Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Sri Lanka: are the Tamil Tigers about to be crushed?

Kilinochchi town in northern Sri Lanka is an unimpressive looking place - a few kilometres of low buildings straggling along the main A9 road. 

There are some shops and a market, and a couple of places to eat. 

But Kilinochchi is symbolically important as the Tamil Tigers have made it their administrative headquarters. 

Now Sri Lanka's military says its troops are just 5.5km (3.5 miles) from the town, and the United Nations pulled its last team of staff from the area on Tuesday.

(...)

One cabinet minister told the BBC recently troops would take Kilinochchi "sooner even than people think". 

Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa was reluctant to give an exact timeframe, when he held a rare meeting with foreign journalists on Monday. 

But, pressed, he did say: "We know they are getting weak." 

He added the only option for the Tigers was to put down their weapons and surrender. 

"There is a high degree of optimism, as if it's [as easy as] turning a page from a book," said Iqbal Athas, a defence columnist with Sri Lanka's Sunday Times. Full story...

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