SRI LANKA pleaded for international help yesterday after Doctors Without Borders warned that civilian casualties are rising rapidly in the country’s war zone despite the exodus of more than 100,000 people.

SRI LANKA yesterday gave the Tamil Tigers 24 hours to surrender or die after troops breached a huge earthen defence and unleashed an exodus of tens of thousands of civilians held there by the rebels, the military said.

SRI LANKA’S president ordered a two-day suspension of offensives against Tamil Tiger rebels to enable tens of thousands of trapped civilians to leave the war zone, his office said yesterday.

SRI LANKA coasted to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand to move level on points with their opponents at the top of the World Cup Super Eight table.

SRI LANKA capped a fine summer by breaking the world record for a one-day international total, posting 443 for nine against the Netherlands in Amstelveen.

SRI LANKA’S president and the leader of Tamil Tiger rebels agreed yesterday to resume peace talks, raising hopes the tsunami-ravaged island nation may avoid sliding back into civil war after months of escalating violence.

SRI LANKA’S president has declared a state of emergency, deepening the country’s political crisis as her political rival was set to meet with US President George W Bush in Washington.

SRI LANKA’S president sacked three of the country’s most powerful cabinet ministers yesterday, suspended parliament and ordered troops out in the streets of Colombo, throwing the island into a constitutional crisis.

SRI LANKA yesterday fought to feed and shelter more than 200,000 survivors of the worst floods and landslides to hit the island in half a century as the death toll rose to more than 300, officials said.