AL JAZEERA: Fears grow for 350,000 civilians

[Andrew49]

Foreign journalists are prevented from entering the conflict zone, but Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive pictures showing civilians fleeing the fighting as buildings burn and craters from heavy shelling pockmark the earth.

'Genocide': Selvamalar Ayadurai, who runs an aid organisation helping civilians in Sri Lanka's north, says the term genocide may be justified. "They use the term genocide - it may be right because the definition for genocide is a systematic and planned destruction of a social, racial or political group. So this is the destruction of a racial group, which are the Tamils of northern Sri Lanka," she told Al Jazeera.

Aid organisations say a major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka where government forces are engaged in fierce fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Source

[Andrew49]

I don't understand the relevance of the link {or the question} Twin Towers ? The thread is about the human catastrophe unfolding in Sri Lanka !

[Twin Towers]

I don't understand the relevance of the link {or the question} Twin Towers ? The thread is about the human catastrophe unfolding in Sri Lanka !

Apologies Andrew, belongs in a Gaza related thread! deleted.

[Thac0man]

Foreign journalists are prevented from entering the conflict zone, but Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive pictures showing civilians fleeing the fighting as buildings burn and craters from heavy shelling pockmark the earth.

'Genocide': Selvamalar Ayadurai, who runs an aid organisation helping civilians in Sri Lanka's north, says the term genocide may be justified. "They use the term genocide - it may be right because the definition for genocide is a systematic and planned destruction of a social, racial or political group. So this is the destruction of a racial group, which are the Tamils of northern Sri Lanka," she told Al Jazeera.

Aid organisations say a major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka where government forces are engaged in fierce fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Source

Not sure thats true. The systematic dismantling of the parrallel government and civil structures set up by the Tigers is inevitable. There does not seem to be genocide, or anything like it. Once again the term seems badly misplaced.

The fact is the Tigers exterminted any and all rival Tamil political voices and organisations. What was left is a political deficit in the Tamil community and the Sri Lanken government the only alternatve to the Tigers. This is the result of the Tigers efficient silancing of all dissenting voices in Tamil areas. It will take time to rectify that.

However the form of the Government for a unified Sri Lanka has yet to be set, and should include Tamils. There is precident for that. There has in the recent past been a national unity government in Sri Lanka, which included Tamil ministers. The response to that from the Tigers was to kill the Sri Lanken foreign minister, who was a Tamil.

What we are seeing is the closing stages of a civil war and to be honest its a bit late for people to start taking an interest now and claiming all events on the ground are sole the result of Sri Lanken government action. Anyone who has cared to follow the conflict over its long course knows the Tigers have been as guilty of supressing the Tamil minority as much as the Sri Lanken government has been accused of.

In the end a reunified Sri Lanka will me more representitive of the Tamil minority than any seperate political entity controlled by the iron fisted and self appointed Tigers.