62 civilians killed, SLA, SLAF step up attacks on safety zone

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stepped up shelling on all areas within the so-called safety zone from 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, killing 62 civilians and causing injuires to many. Artillery and mortar shells hit the safety zone killing 27 civilians during the night. Artillery-fitted cluster munitions exploded between Valaignarmadam and Ampalavanpokka'nai causing heavy casualties. The SLA deployed RPG shells, short range mortars and long distance gunfire on the safety zone during the daytime on Tuesday in addition to 12 air strikes in the settlements surrounding the Pachchaip-pulmoaddai junction within the safety zone. More than 70 bombs were dropped by the SLAF bombers that flew at low altitude killing at least 17 civilians.
The shelling targeted Pokka'nai, Ampalavanpokka'nai, Mu'l'livaaykkaal, Maaththa'lan and Valaignarmadam.

More than 250 wounded civilians have been admitted to the makeshift hospital at Puthumaaththa'lan within the last 3 days, according to medical sources. 21 of the patients died at the hospital.

The ICRC ship to transport patients would not be coming before Thursday, according to the medical staff at the hospital. At least 200 patients were in need of immediate transfer to Trincomalee.

Drugs brought to the hospital in ICRC ship on Sunday would only last for 7 to 10 days, the medical staff said. The hospital authorities have urged more medicines to be sent to the hospital.

SLA gunfire and RPG shells hit the area near the hospital. Shells also exploded in the area. An RPG shell that hit a mother of five children didn't explode, but caused serious injuries to her.

Two children died due to diaarhoea on Monday and another child on Tuesday.

Some vaccines have been brought to the hospital and immunisation programme was going on, according to the officials of the Regional Director of Health Services of the two districts.

Transport of goods through A9 route to Jaffna risky

Commissioner General of Essential Services, S. B. Divaratne, informed Jaffna Government Agent (GA) and the representatives of the Traders’ Union in Jaffna that goods will not be transported through A9 route and that the ship services involved in this task would continue uninterrupted, sources in Jaffna said. This ruling comes as the government is working hard on plans to bring goods in 19 lorries by private traders next week, the sources added.

Goods were brought to Jaffna peninsula in 22 lorries along A9 land route with much difficulty on 11 March and local agricultural and fish products were taken to Colombo after a few days in 9 lorries.

The government had made much publicity of this as an accomplishment but transport through A9 route had not continued as it was insecure and risky.

Defence Ministry sources in Jaffna and representatives of the Traders’ Union say that transport of goods through A9 route is not immediately possible.

Efforts are being made by the government to transport goods through A9 route to Jaffna by traders registered with the Commissioner of Essential Services to bring relief food and building materials including cement in 19 lorries.

But the Commissioner of Essential Services has informed that the above mentioned goods will only be taken in ships to Jaffna.

Artillery pounds wounded Tamils trapped on beach

A THOUSAND amputees were among the wounded and dying waiting to be rescued from a beach in northeast Sri Lanka yesterday, according to aid agencies.

Frightened Tamil families, the latest victims of the country’s 26-year civil war, were hiding in makeshift trenches as they came under artillery fire while waiting to be evacuated from Puthumathalan beach.

Last week the International Committee of the Red Cross removed 460 injured and their families from the area, using local fishermen to carry the wounded on wooden dinghies to the Green Ocean ferry leased for the operation. The ferry was due to return last night to rescue more of the injured.

Sophie Romanens, a Red Cross representative in Sri Lanka, said the scene was desperate. “The capacity for evacuation is far below the need,” she said. “We have to decide to take the casualties who are more badly injured and leave behind the ones who are less badly injured.” They are among 150,000 civilians trapped in an area of 13 square miles after fleeing a government offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, known as the Tamil Tigers.

More than 300 civilians were being killed every week in artillery or air attacks, or were dying for lack of medical care, food or water, aid agencies said. The Tamils are desperate because the last hospital in the area was forced to close after twice being bombed by the Sri Lankan army.

The only medical treatment available is in a makeshift clinic at Puthumathalan, where the injured lie under tarpaulins with drips suspended from tree branches. The numbers trying to escape via the beach had “increased dramatically over the past week”, the Red Cross said.

The United Nations said 2,800 Tamils, mostly civilians, had been killed since the offensive began in January in the predominantly Tamil region of the island off the coast of India.

In an interview yesterday with The Sunday Times Balasingham Nadesan, the political leader of the Tamil Tigers, pleaded for an urgent ceasefire. He said the Tigers, classified as a terrorist organisation in Britain because of their use of suicide attacks, would enter negotiations with the government “without pre-conditions”.

The daily bombing and shelling was described by Nadesan as “geno-cidal warfare”. “We call for a ceasefire, loudly and clearly,” he said. “Continuous denial of humanitarian access to the civilian population, and non-stop artillery and aerial attacks, are creating an unbearable situation.”

He called for international monitors to see the situation, adding that the Tigers would respect the outcome of any referendum on an independent Tamil state as long as it was held “once people were allowed to return to their homes”.

Some civilians have managed to cross government lines to find safety at a hospital in the northern town of Vavuniya. The only foreign surgeon there, Hugues Roberts of Médecins Sans Frontières, said 960 casualties had been treated, most of them wounded by shells, landmines or gunshots. The victims ranged from a child of three to men and women in their seventies. “The ones dead, or gravely injured, we don’t see them,” said Roberts.

Joan Ryan, a Labour MP, said: “If the Sri Lankan government does not respond to this call for a ceasefire within 24 hours, Gordon Brown should call for the suspension of Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth.”

A Commons debate on Sri Lanka is scheduled for Tuesday.

9,924 casualties including 2,683 deaths and 7,241 injuries in Mullaitivu since 20 January 2009 – UN’s leaked document

Security tightened at airport after LTTE attack warningKochi

The security personnel at Kochi International Airport here swung into action tightening the security in and around the airport when they were alerted of possible LTTE attack. According to Airport Director A C K Nair yesterday, a message warning of LTTE attack at one of the airports in the South was received at office of the Air India, functioning in Mumbai Airport. The CISF, police and other security forces' personnel were immediately alerted. The patrolling on all roads reaching the airport was intensified. The CISF personnel launched thorough checking of vehicles and people approaching the airport. Frisking of the passengers and staff has been held at different points at the airport. A similar threat was received at the Kolkota Airport on Thursday night. A special security meeting was convened by Airport Director to evaluate the security arrangements.

EU offers more aid to battle-scarred Sri Lanka

The European Commission on Thursday announced an additional three million euros funding for the Red Cross to help tackle the growing humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka's strife-torn north.
"I am appalled by the humanitarian catastrophe in the north of Sri Lanka. Thousands of civilians trapped in the conflict zone have died and more are dying every day, not only from repeated shelling but also from lack of food, water and medical care," said EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel.
"Only minimal humanitarian assistance is being allowed into the area. There is an immediate and urgent need to act, to save lives and prevent further human tragedy," he added in a statement.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the only international humanitarian organisation allowed into the conflict zone and is working "in desperate conditions" to bring life-saving assistance to the people who are trapped and to evacuate the sick and wounded, the Commission said.
United Nations' human rights chief Navi Pillay has said she fears both sides could be guilty of war crimes in the Sri Lanka conflict and that more than 2,800 civilians could have been killed since late January.
"The government must face its obligations to protect all its citizens by stopping the indiscriminate shelling of civilians and by agreeing to a humanitarian lull so that adequate food and medicines can be brought into the area and sick and wounded people can leave," said Michel.
The announcement of fresh EU aid came as Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF) warned that civilians pouring out of the war zone in Sri Lanka's north are in dire need of emergency medical and psychological help.
The MSF also voiced "extreme" concern for 150,000 Tamil civilians still trapped by fierce fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.
Over the past five years the Commission, the EU's executive arm, has given a total of 95 million euros (130 million dollars) in aid for victims of humanitarian crises in Sri Lanka, including 42 million euros for victims of the 2004 tsunami.

