Lanka urges civilians to flee war zone

“The idea is to ask the people to ... walk away,” he said. “We would hope that the LTTE, if they really are interested in their people, would let those people go.”
Kohona said the move did not amount to a temporary cease-fire.

It was unclear how the government's announcement would change the situation on the ground.

Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said on Friday the military had no intention of permanently opening the two safe passages. Instead, different exits from the war zone could be opened whenever needed, based on spot decisions by the government, he said.

With most communication to the north severed, the rebels could not be reached for comment. However, they have repeatedly appealed for a cease-fire.

The United Nations cautiously welcomed the government's appeal. “Any additional measure to relieve the suffering of civilians is welcome,” said UN spokesman Gordon Weiss. “Let's watch and see if this translates into an effective safe passage for trapped civilians.”

Lanka rejects truce with LTTE

Aid groups estimate 200,000 civilians are squeezed into an area of less than 19 square miles (50 square km). The government says the number is closer to 70,000.

India said on Friday that it was sending medics and surgeons to set up an emergency facility in the town of Pulmodai to treat civilians emerging from the war zone. The Indian High Commission said the team and their equipment would arrive Monday.

In the past month, the Red Cross has chartered a ferry to evacuate about 2,800 wounded and sick patients from the rebel pocket's only makeshift clinic to a hospital further south.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state for the Tamil minority, which suffered decades of marginalization at the hands of governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

In recent months, the military has driven the rebels out of much of their de facto state in the north.

Lanka releases photos of Vaiko with Prabhakaran

Human rights groups and ethnic Tamils who have fled the area say the military has shelled civilian areas inside the war zone and accused the rebels of holding the civilians as human shields. Both sides deny the allegations.

The government has barred independent reporters from the area, making it impossible to verify accounts of the civilians' plight or the fighting raging around them.

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