The Hindu : Front Page : Over one lakh civilians leave NFZ

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Thursday, Apr 23, 2009
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Front Page

Front Page

Over one lakh civilians leave NFZ

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Two senior LTTE officials surrender

— File Photo: AFP

Senior LTTE official Daya Master, who has surrendered to the security forces. Here, he is being taken to hospital after suffering a heart attack in 2006.

COLOMBO: Amid a declaration by the Sri Lanka military that the number of civilians who have fled the no-fire zone (NFZ) since Monday morning has crossed the 1-lakh mark, two senior LTTE officials have surrendered to the security forces.

They are Daya Master, head of the Tigers’ Media and Publicity Division, and George Master, who served as interpreter to Thamilchelvam, political head of the LTTE who was killed in an air raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force in 2007.

In view of the fast-paced developments and their implications, President Mahinda Rajapaksa is believed to be despatching his Senior Advisor and brother, Basil Rajapaksa, to New Delhi.

The fight between the forces and the Tigers is now confined to approximately 8 sq. km. still under the control of the LTTE in the NFZ.

The two LTTE officials crossed over to the government-controlled territory along with a group of fleeing civilians and disclosed their identities to military officials at the check-point. The defection is a big blow to a battered LTTE and shatters the myth of discipline among the Tiger cadres and leaders.

It is rare for senior Tiger cadres to surrender. Leaders and cadres are supposed to wear a chain round their neck with a cyanide capsule and are expected to consume it if they sense the danger of being captured alive.

With the influx of refugees arriving from the NFZ turning into a tide, the Army is convinced that time is running out for the remaining LTTE cadres holed up, among the civilians, in the safe zone. The question uppermost in the minds of everyone is whether the military could succeed in getting LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran dead or alive.

Based on intelligence inputs and information garnered from the newly arrived civilians, the military is convinced that Prabakaran and other top-rung LTTE leaders are in the NFZ. Yet speculation persists that the LTTE chief could be elsewhere.

Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa said Prabakaran had spurned the possibility of the government pardoning him by his refusal to give up arms and surrender, and must now face the consequences of his acts.

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