Sri Lanka may hand over rebel leader to India
16/9/2008 18:18
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has said if Tamil Tiger's supremo
Vellupillai Prabhakaran is captured alive by government troops, the government
may hand over him to India.
Rajapakse told foreign correspondents based in
Colombo yesterday evening that he didn't know where the rebel leader is, who is
also being wanted by India in connection with the 1991 assassination of former
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The president said the Sri Lankan
government might consider sending Prabhakaran to India if the later makes such a
request.
Rajapakse's comment came as government troops advanced further into
the northern Vanni area controlled by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE).
Government sources said the troops are now only about 5.5 km from the
LTTE's administrative center of Kilinochchi.
UN agencies and non-governmental
humanitarian organizations are leaving Vanni after the government said it can no
longer ensure their safety as heavy battles between government troops and the
LTTE are expected in the near future.
The president said the government will
take control of the whole Vanni very soon and free all Tamils in the north from
the clutch of the LTTE, but he refused to give a time frame.
He also called
on Sri Lankan Tamils living overseas to stop supporting the LTTE and "come back
to Sri Lanka to join the peace and development process."
"An election will be
held in the north after defeating the LTTE. The people will have a chance to
choose their own leaders," said the president.
Stressing that the government
is still committed to a negotiated settlement to the ethnic issue, the president
said he is waiting for the report of the All Party Conference, appointed by
himself in early 2006 to find a political solution.
He said the government
will not talk to the LTTE unless the rebel organization lays down arms, but it
is ready to talk with other Tamil leaders and Tamil people.
Claiming
discrimination at the hands of Sinhalese majority governments, the LTTE has been
fighting against government troops since the mid-1980s to carve out an
independent Tamil homeland in the north and east, resulting in the death of more
than 70,000 people.
Conflicts between the two sides began to escalate in 2006
and government troops regained control of Eastern Province in 2007 and advanced
further in the LTTE-controlled north.
Military commanders said the war with
the LTTE is at a decisive stage and hopefully the LTTE will be crushed within
one year.
But analysts say the conflict is far from over and the weakened
rebel outfit still has enough strength to hit back.
Xinhua
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