By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Reuters) - The members of the U.N. Security Council agree there is no point in punishing Sri Lanka by withholding a $1.9 billion International Monetary Fund loan or other steps, the council's president said on Thursday. "I have not heard anyone suggesting that," Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller, president of the 15-nation council, told reporters after an informal session on Sri Lanka. Asked if all members of the council agreed that penalties such as withholding the loan were unnecessary, Heller said, "Absolutely." U.S. officials said on Wednesday Washington was trying to delay the loan to pressure the government to do more to help tens of thousands of civilians caught in the fighting between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. But Sri Lanka's central bank said on Thursday that there was no delay in its application for the loan and negotiations were in the final stages. British Ambassador John Sawers said London agreed that punishing Sri Lanka did not belong on the agenda. "We're not in the job of penalizing the government of Sri Lanka," Sawers said. "We want to help the government of Sri Lanka to address this problem. I just wish that the government ... was more open to the offers of help that have been extended to it." U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes briefed the council on his trip Sri Lanka, telling them that he hoped the government would finally live up to its repeated promises to stop using heavy artillery in the conflict zone, where U.N. officials estimate some 50,000 people are trapped. It is the last redoubt of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who have been fighting a 25-year war with the government for a separate ethnic Tamil homeland. In remarks prepared for the press, Heller said the council repeated its calls on the government not to shell the conflict zone and urged the Tigers to stop using the civilians as human shields and lay down their weapons. Sri Lankan Ambassador H.M.G.S. Palihakkara said his government had assured him it was not using heavy artillery against the tiny strip of land where the civilians are. But U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice made clear Washington had doubts about the government's denials. "Despite the government of Sri Lanka's promise to suspend combat operations, most accounts indicate that shelling into the conflict zone continues," she said in remarks prepared for delivery at the closed-door meeting. "Very credible reports also indicate that the Tamil Tigers are using civilians as human shields, and have, in some cases, shot at civilians trying to leave the conflict area." Rice urged both sides to "prevent further loss of civilian life." (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Children wear surgical masks as they walk in downtown Mexico City April 30, 2009. Mexico began shutting down parts of its economy on Thursday to slow the spread of a new ...
