By Xinhua,
Colombo : 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 Monday 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.