he LTTE have said that they will continue to fight even if they lose their political headquarters town of Kilinochchi. The head of the LTTE political wing Balasingham Nadesan told the BBC he rejected the government's offer of talks if the Tigers disarmed first.
The LTTE insist they can defend the town and the head of the Tamil Tigers' political wing, Balasingham Nadesan, told the BBC by e-mail that even if it falls, they will fight on.
"Freedom... never depends on one city. We can create more communities, more cities and [in] our freedom struggle, we are supported by people.
"We have the confidence that we will capture more areas in our motherland and we will create so many communities in [the] future."
He rejected out of hand the government's offer of talks if the Tigers laid down their weapons first.
"This is not a realistic question, we took up arms to safeguard our people, so we will keep these arms until the safeguard is guaranteed," Mr Nadesan said.
Kilinochchi is a hugely symbolic target of the government's offensive to crush the rebels.
In the town, the Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have assembled the trappings of the independent state they want for the ethnic Tamil minority, including political offices, courts and a police force.
Government ministers have been predicting the town's imminent capture for months, but the rebels are holding out.
A military spokesman said the people of Sri Lanka wanted the LTTE to be eliminated.
"The military also wanted the same thing and they are doing their level best to capture the rest of the areas" under Tamil Tiger control, said Brigadier Uday Nananaykara.
BBC
-DM-
The LTTE insist they can defend the town and the head of the Tamil Tigers' political wing, Balasingham Nadesan, told the BBC by e-mail that even if it falls, they will fight on.
"Freedom... never depends on one city. We can create more communities, more cities and [in] our freedom struggle, we are supported by people.
"We have the confidence that we will capture more areas in our motherland and we will create so many communities in [the] future."
He rejected out of hand the government's offer of talks if the Tigers laid down their weapons first.
"This is not a realistic question, we took up arms to safeguard our people, so we will keep these arms until the safeguard is guaranteed," Mr Nadesan said.
Kilinochchi is a hugely symbolic target of the government's offensive to crush the rebels.
In the town, the Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have assembled the trappings of the independent state they want for the ethnic Tamil minority, including political offices, courts and a police force.
Government ministers have been predicting the town's imminent capture for months, but the rebels are holding out.
A military spokesman said the people of Sri Lanka wanted the LTTE to be eliminated.
"The military also wanted the same thing and they are doing their level best to capture the rest of the areas" under Tamil Tiger control, said Brigadier Uday Nananaykara.
BBC
-DM-
)))
