<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Sri Lanka declares victory over rebels
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Last bit of Tiger-held land to be captured today; rebels may be planning mass suicide </TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
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Photos released by the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry showing a part of the captured coastline (above) and vessels seized from the rebels. With the entire coastline in the hands of government forces, the rebels are denied the possibility of a sea escape, the military said. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Colombo - The President of Sri Lanka declared yesterday that the island's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been 'defeated militarily' after decades of bitter ethnic bloodshed.
Defence officials said the massive offensive against the rebel army was all but complete, with the entire island under government control for the first time in years but for a minuscule pocket of jungle.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Proud moment
'My government, with the total commitment of our armed forces, has ...finally defeated the LTTE militarily.'
SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>They said the remnants of the once formidable rebel force 'were preparing for a mass suicide after being effectively cut off from escape routes, both land and sea', by a morning coastal pincer movement by the army.
The military believes rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, 53, is still holed up in the area.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is currently visiting Jordan, said he expects the army to capture the last remaining patch of land by this morning.
'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,' he said yesterday, referring to the separatist movement by its formal title, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
He is due to return to Colombo today, and an official source said he is likely to deliver an address to the nation later in the day.
The final push to wipe out the Tigers came as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar was due to land in Colombo for the second time in a month to push for a negotiated end to the war.
Mr Nambiar's visit and strong words from the UN, the United States and others appeared to have come too late to stop a fight to the finish between foes who have ruled out compromise.
'Now, we have linked up on the coastline and the Sea Tigers' activities are no more,' military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said.
On Friday, the navy arrested the wife of Soosai (also known as Thillaiyampalan Sivanesan), a leader of the Sea Tigers - the ocean-going arm of the rebel group. His daughter and son-in-law were also arrested.
More civilians were fleeing the battle zone, Brigadier Nanayakkara said. Nearly 10,000 escaped on Friday, bringing the two-day total to 15,000.
The war has killed at least 70,000 people since 1983.
The Tigers controlled nearly a third of the island only two years ago, operating an effectively autonomous Tamil state.
But the group's defeat is unlikely to end Sri Lanka's ethnic problem, with Tamil fighters vowing to return to the guerilla hit-and-run tactics that they have used to devastating effect in the past.
'An onslaught by the government will only result in thousands more dying and will not pave a way for a dignified and respectful outcome,' the LTTE's head of international relations Selvarasa Pathmanathan was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel Tamilnet website. Reuters, AFP, AP
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Last bit of Tiger-held land to be captured today; rebels may be planning mass suicide </TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
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Photos released by the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry showing a part of the captured coastline (above) and vessels seized from the rebels. With the entire coastline in the hands of government forces, the rebels are denied the possibility of a sea escape, the military said. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Colombo - The President of Sri Lanka declared yesterday that the island's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been 'defeated militarily' after decades of bitter ethnic bloodshed.
Defence officials said the massive offensive against the rebel army was all but complete, with the entire island under government control for the first time in years but for a minuscule pocket of jungle.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Proud moment
'My government, with the total commitment of our armed forces, has ...finally defeated the LTTE militarily.'
SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSE
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>They said the remnants of the once formidable rebel force 'were preparing for a mass suicide after being effectively cut off from escape routes, both land and sea', by a morning coastal pincer movement by the army.
The military believes rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, 53, is still holed up in the area.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is currently visiting Jordan, said he expects the army to capture the last remaining patch of land by this morning.
'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,' he said yesterday, referring to the separatist movement by its formal title, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
He is due to return to Colombo today, and an official source said he is likely to deliver an address to the nation later in the day.
The final push to wipe out the Tigers came as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar was due to land in Colombo for the second time in a month to push for a negotiated end to the war.
Mr Nambiar's visit and strong words from the UN, the United States and others appeared to have come too late to stop a fight to the finish between foes who have ruled out compromise.
'Now, we have linked up on the coastline and the Sea Tigers' activities are no more,' military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said.
On Friday, the navy arrested the wife of Soosai (also known as Thillaiyampalan Sivanesan), a leader of the Sea Tigers - the ocean-going arm of the rebel group. His daughter and son-in-law were also arrested.
More civilians were fleeing the battle zone, Brigadier Nanayakkara said. Nearly 10,000 escaped on Friday, bringing the two-day total to 15,000.
The war has killed at least 70,000 people since 1983.
The Tigers controlled nearly a third of the island only two years ago, operating an effectively autonomous Tamil state.
But the group's defeat is unlikely to end Sri Lanka's ethnic problem, with Tamil fighters vowing to return to the guerilla hit-and-run tactics that they have used to devastating effect in the past.
'An onslaught by the government will only result in thousands more dying and will not pave a way for a dignified and respectful outcome,' the LTTE's head of international relations Selvarasa Pathmanathan was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel Tamilnet website. Reuters, AFP, AP
