State and federal officials intensified their response to the swine flu outbreak on Tuesday, with President Obama asking Congress for $1.5 billion in supplemental funding and New York reporting two new potential clusters at local schools.
The global response included more restrictions on travel to and from Mexico, the origin of the outbreak and the only country to have reported deaths from swine flu. Officials there shut down schools across the country and limited restaurant service in Mexico City in an effort to curb transmission of the virus, which has killed at least 152.
Israel confirmed its first two cases of swine flu, which is now in at least seven countries. Ten others including China and Russia, which were set to quarantine passengers suspected of having the flu, are investigating possible cases.
Dr. Richard Besser, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, termed the early days of swine flu in the United States as a “pre-pandemic period” and was blunt about the potential impact of this influenza.
“As this moves forward,” Dr. Besser said, “I fully expect that we will see deaths from this infection.”
He said that five people confirmed to have swine flu had been hospitalized in the United States — two in Texas and three in California, where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency. Still, the nation’s highest number of cases continued to be in New York City, where 44 people were confirmed to have swine flu.
All of those cases are from same high school in Queens, St. Francis Preparatory Academy, where the outbreak was first discovered last Thursday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at a news conference. But he said that two new potential outbreaks at schools were being investigated. At P.S. 177, near St. Francis Prep, 12 students had fevers, and at Ascension School, in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, six students showed flu-like symptoms. Students from both schools were still being tested.
In addition, Mayor Bloomberg said that there were five other cases being investigated: three more from Saint Francis and two others who had contact with people recently in Mexico: a 2-year-old Bronx boy who remains hospitalized but is recovering and a Brooklyn woman who has been released from a hospital.
“It is here and it is spreading,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the New York City Health Commissioner, said at the news conference at City Hall.
Dr. Frieden, however, said that the New York cases were mild and that the city had enough courses of Tamiflu stockpiled for one million people. He added that it was still “early” to determine the course of the virus.
In Washington, Congressional hearings addressed the seriousness of the outbreak.
“I really think we need to be prepared for the worsening of the situation,” Rear Adm. Anne Schuchat, the C.D.C.’s interim science and public health deputy director, told a Senate Appropriations health subcommittee. “It’s more of a marathon than a sprint,” she said, echoing what Dr. Besser had said on Sunday, when the country first declared swine flu a public health emergency.
Senator Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who heads the subcommittee, noted that “there’s a lot of anxiety right now across the country.”
Still, that anxiety is not on the same scale as in Mexico, where the number of people believed to have been sickened in the country surpassed 1,600 on Tuesday.
The economic response to the health crisis rippled from Mexico throughout the globe: Cuba canceled all flights to Mexico. Carnival Cruise Lines said it had canceled Mexico stops for three of its cruise ships because of the swine flu alert, according to Reuters. So far, nine countries have some kind of ban on pork imports: China, Croatia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Ukraine and Ecuador.
Mexico City, meanwhile, was looking increasingly like a ghost town. On Tuesday morning, the city government ordered all restaurants, except those that serve take-out food, be closed until May 6. About 30,000 restaurants will be affected.
In some neighborhoods, restaurants had begun shutting down as early as last weekend. Cinemas, bars and discoteques have also been shut.
But the city has yet to make the decision to shut down public transportation, a move that would freeze most economic activity in the capital. Schools all over the country were closed Tuesday, affecting some 33 million students.
Citigroup’s Mexican subsidiary, Banamex, ran a newspaper ad asking customers to wear their masks and wash their hands. At bank branches, where employees have been told to wash their hands every hour, antiseptic gel dispensers were being installed. Banamex also asked customers to do as much banking by phone and Internet as possible.
Wal-Mart de Mexico, the country’s largest private employer with some 170,000 employees, told workers who felt ill to stay home. It also directed employees who are pregnant or nursing to stay home until May 6, said a spokesman, Antonio Ocaranza. Wal-Mart customers, though, were not necessarily following public health officials’ recommendations. At one crowded supermarket on Tuesday, most customers were not wearing masks.
