Government prepared to hand over Tamil Tiger leader to India but only after a trial
Under Secretary General for humanitarian affairs John Holmes welcomed the halt to heavy weapons use, hoping the decision will be kept and that it might be a prelude to a truce on the ground.
India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s decision to halt using heavy weapons use, saying it gave “solace” to India. He also said that it took the statement as a sign that hostilities were at an end.
For the minister the Sri Lankan decision was a victory of India’s strenuous efforts but in India itself signals are mixed.
Tamils in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu accuse their central government of doing nothing but use the conflict in Sri Lanka for its own electoral goals.
P Nedumaran, Sri Lankan Tamils Protection Movement coordinator, told AsiaNews that until now India just made appeals. Political parties are just interested in the elections.
In Tamil Nadu India’s elections are scheduled for 13 May, and no political party, locally and nationally, wants to make a faux pas; for this reason they are trying to avoid making any decisive move on the Sri Lankan situation.
Sri Lankan Army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said that the decision taken by President Rajapaksa at the National Security Council meeting did not mean a ceasefire was in place.
In fact the Defence Ministry said there was no letup in the fight against the Tigers which it blamed for thousands of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The authorities also insist on calling the military operations underway as the largest hostage rescue operation in the world, saying that “security forces are now nearing victory.”
According to government sources, about 109,000 people fled the combat zone in the past week, bringing to 170,000 the total number of civilians who moved to government-controlled areas since January.
The military said it freed 3,147 people on Sunday alone; 53 Tamil Tiger fighters, including 23 child soldiers, surrendered.
By contrast, Tamil rebels continue to accuse the army of shooting at civilians. The LTTE said that the Sri Lanka Air Force and the Sri Lanka Navy heavily bombed the Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal area, which is inside the so-called safe zone.
Local hospitals seem to confirm this version of events based on the number of people brought in for treatment showing wounds caused by artillery shells and air-dropped bombs.
The United Nations said that the government and humanitarian agencies are facing a huge challenge to bring relief to displaced people.
Even though the situation has become more stable in the some areas like Menik Farm, UN Undersecretary Holmes called again for immediate ceasefire to allow in aid for civilians.
(NC contributed to the article)
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