Sri Lanka president declares Tamil Tigers defeated

Saturday, 16 May 2009

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse has declared that the island's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been "defeated militarily" after decades of bitter ethnic bloodshed.

Defence officials say the massive offensive against the rebel army is all but complete, with the entire island under government control for the first time in years but for a miniscule pocket of jungle.

They say the remnants of the once formidable rebel force "were preparing for a mass suicide after being effectively cut-off of escape routes, both land and sea" by a morning coastal pincer movement by the army.

"I am proud to announce... that my government, with the total commitment of our armed forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation finally defeated the LTTE militarily," President Mahinda Rajapakse said on Saturday in a speech in Jordan.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting for an independent homeland on the ethnic Sinhalese-majority island since the 1970s.

Rajapakse said he would be returning to "a country that has been totally freed from the barbaric acts of the LTTE".

Defence officials reported that sporadic fighting was still in progress in a coastal area in the northeast, but only with small pockets of diehard rebel fighters.

"Their only way out is to surrender to the security forces or to be crushed," the defence ministry said, adding it also believed LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was still holed up in the area.

But the Sri Lankan government's moment of triumph was overshadowed by fresh warnings over how it has conducted an offensive that has also left thousands of civilians dead.

"Sri Lanka must understand that there will be consequences for its actions," British prime minister Gordon Brown said.

"The humanitarian agencies must be granted access to civilians caught in the crossfire of a dreadful conflict. We are backing UN efforts to secure an orderly end to the conflict. The LTTE must lay down its arms and allow civilians to leave."

European Union foreign ministers also said they were "appalled by continuing reports of high numbers of civilian casualties".

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, was heading to the island in a fresh peace effort. He was expected to reach Colombo late on Saturday.

AFP