Sri Lanka should not block UN visiting safety zone, LTTE plead

Colombo shouldn’t block UN visiting safety zone: Nadesan [TamilNet, Saturday, 18 April 2009, 09:28 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka should not block UN Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar visiting the safety zone and acquainting himself of the conditions of the civilians, said LTTE political head, B. Nadesan when contacted by TamilNet on Saturday after reports of Sri Lanka rejecting UN appeal for ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the defence secretary of Sri Lanka told BBC Saturday: "I told him (Mr Nambiar) that we cannot extend our decision to restrict offensive military operations because there was no result during the previous halt in the fighting."

The LTTE in a statement issued on Monday described the Sri Lankan announcement of two-days so-called 'halt of offensive' operations as an eyewash attempt to hoodwink the International Community while SLA continued its attacks on civilian population in Vanni.

The LTTE statement also stated that the Tigers were calling for a politically and militarily meaningful ceasefire with humanitarian considerations. A such ceasefire would be meaningful and constructive with the facilitation of the International Community, the Tiger statement said.

UNITED NATIONS, April 17 -- As the UN has told diplomats in Colombo that the civilian death count in North Sri Lanka since January 20 has risen from 2683 to 4500, in New York UN Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq on Friday declined to confirm the UN's figures or their release. Inner City Press asked Haq if UN envoy Vijay Nambiar, who met with Sri Lanka's president and his brother, the Defense Minister, is asking for a cease-fire. Haq answered that the UN is only asking that heavy artillery not be used.