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Prabhakaran vows to continue struggle

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo V Prabhakaran has vowed to continue the struggle for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils.

''We are confident that we will get rid of the Sinhala army from occupied areas,'' the rebel commander said in a belligerent speech.

In an address in Tamil, broadcast over the LTTE's clandestine Voice of Tigers radio, Prabhakaran said the sacrifices made by the Tamil people would not be allowed to go in vain.

''We will fight with renewed determination," he said.

The LTTE supremo ridiculed the political package proposed by the Chandrika Kumaratunga government to end the conflict.

''It does not even touch the aspirations of the Tamil people,'' he said, "It is only another aspect of the military solution the government is seeking to impose."

He reiterated the demand for a homeland in the north-east and the right for the Tamil's to decide what they wanted.

"These are the basic foundation for a national solution to the problem," Prabhakaran said, "If the Sinhala government does not recognise it, no solution is possible.''

The LTTE wanted a peaceful political solution to the conflict. That was why it had participated in peace talks from Thimpu (in Bhutan) to Jaffna, the rebel leader said.

UNI

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