West steps up pressure, may stall $1.9bn aid to Lanka: report

Amid refusal by Sri Lanka to accept the demand of the United States, Britain and other allies for a ceasefire, the West may hold up $1.9 billion aid to the island nation, which has inched close to a historic victory in the battle with the LTTE guerrillas, a news report said today.  

The Western allies are reluctant to bail out unconditionally the Government in Sri Lanka, which has dismissed their concerns about civilian casualties and human rights issues as global warnings over humanitarian crisis grew louder in the past few months, according to diplomatic sources.  

According to a report in The Times newspaper, which quoted Western diplomats, the United States is threatening to block a $1.9 billion (£1.2 billion) emergency loan to Sri Lanka from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because of its outright dismissal of their concerns about civilian casualties and human rights issues in the conflict zone.  

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said last Wednesday that the IMF deal was in an "advanced level of finalisation". However, according to The Times, US officials have written to the IMF’s executive directors and the Sri Lankan Government saying that it would be difficult for Washington to back the loan in the present circumstances.  

"There’s a lot of discomfort in being seen to bail out the Sri Lankan Government," one Western diplomat was quoted as saying by the British daily.