pass the roti on the left hand side

Simon Hughes, a Liberal Democrat MP who has been involved in negotiations between the Tamils and police, said last night that one of the men had agreed to suspend his hunger strike in order to travel to the UN in New York with Labour MP Des Browne, the government's special envoy for Sri Lanka.

At least 20 people were killed and nearly 300 injured yesterday when a hospital in the last area of Sri Lanka held by the Tamil Tigers was shelled in what one doctor described as the worst day of bloodshed since the start of the military campaign.

The doctor, Thangamutha Sathiyamorthy, blamed the Sri Lankan army for firing shells that landed next to two health facilities in Putumattalan, on the northern end of the tiny strip of the Sri Lankan coastline where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped by the fighting. The military strenuously denied the allegation.

India’s intelligence services have become increasingly concerned about the prospect of an election-time attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on top political leaders, including Congress party chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Sources in the intelligence services have told The Hindu that while there is no substantive intelligence to indicate that assassinations or attacks have been ordered by the LTTE, the inflammatory language being used by the terrorist group’s supporter in India was a cause for concern.

Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has commented on the situation in Sri Lanka following worrying reports of fighting taking place in civilian concentrated areas within the country.

David Miliband said:

"Recent reports suggesting that the Sri Lankan military have now captured all the territory outside the so-called 'no fire zone' and that fighting is now going on inside the zone, where the civilian population is concentrated, are deeply worrying..."

The UN has issued a fresh appeal for a humanitarian pause or lull in the fighting in Sri Lanka to avoid a "bloodbath" on the beaches.

Passions were running high with many protestors saying they had family members who were killed or wounded in recent violence in Sri Lanka, although the demonstrators insisted their action would remain peaceful.

The urgent need in Sri Lanka is a resolution to the humanitarian crisis and strong pressure to stop government persecution of minorities, argues Ahilan Kadirgamar. But solidarity has to be pluralist, he emphasises, recognising the brutality of the Tamil Tigers and avoiding the polarisation or marginalisation of the country’s diverse communities

Five people were arrested today during clashes in London between police and more than 1,000 protesters demonstrating against the civil war in Sri Lanka.

You know what might be helpful to Tamils of Sri Lanka, Vaiko? If you recognized the very simple concept that the Tigers are Tamils, but not all Tamils are Tigers. That at this point, the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE are equally culpable for the suffering of civilians in Sri Lanka. Instead, you spout bullshit like:

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko on Wednesday warned that Tamil Nadu would witness a bloodbath even if the slightest harm befell Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader V. Prabakaran (Hindu).

AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa on Sunday flayed the Sri Lankan government's move to declare Kachchativu, an islet ceded to it by India in 1974, as a 'sacred area', saying it belonged to India and demanded its retrieval.

Kachchativu, situated in the Palk Straits between Sri Lanka and India, has been in the limelight in recent past as fishermen from Tamil Nadu at times are attacked allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy, causing casualties which has led to protests by political parties in Tamil Nadu.