Surrender or face complete rout- President

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse warned cornered Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down their arms and unconditionally surrender or face a complete rout.

"I want to tell the Tigers: 'lay down arms and surrender to security forces'," the president told a public rally in the northwestern district of Kurunegala.

He said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had been encircled in a narrow strip of land and had taken thousands of civilians hostage.

"They must let the civilians go and then unconditionally give themselves up," he said.

The president, who earlier in the week vowed to defeat the militants within days, said the Tiger guerrillas had no choice but to surrender.

"I must warn them we will not halt our operations against terrorism until we reach our final objective," he said to resounding applause from thousands of supporters.

The military said the Tigers had been restricted to an area less than 100 square kilometres (38 square miles) in the northeastern district of Mullaittivu where officials estimate 120,000 civilians are also trapped.

The president's call-to-surrender came amid mounting international appeals for a "no-fire" period to allow the civilians to get out of the conflict zone.

International rights groups and foreign governments have accused the Tamil Tigers of holding the civilians as human shields, a charge repeated by Rajapakse's government.

The president's speech came as the military said they had stepped up air attacks against key Tamil Tiger targets in the shrinking area still under rebel control.

A senior Sea Tiger leader known as Soosai was among 11 rebels killed in an air strike on Friday evening, officials said.

Rajapakse said the Tigers were no longer able to escape by boat because security forces had taken control of the sea board the rebels earlier held under their control.

"They can jump into the lagoon but they can't even jump into the sea any more," the president added.

- AFP