UN demands LTTE to lay down arms and free civilians immediately

The United Nations Security Council has demanded LTTE to renounce violence, lay down arms and to stop using civilians as human shield immediately.

"The LTTE is a terrorist organization and should be condemned for its use of civilian as a human shield. The LTTE should immediately lay down arms and renounce its terror tactics", said Ambassador Claude Heller, the President of the UN Security Council summing up the views expressed by the Members of the Security Council at an informal briefing on Wednesday (April 22).

According to defence observers this is a strong message to the LTTE and a denial of any breather what so ever expected by its sympathizers and its paid henchmen.

The informal briefing to the Council was a follow-up to the visit of UN Under-Secretary General Vijey Nambiar to Sri Lanka earlier this week. The Security Council unanimously agreed that the LTTE's holding civilians hostage was unacceptable and welcomed the movement of large numbers of civilians out of harms way. They called on the international community to extend all assistance to the Sri Lankan Government to deal with the influx of civilians who are fleeing from the LTTE's hold.

Significantly, the Security Council did not call for a ceasefire or a humanitarian pause believing that this would only provide a breathing space for the LTTE and prolong the civilian suffering. They concluded that the quickest way to end this conflict was for LTTE to lay down arms, surrender and let the political process proceed as there was no military solution.

At this informal interactive session held yesterday, the members also urged the government to be cautious about the civilians when taking military action to secure a safe passage for civilians. They also called on the Government to work closely with the UN in providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced civilians including those in transit.

Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to UN, Ambassador Palihakkara gave assurances to the Council Members that the military was not planning any final assault that could endanger the lives of civilians. He also recalled the assurances given by the Government that it was not firing heavy weapons into the safe zone

Declared by the government and stated that if these allegations were true the civilians would not have left in such large numbers seeking safety from the Government. He gave a detailed account of the steps taken by the Government to address the humanitarian situation in close collaboration with the UN and other humanitarian agencies on the Ground.

Meanwhile, China, Russia and other countries view that Sri Lanka's fight against terrorism as an internal problem rather than a situation for any international intervention.