India offers help in Lanka evacuation

India has said it ready to help in the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians caught up in the fighting in Sri Lanka.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee also told parliament the Tamil Tiger rebels had "done much damage" to the Tamil community and should lay down arms.

The UN and Red Cross have expressed deep concern for the trapped civilians.

The Sri Lankan navy has escorted a new convoy of food to the area but it is only a fraction of what is needed.

Meanwhile, the defence ministry says the army is continuing to take rebel areas in the shrinking zone the Tigers control and the government has again ruled out a ceasefire.

Pro-rebel sources yesterday accused the air force of killing 100 civilians in a cluster bomb attack.

No independent journalists can reach the conflict zone so claims by either side cannot be independently verified.

In his statement to the Indian parliament, Mukherjee said the plight of about 70,000 trapped civilians was a "serious source of concern to us".

He said India was "actively engaged to prevent a further deterioration of humanitarian conditions" and had sent relief supplies to civilians.

Mukherjee added, "The government of India is ready to facilitate the evacuation of civilians trapped in the area of conflict, working with the government of Sri Lanka and the International Committee of the Red Cross, who would take responsibility for the security, screening and rehabilitation."

He said India continued to back "a negotiated political settlement" but that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) remained "a proscribed organisation in India [that] has done much damage to the Tamil community".

His comments sparked anger among MPs of two regional parties from India's Tamil Nadu state and the uproar forced two adjournments.

There are about 62m Tamils in the state and they have close links to Sri Lanka.

In the 1980s India sent troops to enforce a peace deal but they ended up fighting the Tigers and were withdrawn in 1990.