Truth: Western Governments Involved in Arm-Twisting tactics in Sri Lanka

On September 11th, 2001 the whole world watched as Americans wept with bleeding hearts for their fellow countrymen lost to a senseless terrorist attack. 2,976 people perished on that day in what the US called the most daring terrorist attack ever. The whole world felt a loss and wept with America.

It is sad to think that the US and the world at large required such an attack to wake-up to terrorism, a phenomenon Sri Lanka has been battling for 30 years. But even after that shocking wake-up-call, why are western nations openly supporting the LTTE, who I might add, is a proscribed terrorist organisation in over 30 countries which include the US, EU, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Since 25th July 1975, Sri Lanka has suffered 20 times more civilian casualties than the 9/11 attacks at the hands of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but then Sri Lanka is only a small unimportant third world country. As if life was any less valuable in Sri Lanka, several western nations, the UN and humanitarian organisations operating under the UN auspices, have all been assisting the Tamil Tiger terrorists (LTTE) for their own agendas. A whole new face to how humanitarian operations are conducted these days is emerging from Sri Lanka, and it is not a pretty one.

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Wanni Operation - 2 May 2009

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Who are four new ministers in Western Provincial Council?

May 02, Colombo: Four ministerial portfolios in the Western Provincial Council are to be given to three newcomers and one former councilor, government sources said.

Udaya Gammanpila, Nimal Lanza and Ranjith Somawansha are the three newcomers and Sunil Jayamini is the former councilor who are considered to be appointed as ministers in the newly elected WPC.

Udaya Gammanpila was the third highest preferential votes taker in Colombo District and Nimal Lanza, former Mayor of Negombo has managed to secure the second place in Gampaha preferential votes list.

Ranjith Somawansha, contested for the WPC polls in Kalutara district, was the fourth highest preferential votes taker in the ruling party.

Meanwhile, the new Chief Minister of the Western Province, Prasanna Ranatunga and the four new ministers are to take oaths before President Mahinda Rajapaksa on next Monday at the Temple Tress.

>> Source

Passengers come under microscope for flu virus at BIA

Stringent screening measures has been put in place, at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, as a precautionary measure to prevent the 'swine flu' virus entering the country, officials said yesterday

An Airport and Aviation Services spokesman said that they have taken a number of steps to prevent the entry of the virus, including screening visitors from countries where the outbreak has been reported.

The screening would be done by Health Ministry officials, in line with the World Health Organization recommendations, they added.

According to Aviation sources travellers from countries such as Mexico, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Newzealand, Canada and other affected countries would be subjected to a special screening with possible plans to isolate any identified positive cases.

Related:

Flu vaccine likely soon, says WHO

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation yesterday said it had “no doubt” that a successful vaccine against the new swine flu virus that could be made in a “short period of time” and in large quantities.

“We have no doubt that making a successful vaccine is possible in a relatively short period of time,” said Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research.

Availability would take “four to six months between the time the virus is isolated to the availability of the first dose,” she told reporters. Kieny said a vaccine would be easy to produce using traditional methods of developing and producing vaccines, as well as more complex reverse genetic technology. Dozens of manufacturers around the world, in both industralised and developing countries, had been approached and were committed to produce a vaccine against the new influenza A(H1N1).

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Mahathaya’s wife and children surrender

The widow and three children of Mahathaya, a one-time deputy leader of the LTTE reached the government-held areas yesterday.

Mahathaya (real name was Gopalasmy Mahendrarajah) was imprisoned by the LTTE chief Prabhakaran and later executed as he was accused of having links to the Regional Analysis Wing (RAW) of India. This charge was never proved.

Mahattaya’s family told the security forces they had left the LTTE after her husband’s death. However the LTTE had been paying some money to them every month by way of compensation, they said.

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Civilian resettlement is already in progress – Senior Presidential Advisor

“Aid organizations should be honest in helping civilians who have fled from the terrorists’ clutches. International agencies are engaged in a futile attempt to create fissures among communities under the pretext of assisting Sri Lanka. The government will not allow international organisations to sow the seeds of disunity and division among communities,” Senior Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa said at the inauguration ceremony of the resettlement of civilians displaced by terrorist atrocities in the Northern Province at Savariarpuram in the Musali DS Division, Mannar yesterday (30).

Over 400 persons from 122 families in Savariarpuram in the Mannar district were resettled in their original places of residence yesterday and the Resettlement and Relief Services Ministry together with other government agencies have taken serious efforts to ensure that these people were provided all basic needs.

Mr. Rajapaksa also noted that apart from providing immediate relief measures, officials should expand the services provided to these civilians into the areas of electricity, transportation and road systems to make their temporary stay at these camps trouble-free.

(Government Information Department)

Wanni Operation - 1 May 2009

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FINAL PHASE OF HOSTAGE OPERATION‏

"Sudharmali", senior LTTE female leader surrenders

"Sudharmali" a senior female leader of the LTTE terrorist outfit has surrendered to the Samanthurai police station in Ampara yesterday (30 April).

The LTTE female leader has surrendered through the Red Cross Organization (ICRC) at around 11.45 am yesterday said the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS).

Sudharmali" alias "Thiyagaraja Kamaleshwari is well known as one of the most senior member of the outfit for three years. She is a resident of Kannadigramaya, Akkaraipattuwa.

Further inquires are been conducted by the Samanthurai Police Station in this regard.

(Source: Lankapuvath)

Miliband and Kouchner- failed to enter the No Fire Zone, will they now campaign against Sri Lanka to please the Tamil Diaspora.

What has Kouchner and Miliband got to do in Sri Lanka ? They should be in Afghanistan and Iraq where their soldiers are at the receiving end of bullets from Taliban and Al Qaida terrorists.

Kouchner is not a very forward looking man. He cannot evaluate a situation to suggest progressive solutions. He interferes into countries without allowing them to find solutions for political problems on their own. He finds simple solutions without considering the after effects of such solutions. Breaking up States to weaken their political power is Kouchner’s speciality. He supported USA military intervention in Iraq without UN approval.

