Sri Lanka on war footing

The Sri Lankan army is suffering defeat after defeat

Officials in Sri Lanka say the government has assumed new national security powers after placing the country on a war footing, in reaction to a series of military defeats at the hands of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

The officials say details of a new series of regulations, drawn up by President Chandrika Kumaratunga at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, will be announced later.

The country's media minister Mangala Samaraweera said that what he described as terrorism had to be defeated, at all costs, in the shortest possible time.

He said that non-essential development activity would be suspended for three months, and that the money saved would be used to fight the rebels.

The decision comes as India's Defence Ministry announced it would not give its neighbour any military assistance that could help it in rescuing about 35,000 troops trapped in Jaffna.

India's External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, told journalists in Delhi that there had been no request for assistance from Sri Lanka and the situation had not arisen.

However, he said that India would continue to monitor the evolving situation in Sri Lanka and would be prepared to provide humanitarian assistance, should it be required, particularly for the civilian population.

The president has held crisis talks with opposition leaders

Earlier, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgama appeared to confirm speculation that his government was on the point of asking Delhi for assistance.

He said it was considering asking India to help rescue some 35,000 troops in the Jaffna peninsula.

"It possibly could come, it could be on the cards," he said in an interview with Reuters news agency in Delhi.

(Click here to see a map of the Jaffna peninsula)

Jaffna advance

The Sri Lankan army has suffered a series of setbacks in the face of attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels, who are seeking to recapture control of Jaffna.

In Colombo, President Chandrika Kumuratunga told a meeting of MPs from her party that there were no plans to evacuate Jaffna.

She said her government had asked for help from unnamed friendly countries, but gave no further details.

The Tigers are now only about 15 miles from Jaffna town, their former stronghold.

Outside help

Fighting was reported to be continuing on Wednesday, with the Tigers saying they controlled part of a key coastal road.

The Tamil uprising began in Jaffna in 1983. From 1990-95, they ran a virtually independent state in the Jaffna peninsula, with their own police, civil administration, jails, visa system, courts and a small navy.

Sri Lankan troops drove the rebels out of the city of 500,000 people in December 1995.

In a surprise move, Buddhist monks under the National Sangha Council have demanded Indian intervention to prevent the fall of Jaffna to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Buddhist monks are calling for India to intervene

The monks, very influential in the largely Buddhist country, protested when Indian troops were sent to the island nation in 1987 to disarm the rebels.

But a few days ago, the monks met an Indian envoy and appealed for military help.

Asian diplomats say it is difficult to imagine any country willing to get involved in Sri Lanka's conflict as India did between 1987 and 1990.

"India burned its fingers by sending troops to Sri Lanka and it is unlikely they will want to repeat that mistake," a diplomat said.

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