With worries mounting over the fate of thousands of Tamil civilians trapped in the conflict zone in Sri Lanka's north, the UN on Saturday dispatched its top humanitarian official to Colombo, which maintained that it will not give in to global pressure to declare a ceasefire.
UN humanitarian chief John Holmes rushed to the Island nation on Saturday to press for access to international agencies to undertake urgent relief work in the war-ravaged areas, even as LTTE claimed that 1.65 lakh Tamils were facing starvation in the No Fire Zone, a charge termed as "absurd" by Colombo.
"The top priority remains the preservation of the lives of the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped inside the combat zone," Holmes said in a statement released ahead of his arrival in Colombo.
Holmes' visit coincides with a US call for an immediate halt to the military conflict, saying that Sri Lanka's unity and reconciliation could be at stake if it continued with its current endeavours to end the ethnic conflict "militarily".
Holmes will meet authorities to discuss urgent issues, including the need for the Government to help humanitarian agencies access the conflict area, as well as the situation of camps set up for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the government will not give in to various pressures exerted on it to stop the "humanitarian operation" or declare a ceasefire.
