, recognising, even though belatedly, that we represent the Tamil people".
"We will extend our cooperation to any credible political process that seeks to evolve an adequate, acceptable and durable political solution to the Tamil question. We would strongly urge that you take necessary steps to address forthwith the grave humanitarian crisis pertaining to the displaced Tamil civilian population," it added.
The invitation to the TNA is the first after the abrogation of the Norwegian-brokered 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) in January 2008 and imposition of a ban on the Tigers in January this year.
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Shelling killed 54 civilians in a supposed "no-fire" zone in Sri Lanka's war between the government and separatist Tamil rebels while 30 more Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in fresh fighting in the island's north yesterday.
The victims were among the tens of thousands of terrified civilians trapped in a sliver of jungle and beach along the island's northeast coast fomenting the exodus of people fleeing the fighting where government troops are battling to dislodge remnants of the Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said.
Earlier four top LTTE commanders were among 30 rebels killed as Sri Lankan troops beat back a massive Tamil Tiger counter attack in Pudukudiyirippu, the last town held by them in the embattled north. After repulsing the Tiger attack Wednesday night, troops in retaliatory action wrested more areas from the rebels confining them now to 21 sq kms out of which 20 sq kms forms the 'No-Fire Zone'.
"The troops killed senior LTTE leaders Varada Annan, Kadar, Sooriyan and Eelawan in the attacks as they pushed back the rebel attack on their forward lines in Iranaippalai in which 30 militants were killed," Army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said. Security forces recovered five dead bodies of rebels including three females along with a vehicle, a communication set and T-56 weapons after the clash, the spokesman said.
Dr Thurairaja Varatharajah, chief of a makeshift hospital in the war zone and the top government health official in the area, said 54 people were killed by shelling on Wednesday alone.
"Now 165 injured people are in hospital, 54 dead," Varatharajah said. "We are still receiving wounded people."
Access to the war zone is restricted and it is not possible to confirm who fired the shells.
The military has repeatedly denied that it has shelled the 7.5-mile-long (12-kilometer) "no-fire" zone that it has proclaimed as a place for civilians to seek safety. The government has also disputed statements by Varatharajah in the past.
Many civilians want to flee the war zone but have been stopped by the rebels. A statement Wednesday on the government's Web site said 1,515 people, including nearly 650 children, had crossed into military-controlled areas by late Tuesday near Puthkkudiyirippu, the last rebel-held town, where battles have been raging for weeks.
The Sri Lankan military says more than 50,000 civilians have escaped since the beginning of January, with the number averaging more than 1,000 a day in the last week.
On Wednesday, the British-based charity group Christian Aid became the latest to warn of the dangers faced by the remaining civilians trapped in the war zone, saying their situation was "becoming graver by the day" as supplies of food, medicine and fresh water run low.
The group called on the government and rebels to allow more access by aid workers to the people.
The United Nations, European Union and numerous countries have also recently voiced concern about the situation. The UN has said 2,800 civilians caught in the fighting have been killed since late January. The government disputes that figure.
The UN estimates at least 150,000 civilians are trapped in the war zone. The government says the number is closer to 50,000 to 60,000, and accuses the rebels of using them as human shields in a bid to avoid defeat.
The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state for the Tamil minority, which suffered decades of marginalisation at the hands of governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
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The United Nations is urging the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to temporarily stop fighting in order to allow civilians trapped in the conflict zone to safely leave.
Thus allowing the LTTE to live for another day ...
It's the "pulse" setting on the Peace Processor.
United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes says there may be between 150,000 and 190,000 civilians still trapped in the Vani area of northern Sri Lanka, the last stronghold of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or the LTTE. He urged both sides to call a brief cease-fire to let them leave.
"Therefore, our first appeal is to the LTTE to let the civilians out in a safe and orderly fashion. And I very much hope they will do that. We are also concerned that the government of Sri Lanka should do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties, to do as they said they will do and not to use heavy weapons in this area, and we also call them to respect international humanitarian law in every area," he said.
Speaking after an informal briefing to Security Council members, Holmes told reporters the U.N. is pressing for better humanitarian access to this area, whichcomprises about21 square kilometers of jungle and beach on the northeastern coast.
"We are pressing for more aid to be able to get into this particular zone, so we can get the necessary food, medical supplies and other things people need there and to have humanitarian access to the area. And we have suggested again some kind of humanitarian pause to allow that to happen and to allow the civilian population to leave," he said.
Sri Lanka's U.N. Ambassador [H.M.G.S. Palihakkara] said his government would be willing to agree to a 48-hour "no-fire" period to help evacuate civilians. "The issue is not the pause, the issue is if the LTTE is ready to let these people go -- at least part of them go. I would persuade my government to agree to a modality to facilitate that," he said.
He denied human rights groups charges that the Sri Lankan military has indiscriminately shelled the so-called "no-fire zone" where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped by the Tamil rebels, saying only that there may have been "one or two occasions where return fire" from the military may have caused casualties.
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03/27/2009 00:00 ||
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The United Nations is urging the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to temporarily stop fighting in order to allow civilians trapped in the conflict zone to safely leave.
