By Walter Jayawardhana

Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said in Colombo that Sri Lanka was able to save all Tamil civilians trapped inside the war zone without shedding a drop of blood.

He said in recent history Sri Lanka was the country which was able to rescue the largest number of civilian hostages. He said these civilians have been trapped by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

He said this great task was possible because the care shown regarding this by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He said he was ready to congratulate the President on this great humanitarian endeavour.

He said this great task could not have been possible without the dedication shown by thousands of soldiers of the armed forces who were constantly engaged in the task.

Minister Samarasinghe gave an assurance that all civilians will be resettled in their original living places after all landmines have been removed.

Meanwhile People’s Republic of China has donated 64,000 tents for the Tamil civilians and the first plane load of the tents reached Colombo yesterday. It was ceremonially handed over to Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa by the Chines Ambassador Ms. Yang Xiuping in Colombo. Three more Chinese plane loads of aid will also arrive.