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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 4128821" data-attributes="member: 92282">Over US $36 million funding provided for humanitarian crisis The United States said yesterday it was deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka and called on the government and the LTTE to go for an immediate political solution to the ongoing crisis. US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer, in an interview told the Daily Mirror from Washington DC the US had urged both sides to the conflict to allow the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and International Non Governmental Organizations continued access to the conflict region to deliver food, shelter, medical care, and other supplies in a secure manner.  “The United States remains deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka and the plight of the tens of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons. The United States has been at the forefront of efforts calling for protection of these internally displaced persons and has provided more than US$36 million in funding for the humanitarian crisis. We have urged both sides in the conflict to protect civilians,” Mr. Hammer said. The US expressed its deep concern at the number of civilian deaths last year when approximately eight hundred of the several thousand deaths associated with the hostilities between government security forces and the LTTE were civilian casualties resulting from artillery fire into populated areas, aerial bombings, land mines, and other military action. Quoting international organizations, the US noted that a significant proportion of the civilian casualties occurred in individual incidents, such as extra-judicial killings; however it said reliable statistics on such killings by both sides were difficult to obtain because families feared reprisals if they filed complaints. The US also called for an immediate end to human rights abuses in Sri Lanka and has called on the government to fully investigate the recent attacks on journalists, to bring the perpetrators to justice, and take all necessary measures to protect freedom of expression for members of the media. “Promoting and protecting a free and independent media is vital to any democracy,” Mr. Hammer said. In the latest Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka released by the US State Department, the US had said media freedom deteriorated in Colombo, as well as in the conflict-affected North and East. The report said many journalists practised self-censorship and in April, last year, Freedom House released its 2007 Global Freedom Report, which categorized the country's media as "not free." <a href="http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=42689" target="_blank">DM</a></blockquote>

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