Sri Lanka to suspend offensives

Sri Lanka’s president ordered a two-day suspension of offensives against Tamil Tiger rebels to enable tens of thousands of trapped civilians to leave the war zone, his office said Sunday.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa directed the armed forces to restrict operations during the April 13 and 14 Sri Lankan New Year to a defensive nature and renewed his call to the rebel group to “acknowledge its military defeat and lay down its weapons and surrender,” a statement said.

He said the rebels must renounce violence permanently.

The president’s call came amid increasing international pressure on the government to protect civilians trapped along with the remaining guerrillas in a government-declared “no-fire” zone measuring just 7.7 square miles (20 square kilometers).

The U.N. says about 100,000 civilians are trapped in the war zone with dozens dying every day. The government and aid groups accuse the rebels of using civilians as human shields and have called for their release.

The rebels and rights groups have accused the military of firing into the safe zone – a charge the military denies.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would have liked to see a longer halt, but said the government plan was a “useful first step and an opportunity to move towards the peaceful and orderly end to the fighting now so badly needed.”