2ND LEAD

Colombo ignoring humanitarian catastrophe - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 November 2006, 15:49 GMT]
Colombo was engaged in "last minute tactics to placate the international community," prior to a scheduled meeting of Co-Chairs in Washington, by dispatching a single lorry into Vaharai where 38,000 civilians were starving for the past fortnight. Likewise, Colombo was showcasing to the media that it would dispatch a single convoy of supplies through A9 into Jaffna where 600,000 Tamils are under military siege in an "open prison," charged S. P. Thamilchelvan, political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday.

Mr. Thamilchelvan has charged that Colombo is paying scant regard to the humanitarian catastrophe in Jaffna and Vaharai. He told TamilNet that there has been no constructive steps to involve the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the ICRC to re-open the closed gateways.

"If Colombo was really interested in addressing the plight the of people, it should have involved the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the ICRC in the re-opening of closed gateways according to the terms of the Ceasefire Agreement and the modalities that were in place before the gateways were closed down."

We have repeatedly stressed the presence of the SLMM at the entry and exit points to be able to pass judgement on who is engaged in provocative military actions. "If Colombo is honest in its announcements, it would have engaged Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission and the ICRC in resolving the humanitarian crisis, instead of sending Kfir jets to bomb Pooneryn and Muhamalai today," he said.

SLAF bombers hit Northern Front after flying over Kilinochchi Monday afternoon.

Thamilchelvan also told TamilNet that GoSL has not officially informed Liberation Tigers on its stand on re-opening of A9 highway. "We will not be able to express our position on the issue simply based on information appearing in the media," Thamilchelvan said.

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