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May 19, 2009

Red Cross Warns of “Unimaginable Humanitarian Catastrophe” in Sri Lanka
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Sri Lankan leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has declared the country to be
“liberated” from Tamil Tiger rebels after a twenty-six-year war. Sri
Lankan television stations broadcast footage today of a body purported
to be that of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. While many Sri
Lankans have been celebrating the end of the Tamil Tigers, the Red Cross
is warning northeastern Sri Lanka still faces “an unimaginable
humanitarian catastrophe.” Most aid groups are still barred from the
region, where 8,000 civilians have been killed since January.



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