Prabhakaran will have to pay for attacking temples: Rajapaksa

With the Sri Lankan troops closing in on the last bastions of LTTE, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said Tiger supremo V Prabhakaran will soon have to "pay" for attacking various religious places in the island nation in the past 25 years.

"Prabhakaran will have to pay for carrying out attacks on religious places, including Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic," Rajapaksa told an election rally in Kandy, 115 kms from Colombo.

The age old temple (of the Sacred Tooth Relic) in the city of Kandy built within the royal palace complex, houses a relic of Buddha, a tooth which is venerated by Buddhists.

"In a few days, Prabhakaran will have to pay compensation for attacking the Dalada Maligawa and the Sri Maha Bodhi temples," Rajapaska said.

The Tamil Tigers had attacked various Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka during the 30-year-old insurgency in the country.

Sri Lankan troops have captured the rebel strongholds of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu and confined the Tamil Tigers to an area less than 15 km.

Rajapaksa said the forthcoming two Provincial Council elections will decide whether or not the government could carry forward the victory of the war heroes.

"No force on earth would stop the dynamic march of the Nation today," Rajapaksa told the rally.

Press Trust Of India