New York (AsiaNews/Agencies) - “We demand that the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, ed] immediately lay down arms, renounce terrorism, allow a UN-assisted evacuation of the remaining civilians in the conflict area, and join the political process”.  This was the demand voiced by Claude Heller, the current president of the UN Security Council after an informal Security Council meeting in New York. He added that the UN “strongly condemns the terrorist organisation for the use of civilians as human shields and for not allowing them to leave the area of conflict” and “insists the Sri Lankan government respect international humanitarian law and allow aid agencies in to help those affected by the fighting in the war zone”.

France and Britain are talking separately about whether it might be possible to send boats to rescue people who remain trapped on beaches in north-eastern Sri Lanka. China and Russia have condemned the rebels.  US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, says that the Sri Lankan government knows that “the entire world is very disappointed” that in its efforts to end what it sees as 25 years of conflict, it is causing such “untold suffering”.

Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, held a ministerial meeting in New Delhi to discuss the situation on the neighbouring Island.  At the end of the meeting Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, described LTTE actions against the Tamil civilian population as “barbaric” and said the only possible solution lies in greater political commitment to discussing the “real concerns of the Tamil population” who must be reassured of their “full dignity in the wider social context of Sri Lanka”.

In the meantime the war continues and with it the endless flow of thousands of desperate civilians.  The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry says over 100 thousand have escaped the war zone, while the army says it has further reduced the rebel held territory to just 12 square kilometres.  Satellite images released by the USA show that within that sliver of land tens of thousands remain trapped: some estimates say that number is close to 120 thousand people.