Facing imminent battlefield defeat, Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels have declared a unilateral ceasefire and called on the government to halt its offensive to spare the tens of thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting.

SRI LANKA’S rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire yesterday, but the government refused to halt its offensive into the last strip of land the insurgents hold despite concerns for tens of thousands of civilians trapped there.

The editor of a Sri Lankan newspaper critical of the government was shot dead as he drove to work today, the second violent attack on media this week.

The head of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers’ political wing was killed in a government airstrike today.