He was the man who instigated Kosovo to break away from the Belgrade Orbit. Speaking in Kosovo he said, "'Now the time has come to look forward," Kouchner began, sitting under an Albanian banner.' You have fought for a better Kosovo, a Kosovo where people can lead a peaceful and happy life."

In an article- Solona and Kouchner push Kososvo “Independence” Jared Israel wrote ,

“The main thing that has happened since Kouchner took over Kosovo is that between 300,000 and 400,000 Serbs, "Gypsies", non-Albanian Muslims, anti-fascist Albanians and Jews have been driven from their homes. Most are now refugees, mainly in Serbia. Some died crossing the Adriatic. Some stayed in Kosovo, barricaded in, fearful of every knock at the door. Some have been kidnapped or murdered.

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US Country Reports on Terrorism says Tamil Diaspora financed Sri Lanka's rebels

May 01, Colombo: Sri Lanka's rebel outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) financed itself with contributions from the Tamil Diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia, the United States said in its 2008 Country report on Terrorism.

The annual report released yesterday by the US State Department said the LTTE financed itself with contributions from the Tamil Diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia, by imposing local "taxes" on businesses operating in the areas of Sri Lanka under its control, and reportedly by extortion in government-controlled areas. The LTTE also used Tamil charitable organizations as fronts for its fundraising, it added.

The report criticized the Sri Lankan government for its military offensive against the LTTE saying that it is engaged in "any means necessary" tactics to fight the war.

The report also criticized the government for its relationship with the TMVP, the party founded by the breakaway LTTE commander of the Eastern Region, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna and Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan saying that the government has used paramilitary organizations to win the war with the Tigers.

The segment on Sri Lanka in the Country Report is given below :

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U.N. council sees no need to punish Sri Lanka

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The members of the U.N. Security Council agree there is no point in punishing Sri Lanka by withholding a $1.9 billion (1.3 billion pound) International Monetary Fund loan or other steps, the council's president said on Thursday.

"I have not heard anyone suggesting that," Mexican Ambassador Claude Heller, president of the 15-nation council, told reporters after an informal session on Sri Lanka.

Asked if all members of the council agreed that penalties such as withholding the loan were unnecessary, Heller said, "Absolutely."

U.S. officials said on Wednesday Washington was trying to delay the loan to pressure the government to do more to help tens of thousands of civilians caught in the fighting between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

>> Full Story: Reuters

Sri Lankan Defence Secretary launches angry attack on David Miliband

Sri Lanka's defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa has launched an angry verbal attack on Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband, accusing him of basing his policy on Tamil Tiger propaganda.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the president's brother raged at the co-ordinated pressure being put on his government by the international community and singled out this week's visit of Mr Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, his French counterpart, as a "waste of time".

He spoke after reports of a "stand up row" between him and Mr Miliband during a meeting in Colombo in which the Foreign Secretary was trying to persuade the Sri Lankan government to declare a ceasefire to allow civilians trapped in the fighting to leave.

Mr Rajapaksa, who is known as a passionate and feisty advocate of completely crushing the Tamil Tigers and capturing its leadership, said Mr Miliband had interrupted him during their meeting.

"Maybe it's his way but I don't mind his attitude or his ways. My issue is the present situation and why he should interfere in these things. That's what I told him. People in this country approve of what the president is doing and a leader must listen to people in his own country not the foreign minister of the UK," he said.

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Canadian Authorities had enough with the Tamil Tiger Protestors!

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First group resettled in north sent to Mannar today

The government says that the first group to be resettled in north after the fourth Ealam war will be resettled in their own villages in Mannar.

Accordingly, 122 families of Mannar will be resettled today. The government said in a statement that six of the 15 divisional secretary areas in Mannar district have now been cleared of landmines and booby traps so as the civilians can be resettled there.

Liberals and NDP in a race to inherit Tiger legacy in Canada

Canada’s left wing political party NDP has quickly becoming a victim of Tamil Tigers. It is becoming very clear that NDP is having problems with understanding and separating issues of Tamil Tigers and the issues of Tamils in Sri Lanka. It also seems NDP is fully unaware of fact that Canadian Tamil Congress blocked NDP Tamil candidates in the previous elections just to pave the way for future pro-LTTE candidate from Liberal party of Canada. Meanwhile we have to wait and see how far in the ladder a donation of CDN$ 50,000 could take Theo Anthony in the Liberal Party of Canada.

Toronto, 01 May, (Asiantribune.com): Another attempt by Tamil Tigers to hijack Canadian Conservative government failed miserably on Tuesday April 21, 2009. After weeks of protests waving LTTE flags unsuccessful protesters hide their flags on Tuesday in order to bring Canadian politicians out of the parliament; to address the gathering but failed adding more stress to their agony. Also Canadian parliament rejected the idea of having another emergency debate on Sri Lanka as suggested by Gim Karigiyanis and Albina Guaneri MPs of Liberal party of Canada.

Only politician caught on the LTTE trap was the New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton. On Tuesday Mr. Layton addressed the same crowd those who on the previous day carried Tamil Tiger flags and chanted "Prabakaran is our leader". In that sense Jack Layton became the first Canadian political party leader to address a terrorist rally in Canada.

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No time for ceasefire now, but time yet for surrender - President Mahinda Rajapaksa

We have at no time gone for a ceasefire. We will not do so now. There is no time for that now. In the five or six days remaining we have given the opportunity for the LTTE to lay down their arms and surrender to the Armed Forces and, even in the name of God, free the civilians held by them. If they have no regard for their own lives, they should even consider the lives of others.

So said President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Embilipitiya today (April 30) at the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the 'Chandrika-wewa' by the late D.A. Rajapaksa.

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Wanni Operation - 30 April 2009

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The Trauma of the Thamil Diaspora: Quitting the "De Facto Eelam" (DFE) to hide in the "No-Flee-Zone" (NFZ)

by Gam Vaesiya, Ontario, Canada

The retreat from "de facto myth" to "remorseless reality"

The Thamil Diapora which has nourished and nurtured the Tiger Movement for years has come to a moment of almost delusional denial. Even six or seven months ago, the diaspora Pundits and some "defense experts" claimed that Killinochchci (Giranikke), the erst-while capital capital of the so-called "De facto Eelam" (DFE), would prove to be the "Stalingrad" of the Sri Lankan Army.

