COLOMBO, Nov 19: The Sri Lankan prime minister dropped a hint on Wednesday that the government is considering outlawing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The government may proscribe the LTTE, the prime minister’s office stated quoting the premier, two weeks after the government said it wanted the rebels to “renounce terrorism” and return to the negotiating table.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wckremanayake described the military assault against the LTTE as a “humanitarian operation to free the people from terrorism”.

A possible ban on the Tiger guerillas within the country will make it difficult for the government to re-open negotiations with them, analysts say amidst continued pressure from India to resume dialogue and usher in a political solution to the ongoing conflict in which the government military is emerging as clear victors.

Meanwhile, in preparation for yet another crucial year in the battlefront, President Mahnda Rajapakse has extended the services of the incumbent army chief, Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka for a year as analysts opined that Fonseka was poised to vanquish the LTTE and their military capability.

Defence strategists credit Gen. Fonseka with changing the character of the Sri Lankan army. They note that it is under Fonseka’s guidance that the army shed its “bunker mentality” and instead chose to venture into enemy territory and use the Special Forces or commandos to penetrate deep into enemy lines.

Analysts also say that a technique the army chief has perfected over the past two years is that he has taken on the LTTE through non-conventional jungle paths to surprise and encircle the enemy, by attacking the guerillas from more than one point and cutting off the routes of escape.

— By Our Correspondent