UN head disturbed by lives lost in Lanka

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he is ‘increasingly disturbed’ by the mounting civilian casualties in fighting between Government forces and Tamil rebels.

“The Secretary General is increasingly disturbed by the mounting loss of life in Sri Lanka”, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. He deplores the many civilian casualties by the on-going hostilities between Government forces and the LTTE. Mr. Annan stressed the “urgent need to bring an end to the spiral of violence and called on the parties to make every effort to return to the peace process as soon as possible”.