SLA shelling kills 102 civilians within 3 days inside 'safety zone'

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery shelling killed 46 civilians Friday inside the safety zone in the besieged pocket in Mullaiththeevu. SLA-fired shells hit 6 tarpaulin shelters of the IDPs in Maaththa'lan Friday, killing 16 civilians. Meanwhile 4 civilians were killed around 11:00 a.m., 300 meters near the coastal spot, where the ICRC was transporting wounded civilians. On Thursday, 39 civilians including 11 children were killed and at least 17 civilians were reported killed inside the safety zone on Wednesday. 6 civilians were killed in Pokk'anai when a single shell hit an IDP hut around 1:00 p.m. on Friday.The remaining casualties were reported in Mu'l'livaaykkaal, Iraddaivaaykkaal, and Valaignarmadam.Heavy shelling was reported in Pokka'nai and Maaththa'lan areas within the safety zone since 11:00 p.m. Thursday.

Australia seeks end to Sri Lanka's war

Australia is calling on Sri Lanka to present "credible political reforms" to end ethnic bloodshed and has expressed grave concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the island's north.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith is also asking Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels to lift all restrictions on civilians living in rebel-held areas amid allegations that the guerrillas are holding them as human shields.
"There can be no justification for preventing free movement of civilians from the conflict zone," Smith said in a statement.
"We encourage the Sri Lankan diaspora to add weight to this call to prevent further loss of life."
Australia, which designates the Tamil Tigers a terrorist organisation, has a large Sri Lankan community, including ethnic Tamils.
"Australia again calls on the Sri Lankan government to put forward credible political reforms to engage Tamils and other minorities without delay," Smith said.
"A political solution that meets the legitimate aspirations of all Sri Lankans is essential for the long-term security and prosperity of Sri Lanka."
The minister said arrangements must be put in place urgently to allow the safe passage of civilians from the shrinking war zone, where government forces are leading their biggest ever offensive against the Tigers.
"As long as civilians remain in the conflict zone, both sides have an obligation to ensure that hostilities are not conducted in a way which endangers civilian life," he said.
The United Nations rights chief said last week that over 2,800 civilians have been killed since late January and both sides of the conflict may be guilty of war crimes.
Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for an independent state in the island's northeast. Their mini state was dismantled by security forces earlier this year with the capture of their political and military headquarters.
Sri Lanka's government pulled out of a Norwegian-arranged truce in January 2008.

Another part of tamil genocide

While four pregnant mothers were killed in SLA shelling on Friday inside the safe zone, another mother who was admitted to the makeshift-hospital after injuries in her lower abdomen gave birth Saturday to a baby girl, but the hospital staff noticed the child having shrapnel on her left thigh. The newborn child went through a small surgery even before her first feeding, according to the medical staff at the hospital in Maaththa'lan.

The mother who gave birth to the baby girl is 24-year-old Prasad Sivatharsany from Thearaavil, Visuvamadu. She was injured in a shell attack on 02 March.
Another pregnant mother aged 28, with shell blast injuries admitted to the hospital on Wednesday went through abdominal surgery. The 6 months old foetus was found truncated of both feet. The following day, the mother also died. A pregnant mother delivering dead twins was already reported on ThursdayMedical sources in the makeshift-hospital said pregnant mothers who lack nutritious food and face continuous trauma in addition to the physical stress are having a difficult time, especially after mini-cyclone hitting the safe zone last week.

Menon wants civilians issue and war ending in Colombo’s favour

The Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, has said in Washington that “civilians caught in the war should be safely moved to government-controlled areas”, PTI reported Thursday. Wrapping up his four days US visit and briefing that both India and the US have similar approaches to address the issue in Sri Lanka, he envisaged rehabilitation, reconstruction and building up normal economic life of people “once these areas are cleared or under the government control.” He also said on the need “to bring in the kind of the political steps including devolution”, according to the PTI report. Whatever Menon said in Washington doesn’t significantly differ from the verbal stance adopted by Mahinda Rajapaksa government, aiming for victory and subjugation of Tamils, said political observers in Colombo. Already around 36,000 Tamil civilians are languishing in Vavuniyaa under subhuman conditions in the internment camps of the government. India, which showed no concern of it, or took no attempt to redress their plight, advocating the handing over of the remaining civilians also to Colombo government, and entering into the venture of a medical establishment in a remote and far away place at Pulmoaddai, is a matter for perusal, the observers said.
Menon’s casual reference to ‘political steps’ after the Tamil areas are ‘cleared or under government control’ and the use of the shallow and blanket term ‘devolution’, that too not in an obligatory way, are revelations of the spiteful attitude of the Indian Establishment towards Tamil aspirations, according to the observers."Even though Menon claims India and US share a common line of thinking, to what extent the US would align or engage in partnership on this issue, with an outgoing Establishment that has thoroughly discredited itself and antagonized Tamils all over the world, is anybody’s guess.""High profile discussions and decisions coming from India, centering personalities like Shiv Shankar Menon and M.K. Narayanan, orchestrated from behind, and the line of thinking going in the opposite direction to the overwhelming demands of the people of Tamil Nadu, have already undermined the credibility of the greatest democracy in the world, reducing the status of the present government of India into an 'Establishment' run by extra parliamentary elements," remarked an academic in Colombo.

Tigers blast 6 Sri Lankan artillery positions in Vanni

The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Black Tiger commandos and Col. Kiddu Artillery formation launched a joint attack destroying six artillery positions of the Sri Lanka Army in the early hours of Tuesday, confirmed an LTTE official in Vanni to TamilNet on Wednesday. Six artillery weapons platforms in Thearaavil, located around 18 km from Puthukkudiyiruppu junction, were completely destroyed in a "precise mission" carried out by the Black Tiger commandos and the Tiger artillery formation, the official said. The LTTE official refused to comment on whether Tigers used the seized artillery pieces to mount shelling towards SLA positions in the north, but said the weapons were destroyed in the mission. More than 50 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in the attack, he said. 3 Black Tiger commandos died in the mission.

