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Sri Lankan army 'to stop shelling' on rebel bases

BBC ONLINE, Colombo
Sri Lankan troops will no longer use heavy weapons or air strikes in fighting against Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeast, the government says.
The statement said the I army would focus on trying to rescue civilians. Concern has been rising over civilian deaths.
The rebels are boxed in to a shrinking patch of land which they share with thousands of | civilians.
On Sunday the government dismissed a Tamil Tiger ceasefire otter as a joke,' and said the rebels were near defeat
The statement from the office of the president said combat operations in the civil war between the military and Tamil Tiger rebels had "reached their conclusion".
"Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy calibre guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties," the statement said.
"Our security forces will confine their attempts to rescuing civilians who are held hostage and give foremost priority to saving civilians."
However, the pro-rebel TamilNet web site reports that air strikes have continued since the announcement.
It quoted the head of the ligers Peace Secretariat, Seevaratnam Puleethevan, as saying that bombers had targeted civil ians in Mullivaaykkaal.
No confirmation of the reports is possible as independent journalists are not allowed into the war zone.
An undated photo released by pjo':Tamil media yesterday reportedly showed a government air strike inside a no-fire zone and civilians fleeing.
Until now the military and the government have said that they were not using any heavy weapons in this current stage of the fighting and had caused no civilian casualties.
This new statement, however, does appear to acknowledge that civilians have been harmed as aid agencies and the UN have been saying, our correspondent says.
The declaration may signal a radical change of tactics by
government forces in the small war zone to try to avoid such casualties.lt may also mean that they feel their final military victory has been achieved, or nearly achieved.
Earlier yesterday, Sri Lankan troops launched a predawn attack on Tamil Tiger-held areas in the north-east, a pro-rebel website reported.
Troops were firing from all sides and more than 10,000 civilians were at immediate risk,TamilNet said.
A military spokesman confirmed that troops were firing, but said they were doingso in seif-defence.
The Chief Minister of India's Tamil Nadu state, M Karunanidhi, 85, went on indefinite hunger strike to demand a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. He called it off after the latest news from Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's minority Tamil community has close cultural, religious and business ties with more than 50m Tamils in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, the UN's top humanitarian official, John Holmes, who is in Sri Lanka, wants more access to civilians affected by the fighting.