Rajapakse rules out ceasefire with LTTE: UN staff evacuated as troops move closer to rebel bastion
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COLOMBO, Sept 16: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has ruled out a ceasefire with the LTTE and declared that the only condition for the suspension of the military operations is an unconditional surrender.
“There is no question of a ceasefire. They will have to surrender their arms first. Hand them over to us,” Rajapakse said, making it clear that there could be no third party receiving the LTTE’s arms in case of surrender. He was speaking to Colombo-based foreign correspondents on Monday.
Showing confidence in the ability of Sri Lankan armed forces to capture all the areas presently held by the LTTE, the president said rains in the closing months of the year would not impede the military operation.
“The forces are trained to fight in the rains,” he said. “We are in areas to which even the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) did not go,” he said. Asked what would happen if the LTTE retreated to the jungles to fight a guerilla war, he retorted: “But we are in the jungles already!”
PEACE BY 2009: On the timetable to capture to capture the districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, which are still with the LTTE, Rajapakse said that he would not give a firm date, but these places would be taken “very soon”. Indicating that military victory or peace could be round the corner, he said the international aid workers, who had been asked to quit the war zone, might be able to go back “in the next two weeks”.
’The president also said that by 2009 conditions would be conducive to holding elections to the Northern Provincial Council. Next year would not be a year of war, but one of economic development in the North and East with the help of the international community, he assured. ADB and the World Bank were ready to give money. “The international community understands us fully,” he said.
Asked if had not taken a risk by rejecting the LTTE’s offer of a ceasefire during the recent Saarc summit in Colombo, the president said acceptance was not necessary because he was sure that the LTTE would not be able to do anything to disrupt the international event.
ANTONY’S STATEMENT: Asked to comment on Indian Defence Minister A. K. Antony’s statement advising Sri Lanka to ensure the safety and security of Tamil civilians in Wanni while taking action against the LTTE, Rajapakse said that defence ministry officials had spoken to the Indian government on it, without saying what was told.
On Tamil Nadu leader Vaiko’s demand that India should give no military assistance to Sri Lanka to kill Tamils, the president dismissed him saying that Vaiko was a leader of no consequence and was best ignored. “You know what Vaiko is. He keeps making such statements.”
Asked what would have happen to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran if the army were to capture him, the president said that if there was a request from India, he would hand him over to that country as Prabhakaran was wanted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
UN EVACUATION: The United Nations on Tuesday began pulling its staff out of LTTE-held northern territory as an intense military offensive on the rebel stronghold of Killinochchi inched closer to the headquarters of the Tamil Tigers.
The UN pullout, along with other non-governmental organisations based in rebel-held areas, came days after a government directive to do so. Safe passage was ensured by government troops and rebels, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.
At least 18 rebels were killed when soldiers attacked LTTE rebels trying to build an earth barrier to delay security forces’ movement towards Kilinochchi, the Defence Ministry said on its website, acknowledging the death of only three soldiers.