Instead, events moved even faster than the organizing capabilities of the usually agile Damila Diaspora activists. They watched in astounded disbelief, the successive dismantling of the Tiger enclaves from Illupikavai (Meepathota or "Madhupatheetha of the Mahavamsa) and Poornaryn (Punranna) on the west coast, then Elephant Pass (Alimankada), Paranthan (Puranthaenna), Iranamadu (Ranamaduva), Killinochchi (Giraanikke), Puthukudirippu (Aluthkulissa), and finally Mullaitivu (Mooladoova) linked with Palaamattalan (Palaamassla), right on the east coast of Sri Lanka. In this process, the Tigers cajoled, ordered and force marched the less well-to-do Tamils of these villages to retreat with them. The more well-to-do, i.e., usually higher-caste Tamils, could afford to pay the "exit fee" and leave. Finally, some 200,000 people, dubbed the "wretched of the Vanni" by Jeyraj, were concentrated into a sliver of sea-shore stretching from Aluthmassala (Puthumattalan) to Vael-butu-gala (Vellamullivaikkal) - the so called "No-Fire-Zone (NFZ). In effect, the NFZ was nothing but the "No-Flee-Zone" created by the Tigers, secured by three meter high earth walls (Murippu) built using forced labour, and guarded by its dwindling armed cadre whose job was to shoot at any Tamils trying to escape! The suicide corps of black tigers, previously used against Sinhalese targets in the south, were now unleashed against any civilians trying to flee this No-Flee-Zone.

The collusion of some of the Tamil Intellectuals and religious dignitaries in the forced displacement of civilians in step with the Tigers was fore-shadowed by the removal of the Sacred statue of the Madhu Shrine. In facing the Government's effort to free the Madhu church area, the Tigers used the sacred site as a shield by stationing its guns in the vicinity. The sacred statue itself was whisked away by into Tiger-controlled Bellanvila (Vellankulam).. In effect, the local church fathers as well as Hindu Kururals and "Sudar Oli-type" intellectuals were complicit in the forced marching of the "wretched of the Vanni". Thus the diaspora had its local exponents in the upper castes of Tamil society, even though there is an awesome chasm between the Diaspora Tamils and the "Wreathed of the Vanni".

The "psyche" of the Tamil diaspora

The eschatology of the Hebrew religions is based on transferring the Sins of Man to the Son of God, the "sacrificial lamb". However, the rise of Islam, and the Crusades brought in the dimension of Jihadist worriers as well as Christian Knights who were anointed as saints for massacring Moslems. Even today, names like "Maurenbrecher" are proudly flaunted by upper class Europeans whose forefathers literally "broke many moors". The dominating concept here was the "liberation of the holy land". The Tamil intellectuals who grew up in the 1950s to 1970s were also subject an increasing crescendo of political thinking where "Liberating the Traditional Homelands of the Tamils (LTHT)" became a dominant, sacred theme, as remarked by A. J. Wilson himself. Already in the 1949 declaration of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), this concept of the LTHL had been delineated. But Sri Lanka's historical interregnum in the hands of D. S. Senanayake was an attempt to push the "Ceylonese" ideal of a united, multi-cultural Sri Lanka with a gradualist approach to nationalist questions of language and religion. However, with the demise of D.S. Senanayake, there was no one with the political stature and sagacity to carry forward the "Ceylonese" program. The leftist intellectuals were hell-bent on creating civil dissension as a prelude to the "imminent Marixist revolution". Colvin R de Silva, a distinguished historian in addition to his other monumental achievements, could decry the civilization of Pollonaruwa as "mere mounds of bricks". They could not fore-see the nationalist revolution that blew up right in their faces, with S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in the saddle. An earlier generation of Tamil nationalists, i.e., the generation of J. V. Chelliah, Perimpanayagam and thers who misguided themselves with the Jaffna boycott of the 1930s, might have sympathized with S. W. R. D and even joined hands with him. If that had happened, and given the fact that S. W. R. D. was in no way a narrow chauvinist, a very different ethnic evolution may have been possible in Sri Lanka. But the ITAK was made up of highly-anglicized, Christianized upper-class Tamils who would have no truck with Sinhalese-Buddhist Nationalists or worry about the simplistic economic aspirations of the low-caste Tamils. It was these very Tamil leaders, like Chelvanayagam and others, who had opposed various developmental programs like the construction of various causeways that could connect the low-caste villages in the North (see Jane Russell, Communal Politics Under the Donoughmore Constitution, Tissara Publishers). Thus the underlying leitmotiv of the Tamil Nationalist movement was the Liberation of the Tamil Homelands, while the cry of "discrimination by the majority" was a useful additional factor supportive of the basic objective - Eelam.

The "sacrificial paradigm"

A number of authors have, from time to time, explored the question of suicide as well as self-immolation used by the Tamil activists as an arm (aayudtham) of their battle. Most recently, Michael Roberts, in a cluster of articles that appeared in a number publications, viz., "Ground Views", "Transcurrents", "The Island", and in "The Sri Lanka Guardian (http://www.srilankaguardian.org/search?q=Michael+Roberts&x=0&y=0), have examined the religio-cultural underpinnings of this psyche. His discussions, as well as those of the pro-LTTE writers like Peter Schalk, seem to suggest that Hindu cultural traditions provide a justification, acceptance and adulation of such practices that modern society would regard as "inhuman". Roberts suggests that the individual's identity becomes subservient to that of the "Nation" in the accepted ethos of this culture. In addition, we have Tamil intellectuals justifying the acts of female suicide bombers, why claiming that it is "just vengeance" against soldiers who allegedly raped Tamil women. The recruitment of children for the war is also looked upon and justified as an act directed to a 'higher purpose".

