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Sri Lanka, Rebels Must Protect Civilians in War, UN Envoy Says
bloomberg.com,
Feb. 20.
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka’s army and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam must protect civilians caught in the conflict in the north, United Nations envoy John Holmes told government officials in Colombo.
Holmes, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, “stressed in his meetings that civilians must be allowed to leave the affected area and that all parties must respect international humanitarian law,” the UN said in a statement.
The envoy met with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and Defense Minister Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday at the start of a three-day visit to the South Asian island nation. The UN says as many as 250,000 people are caught in the fighting and are in need of food and medicines.
Sri Lanka’s government says the Tamil Tigers are holding about 70,000 people against their will in the north as the group faces defeat after losing its main bases since January. The Tamil Tigers accuse the military of shelling and bombing civilian areas and say people remain in LTTE-held areas on their own free will and don’t want to be placed in government-run transit camps.
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Published: Thu Feb 19 22:18:19 EST 2009
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Tamils set for Geneva mass march over Sri Lanka - UN
reuters.com,
Feb 20.
GENEVA(Reuters) - About 20,000 Tamils from across Europe are expected to protest in Geneva on Friday at Sri Lanka's military offensive against Tamil rebels, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Police in the Swiss city, which is home to the U.N. European headquarters and to many Tamil immigrants, said 200 buses from across Europe were expected to bring protesters in.
Demonstrators were expected to wind through Geneva in the afternoon and then rally in the public square in front of the U.N.'s Palais des Nations complex, where Tamils held smaller protests in past weeks as fighting intensified in Sri Lanka.
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Published: Thu Feb 19 22:19:01 EST 2009
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Sri Lanka stands firm in row over British envoy
google.com,
19 feb.
COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lanka's cabinet refused to withdraw its opposition to a British special envoy despite fresh talks between the two sides on the island's growing humanitarian crisis, a minister said Thursday.
Ministers who met on Wednesday evening took up the British request to send special envoy Des Browne to assess the unfolding plight of civilians trapped in the island's northeastern war zone, a minister who declined to be named said.
"The cabinet rejected the fresh calls to accept the British special envoy on the basis that there had been no prior consultation and that there was no real need for his visit," the minister said.
Sri Lanka's foreign secretary Palitha Kohona confirmed that there was no shift in Colombo's position regarding Browne's nomination by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"Our position remains unchanged," Kohona told AFP.
The appointment announced last week caused a diplomatic row between London and its former colony. Sri Lanka described the move as "unilateral" and an interference in its internal affairs.
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Published: Thu Feb 19 03:14:47 EST 2009
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