COLOMBO: The LTTE would be totally defeated in the next 48 hours, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Thursday. The last small patch of land on which the LTTE was holding innocent Tamil civilians hostage would be liberated and the civilians rescued in the next 48 hours, he said.
‘‘We have already taken steps to settle over 200,000 displaced persons in the north. The next step would be to offer a political solution to the problems of Tamil people to prevent fragmentation of the country. My aim is to provide a free nation for all people to live in dignity and honour,’’ Rajapaksa said.
Meanwhile, security forces have been put on high alert in Colombo following intelligence inputs that the LTTE might strike even as a suspected suicide bomber jumped to death on Friday from a multi-storeyed building to evade arrest.
Intelligence agencies have indicated the possibility of the Tiger rebels striking Colombo after being cornered in a narrow area in the north east, an army official said.
‘‘We have put the security on alert in Colombo and adjoining areas as the LTTE is facing complete defeat in the few areas that is left under its control in the No-Fire Zone, the official said.
Earlier in the day, police detected a 32-year-old LTTE suspect in a building in the suburbs of the capital.
While four suicide jackets were allegedly recovered from his possession, the man jumped to death from the 7th floor apartment.
The state news agency ‘Lankapuvath’ reported that the Sri Lankan navy had intercepted a boat carrying the wife, son, daughter and two other relatives of Soosai, the commander of LTTE’s Sea Tigers. ‘‘With their families trying to escape, it looks as if the LTTE is giving up,’’ commented Sri Lankan army spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara.