Sri Lanka - ceasefire

Colombo declares 48-hour truce, Tamil hunger strike in Paris

Article published on the 2009-04-12 Latest update 2009-04-12 11:16 TU

LTTE supporters demonstrate for a ceasefire in London Saturday
(Photo: Reuters)

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday ordered a 48-hour ceasefire, starting on Monday, amid international concern over the safety of thousands of Tamil civilians trapped by the army's offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels.

A statement from Rajapakse's office said that the move would allow thousands of Tamil civilians to celebrate the New Year.

"With this objective in view, His Excellency has directed the armed forces of the state to restrict their operations during the New Year to those of a defensive nature," it said.

It also repeated calls to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lay down their arms as government troops squeeze them into an increasingly restricted area of the country's north.

In Paris four young Tamils have been on hunger strike since Wednesday, claiming that 2,000 people were killed in fighting on Monday.

Their condition was "critical" on Sunday, according to one of their supporters, Piravena Shanmuganthan, although they started drinking water on Saturday.

After a fortnight of sometimes stormy protests, Tamils in Britain and Norway are also on hunger strike.

In a press release issued Friday, Sri Lanka's embassy in Paris slammed claims that the army has used chemical weapons, killing 1,800 people. It claims that the charge is "another effort by the pro-Tiger mouthpieces worldwide to discredit the Sri Lankan security forces as the terrorists have faced humiliating defeats at the hands of security forces".

The ceasefire comes after Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona met US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher in Washington on Friday.

Boucher "emphasised US concern about the plight of the civilians trapped in the 'no fire zone' in northern Sri Lanka", a State Department statement said.

Press freedom campaigners Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday backed calls for a ceasefire and appealed the government to lift a ban on journalists reporting from the conflict zone.

“It is a disgrace that this war is being waged without independent journalists present," the Paris-based group says. "And by preventing thousands of innocent civilians from moving freely, the Tamil Tiger rebels bear a large share of the responsibility for these crimes.”

At least one in four children displaced by the conflict are suffering from malnutrition, according to Sri Lanka's Health Minstry.

It quoted a recent survey showing that 25 per cent of children under the age of five in the embattled Mullaittivu district are malnourished but denied a doctor's report that the figure is 69 per cent in the conflict zone.