UN urges halt in S Lanka fighting

Both sides in the Sri Lankan conflict have been urged to stop fighting and allow for a "humanitarian pause" as UN officials revised their estimate of civilians trapped in the war zone up to 190,000.

The UN, backed by the US and Britain, blamed Tamil separatists for the plight of civilians caught up in the conflict, with dozens believed killed in recent weeks and many more wounded and without medical treatment.

Speaking in New York on Thursday John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said he was particularly concerned about civilians being prevented from leaving the combat area by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Speaking after an informal UN Security Council briefing Holmes said he was pressing for urgent humanitarian access to the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka.

"We suggested the idea of some kind of humanitarian pause to allow that to happen and to allow the civilian population to leave," he said.

"This is an extremely worrying situation and therefore, our first appeal is to the LTTE to let the civilians out in a safe and orderly fashion."

LTTE 'cornered'

The government says its forces have confined the LTTE to an area of about 21sq km, most of which is a government-declared safe zone, on the island's northeastern coast near the town of Puthukudirippu.