Sri Lanka rejects ceasefire pleas

Sri Lanka rejected international calls to halt its final offensive against Tamil rebels yesterday, hours after the UN Security Council called for civilian lives to be spared.

Human rights groups and foreign governments, including the US, have become increasingly vocal in their calls for a ceasefire to allow trapped non-combatants to escape, but Colombo remained unmoved.

"We are not going to succumb to international pressure to stop the offensive," said Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, who argued that Sri Lanka was being unfairly targeted.

"In Pakistan and Afghanistan there are similar conflicts but no one is asking them to have a peace agreement or a ceasefire," Mr Abeywardena told reporters.

"There is no international pressure there," he added. "Why only target us?"

His comments followed a statement issued late on Wednesday by the UN Security Council urging both the government and the Tamil Tigers to "ensure the safety of civilians" and "respect their obligations under international humanitarian law".

The Sri Lankan authorities estimate that up to 20,000 civilians are being held in the small northeastern pocket of coastal jungle where government troops have cornered the rump of the once-powerful Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The UN has said as many as 50,000 may be trapped - huddled under plastic sheeting, in shallow bunkers and with little food, water or medical facilities.

The statement agreed by the UN Security Council had been put forward by France, Britain and Austria, who had lobbied hard for the world body to address the "appalling" crisis in Sri Lanka.

The text is non-binding, but with China and Russia among others opposed to putting the Sri Lankan issue on the council agenda, diplomats said it was the best the European sponsors could hope for.

The statement also echoed a plea on Wednesday from US President Barack Obama to allow UN humanitarian teams access to the combat zone to ease the unfolding "catastrophe" there.

"That is not possible," said Mr Abeywardena. "As a responsible government, we can't guarantee their safety. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross is finding it difficult to deliver food supplies there."

The UN and Mr Obama also appealed to Sri Lanka to stop using heavy weapons to avoid civilian casualties, as troops pushed to dismantle the last remaining rebel stronghold.

On Wednesday, more than 50 people were killed when three shells slammed into a makeshift hospital inside the conflict zone, doctors at the facility said. Some 47 civilians had been reported killed in a similar assault on the hospital the day before, while weekend shelling was described by the UN as a "bloodbath".

The rebels blamed advancing government forces for the bombardment, but the government insisted the Tigers were targeting civilians in a bid to encourage international intervention.