UN staff pulls out of war-raved Jaffna

UN staff pulls out of war-raved Jaffna
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

COLOMBO, APRIL 28: The United Nations on Friday suspended most of its operations in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged Jaffna peninsula.

Most of the over 60 UN staff, involved in various relief and rehabilitation programmes in Jaffna, including the personnel involved in removing the land mines, had been re-deployed elsewhere with immediate effect, a statement from the UN office here said.

The first group of staff would leave Jaffna today and the rest would follow, it said.

However staff working to deliver emergency relief would stay put in the peninsula, it said.

Besides UN, several international humanitarian relief agencies like International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) also work in Jaffna and LTTE held northern Vanni region to provide humanitarian assistnce to civilians.

Meanwhile, thirty Tamil rebels were killed in fresh fighting in Sri Lanka's north even as the LTTE claimed to have captured more territory amid growing opposition demand for foreign help to halt the guerrillas' advances in Jaffna.

The Army today said here that it clashed with the rebels in a number of places in the Jaffna peninsula and Vanni on Thursday in which 30 rebels were killed.

The LTTE which had captured two main Army garrisons at the narrow entrance to the northern peninsula last week today claimed to have launched fierce attacks on Army's new defence lines and captured an important road junction on the highway leading to Jaffna town.

The clandestine `Voice of Tigers' rebel radio said LTTE had captured Puthukadu road junction near Pallai, eight km from the Elephant army garrison captured last weekend.

However, LTTE's latest claim could not be independently varified.

In yet another development, main Opposition the United National Party (UNP) today demanded that Chandrika Kumaratunga government seek international military assistance to prevent Jaffna from falling into the hands of the LTTE.

It however did not mention the any specific country.

The demand assumes significance in view of UNP leader and former premier Ranil Wickremesinghe's recent Indian tour during which he met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Foreign Minister Jawant Singh, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and several other leaders.

A joint meeting of the party's working committee and the parliamentary party last night also asked the government to consitute a war council, comprising of senior retired military officials to evolve a new strategy to defend the Peninsula.

The meeting held Chandrika and Deputy Defence Minister Gen Anurudha Ratwatte `responsible' for Army's debacle in Jaffna and demanded that Chandrika explain in Parliament the reasons for the fall of strategic military garrisons.

Meanwhile, Chandrika, who returned after having treatment for her injured eye on Thursday, held a prolonged meeting of the National Security Council, comprising top defence officials.

She reportedly heard the first hand accounts of the reasons which led to Army's last weekend's decisions to pull out of Iyakachchi and Elephant Pass garrisons and reviewed the Army's plans to defend the peninsula.

UNP's call for foreign military assistance has attracted the attention of diplomatic missions here as UNP government of late President J R Jayawardene had invited the Indian Army in 1987 to restore peace in the north and east of the country.

Two years later however his successor R Premadasa termed the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) an occupation force and demanded its withdrawal. The IPKF was finally withdrawn in 1990 after the Premadasa government and the LTTE joined hands.

The pro-UNP media here has been exhorting the government to seek immediate assistance from SAARC ountries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.