I believe that the analysis of Roberts is largely correct, especially when viewed in the light of a sanctified notion of the "liberation of the Traditional Homelands of the Tamils". The LTHT" concept had already existed in the 1930s, in the political program of G. G. Ponnambalam who initiated the attacks on the Mahavamsa in his political speeches, even leading to the first "Sinhala-Tamil" riot in 1939 (see http://dh-web.org/place.names/riot1.htm). The post-independent Tamil nationalist movement quickly returned to "Mahavamsa bashing" as well as the writing of highly dressed-up heroic histories of the "Jaffna Kingdom" to support the LTHTconcept. Pro-Eelamist political theorists began to claim that today's politics should not be based on today's configuration of power, but on what they claim to have existed when Sri Lanka was captured by the Portuguese! The claims of separation as well as power-devolution have been strongly diluted by this type of extremist historical positions, as well as federalism, where federalism is implied to mean federation with Tamil Nadu and NOT with Sri Lanka (See discussion in an article by Rasalingam in the Sri Lanka Guardian: http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2009/02/tamil-racism-is-kami-kaze-of-tamil.html).

Systemic and Mediatic influences and the collective psyche

However, the thesis ably exposed by Roberts has not yet dealt with two aspects of the Tamil socio-cultural scene which are, in my view, equally important in determining the dynamics of the Diaspora as well as the "Wretched of the Vanni". One of them is "systemic", while the other is "mediatic". The first is related to the existence of a caste-command structure in Tamil society. It is by nature a subservient society. Many Colombo housewives would testify that their "Tamil house-hold helps ("houseboys") are "most loyal, hard working and subservient". These house boys" are almost always low caste ("working class") Tamils from the hills or the Vanni farmlands. Centuries of caste conditioning has made these people obey their masters, Kururals, or Chruch fathers, with never a whimper. The apex of this system in recent times has been captured by a Karaivar, viz., Prabhakaran, who earned his place by his brutality and battle-field brilliance. It is this command structure, and the power of the gun, that moved the people from Jaffna to the Vanni in 1995-6, and then the Vanni to the No-Flee-Zone in 2009. If left alone, the "wretched of the Vanni" would have simply preferred to live in their villages, and farm the earth, with little care for the high politics of Eelam. However, even the wretched of the Vanni could be touched by the rhetoric of the Tigers. This rhetoric forviolence has a mediatic origin as well. Tamil films are ubiquitious and BEYOND any "rating" as they are extremely violent. Movie heroes in a classical story would use swords, arson and massacre in a manner that would put to shame the Gods who burnt the city of Madurai in the story of Silappadikaram. If the movie deals with modern material, the Tamil heroes would use modern weapons, bombs and explosives with a show of unparalleled violence. Such material was available freely to the "Wretched of the Vanni", as well as to the youngsters of the Diaspora. The role played by movie stars like Ramachandran and others in the rise of Tamilar Terrorism in Sri Lanka should be the subject of research for serious media sociologists. Indeed, Tamil Nadu conscripted its actors into its politics long before California collected Regan and Schwarzenegger.

Of course, the hill-country Tamils also were subject to such mediatic influences. They too could have become violent if their masters (i.e, Thonadaman Sr. and others) had attempted to rouse them up. Fortunately, Thondaman did not wish to bring the genie out of the bottle. Only the Sinhala Marxist leaders tried to excite the estate workers for "direct action", but failed to make any substantial in roads to that culture. Bringing socialism to a caste-dominated society has been a challenge in Sri Lank as well as in India. But a heroic cult of "liberating the homelands" fitted in with the systemic and mediatic givens of the political arena. The TULF leadership stirred the pot in Vaddukkoddei (Batakotte) and brought out the genie, almost as in a Tamil more or macabre theater. The Tamils who lived in the areas subject to the LTTE had no difficulty in deifying Prabhakaran, linking him with many of the heroic, violent figures of the Tamil silver screen. The diaspora children too could identify Parbhakaran as some kind of Avatar of Rama, (or St Patrick if they are Catholics), in the heroic setting of Tamil movies which they can identify with a far off land like Sri Lanka. Movies like Virumandi, Veyil, Kathal, Paruthi have had a wide acceptance in western Tamil society and are perhaps more palatable to the adults than the extremely violent Tamil films that are even more popular with the younger set. The Tamil community TV shows available in Ontario and elsewhere have also been conscripted into this violent agenda.

The demonstrations of the Diaspora in the western capitals

The resumption of parliamentary sessions in many western capitals after the Easter break was the signal for the long-befuddled Tamil diaspora to at last launch a coordinated campaign against the Sri Lankan government, claiming that the government was planning to annihilate hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians under the pretext of eliminating the Tigers. Unsubstantiated claims of use of cluster bombs, chemical weapons etc., were launched indiscriminately. The western aid agencies, NGOs and journalists, incensed by their having been kept out of the theater of action by the Sri Lanka authorities, assumed the worst and joined with the Diaspora in claiming a humanitarian catastrophe. That the humanitarian catastrophe was largely the making of the Tigers was ignored in this barrage of words.

Although an increasing number of dissident Tamil intellectuals have been denouncing the Tigers, and demanding "Let My people Go" (e.g., editor of the Uthuyan http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2008/08/let-my-people-go-in-peace.html), the Diaspora has firmly established an amnesia regarding a most inconvenient and unpalatable truth. namely, the Tigers that they have been nourishing and defending can no longer be defended, even within the heroic concept of "liberating the traditional homelands of the Tamils". The hero has proven to be a sadistic tyrant. The No-fire zone became a concentration camp and no-flee-zone to the trapped Tamil civilians.

Thus the extended demonstrations had two purposes. It was to force the western politicians, using Hindu extra parliamentary methods like threatening to "fast unto death", to intervene directly in Sri Lanka. Given that the West has not intervened even in Zimbabwe, and Dafur, and watched with satisfaction the brutal attack on Lebanon and the Gaza, this "hope" of the Diaspora Eelamists was an empty pipe dream. Nevertheless, spending millions of dollars that could have been more humanely sent to the IDP camps, they went to the western capitals, brandishing the banned Tiger flag with its bullets and guns, and screamed and agitated with incantations claiming "Genocide".

