Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogallagama yesterday said he would speak to his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner about the adverse remarks attributed to the latter on the civilians fleeing from the LTTE.

Kouchner is reported to have said that civilians fleeing from the clutches of the LTTE in the ‘No Fire’ Zone were drowning in the seas and had suggested that France and Britain launch a joint humanitarian operation in the conflict zone in Sri Lanka.

Responding to a query from The Island as to the government’s stand on the suggestion made by Kouchner to his British counterpart David Miliband that French and British boats be deployed to assist the IDP’s on the beaches where some were drowning in the sea, Bogallagama said "There are no civilians trying to cross to the government controlled areas drowning in the sea. It is far from the truth."

He said he was in constant touch with all his counterparts. "Today I will discuss the matter in detail with my counterpart over the phone," told the media.

Prior to meeting the media the Foreign Minister met the diplomatic corps. He had told them that the LTTE had used the 48-hour unilateral humanitarian pause to compel civilians to fortify the earth bunds and trenches thus impeding the civilians moving out of the ‘No Fire’ Zone, negating the very purpose for which the government had declared the pause.

Bogollagama told the diplomats that the international community and many others were skeptical about the government’s ability to handle the humanitarian operation which is reckoned as the biggest such operation in the world.

"The military operation mounted by the Army was not an assault type one on fortified positions of the enemy, but a highly professional rescue mission, for which our soldiers had been trained," he pointed out adding that dire warnings by some in the international community of a blood bath did not materialise.

Bogollagama said the government welcomed the outcome of the informal briefing on Sri Lanka at the UN Security Council on Wednesday night and appreciates and acknowledges its forthright condemnation of the LTTE as a terrorist organization and its use of civilians as human shields not allowing them to leave the conflict area.

Today the LTTE is still holding 15,000-20,000 displaced persons in the ‘No Fire’ Zone, the Minister said.

However, he remarked that the country needed humanitarian assistance from other countries particularly where sanitation, health, water and shelter are concerned.

"In this respect the US, EU and UN organizations along with India are already helping us and India is sending a ship with 40,000 family units to be distributed among the IDPs in the welfare centres and villages he said.

Fourteen INGOs with UN organizations are helping in the IDP villages at the moment, he said.