Hillary, Menon discuss Sri Lanka

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon met for 45 minutes in Washington, Monday. “A discussion of one regional issue, in particular, was Sri Lanka -- the importance of trying to find a way to make sure that whatever happens in the armed conflict, that there is a political settlement in the future that both the US and India can help create, and participate in", reports Rediff News Tuesday, citing Administrative sources in Washington. Explaining why the Sri Lanka crisis took center-stage during the discussion on regional issues, the source according to Rediff News said, "The Secretary is very concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka and there is a sense that maybe there are things we (the US and India) can do together." Menon, according to the sources, 'was quite positive', in terms of concurrence with the concerns expressed by Clinton, although there was 'nothing specified' in terms on how this situation could be alleviated, but broadly "the idea that this is an area where we both have capabilities and interests and we'd like to be helpful."The US government will sound India Monday, seeking support to evacuate nearly 200,000 Tamil civilians from LTTE controlled territory, read a news story appeared in Kolkata-based The Telegraph on Sunday.The plan is to send a marine expeditionary brigade attached to the US Pacific Command (PACOM) to go into Sri Lanka with the support of the US navy and air force, the news reported by K.P. Nayar in The Telegraph said.Meanwhile, an Indian medical team arrived on Monday in Sri Lanka to open an emergency medical unit for treating IDPs at Pulmoaddai, a coastal place known for ilmanite deposits at the border of Northern and Eastern Provinces.Colombo was negative on the possibilities of permitting any foreign country in the evacuation of civilians.Sri Lanka's Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said that the Government has not permitted any international forces to evacuate civilians from the Vanni, and Government has not made any request to the US Army to support the evacuation process in Sri Lanka, according to Daily News citing the minister on Tuesday."Certain reports published regarding the arrival of US marines in Sri Lanka to transport civilians on the invitation of the Sri Lankan Government are baseless and incorrect." "We have also not received any proposal from any country in this regard," "We welcome proposals from any country or foreign agency if they are not concerned in safeguarding the terrorists”, the Sri Lankan minister was quoted saying. "Since the Armed Forces are engaged in fulfilling their duties in eliminating terrorism in the North, the Government has committed to streamline the evacuation process of civilians without harming them," the Daily News said.

Artillery attacks on Pa’lai, Mukamaalai, Ki’laali areas

Large number of artillery shells said to be launched by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since Monday midnight fell and exploded near A9 road in Pa’lai and Mukamaalai, until Tuesday afternoon, sources in Thenmaraadchi said. Around 22 lorries loaded with goods which started to Jaffna along A9 road around 11:00 a.m Monday are yet to reach Naavatku’li but 25 buses carrying Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have reached Thenmaraadchi along A9 route around Tuesday afternoon, the sources added. Shells fell and exploded in Pa’lai, Mukamaalai, Ki’laali areas earlier held by LTTE.Many of them fell and exploded near SLA bases in the area.Though there have been no casualties or injury to the public, fear and tension prevail among the residents of areas close to Ki’laali, Vidaththalpa’lai and Usan.SLA had earlier announced the transport of goods to Jaffna along A9 route by lorries on Tuesday.

Sri Lankan cluster shelling kills 129 civilians within 7 hours

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells fitted with cluster munitions and fire-bombs into civilian 'safety zone' killing at least 129 civilians between 2:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Around 200 civilians were wounded. 300 tarpaulin huts burned down to ashes in Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fired rockets. The medical store at Valaignarmadam has sustained damage and the son of a doctor was reported killed there, according to initial reports. A local NGO official, who was coordinating the rescue of the wounded described the carnage as "Colombo’s show of open mockery at international concern," reports TamilNet's Vanni correspondent. "The attack was criminally deliberate as it was timed for the aftermath of a mini cyclone and floods, at the stranded civilians," the NGO official said. "In a show of open mockery at the mounting international concern for civilians in Vanni, the Colombo government indiscriminately attacked all parts of the ‘safe zone’ using every kind of lethal shells, some of them banned in many countries." The low-lying and inhospitable coastal terrain, bereft of vegetation, was the choice of the government as the safe-zone for herding civilians. The government has now turned it into a killing zone, where civilians every day die in hundreds due to shelling and starvation.Commenting further, the NGO official who didn't wish to be named said: "What the Colombo government is committing is not ordinary genocide, but mass torture and genocide." "Why Colombo is doing this is quite obvious. Because, in truth, the war waged by Colombo is against the Tamil people, aiming at their subjugation," he says. "Let the criminal minded international pundits, who argue in favour of the Colombo government for its right to wage this war tell us in what way the killings in the ‘safe zone’ are different from the proven genocides elsewhere in the world.""The alternative suggested to the civilians is a worse form of concentration camps intended for years." A civilian who escaped the shelling, but witnessed people standing nearby killed, came out with a touching statement on Sunday that he was 'unfortunate to survive'. Comments from the NGO official tells the extent of the resentment and anger among the civilians in Vanni:"The Indian Establishment and the Co-Chairs countries share responsibilities for the genocide and war crimes taking place in the island."With a stroke of pen they declared the fighting force of the Tamils as ‘terrorists’ and tilted the balance in favour of the genocidal government."They provided money, weapons and diplomatic leverage to Colombo."The war waged by Colombo is a proxy war of all of them."Are they in a position now to stop the real terrorism of Colombo and genocide?"All these years they couldn’t even lift a finger to all the human rights abuses taking place in the island."What we see even now is only lip services, meaningless statements, sabotage at UN and dodging tactics."While the US Pacific Command is planning how to handover the people into the murderous hands of Colombo, the US Ambassador in Colombo is seen pleading the chauvinists even for subservient concessions, rejected by Tamils long back," commented the NGO worker.

SLA cut downs use of A9 route to Jaffna due to security risks

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) which had earlier announced the opening of A9 land route to Jaffna has now limited its turns of transporting soldiers to 3 days in a week due to clashes breaking along the road and security risks, SLA sources in Jaffna said. Information on the days of transport is not disclosed and the convoy of busses takes the soldiers on vacation from Palaali to Vavuniyaa and back on unannounced days, three times a week. SLA had been following the same procedure in the transport of soldiers between Jaffna and Trincomalee by the vessel ‘Jetliner’ in an irregular manner so as to avoid risks of being attacked on the sea.The soldiers are transported from Palaali along A9 route to Vavuniyaa and from there to Anuradapura. The same procedure is followed in bringing soldiers back to Jaffna peninsula.SLA uses more than 25 buses for this purpose and the last convoy of them took soldiers from Palaali to Vavuniyaa Sunday.Meanwhile, Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh, announced that ships carrying relief goods sent by the Commissioner of Essential Services left Colombo Sunday and will arrive at Kaangesanthu’rai harbour Tuesday.The relief goods will be transported to the Government Stores located in Naavatku’li, the announcement said.After a period of 18 years the A9 Jaffna-Kandy road was first used by SLA to bring troops to Jaffna from Vavuniyaa on 2nd March.

