Sri Lanka's president has repeated a vow to crush the Tamil Tigers before conducting “peace talks” to end Asia's longest-running ethnic conflict.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, addressing a public rally in this southern heartland of the majority Sinhalese on December 26, said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will not resume peace talks without first being militarily defeated.
"We are for a political settlement. But there is no point in talking about a political settlement without first defeating terrorism," the president said during a ceremony marking the third anniversary of the Asian tsunami.
"The LTTE is not interested in negotiations. They must be made to realise that problems cannot be solved through the barrel of a gun," he said, adding that the Tigers must be forced to lay down arms.
He said security forces had already scored major victories against the guerrillas in the past year and hoped to build on them.
"Like we overcame the tsunami tragedy, we will face the threat of terrorism and overcome it soon," he said at the tightly guarded Sanath Jayasuriya grounds in this coastal town 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Colombo.
The president, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said the military wrested control over the eastern province from the Tigers in July after heavy fighting and there would be no let up in the military drive.
Rajapakse's brother Gotabhaya, who is the country's defence secretary, had earlier announced that security forces will move to dismantle the mini state of the Tigers in the north of the island.
Heavy fighting in the north of the island has claimed a high death toll among combatants since a Norwegian-arranged truce began to unravel since December 2005, according to both sides.
"We have recorded unprecedented military gains and they, no doubt, will pave the way for a political solution," Rajapakse said.
"There is no point in talking about a political solution without militarily crushing terrorism."
Lanka's army chief said the leader of the country's Tamil Tiger rebels could be dead within six months and the military's aim is to kill 10 rebels a day, a newspaper report said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Sri Lank Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka was quoted by the state-run surrounded the northern LTTE held Vanni and that there were only 3,000 Tigers left.
"The LTTE could not prevent losing their remaining 3,000 cadres and there is no assurance that the LTTE leader would survive for the next six months as the Air Force plans to attack all the LTTE bases," Fonseka said.
"Our daily target is to kill at least 10 LTTE terrorists and for the last few months over 500 LTTE ... have been killed by the armed forces," Fonseka claimed.
"We have weakened the LTTE by 50 percent or more and we are confident we can go that extra mile in the coming year."
The Tigers have been outlawed as a terrorist group by a host of nations, including the United States, Britain and the European Union.
