Tags: London

London, Apr 30 : After being spurned by Sri Lanka over their demand for an immediate ceasefire in the ethnic conflict, British and French foreign ministers today hit back at Colombo, saying "victory without humanity can be no triumph".

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and France's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner, who were in Colombo yesterday to impress upon the government to announce a "ceasefire" in its offensive against Tamil Tigers and allow international aid agencies access to the war zone, underlined the need for a political process to address "the deep-seated" sense of Tamil resentment.

"The deep-seated sense of political alienation that has fuelled Tamil resentment towards successive governments in Sri Lanka must be addressed through a political process of integrity and decency," they wrote in an article in The Times newspaper today. "That will not be achieved through military victory alone".

They said the Government's "military advance is undoubted", but "Victory without humanity can be no triumph".

"The UN had an agreement with the Government to send a mission into the conflict zone to help to assess and address civilian needs. That agreement has not been implemented. It must be," Miliband and Kouchner wrote in the British daily.

They said the "the refusal to allow the UN, the aid agencies, and the media full and proper access is quite wrong". (MORE)

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