Three thousand Tamil protesters this morning temporarily forced the closure of London's Westminster Bridge, demanding that the UK government should act to end the war 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.

The executive secretary for justice and peace of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka has been arrested by a terrorism investigation unit of the government in Colombo.

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.

The situation for trapped civilians in Sri Lanka is ‘becoming graver by the day’, says Christian Aid. An estimated 190,000 civilians remain trapped in the fighting, as food, medicine and fresh water supplies run dangerously low.

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.

A Christian aid agency has warned of ‘tsunami scale’ long-term need in Sri Lanka.

As the bloody fighting in Sri Lanka reached a climax this month, the Methodist Church in Britain has urged Christians to offer prayer and support for hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians.

Protests took place in Britain's capital over the weekend, calling for an end to the government-backed slaughter in Sri Lanka and for the freedom of Tibet from Chinese domination.

Church and NGO organisations are working hard in the areas worst affected by the fighting in Sri Lanka, which has has so far killed an estimated 70,000 people and displaced many thousands more.