But this exercise was NOT in vain. It was a catharsis for the Diaspora Eelamists. It was a rite of transfer of guilt. The guilt of having funded and fed the Tiger. This guilt has to be transferred onto the western leaders and the Sri Lankan government in a public ritual. A Yajna (Yaga) exercise in the best traditions of Samkara Bhagavatpada's exhortation "aduditam karma svanusthiyatam". If Thaleepan could be offered as a human sacrifice in Nallur in protest against the Indian Army, can we not even have a "fast unto death" in front of the Canadian parliament, to protest against the Sri Lankan Army? The sins of the Tamil diaspora are transferred to the Sri Lankan Army, and the Canadian parliamentarians, in this Karmic Act.

The Gods would not listen, because no Sanskrit was used in these rites.

'Civilians are part of the LTTE concept of war'

Colonel R Hariharan is a retired military intelligence officer. He is a prolific writer on insurgency and terrorism. His comments on developments in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka are regarded highly professional and rational. He served in Sri Lanka as the head of intelligence for the Indian Peace Keeping Force between 1987 and 1990.

His experience in Sri Lanka gives him an edge in understanding of the ethnic conflict. Here is his latest commentary on the unfolding tragedy for Sri Lankan Tamils. In an e-mail interview with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt the colonel provides his insight into the war tactics adopted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and other relevant issues.

Do you think the plight of 180,000 lakh Sri Lankan Tamils could have been avoided by the Sri Lankan army while taking on the LTTE?

Isn't it quite different from the Indian Army's handling of similar situations in the northeast, Punjab or Kashmir at various point of time?

Both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army are responsible for the crisis regarding civilians trapped in the war zone. And the civilians are also partly to blame for the situation developing into a crisis. The civilian population involved is a mixed bag of LTTE supporters and their families, families of LTTE members, ordinary people, and officials of various kinds.

The convergence of civilians into LTTE-held areas started when the war advanced slowly from Mannar district but it spread after the fall of Paranthan-Kilinochchi. The civilians fled at the behest of the LTTE because they were scared of their treatment at the hands of the Lankan army and they were still hopeful that the LTTE would hit back.

When the war intensified further, at the request of the Red Cross, it was the Sri Lanka government that declared a safe no fire zone first in an area east of Mankulam. Then it was shifted further to the interior as the army succeeded in pushing back the LTTE dramatically.

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Sri Lanka President Rejects “Lectures” from Western Countries on Truce with Rebels

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — One of the highest-level European delegations to visit this war-torn country in years has failed to persuade the Sri Lankan government to declare a temporary truce with ethnic Tamil rebels.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa emphatically rejected the appeal Thursday and told Western governments to stop lecturing him, news agencies reported.

“The government is not ready to enter into any kind of cease-fire with the terrorists,” he said. “It is my duty to protect the people of this country. I don’t need lectures from Western representatives,” he said in a speech distributed by his office and quoted by the agencies.

“They’re not willing,” David Miliband, Britain’s foreign secretary, said in an interview after talks Wednesday with Mr. Rajapaksa and other officials. “The furthest the government has gone is to commit to no heavy weaponry and to minimize what they call collateral damage, mainly the damage to civilians.”

The delegation, which also included Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France, paid a one-day visit as intense fighting raged near tens of thousands of civilians who were being held as human shields by Tamil rebels.

Also on Thursday, The Associated Press reported that Balasingam Nadesan, a top Tamil Tiger leader, had ruled out a surrender. “Surrendering and laying down our arms are out of the question,” Mr. Nadesan was quoted as saying in an e-mail to The Associated Press from the combat zone.

>> Full Story: New York Times

West may hold up $1.9bn loan to get help for civilians

Tamil refugees in Kadirgamh camp at Chettikulam, northern Sri Lanka, which David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, and his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, visited.

(by Jeremy Page, Times Online)

The United States is threatening to block a $1.9 billion (£1.2 billion) emergency loan to Sri Lanka from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because of the treatment of civilians caught in the conflict with the Tamil Tiger rebels, according to Western diplomats.

Sri Lanka applied for the loan early last month to help to cope with a financial crisis caused partly by the global credit crunch and partly by its record defence expenditure of $1.6 billion this year and $1.5 billion last year.

The Central Bank said that it expected to conclude negotiations on the loan by the end of March, and most analysts expected it to be cleared by mid-April. The IMF said last night, however, that the loan was still being discussed. Western diplomats say that is because the United States, Britain and other allies are reluctant to bail out unconditionally a Government that has dismissed their concerns about civilian casualties and human rights issues in the past few months.

They are also anxious not to lose their only real leverage over the Government in continuing negotiations over the plight of tens of thousands of civilians on the front line or in internment camps.

“The Americans want to play with the question of the IMF loan,” Jean-Maurice Ripert, France’s Ambassador to the UN, told Inner City Press — a news service covering the United Nations — on Tuesday. The Times has heard a recording of the comment. It was the first public admission by a Western official that Washington may be responsible for an apparent delay in the IMF emergency loan — which can be disbursed in ten days.

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Prabha’s massive ‘genocide’ plan exposed!

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the ‘Sun God’, is preparing for a bloodbath. This is nothing new to him. Even as early as 1990, he had already killed more than a thousand people from groups opposed to him. He has instructed his close aides to send e-mails to Tiger representatives worldwide and to the Tamil Diaspora saying, “If the Sri Lankan military does not stop its offensive against us, Prabhakaran has instructed us to blow up the whole ‘No Fire’ Zone (NFZ) along with the civilians, and put the blame on the Government forces.”

The LTTE’s ‘terror mail’

This e-mail goes further to say that, once Prabhakaran’s massive ‘genocide’ is completed, the LTTE will send messages through its representatives in the Diaspora, blaming the Sri Lankan Security Forces (SF) as being responsible for the massacre of the civilians within the NFZ. This e-mail very clearly indicates “Top Secret” and “Delete immediately after reading”.
This mail is from a gmail account and originates from the e-mail address [email protected]. This column withholds the e-mail address of the recipient, to protect it’s identity and for security reasons.

