Rare images emerge of Sri Lankans trapped in war

[Joanne98]

Source: AP


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Rare images of suffering civilians trapped in Sri Lanka's war zone emerged Monday: Dead parents still cradling their children. A teenage boy with no arms crying in despair. A severely crowded hospital with many patients lying on mats under already full beds.

The photographs and video footage of scores of dead and wounded, which were handed to The Associated Press by independent observers traveling in the war zone, are a glimpse of the some 250,000 civilians trapped in the shrinking jungle battle zone as Sri Lanka tries to finally crush the Tamil Tigers after a 25-year war.

The images emerged as the hospital in the war zone — one of the last functioning health institutions inside rebel-held territory — shuddered under a second day of shelling, leaving two patients dead. Nine were killed in the shelling Sunday.

When alerted to the video and photographs, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara reiterated that "No civilians have been killed" in the fighting.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gVoaDFmbCYS-Usz9ACDRIengj21QD963ITVG0

[Oregone]

1. Who funds the Tamil Tigers?

[Joanne98]

2. Nobody. They're an indigeous group.

[Oregone]

3. Many indigeous groups need funding for those type of operations

So I was just wondering if they would too, thats all.

[Traveling_Home]

5. Here are some articles

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/apr/22/crime.scamsandfraud

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4123567.ece

http://www.hrw.org/legacy/english/docs/2006/03/14/slanka12889.htm

http://www.france24.com/en/20070406-tamil-tigers-racket-paris-sri-lanka-france

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/003084.html

I wonder about some of these spources but they were easy to find.

There is a lot of info - Tamil+Tigers+Money

[JackintheGreen]

7. Diasporic Tamils, for one

There are large populations in Paris, Norway, Toronto, etc. - not to mention Indian Tamils - who donate to various "charity" groups, knowing full well that the money gets funneled to the Tigers. One of the biggest suspected groups is the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, started in Chennai in 1985 or so, which has offices all over the world. The one in Baltimore had it's accounts frozen a couple of years ago by the FBI for funneling money to the tigers.

[Oregone]

9. eh, at least its not the CIA I guess

[mikelgb]

4. failz - no photos... so rare in fact we don't have them

[proud progressive]

6. sri where? those folks are black! why should we care about them when we have to pay $2 gas for our

suv's? after all, we must first conquer, destroy, and rebuild the middle east to prevent these awful $2 inconveniences from ever happening again!

[oberliner]

8. Rebels face final blow, Sri Lankan leader says

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan president declared Monday that the army was on the verge of crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels after a 25-year war.

In recent months, the army has wrested all major towns once controlled by the Tigers, who are now defending a 300-square-kilometer pocket, or 115 square miles.

"The strongholds of terror once believed to be invincible," President Mahinda Rajapaksa said, "have fallen in rapid succession, bringing the final elimination of terror from our motherland and the dawn of true freedom to all our people well within our reach." He made his remarks Monday in a message to mark the 61st Independence Day, which will be celebrated Wednesday.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/02/asia/lanka.4-421586.php