COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's president has urged the Tamil Tiger rebels to allow the estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in the northern war zone to flee to safety following reports of heavy casualties among noncombatants stuck in the shrinking territory.
Human rights groups have accused the rebels of holding the civilians hostage and used the military of launching heavy attacks in areas filled with civilians, including a government-declared "safe zone" in the north.
A senior U.N. official said both sides appeared to have committed "grave breaches of human rights" The rebels and the military deny the charges.
In the appeal published Friday on a government Web site, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the rebels' refusal to let noncombatants leave was endangering their lives.
He accused the rebels known formally as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam of putting their heavy artillery inside the "safe zone" and using it as a "launching pad" for attacks on government troops.
"I urge the LTTE, within the next 48 hours to allow free movement of civilians to ensure their safety and security. For all those civilians, I assure a safe passage to a secure environment," he said.
Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. the president's statement did not amount to a unilateral 48-hour truce and said the offensive was proceeding Friday.
The Red Cross said there was still fighting in the north Friday, but it welcomed Rajapaksa's announcement that the government would allow civilians safe passage.
"As far as we are concerned, we will try to seize the opportunity to evacuate more people, especially the wounded with their families," said Sarasi Wijeratne, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross
Dr. Thurairajah Varatharajah, the top health official in the war zone, said his hospital in the rebel-held town of Puthukkudiyiruppu was overflowing with patients with shell blast injuries. Many of them had no beds and were forced to stay in the hallway, he said.
The rebels, who have been fighting for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils in northern Sri Lanka since 1983, were ousted from all major towns after heavy battles in recent months and are now cornered in a 115-square mile (300-square kilometer) area of jungle and villages in the northeast
Source: AP