post-war

The ice cream man went to work with dread every day at Colombo's main rail station, a prime target for suicide bombers who once killed several teenage baseball players on a platform in front of his stand.

With the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, the vendor and many other Sri Lankans say they no longer live in terror of the next blast — a welcome change after more than two decades of suicide attacks by the rebels.

People have been celebrating on the streets of Colombo - flags hoisted, fire crackers going off. But those who fled the fighting in the north-east face an uncertain future after months of trauma. Tony Senewiratne, national director for Habitat for Humanity in Sri Lanka, has just returned from a camp for displaced people and describes the humanitarian challenges ahead.