COLOMBO, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A group of British parliamentarians representing the government and the opposition has arrived in Sri Lanka Monday, officials said.

    The group includes Des Browne who was rejected by the Sri Lankan government recently to be Britain's special envoy on Sri Lankan conflict.

    Edward McGrady, John Bercow, Malcolm Bruce and Mohammad Sarwar are the others in the group.

    The Colombo foreign ministry sources said the British parliamentarians are visiting at the invitation of the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.

    They are to spend 3 days in the island and visit the northern town of Vavuniya where the government has provided welfare centers for nearly 200,000 war displaced from the north.

    The group will meet with Rajapakse and opposition leaders.

    The group's visit has come in the backdrop of a visit by British Foreign Minister David Miliband.

    He and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner on a joint visit last week had upset the Sri Lankan government with a call for a cease-fire in the current military campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

    The government says there is no possibility now for a truce as the rebels have been shrunk to an area of around 5 sq km of territory.

    The government wants the military campaign to go on until the rebel leaders who are believed to be hiding in a narrow coastal strip in the northeastern Mullaithivu district are killed or captured.

    The international community says a truce is needed to ensure the safety of civilians who are still trapped in the fighting zone.

    Over 50,000 of them are believed to be living there after some 120,000 had fled the area since 20 April.