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35,000 have moved to safer areas: Colombo

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government has claimed that nearly 35,000 civilians trapped in the war zone have moved into safer areas amid heavy fighting.

According to the military, the Tigers were now confined to 140 sq. km. and were engaged in a no-holds-barred combat to halt the military advance.

The military said after the announcement of a 12-km. “safe zone” in the LTTE-held area on Thursday, 1,637 civilians had managed to cross over. An estimated 75,000 civilians were still stranded in the war zone.

The UN said 24,000 refugees had fled the Wanni region so far in this year. Some 2,50,000 civilians were trapped in the fighting, it said.

“As a result, transit sites, few of which have been prepared so far, are becoming overcrowded.”

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said a new “safe zone” had been set up along the western boundary of the Mullathivu lagoon.

This included areas where UN staff and their dependents were staying.

It said over 350 people, including wounded children and orphans, had been evacuated to Trincomalee where the hospital no longer had space for new arrivals.

The Defence Ministry said troops were on a mission to extend the withdrawal routes to create safe passages for civilians held by the LTTE.

In a report, the pro-LTTE TamilNet claimed that more than 150 civilians were feared killed on Thursday alone and around 90 in the preceding two days in “Sri Lanka Army [SLA] shelling” in Mullathivu district.

“Most of the casualties are reported along the sides of two roads through which the civilians are forced to flee in yet another mass exodus to a new ‘safety zone’ unilaterally announced by Colombo,” it claimed.

In another development, the Foreign Ministry denounced the decision of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to appoint the former Defence Secretary, Des Browne (MP) as his special envoy for Sri Lanka as “interference in the internal affairs” of the island nation.

Mr. Brown said Mr. Browne would focus on the immediate humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka and the government of Sri Lanka’s work towards a political solution to the conflict.

“The government of Sri Lanka categorically states that this appointment is in contravention of the basic principles governing international relations and the requirement for consultation and reciprocity.

“The Cabinet noted that neither proper procedure nor consultations had been undertaken by the British government prior to the said appointment which are time honoured traditions in diplomatic practice,” said the Ministry.

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