New Delhi, 19 January, (asiantribune.com): As Indian foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon ended his 2-day visit to Sri Lanka, it is confirmed that Velupillai Prabhakaran has indeed disappeared from Wanni.
Army chief Lieutenant-General Sarath Fonseka said in Colombo that the elusive supremo of the Tigers might have fled from his last stronghold as the troops charged towards it. He did not comment on speculation that Prabhakaran could have moved to some coastal hide out in Malaysia's Penag province, where the LTTE has some sympathizers.
'Prabhakaran is a man who loves food, a man who loves his family, so I don't think he would wait until the military got so close to him', Foneska is quoted as telling reporters.
Saying that the LTTE is presently holding a small strip which is no more than 18miles by 9 miles in the Mullaitivu district, the army chief with a smile remarked, 'The only way out for him (cornered Tamil Tiger chief) is by the sea or the cyanide pill. He must have escaped through the sea. He will neither commit suicide as he exhorts his followers to do with cyanide capsules worn around their necks, nor allow himself to be captured like Saddam Hussein (former Iraqi president)'.
'They (Tigers) still have a lot of money. Some people might whisk him away to some other country', Foneska is said to have replied to a question.
Unlikely, said the army chief when asked about a deep and intricate network of bunkers under the Mullaitivu jungles as some reports have suggested.
'We heard about similar things (network of bunkers) in Kilinochchi but found nothing after capturing it', said Sarath Fonseka, who has led from the front the Sri Lankan army to deliver a crushing blow to the LTTE. He is confident that Mullaitivu will be overrun completely by mid-April, in time for the Sinhala new-year.
full report on
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/15220
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011800513.html
Army chief Lieutenant-General Sarath Fonseka said in Colombo that the elusive supremo of the Tigers might have fled from his last stronghold as the troops charged towards it. He did not comment on speculation that Prabhakaran could have moved to some coastal hide out in Malaysia's Penag province, where the LTTE has some sympathizers.
'Prabhakaran is a man who loves food, a man who loves his family, so I don't think he would wait until the military got so close to him', Foneska is quoted as telling reporters.
Saying that the LTTE is presently holding a small strip which is no more than 18miles by 9 miles in the Mullaitivu district, the army chief with a smile remarked, 'The only way out for him (cornered Tamil Tiger chief) is by the sea or the cyanide pill. He must have escaped through the sea. He will neither commit suicide as he exhorts his followers to do with cyanide capsules worn around their necks, nor allow himself to be captured like Saddam Hussein (former Iraqi president)'.
'They (Tigers) still have a lot of money. Some people might whisk him away to some other country', Foneska is said to have replied to a question.
Unlikely, said the army chief when asked about a deep and intricate network of bunkers under the Mullaitivu jungles as some reports have suggested.
'We heard about similar things (network of bunkers) in Kilinochchi but found nothing after capturing it', said Sarath Fonseka, who has led from the front the Sri Lankan army to deliver a crushing blow to the LTTE. He is confident that Mullaitivu will be overrun completely by mid-April, in time for the Sinhala new-year.
full report on
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/15220
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011800513.html
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