On April 22, this column exposed the LTTE’s suicide mission against civilians. With civilians arriving into Government controlled areas in large numbers, the desperate LTTE dispatched two suicide bombers who exploded themselves among the civilians, killing 17, including women and children

Rebel or Terrorist?

While Prabhakaran kills his own people, what do we call him? A rebel, freedom fighter or just plain terrorist? But some INGOs, the international community and international media prefer to call the LTTE ‘rebel’. What are the criteria for calling him and his cadre rebels, when they are killing and maiming their own people, whom they claim to represent? Aren’t they just plain terrorists?

LTTE restricted to a sliver of land

There is only a five-and-half kilometres by one-and-a-half kilometres stretch remaining, for the LTTE, when this column went to print.

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wanni operation 29/04/09

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Wanni Operation 29 th April 2009

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LTTE misled diaspora, kept them in dark to exploit them says Daya Master

Colombo, 30 April (asiantribune.com): As the curtains are George & Dayafinally coming down on the LTTE saga, Daya Master, the media wizard for the Tigers for years, believes that Prabhakaran’s game is up. ‘People will not accept him (Prabhakaran),’ he says. ‘It is too late; the people have already rejected the man and if he takes a decision that he should have taken long ago …to return to his old native place to live in peace…. it will not help’, Daya Master, whose name is Velayutham Thayanithi, asserts.

He and George Master, who was an interpreter for late Tamilselvan, believe that Tigers had deliberately misled the Diaspora and that in fact had put them in the dark over the ground situation. ‘It is time the diaspora comes to grips with the reality of the situation back home and lend their might for furthering the political process’.

Daya Master and George Master were interviewed as they merged out of the LTTE shadows. George spoke in English. Daya spoke in native Tamil. Given here are excerpts from the interview. Daya’s replies are given in English translation.

Question: George Master you are a person who believes in non-violence. My question to you, when did you realize violence or terrorism was not the path to address the burning issues of the Tamil people and when did you decide to reject the crimes perpetrated by the LTTE? Any immediate reasons for your decision to slip out of the LTTE grip?

George Master: From the very inception of the political negotiations put into process by the Government of Sri Lanka in the 95’s ….First, because I came as a part- time interpreter in 94 October…. months later I was a party to the team that negotiated… that went on with the LTTE Peace Team which negotiated with the Government delegation ….from that time onwards, I was actively participating as a part-time interpreter with the firm conviction that negotiation should bring an end result - a negotiated settlement acceptable to all citizens of Sri Lanka wherein people can live in peace and in amity.

In that context, after Geneva 2, it was in 2006, I think in the mid 2006, I found that peace negotiations collapsed and there was no purpose in my continuing to be an interpreter, a part-time interpreter for Mr. Tamilselvan since there were no peace negotiations at all, no discussions were taking place with foreign dignitaries, I felt that my presence was not necessary, and I decided that I have to severe connections with the organization, because it was not necessary for me to continue with an organization that has as its goal, the settlement of the problem through violence means, which I am against, so I decided to quit even as a part-time interpreter on payment and I quit. Subsequently I was in my village, kept on trying hard to get out of this mess, as I wanted to join my daughter in Australia. Therefore I tried my best but then the conditions prevailed there was not conducive, the system did not permit me to leave Vanni.

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Miliband, Kouchner admit their mission a failure

"Sri Lanka’s military advances have been spectacular but winning the peace is as vital as winning the war."

The visiting Foreign Ministers of Britain and France David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner yesterday evening told the media at a hurriedly summoned press conference in Colombo that their efforts to make the Sri Lankan government to agree to a ceasefire had come a cropper.

Calling upon the LTTE to release civilians it was holding forcibly in the no fire zone, Miliband said, "Sri Lanka’s military advances have been spectacular but winning the peace is as vital as winning the war." He said he wished to stress that the purpose of the EU’s call for a ceasefire was to help only civilians and not the LTTE.

Kouchner said. "We tried very hard, we insisted and we insisted, but it is up to our friends to allow it or not."


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Sea escape not a reality – Navy

North of Mullaitivu April 28- As two Israeli-built Dvora Fast Attack Craft (FAC) approached the Mullaitivu coast on Tuesday morning a heavy fire fight erupted on the north-eastern coast encompassing the civilian safe zone.

The battle is between the 58 Division advancing further southwards, where LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, his intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea Tiger leader Soosai are taking refuge among civilians.

The raging battle on the ground is evidence that President Mahinda Rajapaksa hadn’t give in to mounting international pressure to call off the offensive. Although the UNP and JVP attempted to capitalise on the unexpected arrival of British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner close on the heels of a visit by a top level Indian delegation, the offensive spearheaded by the army is on track.

While the guns boomed, the ICRC chartered vessel Green Ocean took on board several hundred men, women and children, both wounded in fighting, sick and their relatives accompanying them to medical facilities as well as makeshift accommodation in the government-held areas.

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War won’t stop until Prabhakaran is taken, dead or alive

Defence Sectary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday rejected visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s call for a ceasefire and access for aid workers to the civilian zone, and told him that the government would not stop its war on terror until the LTTE was crushed and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran captured, dead or alive.

"The only person who could stop this war is only the President of Sri Lanka," a plain-spoken Defence Secretary told the British dignitaries.

"My problem is not what the LTTE will do to you," the Defence Secretary said laughing, "instead it is that should such a thing happen, we would not be able to take Prabhakaran as planned!" He said after thirty years, the time had come finally for Prabhakaran and other terrorist leaders to be captured dead or alive and the government would not stop until that end was achieved.

Defence Sectary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday rejected visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s call for a ceasefire and access for aid workers to the civilian zone, and told him that the government would not stop its war on terror until the LTTE was crushed and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran captured, dead or alive.

According to highly placed sources, briefing a British delegation that included the British Foreign Secretary, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Dr. Peter Hayes and two other diplomats, at the Foreign Ministry, yesterday morning the Defence Secretary did not mince his words, when he said it was Sri Lankan troops and civilians who had perished in the conflict and therefore the government was determined to finish off the LTTE. He said humanitarian concerns were only a ploy employed by some people to extricate Prabhakaran and his top leaders from the mess they had got into. He said a truce would only help the LTTE to regroup.

