KARUNA TELLS REMAINING LTTE CADRES TO SURRENDER

National Integration Minister Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman yesterday warned the government would not be responsible for the lives of LTTE cadres who were holed up in the jungles in the East unless they surrendered immediately.

He said there were only about 60 cadres left in the East now, and of them seven had already surrendered to the military through him.

“They are afraid to surrender. The military has requested them to come out now. This is the right time to surrender. We won’t be responsible for their lives if they refuse to do so,” he said. Mr. Muralitharan said 11 LTTE cadres were recently killed by army commandos in a confrontation in Kalawanchikudi at Ampara.

LTTE cadres are known to have attacked several villages in the districts of Ampara, Trincomalee and Monaragala and killed a large number of civilians.

So far some 9,000 LTTE cadres including child combatants and hardcore fighters are reported to have surrendered to the security forces, and have now been referred to various rehabilitation camps in Vavuniya and Welikanda.

Meanwhile, military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the military had started operations to hunt down LTTE cadres still hiding in the Eastern jungles.