Rebels admit defeat by Sri Lankan military

Los Angeles Times

NEW DELHI — The Tamil Tigers admitted defeat Sunday in their quarter-century struggle against the Sri Lankan government and offered to lay down their weapons to protect those still alive.

However, military officials rejected the offer as a last-minute act of desperation. They said fighting continued, and the army was bracing for suicide bombing attacks.

The battered remnants of the rebel force, which has been fighting for a homeland for Sri Lanka’s marginalized Tamil minority, reportedly was trapped in 300-square-yard area along the northern coast of the island.

On TamilNet, a pro-Tiger Web site, the decimated rebel group — known formally as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — said it was putting down its weapons.

“This battle has reached its bitter end,” rebel official Selvarasa Pathmanathan was quoted as saying in the online statement. “It is our people who are dying now from bombs, shells, illness and hunger. We cannot permit any more harm to befall them.”

“We remain with one last choice — to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people,” he added. “We have decided to silence our guns.”

But military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said in a telephone interview that TamilNet has a history of lying, and Sunday was no different. On the ground, Tiger rebels continue to attack soldiers in the conflict zone, he said.

“We have to protect ourselves until the rest of the area is liberated,” he said by telephone. “If they fire, we will fire back.”

He added that the military had found several bodies of senior Tiger fighters but had not yet discovered the whereabouts of the reclusive rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Nanayakkara insisted that all civilians were out of the conflict zone. With very little territory left to capture, he said, the army is confident it will be able to seize the remaining fighters shortly. Whether they surrender, commit suicide or die fighting is their choice, he added.

The military said Sunday that it had killed at least 70 militants trying to escape by boat as suicide bombers sought to attack army positions.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was expected to tell the country during a nationally televised news conference Tuesday morning at parliament that the protracted war was over.

The conflict has taken an enormous toll on families, communities, Sri Lanka’s humanitarian and human-rights reputation and the economy. With the end of the struggle in sight Sunday, thousands of Sri Lankans danced, set off fireworks and beat on celebratory drums.