Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Leader V. Anandasangaree yesterday called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to proceed with extreme caution to protect civilians in conflict areas, and advocated the stoppage of aerial bombing, shelling and artillery attacks forthwith, to avoid a ‘disastrous situation.’

In a letter addressed to the President, he insisted that, “this step should be taken immediately, if your Excellency agrees with me that a serious development had taken place in Vanni to warrant your intervention. The forces must proceed with caution if they are to avoid a disastrous situation.” He pointed out that any civilian casualties at this point would give, “a dying movement the opportunity to redeem itself.”

Explaining that given the total pre-conflict population of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts at 420,000 and 105,000 families, he noted that, “We all know that the LTTE has always had been giving exaggerated figures. If we take 75 % of these figures as true, these two districts should still have not less than 300,000. If the Internally Displaced Persons of Mannar and Vavuniya now in Mullaithivu are added to this, the total will be still higher. Out of these only about 40,000 had come to Vavuniya. In all probabilities taking into consideration the people who had left Vanni earlier, the present number 330,000 must be correct or nearly correct.”

The letter also noted that the total requirement of food needed for the 330,000 people is roughly 5000 tons. “Most of the people living there are on the verge of starvation. There is obviously an acute shortage of food and drugs that should be met by sending additional stock. It is the Government that had been feeding the LTTE during the past quarter of a century. If the Government wants to save its people, then it should send food and drugs to meet the requirements of all in Vanni, till the people are freed.”