Google said it had closed its Mexican City on Monday, although employees were working at home. “No decisions have been made for the rest of the week,” Google said in a released statement.
Spanish police officers at Madrid’s airport wore masks on Monday while checking passengers arriving from Mexico. Spain has had one confirmed swine flu case. More Photos >
Swine FluIn New York, both St. Francis Prep and P.S. 177 were closed, and St. Francis Prep will remain closed through the end of the week, Mayor Bloomberg said. City health officials arrived at P.S. 177 at noon to conduct investigations. A school nurse wearing a mask was examining sick students.
By 1:15 on Tuesday afternoon, parents were arriving early to pick up their children, who had been given a letter from the principal about the school closing because of students with flu-like symptoms.
“I freaked out,” said Karina Kelloggs, of Forest Hills, who was picking up her 7-year-old daughter.
Mary Ellen Do, who was picking up her niece, Holly Hagerty, said the school had stressed that there were no confirmed cases of swine flu. She added that Holly’s brother is a student at St. Francis, and suffered from flu-like symptoms but had tested negative for swine flu.
“But we’ve living with this flu,” Ms. Do said.
In Mexico, state health authorities looking for the initial source of the outbreak toured a million-pig hog farm in Perote, in Veracruz State. The plant is half-owned by Smithfield Foods, an American company and the world’s largest pork producer.
Mexico’s first known swine flu case, which was later confirmed, was from Perote, according to Health Minister José Ángel Córdova. The case involved a 5-year-old boy who recovered.
But a spokesman for the plant said the boy was not related to a plant worker and that none of its workers were sick.
On Tuesday, company officials allowed a reporter to tour their facilities after showering and donning a mask and sanitized clothing.
About 15,000 pigs could be seen in various enclosures, and officials said that at least three pig carcasses were on the farm. But they said the pigs had not died of influenza and insisted there had been no spike in deaths.
“We’re just as worried about this as everyone else,” said Mike Hawn, a Smithfield spokesman.
In Europe, Spanish Health Minister Trinidad Jiménez on Tuesday said Spain had confirmed a second case of swine flu, in the eastern province of Valencia, but that the patient was recovering..
Israel’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday reported the first case in the country. Smadar Shazo, a Health Ministry spokeswoman, said the man who contracted the illness, a 26-year-old, had recently returned from Mexico. Ms. Shazo said he is in good health now and is likely to be released from hospital on Wednesday. The Health Ministry later reported that a second man had contracted the flu as well, but his condition was unclear.
Hospital authorities in Scotland said two people — the first known cases of the virus in Britain — were recovering after contracting the flu while on honeymoon in Cancún, Mexico.
Canada now has 13 confirmed cases, all of which have been linked to Mexico.
David Williams, the chief medical officer of health for Ontario, said on Tuesday that the province, Canada’s most populous, has four confirmed cases. He said that another 20 people are undergoing tests.Dr. Williams offered few details about the patients beyond saying their cases were mild and that they live in the Toronto area.Ontario was the centre of a SARS outbreak that killed 43 Canadians in 2003.
Earlier in the day, the British Columbia Center for Disease Control confirmed a third case in that province. Alberta also confirmed two cases, with one in Calgary, the other in a northern region of the province.
Given extensive human-to-human transmission, the World Health Organization raised its global pandemic flu alert level on Monday, but it recommended that borders not be closed nor travel bans imposed, noting that that the virus had already spread and that infected travelers might not show any symptoms.
However, many countries are tightening border and immigration controls, and on Tuesday Britain advised against any nonessential travel to Mexico. Japan announced that it would no longer allow Mexican travelers to obtain visas upon arrival. The United States, France and Germany have also warned against nonessential travel to Mexico.
Canada had done the same, a decision that appeared to contradict the country’s campaign for international coordination of health-related travel advisories.
During the SARS outbreak in 2003, recommendations against visiting Canada severely impaired the country’s tourism industry. Canada said then that that warnings were unnecessary and has since promoted the idea that the W.H.O. should be the body which issues them.
At least nine countries in Asia were checking air passengers arriving from North America, and China was tightening land border checks as well. Hong Kong, Taiwan and Russia were set to quarantine passengers suspected of having the flu
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Mexico imposes swine flu measures
Mexico City has banned restaurants and cafes from serving all food except takeaways in a bid to help prevent the spread of the deadly swine flu virus.
Schools across Mexico have closed and public gatherings are restricted, after more than 150 people are believed to have died from swine flu.
The number of cases globally is rising, though no-one outside Mexico has died.
The UN has called on countries to check their contingency plans for a possible global epidemic, or pandemic.
The UN's World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr Keiji Fukuda said a pandemic was "a very serious possibility, but it is still too early to say that this is inevitable".
As officials in Mexico City announced the latest measures to stop the virus spreading, the city's chamber of trade estimated restrictions in the city were costing businesses there at least 777 million pesos ($57m or £39m) a day.
US cases confirmed
After Mexico - where the outbreak started - the US has the highest number of confirmed swine flu cases with 64.
President Barack Obama has asked Congress for an additional $1.5bn (£1bn) to bolster the US response.
CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES
Mexico: 152 suspected deaths - 20 confirmed cases
US: 64 confirmed cases
Canada: 13 confirmed cases
New Zealand: 3 confirmed cases
UK, Spain, Israel: 2 confirmed cases each
Countries with suspected cases: Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Australia, and South Korea, and seven EU states
In pictures: Swine flu spreads
Life at centre of the outbreak
Swine flu: Your experiences
Mapping the outbreak
In California, where there have been 11 cases, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency as a precautionary measure but stressed there was "no need for alarm".
In another development, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation is sending a team to investigate claims that industrial pig farms in Mexico were the source of the outbreak in humans.
The agency's chief veterinary officer, Joseph Domenech, told the BBC that the FAO had to act following rumours that people had been falling ill last month near some intensive pig farms .
Other countries around the world to have confirmed swine flu cases are Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Israel and the UK.
Several other countries are investigating suspected cases including Australia, Brazil, France, Chile and Denmark.
The WHO says it is "critical" that travellers from Mexico who might be infected be identified, but it has advised against countries imposing border restrictions or travel bans, saying such measures do no work.
Some countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe are screening airport passengers for symptoms, while tour operators in France and Germany have suspended trips to Mexico.
Flights stopped
Cuba also suspended flights to and from Mexico for 48 hours from Tuesday and a Canadian tour operator, Air Transat, said it was also halting flights to Mexico until 1 June.
The WHO raised its pandemic alert status to level four on Monday - two levels from a full pandemic - after concluding there had been sustained transmission between humans.
Levels five and six are reserved for when there is widespread human infection.
In almost all cases outside Mexico, people have been only mildly ill and have made a full recovery.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday it may abandon the term swine flu because some people wrongly think they can catch it from pork.
Pork producers in the US and Brazil are pushing for the name 'swine' to be changed , saying it is damaging their business.
China, Russia and Ukraine have all banned pork imports from Mexico and parts of the US since the outbreak began.
Schools across Mexico have closed and public gatherings are restricted, after more than 150 people are believed to have died from swine flu.
The number of cases globally is rising, though no-one outside Mexico has died.
The UN has called on countries to check their contingency plans for a possible global epidemic, or pandemic.
The UN's World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr Keiji Fukuda said a pandemic was "a very serious possibility, but it is still too early to say that this is inevitable".
As officials in Mexico City announced the latest measures to stop the virus spreading, the city's chamber of trade estimated restrictions in the city were costing businesses there at least 777 million pesos ($57m or £39m) a day.
US cases confirmed
After Mexico - where the outbreak started - the US has the highest number of confirmed swine flu cases with 64.
President Barack Obama has asked Congress for an additional $1.5bn (£1bn) to bolster the US response.
CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES
Mexico: 152 suspected deaths - 20 confirmed cases
US: 64 confirmed cases
Canada: 13 confirmed cases
New Zealand: 3 confirmed cases
UK, Spain, Israel: 2 confirmed cases each
Countries with suspected cases: Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Australia, and South Korea, and seven EU states
In pictures: Swine flu spreads
Life at centre of the outbreak
Swine flu: Your experiences
Mapping the outbreak
In California, where there have been 11 cases, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency as a precautionary measure but stressed there was "no need for alarm".
In another development, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation is sending a team to investigate claims that industrial pig farms in Mexico were the source of the outbreak in humans.
The agency's chief veterinary officer, Joseph Domenech, told the BBC that the FAO had to act following rumours that people had been falling ill last month near some intensive pig farms .
Other countries around the world to have confirmed swine flu cases are Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Israel and the UK.
Several other countries are investigating suspected cases including Australia, Brazil, France, Chile and Denmark.
The WHO says it is "critical" that travellers from Mexico who might be infected be identified, but it has advised against countries imposing border restrictions or travel bans, saying such measures do no work.
Some countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe are screening airport passengers for symptoms, while tour operators in France and Germany have suspended trips to Mexico.
Flights stopped
Cuba also suspended flights to and from Mexico for 48 hours from Tuesday and a Canadian tour operator, Air Transat, said it was also halting flights to Mexico until 1 June.
The WHO raised its pandemic alert status to level four on Monday - two levels from a full pandemic - after concluding there had been sustained transmission between humans.
Levels five and six are reserved for when there is widespread human infection.
In almost all cases outside Mexico, people have been only mildly ill and have made a full recovery.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday it may abandon the term swine flu because some people wrongly think they can catch it from pork.
Pork producers in the US and Brazil are pushing for the name 'swine' to be changed , saying it is damaging their business.
China, Russia and Ukraine have all banned pork imports from Mexico and parts of the US since the outbreak began.
Colombo assures India of political package for Tamils
India has received assurances from Sri Lanka about moves to ensure the political accommodation of its Tamil-origin citizens in the national mainstream, according to reliable sources. Although immediate relief followed by rehabilitation of civilians tops the Indian agenda, New Delhi is also pushing Colombo to begin the political reconciliation process at the earliest.
India realises that Tamils there need a political system in which they can feel comfortable. Quick-fix elections would amount to “changing of the hat” and is unlikely to work as is the case in the Eastern Province, where a conflict seems to be developing between the two main Tamil figures. India is also pinning its hopes on the vibrant Tamil-origin civil society which has worked through the conflict.
“We have long-term national interest in Sri Lanka. Playing political games won’t help. There is life after May 13 [election in Tamil Nadu],” said the sources, while pointing out that Sri Lanka’s top leadership would implement the Constitution’s ‘Thirteenth Amendment plus.’
This could include moving some items from the concurrent to the provincial list and the setting up of a second chamber of federal representatives.
“We will keep pushing. There must be an attempt after 23 years of wars but the path won’t be easy. There has been Sinhala chauvinism and alteration in civil-military relations. Things won’t suddenly flip back to normal,” they added.
In the immediate term, India will soon be sending 50,000 additional family packs as part of the Rs.100-crore grant announced by the Centre on Monday. These family packets last for three weeks and comprise enough food items, shelter, and medicines for a nuclear family. They will be in addition to the 40,000 family packets sent last week.
India also has a de-mining team in place in view of the heavily mined territory and is planning to send more personnel. It is also in the process of shifting its temporary hospital from the coast to inland. The capacity of the 100-bed hospital with a complement of 62 doctors will also be expanded
India realises that Tamils there need a political system in which they can feel comfortable. Quick-fix elections would amount to “changing of the hat” and is unlikely to work as is the case in the Eastern Province, where a conflict seems to be developing between the two main Tamil figures. India is also pinning its hopes on the vibrant Tamil-origin civil society which has worked through the conflict.
