Tigers face defeat, but calm required

The Sri Lankan forces feel they are close to a final military victory over the Tamil Tigers. However, the Tigers have taken more than 100,000 refugees hostage as human shields and - given their deeply shocking record - they may well use the hostages brutally.

With victory imminent, the Sri Lankan military has not allowed foreign missions to treat the situation as a humanitarian crisis. But while the military needs to press home its advantage, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse also has to win the trust of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. The government has to do better. Its overbearing record in the already-liberated Eastern Province has not been encouraging. Perhaps even while the fighting continues, the government has to start to give the Tamils the political space they need and to build a new and more peaceful Sri Lanka.