In the final hours of the war,
At the orders of a 'top defence figure,' an international arrangement involving ICRC, European diplomats and a Colombo government diplomat to arrange safe exit to the civil officers was defied, according to informed sources.
On Monday May 18, early hours around 3:00 a.m. Vanni local time, the LTTE Political Chief Balasingham Nadesan and LTTE Peace Secretariat Director Seevaratnam Puleedevan telephoned their contacts in Europe and informed them to tell the ICRC Head Office that only around 1,000 wounded cadres, civil officials of the LTTE and civilians remained in the so-called safety zone and there was no firing from the LTTE side.
They urged the ICRC to evacuate the wounded. A few hours later,
On Sunday, May 17, , SLA Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka told AFP that he will not allow the LTTE to 'regroup' and will ensure that there is 'no future' for the Tigers.
He also said that "the firm decision of the political hierarchy not to go for talks with the LTTE terrorists until they lay down arms had contributed significantly to all these war victories."
According to a press released from the LTTE’s head International Relations, Selvarasa Pthmanathan, subsequent to LTTE’s announcement that it has decided to "silence the guns" in view of the unbearable civilian carnage at the hands of the Sri Lankan military and the heavy weaponry donated to it by third parties, they were informed by some member states of the International Community that arrangements had been made with the Sri Lankan military for discussions on an orderly end to the war.
The political and civil administration memebers of the LTTE were instructed to make contact with the 58th Division of the Sri Lankan forces in the war zone, un-armed and carrying white flags. Head of our Political Wing, Nadesan and Puleedevan then proceeded to do so. They were un-armed and carrying white flags and were called on by the Officers of the 58th Division to come forward for discussions. When they complied they were both shot and killed.
The press release vehemently condemned Sri Lanka Army’s action urged the International Community to take this into account in its deliberations about charges of "Crimes against Humanity" against the members of the Sri Lanka Government and its military establishment.
“This act is even more unpalatable when one takes into account that the LTTE released as an act of goodwill, seven Sri Lankan Prisoners of War the day before totally unharmed.” said the press release.
“We appeal to the International Community to act now to ensure the safety and basic needs of the displaced people who are suffering in the prison camps of the Sri Lankan military. The onus is now on the International Community to see that further war crimes and crimes against humanity are not committed on Tamils by the Sri Lankan state and to force the Sri Lankan state to yield in to the political aspirations of the Tamil people.” the press release added.