"The only person who could stop this war," a plain-spoken Defence Secretary told the British dignitaries, "is only the President of Sri Lanka." The military had orders to either capture or destroy Prabhakaran and other top LTTE leaders, he added.

Rajapaksa told the British delegation that since March 2009, over 200,000 persons had been rescued by the army. "On April 20 alone we secured the release of over 45,000 men, women and children from the clutches of the LTTE," he said promising to rescue the others shortly. He said the whole world had witnessed that rescue operation that the army had conducted without firing a single shot.

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Ranil wants to know the motive behind Mullaitivu battle

Accusing the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime of not informing Parliament of what it does as a responsible government, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said the motive for the Mullaitivu battle was still unknown, and that matters have aggravated with the agreement for a ‘secret ceasefire.’

Speaking at a seminar organized by ‘The Platform for Democracy’ at Pushpadana Hall in Kandy yesterday (Apr. 28), Mr. Wickremesinghe said this was an indication that the Rajapaksa regime was moving towards a dictatorship.

Urging all people to unite as one by setting aside communal, racial and political differences to come out of this ‘rage’ unscathed, the Opposition Leader said ‘Platform for Democracy’ would serve as an ideal stage to safeguard democracy.

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Michael Coren - Toronto Show Panel Discussion about Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka - 28 April 2009

Michael Coren Show - Panel discussion about Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka on 28th April 2009. Mrs. Ira De Silva, Mr. Lenin Benedict, Mr. David Poopalsingham and Ms. Manjula Selvarajaha were the guests of Michael Coran.

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One man’s terrorist is another’s voting block!

In the past they used to say “One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter.” Today it is “One man’s terrorist is another’s voting block!”

So any scum in the West is allowed to propagate any garbage as long as they enjoy the support of local politicians. While condemning the use of children as combatants terrorist sympathisers are permitted to use children for their demonstrations. !

While the poor starving Tamil civilians trapped in the Wanni fled LTTE-held areas braving gunfire, rain and mud to Sri Lanka Army- controlled territory, the well-fed Tamil Diaspora in UK marched in London expressing support to the Tiger tyrant Prabhakaran who is oppressing his people back home.

Western ‘Democracy’ has certainly advanced!

We wonder whether the Ali-Queida and Taliban supporters would be allowed to march through London, Paris, Washington, New York, Berlin, Oslo, Toronto, Ottawa in the same manner.

British-Sri Lankans wish to pose this question to all Western Governments.

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The Most Wanted?

The National Movement Against Terrorism today had a poster campaign to coincide with the JHU protest outside the British High Commission against what they claim is international interference to an internal problem. The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in Sri Lanka today for a one-day visit amid international concerns over the plight of civilians affected by the current conflict between the government troops and the LTTE.

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No escape for Prabha

Despite claims that LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran might attempt to use a submarine to escape from the country, the Sri Lanka Navy yesterday claimed that the Tigers did not possess any Submarine capable of ferrying anyone including the Tamil Tiger Leader to another location by sea.

“I can assure that the LTTE does not possess that kind of submarine which can be used by anyone to travel safely,” Eastern Navy Commander Susith Weerasekera told the Daily Mirror yesterday.

The Commander of the Eastern Naval Command, which is responsible for the seas in the Mullaitivu security also challenged the LTTE leadership to escape through its defence lines in the Mullaitivu seas.

“If he (Prabhakaran) can escape from the country through the sea, we are ready to face it, that would be the final journey for him,” Rear Admiral Weerasekera said.

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British government pay 50 billion pounds to Sri Lanka as compensation for the damage done during its colonial rule

The Jathika Hela Urumaya in a letter to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had demanded that the British government pays 50 billion pounds to Sri Lanka as compensation for the damage done during its colonial rule.

The following is the full text of the letter;

Hon David Wright Miliband MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
United Kingdom

Sir,

When Libya announced last year that Italy had agreed to pay ‘billions’ as compensation for its three decades colonial rule in the oil rich country, a massive move was already underway in Sri Lanka to demand compensation from Britain for the social, political, economical and ecological damage caused for more than one and half centuries here.

Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) was building up a strong consensus and it was only the other commitments, mainly ones related to liberating the country from terrorism, that delayed the process of formalizing this demand.

With the major military victories in the North we are back with our crucial subject – compensation by Colonial rulers – since this is a war created essentially by the British by providing the Tamils with undue privileges and thereby dividing the Sri Lankan nation.

Sir, since our independence from the British for the last six decades we have been struggling to come out from the deep dark pit to which your have pushed the Sri Lankan nation to with your divide and rule policy. Even after sixty years we are yet to fully integrate the Sri Lankan nation which you divided sharply causing irreparable damage to the social outfit.

The end of your rule saw a major gulf between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils and Muslims in terms of understanding and the harm inflicted by your policies has been such it only went on to exacerbate the divisions over the years. A group of militants who exploited this situation formed the most ruthless terrorist group in the world – the LTTE resulting in Sri Lanka spending hundreds of billions of money they had reserved for the welfare of the State, for a totally unwanted war.

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6 Sea Tiger Boats sunk and 25 Sea Tigers killed off Mullaithivu

Sri Lanka Navy’s elite Special Boat Squadron (SBS) and Fast Attack Craft (FAC) destroyed six (06) LTTE sea tiger boats killing twenty-five (25) sea tigers in the seas of Mullaithivu around 0430 hours today (29 April).

The vigilant Naval troops engaged a combined cluster of sea tiger suicide and attack craft on their launching pad located in the No Fire Zone while attempting to set off on an attack mission on the advancing ground troops in the early hours of today. Four suicide craft laden with high explosives and two enemy attack craft mounted with higher caliber weapons were destroyed in the Naval gun fire forestalling their desperate mission.

One of the SLN craft was slightly damaged and one sailor received minor injuries to his left arm in the incident. Search and clear operations are still continuing.

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Britain, France FMs not convincing enough for Sri Lanka

The Foreign Ministers of Britain and France who visited the island today (Apr 29) and had talks with top government officials said they had failed to persuade Sri Lanka to end its offensive against the LTTE and allow aid for civilians in the No Fire Zone.

