The United States has said it supports the Indian efforts to stop fighting in Sri Lanka and appealed to both the Rajapaksa government and LTTE to end hostilities.
"We support Indian efforts to stop the fighting," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters here on Friday.
"We understand that two Indian government special emissaries arrived in Lanka to convey their government’s concerns about the conflict to the government of Sri Lanka," he said.
The US remains extremely concerned for the safety of the remaining civilians in the no-fire zone, he said.
Although tens of thousands of people have fled the area, numerous people have been killed and tens of thousands of additional civilians remain in the conflict area, he added.
As the Lankan military went in for a final assault against the LTTE, Mr. Wood said Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert Blake participated in a conference with the Tokyo co-chairs on Thursday.
"The Co-Chair countries and the G-8 are working together closely to find a way to end the fighting. The Tamil Tigers must stop holding civilians and stop putting them in harm’s way. We call on the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms and surrender to a third party," he pointed out.
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