Sri Lanka rejected international calls to halt its final offensive against Tamil rebels on Thursday, 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 noncombatants to escape, but Colombo remained unmoved.
“We are not going to succumb to international pressure to stop the offensive,” said Sri Lankan 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,” 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 (LTTE). 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.
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