ICRC escort for ships suspended

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 November 2000, 15:26 GMT]
The International Committee of Red Cross has suspended its escort to the passenger vessel City of Trinco and as the well as the voyager 'Jaya Gold' until further notice, said ICRC's spokesman Harasha Gunawardene. The two ships had been transferring seriously ill patients between Jaffna and Trincomalee.

The ICRC spokesman expressed regret that the ICRC was compelled to suspend its escort to these vessels due to the inclement weather. He blamed the fact that it is not possible to load and off load passengers and patients offshore at Point Pedro for this decision.

"We are deeply concerned about the plight of sick and the civilian passengers. We fervently hope that a humanitarian solution would be found to resume the voyage of the two vessels with the escort of ICRC" Harasha Gunawardne said.

ICRC source said they are yet to secure security guarantees from the government forces and the LTTE to use Kankesanthurai (KKS) harbour for this purpose.

The KKS is situated within the SLA's Palali base complex.