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Title: Sri Lanka Rejects Tamil Call for Cease-Fire
Source:
New York Times
URL Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/w ... a/27lanka.html?ref=global-home
Published: Apr 26, 2009
Author: Sharon Otterman
Post Date: 2009-04-26 14:11:01 by Deasy
Keywords: tamil, ltte, tigers, indigenous
Views: 105
Comments: 5
Civilians have been trying for weeks and sometimes months to leave the ever-shrinking area of fighting between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels in the north. COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Encircled by the Sri Lankan military, Tamil Tiger rebels declared a “unilateral cease-fire” on Sunday, an offer that was immediately rejected by the government, which demanded their surrender. The rebels said the cease-fire was in response to calls from the United Nations, the United States and other foreign governments for a pause in the fighting, but military analysts said it appeared to be a reflection of their severely weakened position. The Tigers have trapped tens of thousands of civilians in a shrinking, sandy strip of land that hugs the coast near the northeastern town of Mullaittivu. “We are in full agreement that the humanitarian crisis can only be overcome by declaration of an immediate cease- fire,” the group said. “As the first step, we have now announced this unilateral cease-fire and call upon the international community to pressure the Sri Lankan government to reciprocate it.” The Sri Lankan defense secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, called the cease-fire offer a “joke.” “They were not fighting with us; they were running from us,” Mr. Rajapaksa said, according to Reuters. “There is no need of a cease-fire. They must surrender. That is it.” John Holmes, the U.N. under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, was in Colombo trying to persuade the government to allow a U.N. humanitarian mission into the combat zone. The U.N. has also called for a cease-fire. Since late January, when rebel-held territory shrank significantly, about 13,500 civilians have been killed and 14,000 wounded, according to a United Nations tally. The United Nations estimates there are 50,000 to 100,000 civilians stuck in the war zone. The Sri Lankan military says the number is closer to 15,000 people. A picture of desperation has emerged from the sliver of territory between a lagoon and the sea where rebels are trapped. Stories of suffering have streamed out of the area, along with the tens of thousands of civilians who were able to break through the front lines last week and straggle into overwhelmed hospitals and refugee camps. Tim Pruchnic, an American surgeon working at a hospital in the northern town of Vavuniya, said in a telephone interview that many of his patients were so weak that they were dying after operations that would not normally be life-threatening. After months in the combat zone, patients are exhausted, malnourished and dehydrated, said Dr. Pruchnic, who works with the aid group Doctors Without Borders. Another doctor who works with the aid group at the same hospital, Paul McMaster, said some of his patients were losing limbs to amputations because their injuries — often from shrapnel, gunshots and land mines — had gone untreated and were infected. Civilians have been trying for weeks and sometimes months to leave the ever-shrinking area of fighting between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels in the north, but the rebels have built earthen barriers that make it harder not only for soldiers to get in but also for civilians to get out, according to aid agencies and the Sri Lankan military. The rebels have also forced some civilians to take up arms, the United Nations says. “Even in ordinary times a population of 100,000 would be a huge burden on the health system,” said Gordon Weiss, the U.N. spokesman in Colombo. “But these are people who have had three months with very little food, they’ve traveled across mine fields and endured months of shelling and small-arms fire. It’s no surprise that the hospitals are overwhelmed.” Some of the civilians who have fled ended up in the hospital at Vavuniya, where doctors say the maximum capacity is normally 600 patients. Last week, 1,700 people were crowded into its wards. Dr. Pruchnic said the patients included children who arrived without their families. “There are kids here who have had amputations, their mother and father are gone — their whole family is missing,” he said. “Yet they can still smile. I’m amazed at their resilience.” On Saturday, the Tigers said that tens of thousands of civilians faced “imminent” starvation, according to a Web site that serves as their voice, TamilNet. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which evacuated hundreds of wounded by ferry in recent days, has also warned of the lack of food and an “acute shortage of vital medical supplies” in the combat zone. The government’s advance has been slowed somewhat by the rebels’ barriers, according to Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman. He said the military was now moving forward only several meters a day as troops cleared mines and booby traps. Among the nearly 200,000 people who have escaped rebel-held territory since January, about 3,000 were determined to be fighters disguised as civilians, Brigadier Nanayakkara said. He estimates about 500 fighters are left in rebel-held territory. “The moment we take all the trapped civilians out, it’s just a matter of 48 hours to get rid of them,” he said of the rebels.Sri Lanka Rejects Tamil Call for Cease-Fire
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#4. To: Deasy (#0)
The link to Sri Lanka was most instructive - thanks.
#5. To: lodwick (#4)
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Replies to Comment # 4. Sri Lankan Tamil people (Tamil: [unprintable], [unprintable] [reference]), or Ceylon Tamils, are an ethnic group native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka who predominantly speak Tamil. According to anthropological evidence, Sri Lankan Tamils have lived on the island since the 2nd century BCE[citation needed]. Most modern Sri Lankan Tamils descend from the Jaffna Kingdom, a former kingdom in the north of the island and Vannimai chieftaincies from the east. They constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Province, and are in the minority throughout the rest of the country.
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