U.S.-TURKEY RELATIONS UNDER THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

18 April: Between 50,000 to 100,000 civilians are thought to be in the 8 sq mile (20 sq km) coastal area of the Mulaitivu district of Sri Lanka. If the UN-suggested truce was approved by Sri Lanka, the civilians may have had a chance to escape the conflict.

The Sri Lankan authorities thought otherwise. In the last two-day truce sponsored by the UN, it is estimated that only a few hundred civilians used the opportunity to get out of the conflict zone.

In an interview with the BBC, Sri Lankan Defense Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, explained that he told Ban Ki-moon's Chief of Staff, Vijay Nambiar, that "we (the Sri Lankan military) cannot extend our decision to restrict offensive military operations because there was no result during the previous halt in the fighting."

According to him, the Tamil Tigers did not meet international demands to release the civilians during the pause in fighting that ended on April 14th.

The Tamil Tigers described the truce as an "act of hoodwink" designed to deceive the international community. They would prefer a longer-lasting internationally-supervised truce in order to allow for serious political discussion.