Sri Lanka to allow aid workers back into restive north

Colombo: Sri Lanka will allow aid workers back into the country's restive north soon, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

All aid agencies were barred from the war zone on September 9, as the military pushed ahead with their offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

“It's a short-term measure. Very soon they can go back," Rajapaksa told reporters late on Monday, but refused to give a timeline.

He added that the move was taken in the best interest of the aid workers' safety, and said it did not indicate that the military was going to step up combat operations.

A United Nations convoy of 10 foreign aid workers was preparing to leave Kilinochchi after getting assurances of safe passage from the rebels, UN spokesman Gordon Weiss said on Tuesday.