“We have long-term national interest in Sri Lanka. Playing political games won’t help. There is life after May 13 [election in Tamil Nadu],” said the sources, while pointing out that Sri Lanka’s top leadership would implement the Constitution’s ‘Thirteenth Amendment plus.’
This could include moving some items from the concurrent to the provincial list and the setting up of a second chamber of federal representatives.
“We will keep pushing. There must be an attempt after 23 years of wars but the path won’t be easy. There has been Sinhala chauvinism and alteration in civil-military relations. Things won’t suddenly flip back to normal,” they added.
In the immediate term, India will soon be sending 50,000 additional family packs as part of the Rs.100-crore grant announced by the Centre on Monday. These family packets last for three weeks and comprise enough food items, shelter, and medicines for a nuclear family. They will be in addition to the 40,000 family packets sent last week.
India also has a de-mining team in place in view of the heavily mined territory and is planning to send more personnel. It is also in the process of shifting its temporary hospital from the coast to inland. The capacity of the 100-bed hospital with a complement of 62 doctors will also be expanded
Will go to jail if found guilty for riots: Modi
Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he was willing to go to jail if his involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots was proved by the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigative Team (SIT).
"I will abide by the Supreme Court directives and fully cooperate in any probe. I am willing to go to jail if my involvement is proved by the SIT in the (post) Godhra riots," he said addressing a public meeting here on the last leg of his campaign tour.
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a special probe panel to investigate the role of Modi and top state officials in the 2002 communal riots and submit a report in three months.
Addressing a news conference in Ahmedabad, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani said the Supreme Court directive on the post-Godhra investigations was not a jolt to the BJP.
"The Supreme Court order is for an inquiry to be instituted and its directives would be followed by the party," he said.
"I will abide by the Supreme Court directives and fully cooperate in any probe. I am willing to go to jail if my involvement is proved by the SIT in the (post) Godhra riots," he said addressing a public meeting here on the last leg of his campaign tour.
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a special probe panel to investigate the role of Modi and top state officials in the 2002 communal riots and submit a report in three months.
Addressing a news conference in Ahmedabad, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani said the Supreme Court directive on the post-Godhra investigations was not a jolt to the BJP.
"The Supreme Court order is for an inquiry to be instituted and its directives would be followed by the party," he said.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Every sixth candidate is a crorepati
The influence of money – and not ideologies – has perceptibly gone up in the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha. There are more crorepatis in the fray than ever before.
In the 2004 elections to the 14th Lok Sabha, 9 per cent of the candidates were crorepatis. Five years later, the figure stands at 15.5 per cent, according to National Election Watch data.
The data covering the contestants for 401 parliamentary seats in the first three phases and in Delhi and Rajasthan in the fourth phase state that of the 5,573 candidates in the fray, 862 have assets of more than Rs 1 crore. The data also show sharp increases in the assets of those, who got elected in 2004. About 125 common candidates in 2004 and 2009 account for an average asset increase of over 130 per cent.
In Delhi, the increase since 2004 is 755 per cent, while it is about 450 per cent in Mumbai.
Most of the super-rich candidates come from the south and west-based regional parties. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the Telegu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh account for 77 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively, of crorepati candidates, while in Karnataka, about 63 per cent of the Janata Dal (United) candidates are crorepatis against the BJP 45 per cent.
In the west, about 90 per cent of the candidates put up by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are crorepatis, while the figure for the Nationalist Congress Party is 50 per cent. In Goa, about 33 per cent of all the candidates are crorepatis.
Professor Arun Kumar of the School of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, who conducted studies on the role of money in electoral politics, said, “The evil in the electoral politics of the south is money power, and not muscle power like in Bihar and UP.”
