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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka's Tigers say no surrender despite setbacks |
| 2008-12-24 |
| Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tigers on Tuesday vowed to fight on even if they lose more territory inside the area they want to establish as a separate nation for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority. In an e-mail interview from an undisclosed location in northern Sri Lanka, Balasingham Nadesan, political head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), said the group's "freedom struggle does not centre on a town or a city". "Losing land and recapturing it is common. It is not the real estate that matters. Our freedom struggle will continue to create war towns until our struggle reaches its goal -- until we win," he said. He rejected President Mahinda Rajapaksa's precondition that the rebels surrender their arms before coming for peace talks, which the Tigers have offered. "A peace talk at this juncture would not be possible as government has asked the LTTE to lay down their arms and surrender," he said. Nadesan admitted the Tigers had faced some recent setbacks in the war, but said their options for fighting back included sabotage against Sri Lanka's $32 billion economy. "The destruction of the economy is also an aspect of our defensive war. When the economy of the government is destroyed, its genocidal war against the people will also be weakened," Nadesan said, without elaborating on what the LTTE may do. "We will teach a good lesson to the forces in this Kilinochchi battle," Nadesan said, adding, "We are waiting for the time, place and setting to launch a offensive.""Our military capabilities are intact and we have no difficulties in acquiring weapons," he said. "We have confidence and we will regain the swathes of land." Refugees: Separately, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday thousands of Tamils fleeing heavy fighting in the north of Sri Lanka were trapped by the government and being denied basic provisions. People who have fled areas under control of the LTTE rebels to seek safety in government-controlled regions are detained in army-run camps, the New York-based rights group said in a report. "Civilians are trapped in a war zone with limited aid because the government ordered the UN and other aid workers out," HRW's Asia director Brad Adams said "To add insult to injury, people who manage to flee the fighting end up being held indefinitely in army-run prison camps." HRW said the camps were short of shelter and sanitation. "The government's 'welfare centres' for civilians fleeing the Wanni are just badly disguised prisons," said Adams. "The sad irony is that many of those now detained by the government were fleeing LTTE abuses." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Tamil Tigers are not cowards to surrender to Pigs. They are sooo cute when they're trying to be brave. |
| Posted by: Milton Fandano 2008-12-24 23:23 |
| #5 Tamil Tigers: Do you expect us to surrender, Sri Lanka? Sri Lanka: No, Mr. Tigers...we expect you to die! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-12-24 14:48 |
| #4 LOL! Tamils Tamils Bright as a Camel Whar'd ye little boats go? |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-12-24 10:18 |
| #3 LOL - itsa Mario's defender! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-12-24 08:29 |
| #2 Keep it up Nadesan. Tamil Tigers are not cowards to surrender to Pigs. They will fight back. |
| Posted by: vasanth 2008-12-24 08:25 |
| #1 Hey Mr. Adams, how many of them are LTTE trying to infiltrate with the civilians? |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-12-24 00:44 |