UN Says Longer Pause in Fighting Needed in Sri Lanka
[ VOA ]
The United Nations top humanitarian official welcomed a 48-hour pause in fighting in Sri Lanka’s conflict zone, but cautioned that it was insufficient to get in enough aid or to evacuate many of the more than 100,000 civilians trapped by the fighting between the government and Tamil rebels. U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator John Holmes said the government’s two-day-long halt in military operations that ended Wednesday was a “valuable first step”, but the United Nations would have hoped for a longer pause agreed to by both sides.