Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa told his nation today that the war on terror was over but surprisingly made no mention of his government's assertion that LTTE chief V Prabhakaran was dead, a claim refuted by the terror outfit.
Addressing Parliament a day after the Army claimed to have wiped out the entire LTTE leadership including Prabhakaran, Rajapaksa skipped any reference to the LTTE supremo. A pro-LTTE website claimed that Prabhakaran was "alive and safe" but gave no indication of his location.
In a message of hope and reconciliation to the ethnic minority population which has been living on edge for over three decades, Rajapaksa, who started his speech in Sinhalese and spoke briefly in Tamil, said ensuring equal rights for all "is my goal". Inviting the Tamil civilians who had fled the country during the ethnic conflict, he said, "our war was with the LTTE and not against the Tamil civilians".
The army had yesterday claimed that Prabhakaran, 54, was shot dead by the special forces as he tried to stage a dramatic breakout from the army encirclement in the war zone. His son Charles Anthony and several other top leaders were found dead in the mopping-up operation.
The Sri Lankan President, who was repeatedly lauded by the legislators, said, "defeating LTTE is also a victory for the international community." Recounting how the rebels once controlled north and much of the east, Rajapaksa said for the first time in three decades, the country was unified under its elected government. "We have liberated the whole country from LTTE terrorism," he said.
Rajapaksa recalled the list of those assassinated by the LTTE including former President Premadasa, former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "Our intention was to save the Tamil people from the cruel grip of the LTTE. We all must now live as equals in this free country," he said.
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Hours before Rajapaksa spoke, a pro-LTTE website, Tamilnet.Com, claimed that Prabhakaran is still "alive and safe". "I wish to inform the Global Tamil community distressed witnessing the final events of the war that our beloved leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is alive and safe," LTTE's International Relations head, S Pathmanathan was quoted as saying by the website, which usually puts out the rebels' version on the battle with the Sri Lankan armed forces. "He (Prabhakaran) will continue to lead the quest for dignity and freedom for the Tamil people," he said. The website, however, did not give the details of Prabhakaran's location.
The Lankan army had claimed yesterday that Prabhakaran and his top aides came out of their last hiding place in a small convoy of van and an ambulance and tried to drive out of the war zone, but were gunned down. Pathmanathan said the Sri Lankan army and government deliberately came up with the story detailing the demise of the leader of the LTTE.
The 30-year-long civil war in Sri Lanka has killed more than 70,000 people. Over 265,000 Tamils have been displaced in the recent army offensive and many of them are living in overcrowded camps set up by the government in the north.
The President declared tomorrow a national holiday to celebrate the armed forces victory over Tamil Tigers. In his speech, Rajapaksa made it clear that Colombo will not buckle under any international pressure resolve the Tamil issue. "We must find a homegrown solution to this conflict. That solution should be acceptable to all the communities," Rajapaksa said, adding that "solution to the Tamil issue will be found but not under international pressure." "We have to build a united Sri Lanka where all can live with equal rights," he said.