Sri Lanka Declines to Extend Truce
In response to a fresh UN truce appeal, Sri Lanka has refused to extend the two day ceasefire in the war going on between military and the LTTE in the north-east to enable civilians trapped in the conflict to move to safer place.
Indian Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, had also asked the island country to extend the halt in the war to ensure safety of Tamils.
It may be mentioned that only a few hundred civilians used the two-day unilateral government truce with Tamil Tiger rebels to escape.
Between 50,000 and 100,000 civilians are still thought to be trapped in the area – about 20 sq km (8 sq miles) off coastal area in Mullaitivu district.
Security forces are in what they say is a final push to defeat the rebels.
The Sri Lankan governments decided to reject the UN appeal after a meeting between Vijay Nambiar, chief of staff of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and senior government officials in Colombo this week.
“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 Sri Lankan defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, said.
Ban sent Vijay Nambiar to Sri Lanka on Thursday to discuss the fate of the civilians and efforts to free them from the war zone
