Earlier in the day, the Tamil Net, which acts as the official voice of the Tigers on the web, claimed that Prabhakaran was not killed and was very much alive. The web site, however, did not say a word about the wheeabouts of the LTTE leader.
Rubbishing the claim, the General told the State RAdio, ‘The good news from the war front is that the body of the leader of the terrorist organisation which destroyed the country for the last 30 years, Prabahakaran, has been found this morning by the army’.
Prabhakaran, 54, was shot dead by Sri Lankan special forces as he and his top aides drive away in an armour-plated van accompanied by a clutch of rebels in a bus.
Smoke billows from what was the Tigers’s last refuge
A two-hour exchange of fire followed and the forces fired a rocket at the van brining an end to the battle, according to the army officials, who stated that Prabhakaran’s body was pulled out from the van and identified.
Also on Tuesday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, announcing the end of LTTE in Parliament, declared the protection of the Tamil population was the responsibility of his government. He started his speech in Tamil and later switched over to Sinhala. He stated ‘Protection of all people, including Tamils, is my duty and responsibility".
