Peace for Sri Lanka?

According to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country is "liberated."

"Today we have been able to liberate the entire country from the clutches of terrorism," he said. "We have been able to defeat one of the most heinous terrorist groups in the world."

As he walked into parliament, schoolgirls sang an ancient song of praise, while lawmakers held up the national flag.

After speaking in his native Sinhala, President Rajapaksa switched to the language of the Tamil minority, saying ethnic and religious divisions should end.

"We must find a homegrown solution to this conflict. That solution should be acceptable to all the communities."

It's not time for celebration yet:

Sri Lanka is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe as the Government blocks access by the United Nations and other aid agencies to nearly 300,000 civilians displaced by the army’s victory over the Tamil Tigers.

In the north, an estimated 80,000 people — mostly Tamil, many of them sick, malnourished or suffering from battlefield wounds — were making their way on foot from the war zone to government-run camps that are already swamped. The UN is not being allowed any access to them, The Times has learnt.

Accounts of conditions inside the camps — gained from testimony recorded covertly by aid workers — and the journey to them are horrifying.