LTTE breaks through SLA lines amidst casualties

The Sri Lanka Army divisions surrounding Puthukkudiyiruppu face the threat of attack from behind their lines as LTTE fighters managed to break through their lines despite suffering casualties on Sunday, reports from Jaffna said quoting Sri Lankan military sources of anonymity. In the meantime, Sri Lankan defence sources in Colombo claimed recovery of more than 100 bodies of LTTE fighters.
Residents of Jaffna peninsula heard heavy exchange of gunfire and artillery explosions throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Police playing hide and seek in Lasantha probe

Government Analyst (GA) T.R.N.M. Liyanarachchi on Friday (8) told that his report on the murder of the late Editor-in-Chief of The Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge was handed over to the police a few weeks back.
The GA's revelation stands in stark contradiction of the position taken by the police that they have not yet received the GA report and hence the investigation is at a standstill. Police Spokesperson SSP Ranjith Gunasekera once again stated that the police were awaiting the GA's report for 'scientific evidence.' Wickrematunge was brutally murdered by unidentified gunmen on January 8 at Attidiya in the high security zone in close proximity to the Ratmalana Airport and Air Force Base, while on his way to office. Although the police appointed four investigation teams to investigate into the killing of Wickrematunge, the police are yet to make a breakthrough for the past two months. When asked as to what the latest progress into the killing of Wickrematunge was, SSP Gunasekera said that the police teams are still investigating into the telephone calls received by Wickrematunge and nothing else. "I was not told as to what is happening and still the police are awaiting the GA report for a breakthrough," SSP said. However GA, Liyanarachchi and his deputy W.D.G.S. Gunathilake confirmed to The Sunday Leader that they had sent the report to the Mount Lavinia Police a few weeks ago. "Copies of the report have been sent to SSP Mount Lavinia, Hemantha Adikari and to the HQI Mount Lavinia a few weeks back. So how could the police say that they have not yet received the report," queried Deputy GA, Gunathilake. All attempts to contact SSP Adikari for a comment failed.

Adversity of Vanni people to investigate and grant relief - Richard Bowchar

American Deputy Secretary for South East Asia Richard Bowchar stated that by granting equal rights to Sri Lankan Tamil people, and to lead them respectfully all arrangements should be organized by the Sri Lankan Government immediately .
Tamil Eelam Libeartion tigers are continuously keeping the innocent people under their control and this is a difficult position to them was further stated by him. People trapped in the Vanni area, are proposed to remove them, by the assistance from American Pacific Commanding Team but it is awaiting the permission from both sectors, hence they cannot not proceed was mentioned by him. “Till then we would attempt what sort of assistance we could do to those civilians” was mentioned by him. He mentioned some of this officers have proceeded to such areas, to find out the situation of Vanni people and in what sort of assistance they could grant, and the possibilities was stated by Richard Bowchar.

Heavy fighting reported in Vanni

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched heavy artillery barrage and mortar fire Saturday midnight on Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) soldiers of its 55th Division stationed in Chaalai, Chu’ndikku'lam and some areas of Puthukkudiyiruppu, killing and seriously injuring considerable number of soldiers, according to an SLA source in Thenmaraadchi. LTTE forces are attempting to break into the formation of the SLA 55th Division, the officer said.Residents in Thenmaraadchi said they could hear loud explosions from the above area where the fighting is said to be continuing until Sunday evening.

Sri Lankan attacks kill 208 civilians within 72 hours

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery-fitted cluster shells hit several IDP settlements within the 'safety zone', claiming the lives of at least 53 civilians Saturday until 3:00 p.m. Around 112 civilians sustained injuries. On Friday, 86 civilians were killed and more than 100 civilians were wounded. Dead bodies were not brought to the hospital as shelling continued. Thousands of civilians within the 'safety zone' were forced to remain inside the bunkers. 69 civilians were killed on Thursday in the indiscriminate shelling and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombardments. More than 330 civilians have been wounded within the last 3 days. Artillery shells with cluster-bomblets exploded Saturday Ampalavanpokka'ani and Maaththa'lan. Artillery shells have hit a few bunkers killing civilians inside the bunkers. Shells also hit Mu'l'livaaykkaal and Iraddaivaaykkaal. Ira'naippaalai, outside the 'safety zone' is under continuous barrage. Casualty details were not available from Ira'naippaalai. On Saturday, Shells exploded 500 meters away from the hospital. Two of the civilians, who were waiting to register themselves with the GS (Village Officer) in order to receive humanitarian supplies at a location between Maaththa'lan and Ampalavanpokka'nai, were also killed in the shelling.On Thursday, 31 civilians were killed at Aananthapuram in I'ranaippaalai in SLAF bombardment and SLA shelling. Two bombers dropped 8 times in two rounds throughout the day. Sasi Mathan, 27, Mullaiththeevu District Distribution Manager of Eezhanaatham Daily, the only newspaper published in LTTE controlled territory, was among the victims at Aananthapuram. He is a native of Mu'l'liyava'lai. Four civilians were killed Thursday when SLA shelling targeted an area where government vehicles were parked was also subjected to shell attack at Valaignarmadam.A fire-bomb shell claimed the lives of 4 more civilians in Pokka'nai on Thursday. Around 30 civilians were killed in the remaining places, including Mu'l'livaaykkaal on Thursday. The SLA also fired from Chaalai using long-range machine guns into the sea on Thursday. At least one bullet hit the ICRC ship, according to informed sources.

Media activists in Colombo fear reprisals, keep away from protest

Around 25 media persons, mostly leftist oriented, took part in a demonstration Thursday noon at Colpetty junction in Colombo, protesting against the manner in which Vithyatharan, the editor of ‘Sudaroli’ Tamil newspaper was 'arrested' by the Sri Lankan Police. Many media activists and journalists kept away from demonstration fearing reprisals by the Colombo government, concerned activists told TamilNet. Colombo Crime Division police personnel, disguised as media men, took photographs of the protesters, according to the participants in the protest. Siritunga Jayasuriya, the leader of United Socialist Party and Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarante, the president of the Left Front and the general secretary of the NSSP and Human Rights Lawyer, Nimalka Fernando took part in the demonstration.Colombo based Free Media Movement (FMM), which used to issue timely statements on the injustice caused to journalists, is yet to release a statement on the 'abduction' and later the detention of Vithyatharan by the police, the sources further said. Only a statement was issued on behalf of the five organisations following the 'arrest' of Vithyatharan.Almost none of the media organizations including FMM, Working Journalists’ Association, Ceylon Tamil Journalists’ Association were present at the demonstration Thursday, complained the participants. Representatives of the leading Tamil dailies Thinakural and Virakesari were also not seen participating in the demonstration.

US Congressman supports review of Gotabaya, Fonseka indictment

Congressman Walter B Jones representing North Carolina's 3rd District, in a letter of support sent to the United States Attorney General, Eric Holder, said that the "Department of Justice must take care to review all issues brought to its attention," in the model indictment submitted early February, and requested that the Justice Department to "review this document thoroughly." Congressman Jones serves in the House Committee on Armed Services and in the Committee on Financial Services. Full text of the letter follows:

Honorable Eric H. Holder

United States Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

I am in receipt of the model grand jury indictment of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka proposed by Mr. Bruce Fein, Counsel for Tamils Against Genocide. It is my understanding that this document was submitted to the Department of Justice last week.

Congress communicated its strong committment to prosecution for acts of genocide when it passed the Genocide Accountability Act of 2007. That Act, which amended 18 USC 1091, extended the reach of the U.S. law when investigating and prosecuting acts of genocide.While I have no personal knowledge of the facts or events charged in the aforementioned model indictment, the Department of Justice must take care to review all issues brought to its attention. I respectfully request that you review this document thoroughly.Sincerely,Walter B Jones (signed) Member of Congress

SLA shells hospital environs, 13 killed including 4 children

Sri Lanka Army fired artillery shells targeting the environs of Maa'ththa'lan makeshift-hospital within the 'safety zone' from 5:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. The shells hit the IDP settlement, located 200 meters near the hospital, claiming the lives of 13 Tamil civilians. Four of them were children, including a 1-year-old baby. 56 civilians have sustained injuries, according to medical sources. Two children below the age of 10 were reported missing. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Air Force fighter bombers were seen bombing north of the 'safety zone' twice Tuesday morning. Shelling was also reported in Pokka'nai area, but casualty figures were not available. Meanwhile, a shell exploded on a bunker Monday night, causing injuries to 4 civilians in Maaththa'lan.

