The Hindu : Front Page : Rajapaksa orders two-day halt to military offensive

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Monday, Apr 13, 2009
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Front Page

Rajapaksa orders two-day halt to military offensive

B. Muralidhar Reddy

To facilitate safe passage for trapped civilians

COLOMBO: To mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, celebrated on April 13 and 14, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday directed the armed forces to halt the offensive in the war-torn north on these days to facilitate the safe passage of the trapped civilians.

The estimates of the civilians stranded in the government demarcated 17 square-kilometre no fire zone (NFZ) varies from 50,000 to 100,000. The military says the remaining cadres and leaders of the LTTE, including its chief Velupillai Prabakaran, have taken shelter in the NFZ and are operating from there.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s gesture came amid continued concern within and outside Sri Lanka over the safety and well being of those stuck in the war zone and believed to be forcibly held as human shield by the Tigers.

The LTTE, in recent weeks, has repeatedly rejected call from several quarters to let the civilians leave the NSZ on the plea that it was not holding people against their will.

The LTTE has so far not responded to Mr. Rajapaka’s directive. Pro-LTTE TamilNet web site continued to harp on the plight of the civilians inside the NFZ and focused attention on an “urgent statement” by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) appealing to the international community to pressure Colombo to halt the military operations and enforce a ceasefire.

A brief statement from the Presidential Secretariat said Mr. Rajapaksa was deeply conscious of the need to give the civilian population, entrapped as hostages by the ruthless actions of the LTTE, the opportunity to celebrate the festivities in a suitable atmosphere and to have uninhibited freedom of movement from the No Fire Zone to the cleared areas.

The statement said:

“With this objective in view, His Excellency has directed the Armed Forces of the State to restrict their operations during the New Year to those of a defensive nature.

“The Sinhala and Tamil New Year are symbolic of the amity prevailing amongst all communities in Sri Lanka. In the true spirit of the season, it is timely for the LTTE to acknowledge its military defeat and lay down its weapons and surrender. The LTTE must also renounce terrorism and violence permanently.”

Commenting on the Presidential directive, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said it was the overwhelming desire of all peace-loving Sri Lankans to see that their brothers and sisters, who were undergoing untold hardship and suffering, would be freed soon from the brutal terror of the LTTE.

Mr. Bogollagama maintained that when the President declared a 48-hour temporary pause in military operations in late January, to enable civilians to move into the NFZ, the LTTE cynically exploited the opportunity to shift its artillery mortar launchers and heavy weapons into this area, and began attacking the security forces.

The government troops have paid a heavy price in exercising maximum restraint by not retaliating, in order to avoid causing civilian casualties. Moreover, the government was aware that the LTTE has fortified the entire NFZ with its remaining armaments and heavy weaponry, jeopardising the lives of innocent civilians entrapped in that area, he said.

With the latest government initiative it was incumbent on the international community and the Sri Lankan Tamils abroad to prevail upon the LTTE to release the civilians, he said.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has welcomed the government directive and called on the LTTE to take immediate steps to protect civilians by respecting the pause.

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