Sri Lanka news columns

Part 4 of our investigative series Stewart Bell, National Post Published: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 Hundreds of thousands have fled Sri Lanka's civil war, many of them to Canada. While the war zone has been off limits to journalists, the National Post's Stewart Bell recently toured the front lines just as the conflict appears headed for a decisive showdown. This is the third of a six-part series. MAHDU, Sri Lanka -- The one-lane road through the thick Mannar jungle passes a "Dangerous Area Do Not Enter" sign and the remains of a Tamil Tigers camp with twisted metal and collapsed trenches. Beyond that, an improbable sight appears in a clearing: a large Catholic Church with bright stained glass windows, marble floors, Roman columns, arches and a rooftop cross that rises above the palm tree jungle. Madhu Church is the site of Sri Lanka's holiest Catholic shrine, and it lies right in the heart of the country's northern war zone - so close to the shifting front ...