However, the national parties are not lagging far behind. Of the 356 Congress candidates, close to 50 per cent are crorepatis, while the BJP’s figure is about 40 per cent. But the Left parties have the lowest number of crorepatis in the fray. The Bahujan Samaj Party, which has the richest contestant this time – Deepak Bhardwaj worth Rs 603 crore from west Delhi – has 25.6 per cent crorepati candidates.
Gandhians and freedom fighters Shambu Nath Sharma and L.C. Jain said, “The day is not too far when Parliament will become an exclusive club of crorepatis and criminals
In the 2004 elections to the 14th Lok Sabha, 9 per cent of the candidates were crorepatis. Five years later, the figure stands at 15.5 per cent, according to National Election Watch data.
The data covering the contestants for 401 parliamentary seats in the first three phases and in Delhi and Rajasthan in the fourth phase state that of the 5,573 candidates in the fray, 862 have assets of more than Rs 1 crore. The data also show sharp increases in the assets of those, who got elected in 2004. About 125 common candidates in 2004 and 2009 account for an average asset increase of over 130 per cent.
In Delhi, the increase since 2004 is 755 per cent, while it is about 450 per cent in Mumbai.
Most of the super-rich candidates come from the south and west-based regional parties. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the Telegu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh account for 77 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively, of crorepati candidates, while in Karnataka, about 63 per cent of the Janata Dal (United) candidates are crorepatis against the BJP 45 per cent.
In the west, about 90 per cent of the candidates put up by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are crorepatis, while the figure for the Nationalist Congress Party is 50 per cent. In Goa, about 33 per cent of all the candidates are crorepatis.
Professor Arun Kumar of the School of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, who conducted studies on the role of money in electoral politics, said, “The evil in the electoral politics of the south is money power, and not muscle power like in Bihar and UP.”
However, the national parties are not lagging far behind. Of the 356 Congress candidates, close to 50 per cent are crorepatis, while the BJP’s figure is about 40 per cent. But the Left parties have the lowest number of crorepatis in the fray. The Bahujan Samaj Party, which has the richest contestant this time – Deepak Bhardwaj worth Rs 603 crore from west Delhi – has 25.6 per cent crorepati candidates.
Gandhians and freedom fighters Shambu Nath Sharma and L.C. Jain said, “The day is not too far when Parliament will become an exclusive club of crorepatis and criminals
Lanka ready to handover LTTE chief to India
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said Colombo would extradite LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, if caught alive, to India but after first putting him through trial in his country.
"Why should I keep him... India has the right... a man who is responsible for killing Rajiv Gandhi, one of the greatest leaders," he said and added that right now the effort is to catch Prabhakaran alive.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Rajapaksa also said that Sri Lanka will immediately stop air strikes and use of heavy weapons in the war zone but he made it clear that it was not a ceasefire.
"It is not a ceasefire. Freeing the people who are kept there as hostages is my duty,” Rajapaksa said
On ceasefire
No, it is not ceasefire. It is freeing the people who are kept there as hostages. That is my duty. The army is only helping the civilians. We just want to get the civilians out from there. When you say that we are not using heavy weapons and air attacks, then what is it? It is almost like ceasefire. It is only now that the soldiers are moving forward. When we use all this it looks like a real war. But when you are not using that, then what is it?
Surrender or face the army
Intelligence reports say that they (LTTE) are still there but we are waiting. We have asked them to surrender and lay down their arms. But they haven’t done that. As far as we can see now either they have to surrender or face the army, that’s all.
It is over for Prabhakaran
Now it is almost over. They have to surrender, there is no other option for them. This is only six-square kilometers, so we will be cleaning up. Till the last hostage is taken out from the LTTE hold we will continue. We are not worried about Prabhakaran or any other person.
