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Colombo rejects U.N. claim

COLOMBO: A senior U.N. official said here on Monday reports of large-scale killings in the war zone in Sri Lanka appear to show that fears of bloodbath had become a reality. The military is advancing to take out the remaining cadre and leaders of the LTTE holed up inside the New Safety Zone (NFZ) with an estimated 20,000 civilians held as hostage.

“We’ve been consistently warning against a bloodbath, and the large-scale killing of civilians including more than 100 children this weekend appears to show that the bloodbath has become a reality,” said U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss.

The military and the Tigers have blamed each other for the civilian casualties.

There are no precise figures of the toll. The military has denied charges of use of heavy weapons but said it had inflicted heavy casualties among the Tiger cadre. The problem of distinguishing between a civilian and a Tiger cadre has been compounded as, according to the military, for over one and half months now the LTTE cadre have been operating without their uniforms. The government has taken exception to the official’s comments and said it would raise the matter with the U.N. Resident Commissioner. Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohana has been quoted in the local media as saying the government is disturbed by the comment.

In support of its contention that it is the LTTE which is responsible for the killing of fleeing civilians, the military released purported transcripts of intercepted communication from the Tiger cadre trying to stop the civilians.

“I have captured 20 persons trying to escape, more people are coming”. “Try to stop as much as you can till I send reinforcements”. “Give a vehicle to send 20 persons captured”. “Vehicle with ‘Malaravan Master’ has been sent to your place; don’t let any civilian escape”. “How did so many civilians get injured?” “Many people came, we couldn’t control and we had to fire on them,” the transcripts read.

The government categorically denied reports attributed to sources aligned with or under duress from the LTTE on supposed civilian casualties.

“The most recent claim of 378 deaths and over 1,100 injured is founded on a single source — a government doctor said to be working in the zone. The government has utterly rejected these claims of civilian casualties being caused by shelling from the security forces on Saturday (09) and Sunday (10)”, it said.

Separately, the pro-LTTE TamilNet in a report on situation inside the NSZ said, “Sri Lanka Army has stepped up relentless barrage of shelling using all sorts of heavy weapons on the so-called safety-zone [no-fire zone] in Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal and Vadduvaakal areas where more than 1,30,000 civilians have sought refuge without adequate bunkers and shelters.

“Civilian casualties are mounting amidst lack of medicine and food due to limited or denied supplies into the area of 7 square kilometres. Lawrence Christy, the head of Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) Field Office, put the death toll of civilians on Monday at more than 3,200 killed since Sunday evening up to Monday morning,” it said.

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