Colombo, Apr 20: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday warned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran to surrender within 24 hours.

Concerned over the insurgency in the island nation, Rajapaksa said that if Prabhakaran fails to do so by Tuesday afternoon, the Lankan troops will go all out for a final military assault.

Rajapaksa told the reporters here that government forces opened up routes for more than 35,000 people to escape from the LTTE-held territory.

Colombo  - Government troops stormed a coastal village in north-eastern Sri Lanka Monday and rescued about 5,000 civilians who were prevented by Tamil rebels from leaving into military-controlled areas, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

He said troops broke through an earthen barrier in Puthumathalan village, 390 kilometres north-east of the capital, in the early hours of Monday and rescued the civilians, including a large number of women and children.

Colombo  - Troops were trying Sunday to establish main road access to a rebel-held area in northeastern Sri Lanka and rescue tens of thousands of trapped civilians, military officials said.

They said the manoeuvre was aimed at opening up main road access to an area described as a no-fire zone in the Mullaitivu district.

The military said an estimated 70,000 civilians were trapped, but UN agencies said the figure could be high as 140,000.

Troops by Saturday night were some 800 metres from a bridge on the main road they were trying to secure, the military said.

Colombo- A top UN official met with Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa Friday to discuss humanitarian issues related to civilians trapped in a rebel-held area in the north-eastern part of the country, officials said.

Vijay Nambiar, chief of staff of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, met Rajapaksa as local and international concern was growing about the safety of the civilians trapped in the war zone in Mullativu, 395 kilometres north of the capital.

Details of the meeting were not available immediately.

Colombo  - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday visited the former administrative town of the Tamil separatist rebels, which is now under the control of security forces, the president's office said.

Rajapaksa was flown to Kilinochchi, 370 kilometres north of Colombo, where he met with soldiers and toured the area to see the destruction caused in the fall of the rebels' de-facto capital in January, a statement from the office said.

New York/Colombo - More than 100,000 people are in mortal danger in Sri Lanka if security forces continue their offensive against dug-in rebels, the United Nations warned Wednesday.

John Holmes, the UN emergency relief coordinator, appealed to the Sri Lankan military to extend its holiday pause of operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

"The situation is simply catastrophic," said Holmes, who warned of a bloodbath if the army mounts what is expected to be one last tightening of the shrinking perimeter around the rebels.