STF kills mother of raped girl in Batticaloa

Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos who had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old Tamil girl Sunday in Vellaave’li police division, again went to the girl’s house Monday between 8:00 p.m and 9:00 p.m where they assaulted her father first and then severely tortured her mother before killing and dumping her body in the well as punishment for complaining against the STF with Batticaloa police for raping her daughter. The father was held bound while the commandos beat the mother to death, the neighbors said. Vellaave’li police recovered the body of the mother with the help of neighbors and handed it over to Ka’luvaangnchchikudi hospital.The mother of the raped girl had earlier complained of the incident to Eastern Province Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan.The Chief Minister had reportedly said that he had no authority on security affairs directing her to take the matter to Vinayagamoorthy Muralitahran alias Karuna, member of parliament. The STF commandos in Vellaave'li police division in Batticaloa sexually abused a 14-year-old Tamil girl in front of her mother during a cordon and search conducted Sunday early morning in Vallaave’li, sources. The medical officer who examined the girl admitted to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital confirmed that she had been sexually abused. The STF commandos, having ordered all the men in the area to go to a temple, interrogated the women who were left alone in the houses collecting particulars about members of the family besides sexually abusing them.

SLAF jet exploded over Mullaiththeevu

A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bomber was shot down in Mullaiththeevu on Friday at 11:25 a.m., civilians sources in Ira'naippaalai told TamilNet. Several civilians saw the jet explode in mid-air as it was beginning an attack run towards an unidentified locality. A huge plume of smoke followed after the flaming debris fell to earth, they said. The LTTE is yet to comment on the attack. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) spokesman Wing commander Janaka Nanayakara has denied the report that one of their aircraft was shot down in Vanni. The civilians observers could not say in whose controlled area the wreckage had fallen. The Sri Lankan army (SLA) is locked in fierce clashes with the LTTE in areas west of Puthukkudiyiruppu.The civilians could not identify the aircraft type - SLAF operates Israeli built Kfirs and Mig-27s – and could not say what had brought the plane down. Defence writers observing Sri Lanka have long said the Tigers do not have surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).The civilian sources in Ira'naippaalai said, however, that the SLAF, which continuously attacked Mullaiththeevu stopped flying over Vanni for 3 days after the LTTE launched an air raid against SLAF installations in Colombo last Friday night.Sri Lanka claimed that both LTTE aircraft were shot down Friday before the pilots dropped their bombs and that one plane flew into the Inland Revenue building after being hit by anti-aircraft fire.The LTTE said their pilots, who were earlier awarded with Neelap Puli Viruthu (The Blue Tiger Award) for five consecutive and successful flight operations of attack, were on a Black Air Tiger mission and gave military rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel to the pilots.

Slave camp suspected in Kilinochchi hospital building

A slave camp consisting male and female members 'chosen' from the fleeing civilians by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is reportedly setup in the abandoned Kilnochchi hospital building, reported TamilNet correspondent in Vanni, citing unverified information reaching Mullaiththeevu from males who escaped from the camp. According to the sources, men are kept at the downstairs for forced labour and women kept in the upstairs for abuse by the SLA soldiers who are on temporary leave. Wailing and screaming of women are commonly heard from the upstairs, the sources revealed. The screening of the civilians who fled took place at two centres, in Visuvamadu and in Kilinochchi. Many youngsters were reportedly missing during the screening process. Parents who asked the military authorities about the their children missing at the time of screening were not given with any answer. When the UN official John Holmes visited an internment camp in Vavuniyaa last week, a woman inmate complained to him about a missing son who was taken by the SLA soldiers. But, the accompanying Sri Lankan Minister of Resettlement, Rishard Badurdeen, translated the complaint to Mr. Holmes that the woman was referring to her son taken by the Tigers. A few days ago, reports of a top man directing the war giving a free hand to the soldiers about captured civilians, leaked from the army sources themselves.

Prominent Tamil Editor abducted in Colombo, later claimed 'arrested'

Armed persons and men in police uniform who arrived in three white vans Thursday morning abducted Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, 58, the prominent editor of Jaffna-based Uthayan daily and Colombo-based Chudaroli, eyewitnesses told TamilNet. The abduction comes six days after Mr. Vithyatharan was grilled by the Sri Lankan Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). The TID had questioned him Sunday for six hours on news and views that appeared in his papers on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) attacks on civilians in Vanni and about his interactions with the officials of the Tigers in the past. Police spokesman Gunasekara, who first said that the editor was abducted by unidentified men, hours later claimed that he had been arrested.
The 'abduction' has taken place around 9:45 a.m. at Mahinda Parlour in Galkissa (Mount Lavinia) on Galle Road while Mr. Vithyatharan was attending a funeral of a close relative.Three of the armed men were in Police uniform and two in civil. "When relations tried to prevent him from being taken away the armed men intimidated them, pushed them and took Vithyatharan away," according to a note from the Chief Editor of Uthayan. Eyewitnesses said one of the white van was bearing registration number HX-0640.The Deputy Chief of US Embassy in Colombo, James R. Moore, who visited Jaffna two weeks ago, had a meeting with the editorial staff of Uthayan, which is functioning under trying conditions for more than two years.

Mr. Vithyatharan is the Editor-in-Chief of Colombo based Chudaroli and editor of Uthayan, published in Jaffna. Both the papers have faced threats and attacks in recent years. In May 2006, armed paramilitary gunmen who entered the office of the Jaffna daily Uthayan, opened fire killing two staff, including the daily's marketing manager, and causing injuries to two staffers.

