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LTTE chief’s dream shattered, says Colombo

COLOMBO: The U.S. on Friday said only a “political solution, not a military one,” offers a way out of the violence even as Colombo said November 2007 “Hero’s Day Speech” of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakaran is an acknowledgement that his “Tamil Eelam dream” stands shattered.

In a statement released here, the U.S. State Department referred to the series of incidents of violence in the last few days and called on all Sri Lankans to work toward the “goal of a just, political solution to the conflict.”

Separately, Minister and Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said in contrast to previous years when the LTTE leader boasted that Tamil Eelam was around the corner, Mr. Prabakaran has acknowledged that the world and the Tamil Diaspora had distanced itself from him.

Social Services Minister Douglas Devananda, who escaped an assassination attempt on his life on Wednesday, requested all democratic forces to join hands to find a political solution and defeat the LTTE terrorism.

In a special statement in Parliament, he said, “I have so much experience on these LTTE bomb attacks. The LTTE attempted to kill me on several occasions. But I am not afraid of Prabakaran. I am not a coward who runs away from such cowardly acts. Prabakaran cannot frighten me through his suicide attacks.”

Mr. Devananda said innocent human lives were being taken away by the LTTE daily.

“The LTTE says they fight for the Tamils. But why is the LTTE killing its own Tamil people and political leaders who work for the Tamil community? How many Tamil political leaders have been killed by the LTTE during these past two decades? Will the Tamil people be able to get any solution through these LTTE killings?” he asked.

Separately, leaders of TULF, PLOTE and the EPRLF- Pathmanabha while strongly condemning the acts of violence expressed their deepest sympathies to the kith and kin of the unfortunate victims. “This type of brutal killings is not acceptable in a democratic society and will not help in any way to bring back peace,” they said in a joint statement.

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