Kilinochchi will be regained by year-end - President

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa ruled out a ceasefire with the Tigers and said troops were on track to capture the Tigers’ political capital by the end of the year.

President Rajapaksa said Forces were advancing “very satisfactorily” and should take Kilinochchi by December. “I am happy. The military has made a lot of gains,” he told members of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Sri Lanka late Monday.

“We will hopefully take Kilinochchi by December. The rest [of the north] as soon as possible. I can’t give an exact time frame,” he said. The President ruled out a future ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and vowed to “finish the war as soon as possible”.

“There is no point talking to them. They have not asked for a ceasefire from us. They must first surrender with their weapons,” he said.

In August, the Tigers announced a 10-day ceasefire during a meeting of South Asian leaders in Colombo, which the Government rejected. “I don’t think the LTTE was serious about it (ceasefire)... they only talk of one (ceasefire) when the army is pushing to weaken them,” said President Rajapaksa, who is also defence minister.

The Government has poured a record 1.5 billion dollars into this year’s war effort. President Rajapaksa has said his Government will seriously consider any plea from India to hand over LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran if he is caught, asserting that his troops were advancing towards tiger nerve centres.

On the elusive LTTE chief, he said, “You should realise Prabhakaran was involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the Sri Lankan Government will consider any request for his extradition if he is caught”.

“The law of the land will take its own course if and when he is nabbed,” the President, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said.

India and Sri Lanka only have an Extradition Arrangement short of a treaty and any deportation of wanted people can be undertaken only on grounds of mutual requests.

AFP, TOI