Statement diplomacy of EU

Significantly deviating from its earlier position of justifying war on 'terrorism', the EU Council Conclusions on Sri Lanka, Monday, stressed the need for Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the LTTE to comply with ‘provisions of international humanitarian law and principles of the laws of war’, treating them as equal parties engaged in war. Taking this stance, the EU called for an immediate Ceasefire. The EU also reiterated its intention to send a Troika as soon as possible. However, the rest of the EU conclusions are the usual rhetoric, ending with the never implemented GSP+investigation on Sri Lanka, political observers said. Full text of the EU Statement follows:Council Conclusions on SRI LANKA2925th GE ERAL AFFAIRS Council meetingBrussels, 23 February 2009The Council adopted the following conclusions:
"
The EU has been following closely developments in Sri Lanka. The EU is deeply concerned about the evolving humanitarian crisis and vast number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) trapped by the fighting in northern Sri Lanka, as well as the continuing reports of high civilian casualties. To prevent the loss of civilian life, the EU stresses the need for the provisions of international humanitarian law and the principles of the laws of war to be respected by parties to a conflict. The EU calls on the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to comply with these laws.
The EU calls for an immediate cease-fire thereby providing for the establishment of full and unrestricted access, allowing humanitarian aid to be safely delivered and allowing civilians to leave the conflict area. The EU condemns the LTTE's use of violence and intimidation to prevent civilians from leaving the conflict area.
The EU urges the Sri Lankan Government to ensure that the temporary camps for IDPs and the screening process for access to them are in compliance with international standards and that independent monitoring be allowed. The UN, the ICRC, and other humanitarian organizations need to have full access to these camps. These above conditions must be met for the EU to be in a position to provide the required humanitarian assistance.
he EU remains convinced that the long standing conflict in Sri Lanka cannot be resolved by military means. A military defeat of the LTTE will only reemphasize the need to find a political solution in order to ensure a lasting peace. The EU recalls the Co-Chairs Statement issued on 03/02/09 and reiterates its intention to send a Troika as soon as possible.
The EU calls on the LTTE to lay down its arms and to renounce terrorism and violence once and for all, end the inhuman use of child soldiers and forced recruitment, and participate in a political process to achieve a just and lasting solution. The EU calls on the authorities of Sri Lanka to engage in an inclusive political process, which addresses the legitimate concerns of all communities.
The EU remains deeply concerned about grave violations of human rights, in particular the cases of enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings as well as harassments, intimidations, attacks on the media and human rights defenders and the climate of impunity. The EU calls on the Sri Lankan authorities to take decisive action to tackle human rights abuses, to guarantee press freedom and to disarm paramilitary groups in Government controlled areas. The EU views with concern the draft ‘Prohibition of Forcible Conversions’ bill.
The EU underlines the importance of the Sri Lankan authorities to cooperate in the GSP+ investigation into the effective implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child."

Ceasefire, solution first; laying down arms irrelevant: LTTE appeals to Co-chairs, UN

Urging International Community to effect a ceasefire and initiate a political solution as a priority than insisting LTTE to lay down arms, the Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), B. Nadesan, made an appeal Sunday to the heads of the Co-chairs countries saying that "when a permanent political solution is reached for the Tamil people, with the support and the guarantee of the international community, the situation will arise where there will be no need for the arms of the LTTE." The LTTE's appeal is made at a time when media reports from Colombo indicate an initiative from the Tokyo Co-chairs to evacuate the civilians of Vanni and hand them over to the Colombo government.

LTTE's Political Head B. Nadesan
Earlier, the Tokyo Co-chairs urged the LTTE to discuss with the Government of Sri Lanka the modalities for ending hostilities, including the laying down of arms. Colombo ruled out all possibilities of entering into any negotiation with the LTTE. "The world should take note that calls for the LTTE to lay down its arms and surrender is not helpful for resolving the conflict," wrote Mr. Nadesan."The LTTE has [earlier] taken part in numerous peace efforts. No one insisted then that the LTTE should lay down its arms," Nadesan said in his letter. Expecting the LTTE to lay down arms without political solution is degrading human struggle for freedom and amounts to congratulating genocide, he said. The letter was addressed to Barack Obama, the president of the United States, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, the Security Council of the UN, Jens Stoltenberg, the prime minister of Norway and Taro Aso, the prime minister of Japan. Full text of the letter follows:22 February 2009Expressing the Tamil position to the International CommunityAs the political representatives of the Tamil people, who are daily facing danger of genocide, we wish to put some information before the international community. Before expressing our views on the partiality in the messages that the international community wishes to convey to the two sides (Sri Lanka Government-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), we wish to state some basic historical facts about our liberation struggle.Tamil people are a nation in the island of Sri Lanka. The contiguous north-east part of the island is the traditional homeland of the Tamil people. For more than fifty years, the Sri Lankan Governments have attempted to suppress and oppress this ethnic community that has the right to nationhood and self determination. In this attempt, it has confiscated their land and committed genocidal attacks on this community. The atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan Government on the Tamil people, whom it claims to be its own people, are blatant Sate Terrorism.The Tamil community has been waging a struggle against this State Terrorism for more than fifty years.At the start, for almost 25 years, this struggle with the aim to achieving self-determination was non-violent.This non-violent struggle, accepted world wide as a lawful means of waging struggles, was suppressed with a lot of blood letting by the Sri Lankan Governments using its armed forces that was made up only of young men of Sinhala ethnicity.At the same time, under the pretext of ethnic-riots, many genocidal acts were committed against the Tamil people with the support of the Sri Lankan Governments. With State assistance Sinhala people were settled on land belonging to the Tamils. Tamils were also discriminated in the areas of education, job opportunities and economic development.The Sinhala-Tamil ethnic conflict was further sharpened by these oppressive actions. As the non-violent struggles of the Tamils became ineffective in the context of the violence of the Sri Lankan State, this external condition necessitated the Tamil struggle to become armed. This gave birth to the LTTE and which gave the leadership for this armed struggle.It is the Tamil people and not the LTTE that chose the political aim of the Tamil people. In the parliamentary voting of 1977, the Tamil people through their voting announced to the world their political aim. Tamil people voted for the common decision of the Tamil political parties to establish an independent state in the joint north-east part of the island, the traditional homeland of the Tamils.The LTTE took up the national duty of fulfilling the democratic verdict of the Tamil people.The liberation struggle of the Tamil people gained fame on the world stage for its military feats over the last thirty years. It achieved this through the most supreme dedication that could be expected of liberation fighters.Whenever the LTTE had the upper hand militarily, the Sri Lankan ruling party pretending to find a political solution came for peace talks. But, once finding the time space to strengthen its armed forces, the Sri Lankan ruling party disrupted the peace talks and again created the conditions for war. The Sri Lankan Governments have staged this drama of deceiving the world and the Tamil people starting from the very first talks, after the launch of the armed struggle, in Thimbu in 1985 till the 2002 ceasefire agreement and the following five years of peace talks under Norway's facilitation.With Norway's facilitation and the support of the Co-Chair countries, three important agreements were signed between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE. The Sri Lankan Governments rejected all three agreements, the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement, the Post Tsunami Operations Management Structure, and Secretariat for Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation for North East for the development of North East, dealt the final blow for peace.The world knows how the Sri Lankan Government ignored the repeated calls of the international community to not seek a solution through war but to seek a political solution through talks.No one except the LTTE had identified correctly the stance of the Sri Lankan State on the Sinhala-Tamil ethnic conflict. The LTTE has been saying for a long time that the Sri Lankan Governments have continued to seek a military solution to the conflict and they will never find a political solution to the conflict. The Sri Lankan Government put forward its stance against a political solution and for a military solution in a style appealing to the international community as war on terrorism.Just like how it formulated the liberation struggle of the Tamils as terrorism, it also used the pretext of "security reasons" to expel some humanitarian agencies and journalists. If any western diplomat or journalist dares to say that the Sinhala armed forces are violating the rights of the Tamil civilians, they are immediately categorized as "White Tigers" or terrorists. The people of the world are watching the tolerance exhibited towards the atrocities of the Sri Lankan State just because of its status as a "State" and the rejection of the just struggle of the LTTE just because it does not have the status of a 'State".From Hitler's government to Rwandan government to Sudan government, it is the governments that have been committing genocide. Sri Lankan Government is also committing numerous genocides against the Tamils. This genocide history that started in 1956 has expanded today. More than 200,000 people have already been killed in this genocidal history since 1956.The international community, though it is hesitant to support the political aspirations of the Tamil people for an independent state, it must re-examine our point that an independent state is the only permanent solution to the Tamil-Sinhala conflict. Tamil people are frustrated and dejected after long years of massacres by the Sinhala armed forces and the Sinhala State.The confidence of the Tamil people for living together has been destroyed by their huge losses, their untold miseries, and their haunting memories. This will never permit a peaceful life of equality between the Tamils and Sinhalese within Sri Lanka.This is the ethno-political reality of this island. Brutal acts are being committed in Vanni at present further solidifying this ethno-political reality.Weapons like artillery and multi-barrel launcher that are used by combatants against each other in war are used by the Sri Lankan armed forced on the Tamil civilians, and their IDP camps. Women, children and old people are getting killed, maimed and injured in thousands by these attacks.For past few weeks from 50 to 100 Tamil civilians are daily getting killed by such attacks by the Sri Lankan armed forces. Already more than 2000 civilians have been killed and more than 5000 have been injured. It is painful to see the world maintaining silence on this immense human suffering as if it is amused by what is going on.The Tamils of Tamil Eelam are facing the worst genocide of the 21st century.In this situation, the LTTE is ready to accept the calls for a ceasefire issued by the international community with the good intention of ending the human suffering. The LTTE desires that this effort for a ceasefire to grow further into peace talks to seek a political solution to the ethnic conflict.The world should take note that calls for the LTTE to lay down its arms and surrender is not helpful for resolving the conflict.It is the political reality that the arms of the LTTE are the protective shield of the Tamil people and their tool for political liberation.The LTTE has taken part in numerous peace efforts. No one insisted then that the LTTE should lay down its arms.The protection of the Tamil people is dependent on the arms of the LTTE. When a permanent political solution is reached for the Tamil people with the support and the guarantee of the international community the situation will arise where there will be no need for the arms of the LTTE.Expecting the LTTE to lay down the arms, when the Tamil people are facing a horrendous genocide - and in the absence of any efforts to find a political solution is degrading the centuries of human struggle for freedom. At the same time it also appears to be congratulating the Sri Lankan Government on its genocidal war.Therefore, the LTTE appeals to the international community, to take actions to stop the genocidal attacks on the Tamil people rather than call for the laying down of the arms of the LTTE. International community should apply pressure of the Sri Lankan Government to seek not a military but a political solution to the ethnic conflict.The international community must do everything in its power to bring a ceasefire so that the miseries of the Tamils in Vanni are brought to an end and they are protected and the food and medicine requirements for them are fulfilled.We also wish to inform the international community that we are ready to discuss, co-operate, and work together in all their efforts to bring an immediate ceasefire and work towards a political settlement. Yours SincerelyB NadesanHead of the Political Wing of the LTTE

