New York - The Sri Lankan government has been urged to hold back its final military battle in areas where tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped, the United Nations' chief humanitarian emergency coordinator said Friday.
The UN's John Holmes recently visited the troubled island nation to gain first-hand information of the humanitarian situation in refugee camps.
New Delhi - India is to send an emergency medical unit to Sri Lanka to help civilians wounded in the current conflict, a spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry said Thursday.
"India and Sri Lanka have agreed to work together to address the urgent medical needs of these civilians," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in a statement.
The medical unit, which would be dispatched immediately, would comprise doctors, surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and support staff and medical equipment and supplies which would be augmented as required, Prakash said.
Colombo- Police Thursday made a controversial arrest of a newspaper editor in Sri Lanka, raising protests from journalists and media rights activists who say the arrest amounted to an abduction.
Three policemen in uniform and two in civilian clothing grabbed N Vidyatharan, the chief editor of the Tamil language Sudaroli newspaper from a funeral parlor in Mount Lavinia, 12 kilometres south of Colombo, where he was attending the funeral of a relative.
Police had failed to identify themselves, relatives said, and initial reports spoke of an abduction.
Colombo - Government troops advancing into the final stronghold of Tamil separatist rebels have found a suicide bomb-making plant in northern Sri Lanka, the Defence Ministry said Thursday.
The plant, located in Pudukudirippu, 385 kilometres north-east of Colombo, was also reported to manufacture claymore mines, improvised explosive devices and anti-personnel mines, the ministry said.
Government troops entered the area amid heavy resistance from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels, the army said.
Colombo - SLankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will launch a national campaign against the recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, the president's office said Wednesday.
The campaign will be launched on Thursday under which child soldiers will also be rehabilitated with the assistance of local and foreign organizations, the office statement said.
New Delhi - India Tuesday urged Sri Lanka to agree to the evacuation of thousands of civilians caught in the conflict zone with rebel Tamil Tigers and offered help.
India offered to facilitate the process of bringing the civilians to safety and medical help for the sick and wounded, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
The statement came a day after the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) appealed for a ceasefire which the Sri Lankan government has turned down.
New York - The Sri Lankan government has been urged to hold back its final military battle in areas where tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped, the United Nations' chief humanitarian emergency coordinator said Friday.
New Delhi - India is to send an emergency medical unit to Sri Lanka to help civilians wounded in the current conflict, a spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry said Thursday.
Colombo- Police Thursday made a controversial arrest of a newspaper editor in Sri Lanka, raising protests from journalists and media rights activists who say the arrest amounted to an abduction.
Colombo - Government troops advancing into the final stronghold of Tamil separatist rebels have found a suicide bomb-making plant in northern Sri Lanka, the Defence Ministry said Thursday.
Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will launch a national campaign against the recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, the president's office said Wednesday.
New Delhi - India Tuesday urged Sri Lanka to agree to the evacuation of thousands of civilians caught in the conflict zone with rebel Tamil Tigers and offered help.
