No ceasefire under any circumstance is president Mahinda Rajapakse's reply to the request from Tamil Tigers (LTTE) to stop the fighting in order to seek a political solution. The LTTE political representative Selvaraja Pathamanathan told 'TamilNet' that "the international community could play a positive role in sufficiently pressuring Colombo to achieve a ceasefire such as to pursue negotiations between the government and the LTTE". However, president Rajapakse publicly stated that "the government would not give into the pressure of any international subject locally or internationally and we shall not stop until the war is completely over". Three months after Kilinochchi, the LTTE political capital, was captured, the fighting in the north continues, as the army is struggling to gain control of the last 20 square km along the coast of the Mullaitivu district, where rebels have taken refuge and where there are also tens of thousands of Tamil civilians (the UN says 150,000, the government says half that), hundreds of whom have been killed by artillery fire from both sides. The army says that no more than 500 LTTE fighters are left and that the advance has been delayed because the separatists use civilians as human shields and that it is not possible to use long range weapons and carpet bombing to weaken the LTTE prior to the final and decisive attack. Meanwhile, at least 55,000 civilians have been driven from their homes to the camps in Vayuniya, from where they cannot get out, as they remain under tight security control. UNHCR said that some positive steps have been taken so far in the treatment of refugees. The government has released 371 seniors while family reunions have also begun in the camps. However, UNHCR has asked that refugees be given greater freedom of movement after they are registered: "once the security situation is stabilized - says a note
- refugees should be released and be housed with families, which is the best arrangement". MISNA sources in Vavunya said that last Sunday, priests have been able to enter the camps for mass services, even while relatives are still barred. Some 25% of the Tamil are Christian, while most Tamils are Hindus. [AB]