9:10am UK, Thursday February 05, 2009

Alex Crawford,
In Colombo

The Sri Lankan government has rejected calls for talks with the Tamil Tigers at what it calls “this crucial and final stage” of the fighting and has said nothing short of unconditional surrender will do.

A military helicopter searches for rebel fighters

The country’s key financial backers – the US, the European Union, Japan and Norway – had urged the government to consider negotiations with the rebels with the aim of working out a political solution.

But in an interview in a Sri Lankan newspaper, the Defence Secretary has rejected this out of hand.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is also the President’s brother, is quoted in the Island newspaper as saying:”Nothing could be as ridiculous as this.

“Nothing short of unconditional surrender of arms and cadres could bring an end to the offensive.”

He also appeared to reject separate calls by Britain and America for any lull in fighting to allow for the evacuation of hundreds of maimed and wounded civilians from the battle zone.

He is reported as saying this would be “detrimental to Sri Lanka’s efforts to wipe out terrorism”.

The aid agencies estimate about a quarter of a million civilians remain trapped in the war zone. The government puts the figure at around 120,000.

Around 300 have fled a hospital where they were sheltering after it came under repeated attack.

The United Nations claimed cluster bombs had been dropped near the hospital, though they declined to say which side was responsible.

The government has vehemently denied using cluster bombs or attacking the hospital.

The civilians have now scattered throughout the 80 square miles of jungle which the military is pounding and which it has cornered on three sides, the fourth being the coast.

Those civilians who had been sheltering in the hospital have now made their way to the northeast coast, which is still in the war zone.

Some have moved into a community centre there while others are camping in the open, some with intravenous drips attached.

The President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, used his Independence Day speech to pay tribute to what he described as “the heroic Forces”.

He told the crowds gathered the military were days away from finishing the fighting and reuniting the whole of the country once more.

There has been no word from the rebels and it is impossible to independently verify any claims as journalists are barred from entering the war zone.