Firing heard from Buttala jungle...

LTTE says it will not be defeated ...
The LTTE say they will never be defeated despite Sri Lankan authorities vowing to wipe them out within months. Head of LTTE political wing, P Nadesan, told the BBC that the LTTE has experienced similar statements during their 30-year old struggle against the Sri Lankan state.

The recently appointed political head was reacting to Sri Lanka Army Commander, Sarath Fonseka's comments that the LTTE will be defeated before the end of the year.

People, they like to join us. We never force the people. LTTE is a people's organisation, P. Nadesan told the BBC.

He accused the government of using the Mavil Aru incident to aggravate the problem rather than trying to resolve the matter.
The LTTE also denied they are reverting to guerrilla tactics as the outfit is 'losing the war'.

"We will never revert to guerrilla warfare," Nadesan said, denying accusations that the LTTE was behind the bomb attack in Nugegoda and the claymore attack that killed Minister D.M. Dassanayake.

"We are a conventional force. We will launch attacks on military targets but we will not target civilians," P Nadesan said.
The LTTE also accused the Sri Lankan authorities of exaggerating LTTE casualty figures.
Asked whether the LTTE is trying to pretend as 'good guys' by asking for the full implementation of the CFA, P Nadesan said it was the government that withdrew from it not the Tamil Tigers.