M.I.A. and The Sri Lankan Navy UPDATES

COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lankan authorities Monday ordered a foreign-owned ship carrying aid for Tamil civilians to leave the island without unloading its cargo.

Sri Lanka's defense ministry had initially described the Captain Ali as an Tamil Tiger vessel but the BBC reported that Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa confirmed in a Sunday newspaper interview that the ship "did not have any dangerous intentions."

Meanwhile, a British-based group, Mercy Mission, which is responsible for sending the ship to Sri Lanka has expressed concern over the detention of the vessel and crew. In a statement, the organization has said the Government as well as several others including senior ministers had been informed of the ship and its intended mission.

A navy spokesman could not comment on what would happen to the cargo.

A naval team has been searching the Captain Ali vessel, but the spokesman told the BBC that up to now it had found only food and medical items.

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's navy said on Thursday it had intercepted a freighter funded by Tamil Tiger sympathisers bound for formerly rebel-held areas, which reached Sri Lankan waters three weeks after the rebels lost a 25-year war.

Navy ships intercepted the Captain Ali, funded by a British-based group that calls itself Mercy Mission to Vanni, 160 km (100 miles) west of the Indian Ocean island's capital and main port, Colombo.

"We rounded up the ship and it's being brought closer to shore for checking. We know that it was coming with no local agent, no details of the cargo and the cargo was loaded by pro-LTTE (people) in the U.K. and France," Navy spokesman Captain Mahesh Karunaratne said.

None of the crew of 15, including a former member of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission which kept watch over a barely-observed 2002 ceasefire, were arrested, but were being questioned, he said.

Initially it was believed that the ship had set sail from Britain but the website of the Mercy Mission said the shipment was made using two vessels and that the Captain Ali had set sail from France.

The website said the Syrian flag-carrying vessel with a crew of 13 was carrying 884 tonnes of food, medicine and other essentials for Tamil civilians affected by the fighting.

"We're still getting stories from the Sri Lankan governent fed to us. We're not celebrating, we're not in the streets setting off firecrackers and having a great time and celebrating the end of a war.

"We still don't have answers about these people that are stuck in the barbed wire fences. They're dying of diseases. Some 60% of the population in these camps are wounded and have no medical attention."

She said Europe was divided and "we need a representative in there" to help with the civil rights of the Tamil people.

M.I.A. has had the dubious honour of appearing on the website of the Sri Lanka Army after controversially backing a campaign to send aid into citizens trapped in the Wanni warzone.

The campaign, launched in Britain last week, aims to send a boat loaded with food and medical supplies on a 'Mercy Mission' to those innocently caught up in fighting between the Sri Lanka Government and militant group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

However, the Sri Lanka Navy says it has been alerted by authorities of a boat – due to sail from Britain under the guise of civilian aid – whose cargo of over 2000 metric tonnes of food is actually destined for the LTTE.

The Navy say they will open fire on any unauthorised vessel to enter Sri Lankan waters.

“The Mercy Mission will carry dry food and medicines for Tamil civilians in the Wanni within the Sri Lankan Government’s ‘safe zone’,” said Arulpragasam, who is of Tamil-lineage and whose father is a revolutionary opposed to the Sri Lanka Government.

“Many have already perished from starvation and preventable disease. We cannot ignore these genocidal conditions,” she continued, “and if the aim of the SL Government is to protect the lives of the civilians, then this ship will reach its destination and lives will be saved.”

The Daily Mirror also reported that the government suspects the ship is carrying food for the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), not civilians.