New York  - The United Nations said Friday that its top humanitarian official would visit Sri Lanka over the weekend as tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in rebel-held areas.

John Holmes, undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, will be in Sri Lanka for three days, urging the government to facilitate a UN humanitarian mission to the conflict zone and assessing the condition of refugees living in makeshift camps.

Colombo  - A journalist arrested on suspicion of helping Tamil rebels to carry out an air raid in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo was released by a court on Friday after the investigators failed to prove the allegations against him.

The editor of the Tamil daily Sudar Oli, N. Vithyatharan, who had been held by police since February 26, was accused of maintaining telephone links with the rebels who carried out a suicide attack by air in the capital on January 24.

Colombo, Apr. 24: National Security Adviser M. K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon called Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday and reportedly urged him and his government to work towards declaring a truce in the closing chapter of a 25-year war in which nearly 6,500 civilians have lost their lives since February 2009.

Killinochi (Sri Lanka), Apr 24 : A top Sri Lankan army official has said that LTTE Chief V. Prabhakaran may escape from the country via the sea route, using a submarine.

Several Indian dailies quoted Brigadier Shavendra Desilva, the General-Officer-Commanding 58 Division, as saying, "Prabhakaran, who is present in the no-fire zone along with his son Charles Anthony, Tigers'' intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea Tiger chief Soosai, might have retained a submarine to escape from the island."

Melbourne, Apr 24 : Star Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has revealed his joy playing alongside Matthew Hayden in the IPL, comparing the opener's performances to God.

After watching his Chennai Super Kings teammate smash 57 of 27 balls against the Delhi Daredevils last night, Muralitharan said: "It's a joy to watch him bat like that. He is a dangerous batsman. Hayden is batting like God here."

The Chennai Super Kings' off-spinner said he was confident that his team could win when Hayden was at the crease, The Age reported.

Colombo : Government troops fought their way into some of the last Tamil rebel-held areas in a north-eastern Sri Lanka on Friday, with special focus on locating the hideout of the rebel leader Velupillai Prabhkaran, military officials said.

The officials said that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which had been capturing visual images from air, also have been used to monitor the movements of the rebels and locate the area where the rebel leader is believed to be hiding.