Dismissing reports that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was planning constitutional amendments to extend his term without holding elections, the Sri Lankan government said on Monday that he had no intention to be in power "beyond the period mandated by the ballot".
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was captured alive and 'tortured' by the army before being shot dead in northern Wanni, a Jaffna-based human rights group has alleged in a report that has been dismissed as 'ridiculous' by the Sri Lankan government and military.
"Apart from the way the Tiger leader got killed, the military is also still investigating intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman's death as they could not find his body among top level Tiger leaders," the State-run Sunday Observer said.
Slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo V Prabhakaran's wife and teenage son had fled to Tamil Nadu last year, from where they were to fly to Singapore and then to an undisclosed location, a key aide of the rebel chief said, amid speculation that the entire family had been wiped out in the conflict.The newspaper did not reveal the name of Prabhakaran's aide in its report, while noting that there were rumours that the LTTE chief's family had been killed.
A power-struggle appears to be brewing among the remnants of the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam, with one faction claiming that the Tamil Tiger leadership, including its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran is safe and will re-emerge when the "right time comes".
Disclosing that more than 5,000 LTTE cadres had surrendered before the gvernment, Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa made it clear that criminal elements among the surrendered Tiger cadres would be brought to book while others will be rehabilitated.
Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna, who was the eastern commander of the LTTE before he fell out with Prabhakaran in 2004, and Daya Master, who surrendered to the army recently, were taken by the government to Puthumatalan to identify Prabhakaran's bullet-ridden body. "The body is of Prabhakaran's, there is no doubt about this," said Karuna, now a federal minister
Velupillai Prabhakaran met with a violent death as he ignored pleas to shun violence and join the mainstream, by rejecting recent overtures from the Sri Lankan government for a peaceful settlement, a former close confidant of the slain LTTE chief said. "The body is of Prabhakaran's... there is no doubt about this... Though I am bit saddened that he is no more but the fact is he never listened to anyone," Karuna said.
With the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam wiped out, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday offered equal rights for Tamils through a political solution, but stressed that it won't be 'imported'. He said the government does not accept the military solution as final and that his aim was to provide equal rights to all communities. Rajapaksa said it was necessary to give the Tamil people the freedoms that are the right of people in all other parts of the country.
Waging a desperate battle for survival, the Tamil Tigers launched a wave of suicide attacks on land and sea, but failed to stall the advance of Sri Lankan forces, who broke through their defences as fierce fighting left 44 rebels dead and many soldiers wounded.Two divisions of Lankan forces advancing on the trapped Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighters captured a vital causeway which could help them in organising another break out attempt for an estimated 50,000 people.
A leading Tamil Tiger leader Rasiah Ilanthriyan was believed to have been killed as Sri Lankan troops continued their march into the rapidly shrinking areas held by the rebels. The offensive is bringing army troops almost to a face to face confrontation with the Tiger top brass. But, the pace of advance appears to have been slowed down by heavy mining and fear of large scale civilian casualties.
In a fresh blow to beleaguered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sea Tigers' deputy chief Cheliyan was killed by the Sri Lankan forces, which moved deeper into the fast-shrinking rebel territory in the embattled north. Cheliyan, the second-in-command of the Sea Tigers, was killed in Kariyamullivaikkal on Friday in clashes with Sri Lankan, the Media Centre for National Security said on Sunday.
Sri Lankan forces on Thursday fought their way to just 800 meters from the area where an estimated 10,000-15,000 Tamil civilians are trapped along with the top leaders of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The government troops pushed into the rebel-held village of Karayamulliavaikkal, advancing over areas heavily mined by the Tigers and fighting off attacks from their suicide bombers. Between 500 to 1,000 hardcore Tiger rebels have formed a last wall of defence.
Sri Lanka on Tuesday said LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran has been surrounded by security forces in the tiny swathe of land on the island's northern war zone and that there was no question of him escaping from there.
Amid reports that LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his top aides may try to flee, Sri Lankan Navy in a pre-dawn attack sank six rebel boats and foiled seven attempts by Tigers to recapture Rektavaikkal fortifications, which have left the Tigers vulnerable.
On the verge of annihilation, the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam announced an unilateral ceasefire on Sunday, saying that that the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka's war zone can only be overcome by a truce, but the Lankan government quickly rejected the offer and instead asked the rebels to surrender.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his top aides were recently missed by a whisker by the security forces, a top Sri Lankan commander said, claiming that the rebel leader had limited options right now."We got to know that Prabhakaran had moved through the Pudukudiryirippu-Iranmalai road on a day between March 29 and 31, just about two days before the army fully laid seige to that area," GoC 58 Division Brigadier Shavendra Silva said.
Cornered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief V Prabhakaran, who is still holed up in a small strip of land in embattled north, may flee from the island using a submarine, a top Sri Lankan army official said on Friday."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," said an army official.
Sensing an imminent collapse of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sri Lankan forces on Thursday encircled the last 8 sq km patch of area in the northern war zone, where they suspect Tiger supremo V Prabhakaran and his top aides are holed up. A naval blockade was put around northern Mullaittivu close to the areas where LTTE cadres still had access to the sea.
Sections of top Tamil Tiger leadership on Wednesday began to surrender before rapidly advancing Sri Lankan forces, signalling an imminent collapse of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam after a two-decade long relentless battle.
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