Sri Lanka rules out amnesty as troops move in for final kill

Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 9:20 PM Posted by Beijing News


Sri Lanka Wednesday ruled out an amnesty for the Tamil Tiger leader as troops pressed a final offensive against the cornered rebels despite a global outcry over the plight of civilians trapped in the war zone.

President Mahinda Rajapakse said Velupillai Prabhakaran, whose Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE are fighting to prevent complete defeat after being pushed into a narrow stretch of coastal jungle in the northeast of the island, would not be pardoned.

"The LTTE leader has spurned the possibility of pardon by us," the president's office quoted him as saying. "He must now face the consequences of his acts."

However, two senior Tiger officials surrendered on Wednesday as the military reported that more than 100,000 civilians had escaped from rebel-held territory and sought shelter with troops since Monday.

The rebels' chief spokesman Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master, and an official who once served as an aide to the late head of the Tigers' political wing, S.P. Thamilselvan, turned themselves in to government forces.

The crisis has sparked international calls for a ceasefire amid growing concern for civilians trapped in the war zone.

Video footage by state television showed men and women carrying infants and the sick were seen wading through waist-deep water to get to safety while thousands waited for food.

"Our operations to rescue civilians are continuing," government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters, describing the Tigers as a spent force with just 12 square kilometres five square miles of land left.

"They are fighting a losing battle," he said, adding the government also "strongly believes" that Prabhakaran, 54, was still in the area.

The Tigers, who have been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1972, have acknowledged losing ground and have accused the government of killing 1,000 civilians in recent days.

The military said fleeing non-combatants were fired on by the rebels who allegedly kept villagers as human shields.

The rival claims are hard to verify as independent reporters are not allowed near the conflict zone but aid agencies have painted a grim picture.

"The situation is nothing short of catastrophic," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, operations director for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The UN Security Council was to meet later Wednesday to discuss the conflict, French ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters at the United Nations.

"I have no doubt that there will be a common expression of very serious preoccupation and of our common will for the fighting to stop, for a truce, for a ceasefire, for whatever is needed for the civilians to leave the area," he said.

One hospital in northern Vavuniya was "saturated" with patients coming from the conflict area, Doctors Without Borders MSF spokeswoman Olivia Blanchard told AFP.

"Around 1,700 patients have arrived to the hospital which only has 400 beds," said Blanchard, who spoke by phone with medical staff earlier in the day.

A Norwegian-brokered truce began falling apart in December 2005, and fighting since then has seen the progressive collapse of the rebel army.



Edmonds

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