News 14.05.09

Doctors flee only hospital in war zone

May 14 (AP) Doctors and aides abandoned the only hospital in Sri Lanka's war zone amid unrelenting shell attacks, a health official said Thursday, as thousands of civilians braved rebel gunfire and fled across the front lines, according to the military. The medical staff was huddling in a nearby bunker because of the nonstop shelling, and could hear the cries of hundreds of patients unable to leave the hospital begging for food and water, more..

Thousands cross lagoon to flee fighting

May 14 (Reuters) Thousands of Sri Lankans under fire waded across a lagoon to escape the island's war zone, where the military has surrounded Tamil Tiger rebels for the final battle in a quarter-century conflict. The military said aerial surveillance footage confirmed the exodus of around 5,000 people from a tiny, sandy coastal strip, where the United States and others say the LTTE are holding thousands by force. more..

At least 2,000 break out of war zone

May 14 (AP) At least 2,000 ethnic Tamil civilians braved rebel fire and waded across a lagoon Thursday to break out of Sri Lanka's war zone, the military said, as the government pressed ahead with its battle to destroy the separatists. The Red Cross said the tiny strip of coastal land controlled by the rebels was wracked by fighting, despite appeals from President Barack Obama and the U.N. for the two sides to end the civil war and more..

UN calls for faster screening process, greater access

May 14 (IRIN) The UN is calling on the Sri Lankan government to expedite the screening of thousands of IDPs now staying at dozens of government camps in the north. Almost 200,000 Tamil civilians have fled the fighting between government forces and the LTTE, who have been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland for more than two decades. More than half have crossed into government-controlled areas since 20 April. more..

Sri Lanka rejects ceasefire pleas

May 14 (AFP) Sri Lanka rejected international calls to halt its final offensive against Tamil rebels on Thursday, hours after the United Nations Security Council called for civilian lives to be spared. Human rights groups and foreign governments, including the United States, have become increasingly vocal in their calls for a ceasefire to allow trapped non-combatants to escape, but Colombo remained unmoved. more..

Tamil Tigers using phosphorus to halt final attack: military

May 14 (AFP) The Sri Lankan military on Thursday accused Tamil Tigers of using phosphorus bombs as part of their last-ditch attempt to face off against a massive onslaught by government troops. A military statement said the once-powerful rebel force, now surrounded in a four square kilometre (1.5 square mile) patch of jungle on the northeast coast, had deployed the bombs as landmines across their defence lines. more..

Sri Lanka, rebels praise Obama call for war to end

May 14 (AP) The Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan government on Thursday welcomed Barack Obama's appeal for an end to the civil war here, but both sides ignored the U.S. president's strong criticism of their conduct and appeared prepared to push ahead with the fight. With the death toll from the fighting mounting, Obama demanded the rebels lay down their arms and release the thousands of civilians they have been accused of holding more..

President appoints Task Force

May 14 (MoD) President Mahinda Rajapaksa by virtue of powers vested in him by Article 33 (f) of the Constitution of the Democratic, Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, has appointed a 19- member Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province. It is mandated to prepare strategic plans, programs and projects to resettle internally displaced persons, rehabilitate and develop economic and social infrastructure of the Northern Province. more..

Sri Lanka's war grinds on despite U.S., U.N. calls

May 14 (Reuters) Fighting in Sri Lanka's war showed no signs of abating on Thursday despite strong words from Barack Obama and the U.N. Security Council, with both sides refusing to budge in the waning days of a 25-year conflict. The Security Council and Obama on Wednesday urged the LTTE to surrender and free tens of thousands of civilians they are holding, and the military to stop shelling people and refrain from using heavy weapons. more..

Family album of the Tamil who invented suicide bombings

May 14 (Independent) His whole adult life he has been in hiding, directing Asia's longest modern war, but as the shells continued to rain down on the strip of land his rebels hold, another, sweeter side of the life of the Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was put on view by the Sri Lankan government. The album of plundered family snaps shows him enjoying the sort of lifestyle his thousands of devoted cadres could only dream of: more..

'US working very closely with India on Sri Lanka'

May 14 (PTI) A top US official on Wednesday said the Obama Administration has kept India fully informed and is working very closely with New Delhi on the current Sri Lankan crisis. "We have been working very closely with India," the Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Boucher, told a group of South Asian journalists at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. more..