India to send food aid to S Lanka

Civilians have fled as government troops have attacked the Tamil Tigers

India says it is sending food aid to Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka caught up in fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The announcement to send 800 tonnes of food followed talks in Delhi with Sri Lanka's special envoy, Basil Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka, which is engaged in a major offensive against the rebels, had been seeking to reassure Delhi about the humanitarian situation in the north.

Thousands of Tamils living in the north have been displaced by the fighting.

This has angered India's Tamil politicians - some in the southern state of Tamil Nadu have threatened to pull out of India's coalition government if Delhi does not act.

One politician said the food aid showed Delhi did not accept Sri Lanka was looking after its Tamil population.

The UN has been allowed to send two food convoys into rebel-held northern areas this month where some 200,000 people have been displaced by fighting.

In September the government ordered humanitarian workers out of the north, saying it could not guarantee their safety.

Sri Lanka's military is continuing an offensive aimed at capturing territory controlled by the Tigers and ending their fight for a separate state for the ethnic Tamil minority.

According to the military, soldiers are now only about 1.5km (one mile) from the outskirts of Kilinochchi.

But with journalists barred from the area, the claims cannot be independently verified.

Many civilians have fled Kilinochchi to escape the fighting in recent weeks