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Top Tamil ally urges Tigers to surrender

Lanka rejects satellite evidence of civilian bombings

AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka's ton Tamil political force appealed Saturday for a way for cornered Tiger rebels to surrender to a third party and save tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone.
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF),'a pro-government party, urged President Mahinda Rajapakse to name an international agency to which the Tamil Tiger guerrillas could hand over their weapons in exchange foran amnesty.
The call came as government forces were poised for a final assault on a small patch
of coastline into which the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LITE) are hemmed in the island's northeast.
Sri Lanka's defence ministry yesterday rejected satellite imagery issued by the United Nations in support of allegations that security forces shelled a civilian area.
The defence ministry said the allegations based on UN aerial images posted on the UNOSAT website and used on several foreign television channels had "no scientific validity" unless there was verification on the ground.
"Conclusions drawn from die interpretations of these images have no scientific
validity," the ministry said, responding to reports the military had shelled an area the government itself had designated a no-fire zone.
The pictures showed craters which were formed inside the zone between February 15 and April 19, the day before die army breached the Tigers' defences and civilians started topourout.
"The imagery is fairly clear and shows the time, so anybody can study and compare them." head of the mapping unit at UNOSAT, Einer Bjorge, told Al Jazeera. He said the pattern of the craters would have required air power.
Sri Lanka has consistendy
denied it used heavy weapons against civilian populated areas and last week announced it had ordered security forces not to use heavy calibre weapons and aerial strikes.
The United Nations estimates some 50,000 people are also trapped by the fighting and risk getting killed. International calls for a truce to allow the civilians out have been rejected by Colombo.
"I suggest that an international agency, acceptable to the government, be selected to visit (the rebel-held area of) Wanni and persuade the LTTE to allow die innocent people to go out freely," TULF leader V. Anandasangari said.