S.Lanka war seen escalating as truce declared dead
More than 5,000 people have been killed since early 2006, taking the death toll since the war erupted in 1983 to around 70,000.
The government said the Cabinet decided to scrap the 2002 cease-fire because the Tigers were using it as cover to regroup and rearm and had violated its terms thousands of times.
However, it insisted the door remained open to talks in future if conditions allowed or if the Tigers laid down arms.
PUT BACK A DECADE
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States was troubled by a decision he said would "make it more difficult to achieve a lasting, peaceful solution to Sri Lanka's conflict."
"We call on both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to avoid an escalation of hostilities and further civilian casualties," he said in a written statement.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon regretted the government's decision, his spokeswoman Michele Montas said, and was "deeply worried" that the withdrawal came amid intensifying violence in Sri Lanka.
Ban "urges all concerned to ensure the protection of civilians and enable humanitarian assistance to be provided to affected areas," Montas said. "He underlines the urgent need to end the bloodshed in Sri Lanka through a political solution." Continued...
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