Rebels admit defeat in Sri Lanka war

THE Tamil Tiger rebels admitted defeat in their 25-year-old war with the Sri Lankan government yesterday, offering to lay down their guns as government forces swept across their last strongholds in the northeast.

The government rejected the last-ditch call for a ceasefire, saying the thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone have all escaped to safety and there was no longer any reason to stop the battle. The military said the remaining guerrillas were still fighting.

With a war that has killed well over 70,000 people nearing its end, Sri Lankans poured into the streets in spontaneous celebration.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa scheduled a nationally televised news conference for tomorrow morning at parliament, where he was expected to tell the nation the war was over.

The fate of the Tamil Tigers’ top commanders remained unclear, including the whereabouts of the reclusive rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

A senior military official said troops found the bodies of several rebel fighters who had committed suicide yesterday when troops surrounded them. The bodies were suspected of being Prabhakaran and his deputies, but the military was still trying to confirm their identities.

The rebels, who once controlled a wide swath of the north, have been routed by government forces in recent months.

Yesterday, Tamil Tiger suicide bombers targeted troops clearing out the last pockets of rebel resistance in the war zone and troops killed at least 70 rebels trying to flee by boat, the military said.

Footage from state television showed huge clouds of black smoke rising over the battlefield as soldiers inspected the charred remains of rebel trucks and artillery pieces. Civilians carrying backpacks and rolling suitcases were escorted from the area. Yesterday afternoon, the tattered and nearly defeated rebel group offered to lay down its arms, saying it was acting to protect the wounded in the war zone.

“This battle has reached its bitter end,” rebel official Selvarasa Pathmanathan said. “It is our people who are dying now from bombs, shells, illness and hunger. We cannot permit any more harm to befall them. We remain with one last choice – to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns.” Pathmanathan said the bodies of thousands of dead and wounded civilians lay on the battlefield.

Media Minister Anura Yapa dismissed the appeal, saying government forces had rescued all the civilians.

“We are looking after those people. We want to free this country from the terrorist LTTE,” he said, referring to the group by its formal name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Thousands of Sri Lankans celebrated yesterday after Rajapaksa made an initial declaration of victory. Many said the war had damaged the country for three decades. “This victory will ensure a better future for the coming generations,” said Prasanna Jayawardena, who was lighting firecrackers in the streets of Colombo.