Colombo (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Tamil Tigers have declared a unilateral ceasefire, but the Sri Lankan government refuses to stop its military operations and continues the war.

In an official statement released Sunday the rebels say that “In the face of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and in response to the calls made by the UN, EU, the governments of the USA, India and others, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has announced an unilateral ceasefire. All of LTTE’s offensive military operations will cease with immediate effect”.

The Colombo governments response was immediate.  They are demanding the unconditional surrender of the separatist rebels.  The Sri Lankan defense secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, called the cease-fire offer a “joke.” “They were not fighting with us; they were running from us,” Rajapaksa said. “There is no need of a cease-fire. They must surrender. That is it”.

In the interim International efforts to arrive at a solution to the conflict have doubled.  UN under secretary for humanitarian affairs, John Holmes, is on the Island seeking to convince Colombo to allow aid through to the people still trapped in the war zone.

Civilians who have fled the war zone in the last week now amount to over 130 thousand.  The UN confirms that since January this year 6400 people have been killed and 13 thousand injured.

Britain announced Sunday that its foreign secretary, David Miliband, would travel to Sri Lanka on Wednesday along with the foreign ministers of France, Bernard Kouchner, and Sweden, Carl Bildt.