On Friday (30th January) Sri Lanka's government again pledged safe passage to thousands of people trapped in fighting between the army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). But it denied that there would be any ceasefire agreement with the separatist groups.

 

On the other hand the LTTE guerrillas said that, only an internationally-brokered ceasefire would resolve the conflict. The civil war in Sri Lanka was started in 1983 and is one of Asia's longest-running conflicts.

 

Recently Sri Lanka's army had started an all-out campaign against the LTTE to root out the long-standing conflicts. The present situation is that, the army has surrounded the LTTE in a 300 sq km slice of jungle in the northeast Sri Lanka.

 

Aid agencies say 250,000 people are trapped inside the battle zone, and concern has grown for their safety. Hundreds have been killed or wounded in fighting since last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reported.

 

Earlier on Thursday (29th January), President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a statement had promised safe passage to all civilians. He had also urged the LTTE to let them go within 48 hours.