News 26.04.09

Sri Lankan army 6 km away from last LTTE hideout

Apr 26 (PTI) Making a final push to overrun the last patch of LTTE-held territory, Sri Lankan forces on Sunday captured strategic Vlayarmadam area and encircled remaining six sq km strip of land which is the possible hideout of LTTE Supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his top aides. "Sri Lankan soldiers have liberated Valayarmadam area and so far rescued 500 civilians held hostage by LTTE from there," the defence ministry said today. more..

Sri Lanka rejects Tamil rebels' ceasefire

Apr 26 (AFP) The Sri Lanka government rejected a ceasefire declared by Tamil Tiger rebels on Sunday, defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said, instead demanding that the cornered guerrillas surrender. Rajapakse, who leads the government's military campaign against the Tigers, said there was no need for a ceasefire as the military was about to defeat the separatist fighters. "It must be a joke," Rajapakse told AFP in response to the Tigers' ceasefire, more..

Sri Lankan rebels declare unilateral cease-fire

Apr 26 (AP) Sri Lanka's rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire on Sunday as a top U.N. official pressed Sri Lankan leaders to let aid into the northeastern war zone where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped. Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa rejected the call, saying the rebels were "running" from government forces, who have pushed deep into the Tamil Tigers' strongholds in the north in recent months, surrounding the beleaguered rebels and vowing to end the quarter-century war. more..

Congress slams Jayalalitha's Eelam talk as 'irresponsible'

Apr 26 (IANS) The Congress party Sunday termed AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha's demand for a separate 'Eelam' homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils as 'anti-national and irresponsible'. 'I see this demand as anti-national and irresponsible,' union Minister Kapil Sibal told IANS reacting to the statement of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister who Saturday supported a separate Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka as the only solution to the decades-old ethnic strife in the island nation. more..

Q&A: Sri Lanka crisis

Apr 26 (BBC) The Sri Lankan army says that there will be no more breaks in fighting against Tamil Tiger rebels as it completes manoeuvres to defeat them after years of war. Mullaitivu, the last of the rebels' north-eastern strongholds, was taken in February preceded by the fall of Kilinochchi and rebel-held parts of the Jaffna peninsula. The rebels now control only a small stretch of coastal land - estimated by the army to be no more than 12 sq km - in the north-east of the country. more..