Sri Lanka rejects Britains call for ceasefire with rebels

COLOMBO, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapake has rejected the request by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for a pause in military action between the government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, the presidential secretariat said Tuesday in a press release.

In this photograph released by the Sri Lankan military April 21, 2009 shows civilians escape from an area controlled by Tamil Tigers in the north-east of Sri Lanka.   (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

The LTTE said over 1,000 civilians were killed and near 2,300 civilians were injured on Monday.

It requested the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)to provide medical supplies and evacuate by ship the 2,000 people injured and facing imminent danger.

The less than 20-sq-km NFZ was declared by the government early this year to accommodate large number of civilians trapped in the northern battle zone.

Actual number of civilians trapped in the NFZ is being debated. International aid agencies said more than 100,000 people are still being trapped in the NFZ, while the Sri Lankan government said the figure is only about half of that.

A concerned international community has pleaded with both the government and the LTTE to care for the safety of civilians amid allegations that a large number of them are receiving injuries or getting killed in the crossfire.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka's long drawn-out civil war since the mid-1980s when the LTTE began to rebel against the government based on claims that the minority Tamils were being discriminated in this Sinhamese dominated island.