Following severe criticism from rights institutions and civi society members that the Sri Lankan government did nothing to protect thousands of innocent civilians trapped in the impasse surrounded by the government forces and the Tamil rebels, Sri Lanka’s security forces have declared a two-day suspension of military operations against the Tamil Tiger rebels.
News agencies quoted the Sri Lankan government as saying that the move was intended to let trapped civilians reach a safer destination. Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said: "We have not fired and we have not received any fire so far from the other side."
On Sunday, Tamil demonstrators had broken into Sri Lankan Embassy in Oslo. They had smashed window glasses. The Norwegian government had apologized for the incident.