Obama Calls for Halt in Sri Lankan Fighting
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
Washington — President Obama called on all sides in the Sri Lankan civil war to cease hostilities and allow the safe evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in a 2.5-kilometer conflict zone.
“We have a humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Sri Lanka, and I’ve been increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days,” Obama said May 13 at a press briefing in the White House.
“Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped between the warring government forces and Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka with no means of escape or full access to food, water, shelter and medicine. And this has led to widespread suffering and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.”
Obama said that without urgent action the current humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe.
The Tamil Tigers have been engaged in an on-again, off-again civil war with the Sri Lankan government since July 1983. The Tamil Tigers, which have been identified by the United States as a terrorist organization, have sought a separate state in the north and east of the island nation, which is located about 31 kilometers off the southern coast of India in the Indian Ocean and has a population of approximately 20 million people. The government forces have been conducting operations intended to eliminate the Tamil Tigers, and currently have the Tigers cornered in a small stretch of the northeast coast, senior government officials told news agencies.
President Obama called on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers, to lay down their arms and let civilians go free, to halt their forced recruitment of civilians, and to stop using civilians as human shields protecting their fighters, which he called “deplorable.”
“These tactics will only serve to alienate all those who carry them out,” Obama said.
Obama also called on the Sri Lankan government to take several steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
“First, the government should stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several hospitals,” he said. “The government should live up to its commitment to not use heavy weapons in the conflict zone.”
The government should give United Nations humanitarian teams access to the civilians who are trapped between the warring parties, Obama said.
And the government should allow the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to nearly 190,000 displaced people within Sri Lanka so they can receive additional assistance, the president said. Currently, the ICRC is the only foreign aid agency inside the war zone.
“The United States stands ready to work with the international community to support the people of Sri Lanka in this time of suffering,” Obama said. “I don’t believe that we can delay.”
Obama said that Sri Lanka must seek a peace that is secure, but also lasting.
On May 12, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and British Foreign Minister David Miliband issued a joint statement in Washington calling for an immediate end to hostilities. The two nations urged both sides to allow food and medical assistance to reach those trapped by the fighting, cooperate with the ICRC for the evacuation of urgent medical cases, ensure the safety of aid and medical workers, and permit humanitarian access to all sites where there are displaced people.
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
Washington — President Obama called on all sides in the Sri Lankan civil war to cease hostilities and allow the safe evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in a 2.5-kilometer conflict zone.
“We have a humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Sri Lanka, and I’ve been increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days,” Obama said May 13 at a press briefing in the White House.
“Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped between the warring government forces and Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka with no means of escape or full access to food, water, shelter and medicine. And this has led to widespread suffering and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.”
Obama said that without urgent action the current humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe.
The Tamil Tigers have been engaged in an on-again, off-again civil war with the Sri Lankan government since July 1983. The Tamil Tigers, which have been identified by the United States as a terrorist organization, have sought a separate state in the north and east of the island nation, which is located about 31 kilometers off the southern coast of India in the Indian Ocean and has a population of approximately 20 million people. The government forces have been conducting operations intended to eliminate the Tamil Tigers, and currently have the Tigers cornered in a small stretch of the northeast coast, senior government officials told news agencies.
President Obama called on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also known as the Tamil Tigers, to lay down their arms and let civilians go free, to halt their forced recruitment of civilians, and to stop using civilians as human shields protecting their fighters, which he called “deplorable.”
“These tactics will only serve to alienate all those who carry them out,” Obama said.
Obama also called on the Sri Lankan government to take several steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
“First, the government should stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several hospitals,” he said. “The government should live up to its commitment to not use heavy weapons in the conflict zone.”
The government should give United Nations humanitarian teams access to the civilians who are trapped between the warring parties, Obama said.
And the government should allow the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to nearly 190,000 displaced people within Sri Lanka so they can receive additional assistance, the president said. Currently, the ICRC is the only foreign aid agency inside the war zone.
“The United States stands ready to work with the international community to support the people of Sri Lanka in this time of suffering,” Obama said. “I don’t believe that we can delay.”
Obama said that Sri Lanka must seek a peace that is secure, but also lasting.
On May 12, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and British Foreign Minister David Miliband issued a joint statement in Washington calling for an immediate end to hostilities. The two nations urged both sides to allow food and medical assistance to reach those trapped by the fighting, cooperate with the ICRC for the evacuation of urgent medical cases, ensure the safety of aid and medical workers, and permit humanitarian access to all sites where there are displaced people.
ane poor obama...
