Colombo, Sri Lanka, Mar 11, 2009 / 23:24 pm
More than 100,000 Sri Lankans face “total annihilation” unless an evacuation begins immediately, a northern Sri Lankan bishop has warned the country’s president.
Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna said that government and rebel forces are preparing for “the final battle” in his message to President Mahinda Rajapaksa pleading on behalf of those trapped in the war zone in northeast Sri Lanka.
The armed forces of the Colombo-based government are preparing for a final showdown with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, Aid to the Church in Need reports.
The bishop’s letter, a copy of which was sent to ACN and LTTE political chief Balasingham Nadesan, manifests his fear for those cut off in the narrow seven-mile-long “safe zone” in the coastal district of Mulaithivu.