COLOMBO, Feb 3: The United States led international warnings on Tuesday, telling the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to surrender in the face of an offensive by the Sri Lankan army.

The “co-chairs” of the 2003 Tokyo international conference on the development of Sri Lanka asked the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to end hostilities and consider laying down arms so that the suffering of more than 100,000 Tamil non-combatants comes to an end.

The co-chairs — the US, EU, Japan, and Norway — said in a joint statement after a meeting in the Sri Lankan capital: “To avoid further civilian casualties and human suffering, the co-chairs call on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to discuss with the government of Sri Lanka the modalities for ending hostilities, including the laying down of arms, renunciation of violence, acceptance of the government’s offer of amnesty; and participating as a political party in a process to achieve a just and lasting political solution.”

According to political observers, a cornered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam might consider responding to this offer. They recalled that last week the guerrilla outfit had authorised Selvarajah Pathmanathan, one of its senior members, to negotiate with the international community in order to make “the best of a bad bargain”.

The co-chairs, who had pledged $4.5 billion in development aid in 2003 if Sri Lanka returned to peace, called on the government and the LTTE to declare a temporary no-fire period to allow evacuation of the sick and the wounded.

International aid agencies have put the figure of civilians in the war-zone at 230,000 to 250,000, but the local administration says that the figure is a more modest 113,800.

The US-led group asked the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to allow civilians to move to safe areas that are in control of the Sri Lankan army. It called on Colombo to allow international agencies access to refugees who have fled the areas held by the LTTE before the military onslaught.