“We tried very hard -- we insisted and we insisted -- but it is up to our friends to allow it or not,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told a news conference after talks with the Sri Lankan government.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband also said the talks had ended without a breakthrough. He said that international calls for a ceasefire were “only to save civilians” and not to help the Tamil Tigers.

“Now is the time for the fighting to stop,” Miliband said. “Sri Lanka’s military advances have been spectacular, but winning the peace is as vital as winning the war,” Mr. Miliband said.

Sri Lanka’s leaders say they are on the verg of victory after 37 years of violence, with the Tamil Tigers cornered and outnumbered in a small strip of coastal area in the northeast of the island. Government officials have argued that any truce would only allow the Tigers to regroup, as has happened several times before.

(Ada Derana)

Kotelawala goes from Merchant to Prison ward

The most talked about remand prisoner Ceylinco Chairman Lalith Kotelawala was transferred to the Prison Hospital from the Merchant’s Ward, said the National Hospital Director. Mr. Kotelawala has been in remand since February this year over the financial irregularities at Golden key Credit Card Company.

At last week’s hearing of the case at the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court, JMO Dr. Ananda Samarasekera said that Mr. Kotelawala is suffering a heart ailment since 2006 but that he could be transferred to the Prison Hospital as his condition is not critical. This was confirmed by other doctors who examined Mr. Kotelawala.

(Ada Derana)

Brain Senaviratne and LTTE money

Brain Senaviratne, the Qeensland based LTTE paid propagandist’s attempt to visit Malaysia after his contribution to the LTTE cause in Toronto misfired as the immigration authorities debarred him from entering due his questionable credentials. His mission was to stir Malaysian Tamils and help the LTTE funding schemes. He was tipped to meet K.P Pathmanthan or his close colleagues. But, all efforts of this paid propagandist failed due to the vigilance of Malyasian authorities.

Brain Senaviratne’s claims to relationship with Bandaranaike family had been vehemently denied by Banadranikes and Ratwattes . When he started his propaganda career for the LTTE he publicly attempted to play the discrimination card and reported to have said that he was denied of Professorship in Sri Lanka as he was a Christian, but one of his contemporaries in the university drew his attention to the fact that when Brian S vied for this position, the selected candidate was a Tamil Hindu! Brain S had to eat muck and he avoided relating the story thereafter.

Recently, when he travelled to Canada at the Immigration counter,he was searched thoroughly and documents he carried were photo-copied. He was detained nearly four hours having to answer lengthy questioning by the authorities. With the LTTE days being numbered Brain Senaviratne will be hard put to find another source of income.

(SinhalaNet)

Temporary houses for rescued hostages

Temporary houses are being provided to all Tamil civilians who have been liberated from the tiger terrorists in the North..

More than 50,000 had been sheltered in the welfare camps in Settikulam during the past five days. The remaining civilians are due to be directed to temporary houses by tomorrow. These details were revealed at a discussion at Zone Three in Menik Farm. Kandy District Secretary Gothabaya Jayaratna said they managed to settle a large group today. The total number already sheltered in Menik Farm exceeds 100,000. Temporary tents and semi-stable houses have been put up.

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President promptly rejects tiger ploy

The LTTE, in utter desperation, declared a unilateral ceasefire, saying it was the only way to end the humanitarian crisis involving thousands of civilians trapped in the narrow tract along Eastern coastline still held by them. But the government interests were otherwise. “Halt in combat operations only facilitates innocent civilians to cross over without harm, but not for the LTTE to resettle for another brutal war,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa said referring to LTTE’s notorious history of unilateral breaches of ceasefires.

President not only rejected the Tiger ploy, but also demanded them to surrender and lay down their weapons. “The Tiger offer is either a last ditch attempt to circumvent a final bloody defeat, or a calculated attempt aimed at exerting international political pressure on the government to suspend combat operations, at least to get a small respite,” war veterans said.

“Now, the tigers are fighting out of uniforms, and it’s hard to distinguish between tigers and civilians. This forced us to slow down offensives for fear of causing harm to civilians,” Brigadier Shavendra Silva, who has been commanding the advancing troops, told journalists.

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We want to catch LTTE chief alive: Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said Colombo would extradite LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, if caught alive, to India but after first putting him through trial in his country. In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Rajapaksa also said that Sri Lanka will immediately stop air strikes and use of heavy weapons in the war zone but he made it clear that it was not a ceasefire.

CNN-IBN: So have you instructed your army to ceasefire?

Rajapaksa: No. It is not ceasefire. We are freeing the people who are kept there as hostages. That is my duty. So the army is now only helping the civilians. We want to get the civilians out from them. It was at the Security Council where we finally thought that we have to do this because for the first time we made a statement saying that we are not using heavy weapons and attacks. An area which was called a no-fire zone was declared by the army on a day-to-day basis. So we managed to send them (civillians) to the no-fire zone. And the LTTE also took them there thinking that they can escape from the sea. But now they realised that they can't move forward. But still they are using heavy weapons inside. They have heavy weapons inside the no-fire zone.

CNN-IBN: So the hostage rescue operation continues?

Rajapaksa: Continues. Yes.

>> Full Interview

Al Jazeera Interview with 'Colonel Karuna'

Muralitharan defected from the LTTE in 2004 and is now minister for integration

During his time as a Tamil Tiger commander he was accused of organising massacres, conscripting child soldiers and executing local journalists.

But Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, now Sri Lanka's national integration minister, renounced violence in 2004 and defected to the government, along with several hundred fighters.

He now heads a Tamil political party, with wide support among the Tamil population of Sri Lanka's northeast.

Once known as Colonel Karuna, for years Muralitharan was the right-hand man of V Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In an interview with Al Jazeera's David Chater, he criticised Prabhakaran, whose fighters continue to hold out against a government offensive, accusing him of betraying the Tamil cause.

>> Full Interview: Al Jazeera

Vellaimullivaikkal area and bullet-proof vehicle captured - Wanni Operation - 28 April 200

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