The rebels accused the government of instantly violating its promise on Monday by launching airstrikes from three sides on a village in a densely populated no-fire zone, a pro-guerrilla Web site reported.

A flurry of diplomatic activity has so far failed to halt an offensive that has forced the rebels out of the shadow state they once ran in the north of this Indian Ocean island nation and left them cornered in a tiny coastal strip.

The United Nations' humanitarian chief, John Holmes, asked President Mahinda Rajapaksa during a meeting in Colombo on Monday for a 'humanitarian pause' in the fighting to allow the civilians to escape or at least to emerge from their bunkers to forage for food.

EU foreign ministers also appealed for an immediate cease-fire and urged peace talks to end the quarter-century civil war. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his French and Swedish counterparts were to come here Wednesday to press the point.

The government, which accuses the rebels of holding the civilians as human shields, said it would continue efforts to free them.

The statement, a day after the government flatly rejected a cease-fire appeal from the rebels, was surrounded by confusion.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said the military had stopped using the weapons weeks ago.

But rebel spokesman Seevaratnam Puleedevan accused the government of 'deceiving the international community' and told the TamilNet Web site the military launched two airstrikes in the small, coastal village of Mullivaikal soon after the announcement.

Reporters are barred from the war zone. Government officials refused to elaborate on their decision, but a further statement rejecting the cease-fire appeals said Sri Lanka planned to press ahead with its offensive. -- AP