SLA artillery fire hits new 'safety zone', 108 killed, 200 wounded

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched indiscriminate artillery barrage into the newly announced 'safety zone' killing at least 108 civilians and causing injuries to more than 200, according to initial details from the medical sources in the area. Every shell that hit the area seemed to have caused casualties, said a doctor at the makeshift hospital at Maaththa'lan. More than 100,000 people have been forced into a plain and narrow strip along the coast, north of Mullaiththeevu town, without potable water. Meanwhile, relentless artillery barrage by the SLA has boxed Theavipuram and Va'l'lipunam villages within the old zone, trapping thousands of civilians preventing them from moving to the new 'safe zone'. The artillery barrage lasted from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and targeted Maaththa'lan, Pokka'nai, Mu'l'livaaykkaal within the safety zone and Ira'naippalai.Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fighter jets have also attacked Ira'naippaalai, the new centre for humanitarian and basic facilities, located between the new and old safety zones. On Tuesday, at least 15 people, fleeing from the old 'safety zone' towards Maaththa'lan, were killed in artillery barrage.

Massive air attack on fleeing civilians, more than 100 feared killed

More than 100 civilians were feared killed Wednesday around 12:50 p.m. when four Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers dropped cluster bombs on Internally Displaced Civilians at Aananthapuram in Ira'naippaalai, according to initial reports from medical sources. More than 70 wounded were rushed to hospital so far and 10 of the victims have died on the way at Maaththa'lan hospital. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an artillery barrage blocking transportation of wounded to hospitals. Doctors in the makeshift hospital told TamilNet that unless the seriously wounded were not evacuated by the ICRC to Trincomalee or elsewhere, many would die at the hospital. There is no medicine at the hospital as Colombo has refused to allow medical supplies to the hospitals since December 2008. Medical sources said at least 50 civilians were killed in one of the bombardments but expressed fear that the death toll could be more than 100 and that around 300 could be wounded. Maaththa'lan hospital is already overcrowded with the injured civilians.The latest bombardment came at a time where the internally displaced people were moving from one location to another to escape from the indiscriminate artillery shelling and multi barrel rocket attack.At least 160 people were killed within the last 10 hours in Mullaiththeevu said a doctor at Maththa'lan hospital.

Civilian Safety is the top priority - Defence Secretary

Tamil Genocide In Srilanka

Papal Envoy here to view situation in north.

On the request of Jaffna Bishop Rt. Rev Thomas Soundaranayagam expressing for a safer passage to the civilians to move from the war torn areas, the Envoy of the Pope, Papal Nuncio Rt.Rev Mario Zenari visited Jaffna recently.
Archbishop Zenari who visited Jaffna during the weekend met the Jaffna Bishop, priests, nuns as well as IDPs while he was there. Archbishop had expressed his concern about the situation there and expressed his solidarity towards them. He also conducted mass while he was there accompanied by the Jaffna Bishop at the Jaffna Cathedral yesterday. He said a large number of people had come to cleared areas and are in churches according to the reports coming from Colombo. Archbishop Zenari is to submit a report to the Vatican on the situation. He is expected back in Colombo today.

Request made by the Denmark and Swiss Ambassadors to visit North, rejected.

Government has rejected the request made by the Ambassadors of Denmark and Swiss to visit Northern Sri Lanka. Both Ambassadors decided to visit the north, to find the situations of the public.
Meanwhile another request made by an International Media to visit Vanni too was rejected by the Sri Lankan government. Government higher official stated, some sources are trying to collect news against the Sri Lankan government, by visiting Vanni, hence their request was turn down.

