International Community Comes to Civilians' Aid
IN response to the Government’s request, the international community yesterday pledged their fullest assistance to the civilians fleeing from the LTTE clutches. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama at a meeting with Colombo based diplomatic community yesterday requested their assistance to enhance water, health, sanitary and accommodation facilities to these civilians. India, the United States and Australia are among the first countries which pledged urgent assistance to these civilians.
THE All India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF), a leading organization opposed to terrorism in all its forms has felicitated President Mahinda Rajapaksa for “launching a nationwide peace initiative and checking the LTTE onslaught”. The Memorandum of Felicitation was handed over to the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi yesterday by Maninderjit Singh Bitta, Chairman of the AIATF, which was set up in the late 1980s to counter terrorism that wrecked the Indian State of Punjab at the time. It’s founder and present Chairman.....
MULLAITTIVU: TIGER supremo, PRABHAKARAN, confined now to the remaining swathe of land towards the south of the “No Fire Zone” (NFZ) in PUTHUMATTALAN was to stay along with his cohorts up to the last moment until he finally finds his escape, surrendered DAYA MASTER has reportedly told the interrogators. He has also told them that PRABHAKARAN would stay as long as his last fighter remains with him before his possible escape, he has further told the interrogators..jpg)
MULLAITTIVU: DISORGANIZED and panicking Tiger organization, now breathing its last, unable to survive in the absence of moral and material support, appeared to have got their priorities mixed, if not torpedoed. The Sea Tiger base they had been running in the PUTHUMATTALAN “No Fire Zone” lagoon area had been reduced to a mere tiny pier, it was found by the troops found as they rolled in to the base. .jpg)
JAFFNA: DISTRICT Secretary for JAFFNA Mr. K. GANESH categorically denies having requested “any immediate assistance from JAFFNA NGOs to help meet basic needs of VANNI people” arriving in JAFFNA for temporary housing. Mr. K. GANESH speaking to www.army.lk asserted that JAFFNA does not have any such “detention centres for fleeing WANNI civilians,” but twelve Welfare Centres where as of Friday (24) some 11,500 displaced civilians remain housed.“We have enough stocks and situation in those Welfare Centres is good. I have not spoken to any specific NGO as such......jpg)
MAJOR GENERAL G.A Chandrasiri, Chief of Staff Sri Lanka Army has been appointed Competent Authority for co-ordinaton, administration and implementation of all welfare and relief work in relation to displaced WANNI civilians with immediate effect. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has made this appointment in order to get all relief services streamlined following intensification of the exodus of trapped civilians into cleared areas.
WANNI: TWO thousand six hundred and three (2603) more civilians reached government controlled areas during Friday (24) increasing the number of civilians rescued by the Army since 20th April to 109,320. In the meantime, troops continued their advance during Friday (24), in search of Tiger leaders hiding in the remaining land patch of the ‘No Fire Zone’ amidst heavy resistance from LTTE terrorists.
FOREIGN Secretary Palitha Kohona stressed that there was no need for special missions from other countries to evacuate the IDPs from the safe zone and the situation may not arise as over 100,000 civilians have already moved to the cleared areas. Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe pointed out that the international community feared that there will be a blood bath in the NFZ but it has been proved beyond doubt that it is not so.