Word: sri
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...Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has staked his political future on achieving a military victory over the Tigers, following the collapse of a 2002 cease-fire. The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 to establish a separate homeland in the island's ethnic Tamil-majority areas, a conflict that has claimed more than 70,000 lives. To capture Prabhakaran - dead or alive - would symbolize the successful conclusion of a military offensive that began late in 2006 but has since dragged, despite the capture of nearly every town under Tiger control. Rajapaksa had one message for the Tiger leadership - above...
...Prabhakaran, known among his acolytes simply as "the leader," has been sought by the Sri Lankan authorities ever since the 1976 murder of Alfred Duraiappah, then mayor of the northern city of Jaffna. But until now he has eluded capture in his jungle hideaways and, reportedly, on occasional clandestine trips to other parts of the region. "He is surrounded by the army," says Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, previously known as Colonel Karuna when he served as the LTTE's eastern military commander. "It is now almost impossible to escape undetected. All the top Tiger leaders are still very much in the Vanni...
...Since January, Sri Lankan forces have gained control of at least three heavily fortified bunker complexes previously used by Prabhakaran. Photographs released by the military show heavy fortifications and underground bunkers equipped with air-conditioning - signs that the Tiger leader has been using the hideouts, according to military sources. The army has also recovered insulin containers suspected to have been used by Prabhakaran, who is a diabetic. Independent verification of the discoveries has been impossible due to restrictions on media access to the combat zone, though the military's claims have not been contradicted by the LTTE...
...body and not allow it to be discovered by government forces, but Prabhakaran's intentions - let alone his whereabouts - are difficult to determine. "He rarely allows anyone other than his trusted lieutenants to get physically near him," says retired Indian army intelligence officer Ramani Hariharan, who was stationed in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990. "Now probably very few people even among the top LTTE leaders - so few are alive today - will have direct access...
...even if Prabhakaran could get out, few countries would be willing to accept the LTTE leader. "It is very unlikely that any country will offer asylum to Prabhakaran, as he has an indictment and arrest warrant against him in India and Sri Lanka," Jayasekara says. The Indian government has accused Prabhakaran of ordering the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. "It is more likely that Prabhakaran will get his children out of Sri Lanka to provide inspirational support in the future. The entire family of [Prabhakaran's wife] Madhivadini is in Denmark, and the children will have...