UN official heads to Sri Lanka to resolve humanitarian crisis

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A senior UN official is heading to Sri Lanka to press for an end to the bloodshed and to help resolve the growing humanitarian crisis.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is sending his chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, back to Sri Lanka to underscore his plea to the government to end the conflict.

Ban has already reiterated his concerns to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa about the estimated 50-thousand civilians trapped in a tiny coastal area.

Sri Lankan government forces have cornered Tamil Tiger rebels on a spit of land squeezed between the sea and a lagoon.

The government has vowed to finish them off, after 25 years of civil war. On Thursday, Sri Lanka's air force released footage of what it claims were soldiers on their way to the frontline of the fighting.