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Bloodbath looms in Tiger enclave, says UN
The Guardian - April 9, 2009
Gethin Chamberlain, Colombo – Sri Lanka has rejected a call by the United Nations for a ceasefire in its military campaign against the Tamil Tigers, insisting it would not be trapped into letting the group's leaders escape.
Rebels belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have taken refuge in a tiny enclave measuring less than 21 square kilometres, alongside tens of thousands of civilians who are unable to leave.
Sri Lanka has accused the Tigers of using the civilians as human shields and claims they are being prevented from leaving. Aid agency officials say many civilians, including children, have been killed by the rebels while trying to escape.
A senior UN official warned this week of a bloodbath unless tens of thousands of civilians were allowed to leave the war zone. Walter Kaelin, the representative of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on the human rights of internally displaced persons, said: "If the Sri Lankan army would try to go into there, if the LTTE would not be ready to let these civilians go, then we'll end up with a bloodbath, and this must by all means be avoided."
More than 400 Tamil fighters have died since the start of the month. Many are understood to have been killed after refusing to surrender, despite running short of ammunition.
In London the conflict triggered clashes between protesters and police yesterday. Six people were arrested as a demonstration against the war entered its second day.
The Sri Lankan Government is widely believed to be on the verge of a military victory against the Tigers, who have been fighting for a separate state for ethnic Tamils in the country's north and east in a war that has lasted 25 years and claimed 70,000 lives. But the military claimed that even if it defeated the Tigers in their heartland it could take another two years to finish off sleeper cells in towns and cities across the country.
Many senior Tigers have been killed in heavy fighting this month, but the group's leader, Prabhakaran, remains at large. A military spokesman said he would be taken dead or alive.
Mr Kaelin said more than 100,000 civilians were trapped in the conflict zone. The Sri Lankan Government says the figure is no more than 40,000.
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