The LTTE in a last ditch effort to prevent the security forces entering the Wanni has got the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to block the way when the NGOs and UN agencies began leaving the Wanni after the government issued instructions for them to move out for their own safety -- and that it would not give any guarantee if they opted to stay on.
Meanwhile hundreds of IDPs trapped in the Wanni begged with NGOs and UN agencies not to leave the area. The move out began in the last two days.
UN Spokesman Gordon Weiss confirmed that IDPs had blocked the path of their convoys. `It was peaceful enough but they definitely blocked our staff and vehicles from moving out` he said. `They presented us with a list of demands. I can`t divulge what they were.` Meanwhile, TamilNet said that IDPs gathered on Friday morning in front of the UNHCR office at Karadippoakku junction in Kilinochchi and pleaded with UN and NGO officials not to leave `as their presence was critical, not only for humanitarian assistance, but also to sustain a secure zone to escape`. Around 160,000 civilians are displaced inside the Wanni and face danger as the battle closes in on Kilinochchi. The government recently air dropped leaflets asking them to leave LTTE controlled territory but the response has been slow.
During discussions chaired by Basil Rajapaksa at the presidential secretariat last week, aid agencies were offered three options - to relocate to Vavuniya, to volunteer to serve in the Wanni with the government agents or to be retrenched.