UNSC members concerned over fighting in Sri Lanka

UNITED NATIONS. April 23. KAZINFORM The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday met behind closed doors on the current situation in Sri Lanka at a time when Colombo has promised not to launch a huge military offensive against rebels, but the government has rejected fresh UN appeals for a truce, diplomats said, Kazinform refers to Xinhuanet.
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French U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters during an informal U.N. Security Council session that all 15 Council members had been briefed on the humanitarian situation by Vijay Nambiar, the U.N. secretary-general's chief of staff, who just returned from a three-day official visit to the South Asian island nation and has said the "situation is quite dangerous." While the Council stopped short of issuing a resolution or statement with more clout, it did call on the Sri Lankan government to cease heavy shelling of a 13-square-kilometer sanctuary -- a patchy paradise of lagoons, coconut groves and beachfront in the northeast of the country -- where thousands of civilians have been trapped since the government began its renewed offensive against the rebel group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), three months ago. Ripert said the government has an "obligation under humanitarian international law" and will be expected to "fulfill its commitments by protecting the civilians and by providing (them) with the help of the international community." He also condemned the LTTE's behavior, reiterating that the European Union considers the rebels "a terrorist group." "They have to stop fighting," he told reporters. "They have to surrender. They have to join a political process and of course, they have to free the hostages", Kazinform cites Xinhuanet. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.
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