India may get Prabhakaran
First he (Prabhakaran) has to go through our trial. For what he has done he will have to face that prior to anything. Then if anybody wants them (the rebels) then they can take them. This is because I think India has the right. The man who killed Rajiv Gandhi… he is one of the greatest leaders of India. Whichever government comes they have to deal with this man. This is my personal view about it.
"Why should I keep him... India has the right... a man who is responsible for killing Rajiv Gandhi, one of the greatest leaders," he said and added that right now the effort is to catch Prabhakaran alive.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Rajapaksa also said that Sri Lanka will immediately stop air strikes and use of heavy weapons in the war zone but he made it clear that it was not a ceasefire.
"It is not a ceasefire. Freeing the people who are kept there as hostages is my duty,” Rajapaksa said
On ceasefire
No, it is not ceasefire. It is freeing the people who are kept there as hostages. That is my duty. The army is only helping the civilians. We just want to get the civilians out from there. When you say that we are not using heavy weapons and air attacks, then what is it? It is almost like ceasefire. It is only now that the soldiers are moving forward. When we use all this it looks like a real war. But when you are not using that, then what is it?
Surrender or face the army
Intelligence reports say that they (LTTE) are still there but we are waiting. We have asked them to surrender and lay down their arms. But they haven’t done that. As far as we can see now either they have to surrender or face the army, that’s all.
It is over for Prabhakaran
Now it is almost over. They have to surrender, there is no other option for them. This is only six-square kilometers, so we will be cleaning up. Till the last hostage is taken out from the LTTE hold we will continue. We are not worried about Prabhakaran or any other person.
India may get Prabhakaran
First he (Prabhakaran) has to go through our trial. For what he has done he will have to face that prior to anything. Then if anybody wants them (the rebels) then they can take them. This is because I think India has the right. The man who killed Rajiv Gandhi… he is one of the greatest leaders of India. Whichever government comes they have to deal with this man. This is my personal view about it.
Sri Lanka to end use of heavy weapons in war against Tamil Tigers
The Sri Lankan government yesterday announced it was ending the use of air and artillery strikes in its war with the Tamil Tigers, after weeks of denying that it was using such tactics.
Under intense international pressure to end the fighting, the government claimed combat operations had reached their conclusion and it would now concentrate on rescuing civilians. However, there was no sign of an end to the fighting, which has claimed the lives of at least 6,000 civilians in the last three months.
The statement appeared to contradict previous claims by the military that it had not been using heavy weapons.
It came a day after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) announced a unilateral ceasefire, allegedly to allow civilians to leave the no-fire zone, a tiny coastal strip no larger than four square miles, where tens of thousands of people remain trapped by the fighting.
With the UN's top humanitarian official, John Holmes, already in the country and Britain's foreign minister, David Miliband, expected tomorrow, along with his French and Swedish counterparts, both sides appear keen to secure a propaganda advantage. But reports from the ground suggested the statements had little impact on the conduct of the war. The military said it was continuing to pursue the LTTE and heavy fighting was reported inside the no-fire zone.
A doctor working in the zone, Thangamutha Sathiyamoorthy, said there had been air strikes on the south Mullivaikkal area around 12.40pm and 1.10pm and artillery fired into the north Mullivaikkal area at around 5.40pm. Both areas are inside the no-fire zone. The government has accused Sathiyamoorthy of acting as a mouthpiece for the LTTE.
In a statement, the government said: "Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy calibre guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties."
John Holmes, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said: "I hope that the idea of not using heavy weapons will genuinely be respected, which I am afraid has not been the case in the past."
He also criticised the LTTE, saying it had given no indication that it would allow civilians to leave the area. "These people are in mortal danger," he said.
A government spokesman said that the decision signalled "the nearing victory of one of the world's most successful battles against terrorism". He said: "It is a decision that displays the genuine will of the Sri Lankan government to rescue its citizens from terrorism."
A military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, later insisted that air strikes and artillery had not been directed at areas in which civilians had taken shelter. But he did confirm for the first time that those weapons had been used against the LTTE during the fighting in recent weeks. "We have been using them outside the safety zone," he said.
