Brigadier Palitha Fernando, military spokesman today denied the Tigers are in control of 13 kilometeres of the A9 highway.

Brigadier Fernando also refuted claims by the rebels last week which alleged they had offered for troops in the North to surrender in order to avoid a bloodbath. The LTTE also claimed that in the event soldiers took the rebels up on their offer they would be safely handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) within 24 hours of a laying down of arms.

Brigadier Fernando said the military was not aware of such an offer being made by the Tigers and in the event it is brought to the armed forces notice there is no way the military will agree to a surrender. "We will fight to hold Jaffna," he said.

Meanwhile the rebels are reported to be making repeated calls over its clandestine radio asking civilians in the Thenamarachi division to move out or construct bunkers to protect themselves from heavy artillery fire by both the Tigers and Government troops. Published: Mon May 22 10:01:49 EDT 2000

Tamil news services reported that the radio said that another four civilians were killed at Kallikaadu in Kaithady this morning when artillery was fired on the village.

There is no independent confirmation of this report. Published: Mon May 22 10:01:49 EDT 2000

The funds were given to Tourist Board of Sri Lanka to launch an aggressive marketing campaign aiming at the arrival of 533,000 tourists this year. During the first three months of this year, the arrival of tourists marginally fell by 0.2 percent compared to last year's figures.

The figures fell after separatist Tamil Tigers exploded a series of bombs during rush-hour traffic at Rajagiriya two months ago which claimed the lives of over 22 persons. Just after the explosions, two passenger vessels MB Victoria and MB Oriana carrying 2,750 passengers pulled-out, cutting short of their stay in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Colombo city hotels are preparing to scrape the dregs of the diminishing tourist arrival. The hotels were targeting the visiting foreign journalists in Sri Lanka to cover the ongoing northern battle between government troops and LTTE cadres. Some of the hotels were offering special packages to visiting journalists.

Government sources said that during the past three weeks at least 150 journalists from all over the world had arrived to cover the latest battles. Published: Mon May 22 09:19:14 EDT 2000

The 'Uthayan' newspaper in Jaffna was sealed last week for not adhering to censorship rules. The Sunday Leader since the censorship was introduced has for the last two weeks shown the Censor, Mr. Ariya Rubesinghe to be acting in a foolish manner. The paper also stated in this article that the present censorship introduced by the government was not to protect national security but to safeguard the government before a parliamentary election is held.

In a second lead story published yesterday the newspaper reported a more or less accurate description of the war this last week, written however in the negative. The report had not been submitted to the Censor. Published: Mon May 22 08:40:26 EDT 2000

Archbishop of Sri Lanka Nicholas Marcus Fernando today sent a circular to all churches in Sri Lanka to hold a "prayer for peace" next Sunday, May 28. The bishop also urged all churches to hold a blood-donation ceremony and donate the next Sunday mass offerings to the soldiers lying in state hospitals with injuries.

"The 17 years fighting has left 60,000 people dead and the need has come to all those warring factions to return to the negotiating table to talk peace instead of fighting", the bishop's statement read.

The call came hard on the heels after separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) claimed that its combatants had captured Chavakachcheri, the second largest govermnment-troops-controlled town in northern Jaffna peninsula.

In a statement issued last night from its London office, the LTTE claimed that troops at Chavbakachcher unable to sustain the power and fury of Tiger assault fled in disarray and the town collapsed after 12 hours of intense fighting.

With no signs that both parties will sit at the round table, the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said in the capital city of India that his government was ready to act on Sri Lankan ongoing civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels "if necessary"

Meanwhile, South Indian coastal guard units increased patrolling the Palk Straits, the thin waters that divide India and Sri Lanka over speculations that large numbers of civilians fearing for the lives in cross-fires were making arrangements to flle to India. Published: Sun May 21 11:25:15 EDT 2000

Asked if India should play a more active role in the situation, the minister said, “…not the kind of active role that we had taken in the past, in an apparent reference to the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in which more than 1100 armymen were killed.” More.. Published: Sun May 21 02:00:07 EDT 2000