DATE=5/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SRI LANKA STRIFE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262599
BYLINE=VANDANA CHOPRA
DATELINE=COLOMBO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Sri Lankan government has vowed to keep
its hold on Jaffna and has rejected a call from the
Tamil rebels for the surrender of government troops
guarding the city.
Vandana Chopra has more from Colombo.
TEXT: The Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka
say they have crippled government supply routes near
the city of Jaffna and have called on thousands of
government troops to surrender.
However, Sri Lanka's top army general, Janaka Perera,
says his forces will soon push the rebels out of the
Jaffna area. In an interview on state television,
General Perera, rejected the surrender call by the
rebels.
The Tamil rebels had issued a statement asking the Sri
Lankan Army troops to lay down their arms to avoid the
continuing bloodbath and said the troops will be
treated with dignity and honor and handed over to the
custody of the International Red Cross.
Tiger rebels say the Sri Lankan military has been
forced to suspend all operations at Jaffna's only
seaport and has cancelled flights from Palaly airbase
which is the main lifeline to government forces around
Jaffna. But the Sri Lankan director of information
says the air force and navy continue to supply all
essentials to Jaffna through the port and airbase.
Statements about the war from either side are
impossible to confirm since no
reporters are allowed in the war areas and news from
Sri Lanka is subject to government censors.
The government forces took control of Jaffna, the
former rebel headquarters, in 1996 and now the rebels
are trying to win it back. The rebels are fighting for
a homeland for the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka's
north. (Signed)
NEB/VC/PLM
20-May-2000 08:14 AM EDT (20-May-2000 1214 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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