Ban Ki-moon on behalf of the UN has stated that the LTTE must allow civilians trapped in Sri Lanka’s no fire zone in the north to leave the area during a government-declared pause in hostilities.
The LTTE must “take concrete and immediate steps to protect civilians by respecting the pause for its full duration” and allow civilians to leave the conflict zone, Ban said in a statement on the UN’s Web site.
The government declared the current pause in fighting to coincide with the celebration of Sinhala and Tamil New Year in Sri Lanka.
Will the LTTE follow the UN advice? Unlikely.
The only thing keeping the LTTE from being over-run is the human shield they have, and they will likely shoot dead these people themselves before allowing them to leave their territory. A strange reality for a group that claims to be defenders of the Tamil people.
Sri Lankan at the Stanford GSB 