The visiting Foreign Ministers of Britain and France David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner yesterday evening told the media at a hurriedly summoned press conference in Colombo that their efforts to make the Sri Lankan government to agree to a ceasefire had come a cropper.

Calling upon the LTTE to release civilians it was holding forcibly in the no fire zone, Miliband said, "Sri Lanka’s military advances have been spectacular but winning the peace is as vital as winning the war." He said he wished to stress that the purpose of the EU’s call for a ceasefire was to help only civilians and not the LTTE.