Aid ship loaded to relieve besieged Jaffna

COLOMBO, Aug 21 (Reuters) Sri Lankan officials and aid staff today loaded the first supply ship to the besieged north after weeks of fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The ship was due to sail from the capital for Jaffna later today, flying the Red Cross flag and carrying food from the government and United Nations. Many Jaffna residents have registered with government and Red Cross officials to get out, but officials say the plan is to evacuate only a few hundred with foreign passports as well as some aid staff -- probably on a Red Cross ferry due to sail on Wednesday.

A convoy of aid vehicles also headed out of the northern rebel heartland today, carrying staff and some other foreign nationals who had been trapped by the fighting.

Government troops and rebels have been on the offensive for the first time since a 2002 ceasefire, first devastating the northeast area near the port of Trincomalee and then fighting on the northern Jaffna peninsula leaving it cut off for more than a week.

Exact body counts are non-existent, but diplomats and analysts say it is clear hundreds are dead. More than 160,000 people have fled their homes, and basic commodities are running out in Jaffna after road, sea and air links were cut.

''My regular customers come each morning, but I can't satisfy their needs,'' said 53-year-old Jaffna grocery store owner Chellaiah Ramantahan. ''I've run out of lentils, sugar, flour... From tomorrow I'm planning to close down.'' Some residents are getting by on just a cup of tea in the morning and one meal of basic porridge made from red rice.

Prices of any goods to be had have sky-rocketed.

''Warring parties have an obligation to ensure that populations under their control have access to food and medicine,'' Human Rights Watch senior legal advisor James Ross told Reuters. ''In Jaffna, up to now there doesn't seem to have been an effort by either side.'' MORE REUTERS SP KN1722