Thursday, May 14, 2009, 10:33 Mecca time, 07:33 GMT

US urges end to Sri Lanka fighting

Obama called on Sri Lanka's government to stop "indiscriminate shelling" in the war zone [AFP] The US president has called on both sides of Sri Lanka's conflict to stop the fighting to protect civilians. Barack Obama's demand that the Sri Lanka government end "indiscriminate shelling" and the Tamil Tigers stop using civilians as shields came as the UN Security Council expressed "grave concern" over what it described as a "worsening humanitarian crisis". Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Obama warned that the situation in the South Asian country could turn from a humanitarian crisis to a full-blown catastrophe. He urged the Tamil Tigers to stop fighting and release civilians as a first step towards peace.

"Their forced recruitment of civilians and their use of civilians as human shields is deplorable. These tactics will only serve to alienate all those who carry them out," he said.

He also said the government should stop the use of heavy weapons in the conflict zone and give the UN and Red Cross staff access to the 190,000 displaced civilians.

"Now's the time, I believe, to put aside some of the political issues that are involved and to put the lives of the men and women and children who are innocently caught in the crossfire, to put them first," Obama said.

"More civilian casualties and inadequate care for those caught in resettlement camps will only make it more difficult to achieve the peace that the people of Sri Lanka deserve," he added.

UN urges 'urgent action'

After the security council's first meeting on the crisis on Wednesday, Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the UN, read a statement saying its 15 members called for "urgent action" by all parties to ensure the safety of civilians.

Satellite images indicate heavy weapons are being used in civilian areas

The press statement condemned the Liberation Tighers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or Tamil Tigers, for its acts of "terrorism" and use of civilians as human shields, demanded it lay down it arms and said Sri Lanka's government reserved the right to "combat terrorism".

However, it also said the government must "fulfil its commitment" over the use of heavy calibre weapons in areas with high concentrations of civilians.

Al Jazeera's John Terrett, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said that while Western diplomats were publicly hopeful that the UN may do more to ease the crisis, some countries, such as Russia, China, Libya and Vietnam remained opposed to more action over what they consider an internal matter.

Wednesday marked the first time that the council had held formal briefings on the crisis in Sri Lanka, although informal consultations had been held before.

The council's press statement is not legally binding but Kyung-Wha Kang, the UN's deputy high commissioner for human rights, told Al Jazeera that any condemnation would resonate with those involved in the crisis, although he conceded that resolutions or presidential statements were thought to carry more weight.

"We believe it has influence. It clearly keeps up the profile as an international issue on the agenda and I think it does register with the players on the ground," he said.

A UN meeting is also planned on the Sri Lanka crisis in Geneva next week although this has not been confirmed.

Narayanan Madhavan, associate editor of the Hindustan Times, told Al Jazeera that the policies of other nations were partially to blame for prolonging the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka.

"I suspect it has something to do with China's own policy of not intervening in the affairs of other countries; it is part of what is called the five principles of international peace," he said from New Delhi.

"Russia and China are not too happy to let Western countries be very active in the region, so I think the humanitarian crisis has been greatly accentuated by what I would call a struggle for a sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean area."

Wednesday's statements by the UN and Obama came hours after rights group Amnesty International demanded urgent action by the council and an investigation into "the mounting evidence of serious violations of international law".

Tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting in recent weeks to state-run refugee camps, but the UN estimates that about 50,000 civilians remain trapped in the narrow strip of land still held by the Tamil Tigers.

Hundreds are thought to have been killed in recent days in heavy shelling.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/05/2009513222013221256.html

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