by Melani Manel Perera

The government is confirming its hard line, but the National Peace Council is reissuing the request for a ceasefire to help civilians. The Defense Ministry says that the area under the control of the rebels has been reduced to 58 square kilometers. But the communications minster warns: more attacks by the Tamil Tigers in the south of the country are possible.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - "Though pressure is exerted in various ways by the international community, the government will not stop the war on the Tigers until they are defeated." The statement from the prime minister of Sri Lanka, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, is confirming the hard line of the government of Colombo, which on February 22 rejected the ceasefire proposal of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Meanwhile, the fighting continues in Vanni, and according to the Defense Ministry the area under the control of the rebels has been reduced to 58 square kilometers. The guerrilla conflict in the area around the city of Puthukudiirippu has caused more victims among the civilians, and the National Peace Council (NPC) has again asked for the parties in conflict to open negotiations that would permit the evacuation of civilians from the war zone, and the reaching of a political solution. "Sustainable peace requires the cooperative involvement of all parties," says the NPC, "working together for a better future."

After the air attack unleashed by the LTTE on Colombo during the night of February 20, the area of the capital hit by the downed Zlin-143 planes is returning to normal. Lakshman Yapa, communications minister for the Rajapksa government, has nonetheless stated to the press that it is necessary to remain vigilant, and not exclude the possibility of more rebel attacks in the southern part of the country.

Meanwhile, the conflict has reached the United Nations Security Council. According to leaks reported by a few newspapers in Colombo, today's session at the UN body will discuss the war in its morning segment, dedicated to examining various issues that are not specified in the official schedule.

The news comes almost as a surprise after, on February 23, John Holmes, a UN spokesman for humanitarian interventions, stated that "there is no request for a Council briefing [dedicated to Sri Lanka]," a statement confirmed by the president of the UN body, Yukio Takaso, who had confirmed the absence of a "strong request."

• sri
• lanka
• liberation
• tigers
• tamil
• eelam
• government
• civil
• war
• separatists
• independence
• humanitarian
• intervention
• united
• nations
• ceasefire
• negotiations