COLOMBO, Dec 22: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday warned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that if they did not free the Tamil civilians held in bondage in northern Sri Lanka by New Year’s Day, their organisation would be banned.

“Failure to do this would lead to the government’s proscribing of the LTTE with all its consequences for the terrorist organisation,” he warned after a cabinet meeting.

The president further said he would ensure that 2009 was a “Year of Heroism” for government troops. He also stated that he would see the LTTE “wiped out from the pages of history” next year. He emphasised that the only threat faced by the people of Sri Lanka was the terrorism of Tiger separatists.

The LTTE was first banned in 1998, after it bombed the Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Buddha’s Tooth in Kandy in central Sri Lanka.

The ban was lifted in 2002, ahead of the peace talks in September that year. The LTTE had insisted that the ban should be removed before it could consider participation in peace talks.

Estimates of the number of Tamil civilians held captive by the LTTE in the two war-torn northern Sri Lankan districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu vary. International humanitarian agencies and the UN put the number of refugees or displaced persons alone at 250,000.

The total population, including the displaced persons, is stated to be about 400,000.

Government sources put the overall population at 325,000, including 125,000 refugees. Relief Commissioner B.P.Divaratne puts the total population at 275,000, including 125,000 refugees.