Some 28 hours after their protest began, Tamils are still in Parliament Square in London. They say they will not leave until the UK government pledges to help stop the slaughter in Sri Lanka.

CAFOD partners in Sri Lanka have offered to step in as negotiators between fighting forces in an attempt to avert an escalating humanitarian tragedy in the north east of the country.

Sri Lanka has long been a divided and troubled country, with tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists first erupting into war in 1983. Many thousands of people have lost their lives in the interminable ethnic conflict that has ensued.

Amnesty International has called on the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels to stop the continuing harassment of journalists and media workers as they try to report the conflict there.