Tamil Tiger leader says ceasefire agreement is defunct

Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran today said the 2002 ceasefire with Sri Lankan government was “defunct” and blamed the Sri Lankan government for failing to address the Tamil homeland demand through negotiations.

He said Tamil independence is the only solution.

“The Rajapakse regime hopes to decide the fate of the Tamil nation using its military power. It wants to occupy the Tamil land and then force an unacceptable solution on the Tamils,” Prabhakaran said in his annual policy speech, referring to President Mahinda Rajapakse.

“It is now crystal clear that the Sinhala leaders will never put forward a just resolution to the Tamil national question. Therefore, we are not prepared to place our trust in the impossible and walk along the same old futile path,’ he said.

Last year Prabhakaran had hinted that he was ready to enter a negotiated peace process, and gave President Mahinda Rajapakse a year to resolve Tamil demands for acceptable self rule in the country’s north and east.

But the year saw a sharp escalation in open conflict instead.