Prabakaran reported killed in military operations; Defence Secretary Rajapaksa: Army operations were conducted against terrorists; Russia, China, Japan and Vietnam express interest in assisting in rehabilitation and resettlement efforts
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    • Sri Lankan government and LTTE sources indicated that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was dead. LTTE spokesperson Selvarasa Pathmanathan stated that the organisation would now employ “non-violent methods to fight for Tamil cause1.” Pathmanathan, who heads the LTTE's international relations wing, stated that though the Sri Lankan government has been successful in ousting the LTTE, it should realise that the victory of the Sri Lankan Army was a “hollow victory” and added that the government had lost the trust of Tamilians2.

    Government sources meanwhile indicated that it could take as long as two years for the rehabilitation of displaced people inside the country3. The government had earlier stated that most of the displaced civilians would be resettled by the end of the year4.

    Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told reporters that the Sri Lankan army operations were against terrorists and that the LTTE had eliminated moderate Tamil political leadership and destroyed Tamilian culture since it came into existence. He also urged that Sri Lanka should aspire to be a country where people from all communities, religions and ethnicities could co-exist together5.

    In other developments, countries like Russia, China, Japan and Vietnam have expressed their interest in assisting Colombo in its rehabilitation and resettlement efforts.

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