Pictures have shown large plumes of smoke rising from inside the no-fire zone, consistent with the use of high explosives. Brigadier Nanayakkara said the smoke could have been the result of the LTTE setting fire to civilians' tents. "Smoke can come from anything," he said.
The government claims that no more than 20,000 civilians remained inside the no-fire zone, although UN officials have suggested that the true figure could be as many as 150,000.
The reports can not be verified because journalists and humanitarian staff have been denied independent access to the area where the fighting is taking place.
EU foreign ministers yesterday urged Sri Lanka's government and the LTTE to agree an immediate ceasefire to allow the UN to organise an evacuation of the remaining civilians. "It is very, very important that we follow through on the government's welcome announcement," Miliband said. "This is a humanitarian crisis that needs to be tackled with real urgency."
Gordon Brown was reported to have telephoned the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapakse, on Sunday to pledge £2.5m for humanitarian assistance for the displaced civilians.
Under intense international pressure to end the fighting, the government claimed combat operations had reached their conclusion and it would now concentrate on rescuing civilians. However, there was no sign of an end to the fighting, which has claimed the lives of at least 6,000 civilians in the last three months.
The statement appeared to contradict previous claims by the military that it had not been using heavy weapons.
It came a day after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) announced a unilateral ceasefire, allegedly to allow civilians to leave the no-fire zone, a tiny coastal strip no larger than four square miles, where tens of thousands of people remain trapped by the fighting.
With the UN's top humanitarian official, John Holmes, already in the country and Britain's foreign minister, David Miliband, expected tomorrow, along with his French and Swedish counterparts, both sides appear keen to secure a propaganda advantage. But reports from the ground suggested the statements had little impact on the conduct of the war. The military said it was continuing to pursue the LTTE and heavy fighting was reported inside the no-fire zone.
A doctor working in the zone, Thangamutha Sathiyamoorthy, said there had been air strikes on the south Mullivaikkal area around 12.40pm and 1.10pm and artillery fired into the north Mullivaikkal area at around 5.40pm. Both areas are inside the no-fire zone. The government has accused Sathiyamoorthy of acting as a mouthpiece for the LTTE.
In a statement, the government said: "Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy calibre guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties."
John Holmes, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, said: "I hope that the idea of not using heavy weapons will genuinely be respected, which I am afraid has not been the case in the past."
He also criticised the LTTE, saying it had given no indication that it would allow civilians to leave the area. "These people are in mortal danger," he said.
A government spokesman said that the decision signalled "the nearing victory of one of the world's most successful battles against terrorism". He said: "It is a decision that displays the genuine will of the Sri Lankan government to rescue its citizens from terrorism."
A military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, later insisted that air strikes and artillery had not been directed at areas in which civilians had taken shelter. But he did confirm for the first time that those weapons had been used against the LTTE during the fighting in recent weeks. "We have been using them outside the safety zone," he said.
Pictures have shown large plumes of smoke rising from inside the no-fire zone, consistent with the use of high explosives. Brigadier Nanayakkara said the smoke could have been the result of the LTTE setting fire to civilians' tents. "Smoke can come from anything," he said.
The government claims that no more than 20,000 civilians remained inside the no-fire zone, although UN officials have suggested that the true figure could be as many as 150,000.
The reports can not be verified because journalists and humanitarian staff have been denied independent access to the area where the fighting is taking place.
EU foreign ministers yesterday urged Sri Lanka's government and the LTTE to agree an immediate ceasefire to allow the UN to organise an evacuation of the remaining civilians. "It is very, very important that we follow through on the government's welcome announcement," Miliband said. "This is a humanitarian crisis that needs to be tackled with real urgency."
Gordon Brown was reported to have telephoned the Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapakse, on Sunday to pledge £2.5m for humanitarian assistance for the displaced civilians.
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