Lasantha Wickrematunge - Sri Lanka's hero editor

Just a few hours after Lasantha Wickrematunge was shot dead in a busy Colombo street last week his elder brother, Lal, rushed to the pioneering journalist's home.
Lasantha, the editor of Sri Lanka's The Sunday Leader newspaper, had warned Lal a few days earlier that the Government would try to kill him, and told him about a cupboard containing all his sensitive documents.
Rifling through it, Lal piled the papers into a plastic bag. Only later, as he read through them, did he realise that one was the handwritten draft of an obituary that Lasantha had prepared for himself, explicitly accusing the Government of assassinating him.
That extraordinary obituary, published in the The Sunday Leader, is now making waves around the world and spotlighting the assault on the media that has accompanied Sri Lanka's military campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels since 2006.
“When finally I am killed, it will be the Government that kills me,” said the obituary entitled And Then They Came For Me. “Murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty. Today it is the journalists, tomorrow it will be the judges.”
Lal told The Times that Leader staff had updated the obituary and added the title, but that 60 to 70 per cent of it was Lasantha's, including those ominous lines. “There were no material changes,” he said. “He'd told me he felt this was the time they would go for him, during the euphoria about the military progress.”
Under President Rajapaska the Army has made unprecedented gains against the Tigers, whose 25-year struggle for an ethnic Tamil homeland has claimed more than 70,000 lives.
The army captured Kilinochchi, the Tigers' capital, on January 2, and is now on the brink of a conventional military victory as troops close in on the rebels' last outpost in Mullaitivu.
Lasantha, however, was one of a small group of critics who accused the Government of systematically eroding civil liberties since a 2002 truce unravelled four years later.
A member of the ethnic Sinhalese majority, he also criticised the Government for failing to find a lasting political solution to address the Tamil minority's concerns.
“He was a lone dissenting voice,” said Sonali Samarasinghe, Lasantha's second wife, whom he married three weeks ago. “He was perceived as denigrating the Government's so-called victory.”
Lasantha knew the risks: he had survived other attacks, including the burning of his newspaper's printing press in 2007, and was used to regular death threats. Dilrukshi Handunnetti, the Leader's investigations editor, showed The Times an envelope that he received three days before he died.
It contained half a page of his newspaper with a message in red paint daubed across a critical story on Kilinochchi's capture. “If you continue to write this, you'll be killed,” the message said.
“Throw it in the bin - who cares?” she remembers him saying. “I think he got a kick out of it.”
He was equally defiant the morning he died when he realised that he was being followed while driving to his house from his ex-wife's. His wife begged him not to drive himself to work but he insisted.
“Fear never crossed his mind,” she said. Only in the final moments before the attack did he call a doctor, who treated him and the President, to try to get a message to his erstwhile friend.
Sonali said the doctor told her later that he had called the President but could not reach him for 45 minutes. By that time Lasantha had been shot in the head at point-blank range.
“That's why he was found with his mobile phone in his hand,” said Sonali. “We were living our lives - that's what so hard. One moment we were so happy, and then there's nothing.”
Before his death, Lasantha had been locked in court battles over his stories with politicians and officials, including Gotabaya Rajapaska - the Defence Secretary and the President's brother.
Sri Lankan journalists are wary of specifying who they think killed Lasantha but Mangala Samaraweera, an opposition politician, voiced the widespread suspicion that it was the Defence Ministry or the Army. “It's an open secret that there's been a killer squad in the Defence Ministry for the last two years,” said Mr Samaraweera, who was Foreign Minister until 2006.
He, like many, questioned how Lasantha's killers could arrive and escape on motorbikes, carrying firearms, in a city with police checkpoints on almost every street. “Sri Lanka is going through one of its darkest phases,” he said. “The Government is using this war to establish an autocratic regime.”
Mr Rajapaska, who was friends with Lasantha for years, denies any role in his murder and has pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice, blaming it on “forces that will go to the farthest extremes in using terror and criminality to damage our social fabric and bring disrepute to the country”.
Journalists, rights activists and diplomats say that the President is guilty, at best, of tolerating such attacks. At least 14 journalists and media workers have been killed here since 2006, according to Amnesty International. Another 20 have fled overseas after death threats.
Last Tuesday gunmen attacked the headquarters of MTV, a private broadcaster critical of the Government, and destroyed its control room with grenades. None of these cases has been solved so far.
The United States, the European Union and other international bodies have all expressed concern but diplomats admit that they have little sway over the Government.
Jurgen Weerth, the German Ambassador, summed up the frustration in a eulogy at Lasantha's funeral, for which he was reprimanded by Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry. “Maybe we should have spoken before this,” he said. “Today it is too late.”

SLA traps hundreds of civilians in safety zone border

Around 4,000 civilians, fleeing intense shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have been caught by the SLA that entered a bordering area of Chuthanthirapuram safety zone Friday, according to initial reports. The SLA soldiers opened fire on the civilians, instructing them to walk deeper into SLA controlled territories carrying white flags with them, according to youths who managed to escape. There were reports of deaths and injuries among civilians. Exact casualty figures were not known. Civil authorities in SLA controlled areas are yet to provide details on what has happened to the civilians.

Missing SLA soldiers' parents urge ICRC to approach LTTE

Parents of missing Sri Lankan soldiers this week urged the ICRC to approach the LTTE to check whether their sons were in Tiger custody as reports appeared in Colombo media of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) overrunning an LTTE detention camp in Visuvamadu area. The association of missing soldiers parents, based in Kandy, has sent a letter to the ICRC in Colombo urging it to take up the issue with the LTTE as they feared 750 Sri Lankan soldiers were in LTTE custody. "We wish to bring to your notice that on the 3 of February 2009, the Sri Lankan army has run over a LTTE detention camp in Vishwamadu area," the letter to ICRC said. "We strongly believe that this detention camp, had more than 750 Sri Lankan service personnel in detention until it was run over by the army. The photographs which are displayed in the Sri Lankan army website bear evidence of the same."The association has urged the ICRC to take immediate action to secure the release of the release of the soldiers in LTTE custody.

More than 180 killed in Sri Lankan bombardment within 48 hours

More than 120 civilians were killed in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling Friday and Saturday inside the safety zone in Chuthanthirapuram, Iruddumadu, Udaiyaarkaddu and Theavipuram within the last 48 hours. At least 59 civilians were killed Friday and more than 62 killed on Saturday. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed Puthukkdiyiruppu (PTK) Ponnampalam hospital killing 61 patients on Friday. Casualty figures from SLA shelling in Puthukkudiyiruppuu were not available. Civilians were seen moving towards PTK on Paranthan Road amidst heavy shelling that targeted the road on Friday. At least 8 dead bodies were seen along the road Saturday morning. A bus was seen abandoned after it was damaged by shelling. Two tractors had got fire in the shelling. Four bodies were recovered along Vaakeesan Road, the alternative road to PTK from Udaiyaarkaddu.An indiscriminate artillery barrage, deploying artillery-fitted cluster shells, claimed the lives of 9 civilians Friday night after 11:45 p.m. on Theavipuram inside the safety zone. The shelling also hit the makeshift hospital in Chuthanthirapuram, killing an employee of the hospital Saturday.

SLAF bombs Ponnampalam hospital, 60 patients feared killed

Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers on Friday bombed and fully destroyed Ponnampalam Memorial hospital in Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK), killing scores and wounding many, according to initial reports received from PTK.
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched indiscriminate artillery barrage on the hospital, totally disabling the rescue of the surviving patients. Initial reports said 40 patients warded there were killed, but latest reports put the casualty figure at 60, which is yet to be verified by the hospital authorities. The bombardment comes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urging the warring parties not to attack medical facilities both within and outside the safety zone following the claim by SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya that hospitals outside safety zone were legitimate targets. Ponnampalam memorial hospital is a modern non-governmental medical facility which started functioning in 1996. It was named after Dr Ponnampalam who was well known for his dedicated services in Jaffna district during the war years."Fixed establishments and mobile medical units of the Medical Service may in no circumstances be attacked, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict," states the First Geneva Convention.Article 18 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that the civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.Sri Lanka (Ceylon) is a signatory to the First, Second and Third Geneva Conventions and it ratified the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, by accession to it, on 23.02.1959.