(DM)April 29, 2009 – The estimated 50,000 people still trapped in the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka are at great risk and the top priority must be to get them out as quickly as possible, the top United Nations relief official stressed today, again appealing for a further humanitarian pause in the fighting. “These people are in great danger from the continuing fighting,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told reporters in New York, noting that the previously so-called ‘no-fire zone’ can now be more accurately described as a combat zone, given the ongoing clashes between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). “They’re not only in danger from the shelling and the shooting but also because their position in terms of food and other basic supplies is also very poor,” said Mr. Holmes, who just returned from a two-day mission to Sri Lanka that included a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as well as a visit to a site for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Full text
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