Australia voices concern over civilian safety
2008-10-13 08:50:35

Australia voices concern over civilian safety Australia has expressed concern over civilian safety in the ongoing military conflict in Sri Lanka’s north, according to a news report on the Radio Australia website today.

The report quoted Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith as saying that he had made it clear to his Sri Lankan counterpart that military action alone would not solve the bloody dispute with the Tamil separatists.

Mr Smith who held talks in Australia's capital city Canberra with Rohitha Bogollagama expressed his concern about the ongoing violence and worsening human rights situation.

Mr Smith says all avenues have to be used to end the conflict.

"The need to ensure that people conducted themselves in a way that civilian casualities were avoided - that when it came to displaced people that there was capacity for delivery of humanitarian assistance to displaced people," he said.

"Both of these things apply to all parties concerned in the conflict and that we wanted to ensure that there is a very clear understanding that no long term enduring solution can be found through the use of military force." .