DTNA tells India facilitate safe exit of trapped civilians

by P. Krishnaswamy

A three member delegation of the Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) that met visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon last Friday urged that India should intervene to facilitate the exit of the nearly 200,000 Tamil civilians, now trapped in a small LTTE area in Mullaitivu, to other safer areas of the Vanni region. V. Anandasangaree, Dharmalingam Sitharthan and T. Sridaran leaders respectively of the three DTNA constituent parties- Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (Pathmanabha Group) - apprised the Indian Foreign Secretary of the desperate situation of these Tamil civilians, Sitharthan told the "Sunday Observer". They are precluded from leaving to safer areas in spite of the fact that the small area of their present concentration in Mullaitivu is the target for liberation in the ongoing military thrust and it is very likely that they will be hit in crossfire. They are also facing shelter problems and other hazards to their lives in the snake-infested jungle terrain, he said.

The second issue which they discussed was a just and acceptable political solution to the Tamil problem through devolution of power. They told Menon that the ruling UPFA must be persuaded to workout a devolution package after reaching consensus with the opposition UNP in the wider interest of the country.

The Indian Foreign Secretary assured their delegation of India's fullest cooperation and support with regard to the humanitarian and power devolution issues raised by the delegation, Sitharthan said.