President declares war 'victory'Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, flashing a broad smile, declared victory Tuesday in the country's 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.
A crowd beside a portrait of Sri Lanka's president celebrate the country's military victory on May 18.
"We are celebrating the defeat of terrorism," he said in a nationally televised speech before parliament. "We have won and restored democracy in the country."
Rajapaksa announced that Wednesday would be a national holiday, to celebrate the war's end and begin a new phase in the country's history.
It is time for Sri Lanka to build "a new country ... a new nation," he said, calling "the defeat of Tamil terrorism ... a victory for the Tamil people."
"What have they given the Tamil people?" Rajapaksa asked, suggesting that the war had cost them far more than they had gained. With the war over, he said, Sri Lanka would begin to restore government services to Tamil areas.
The United Nations, meanwhile, urged the government to provide more for the 65,000 people who had fled the last fighting in the past few days. It said there were now 265,000 displaced people in the country.
A short time after the presidential address, the military announced that it had recovered the body of Tamil Tiger founder and leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. A local television station aired video it said showed his body.
The "psychopathic leader of the world's most barbaric terrorist outfit ... has been found," confirmed Gen. Sarath Fonseka, commander of the Sri Lankan army, according to the Ministry of Defense Web site. "Troops ... have found the bullet ridden body of the terrorist leader lying on the bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon," the ministry reported.
But earlier in the day, the pro-rebel Web site Tamilnet.com reported that the Tigers' leader was "alive and safe," countering previous military claims.
A crowd beside a portrait of Sri Lanka's president celebrate the country's military victory on May 18.
"We are celebrating the defeat of terrorism," he said in a nationally televised speech before parliament. "We have won and restored democracy in the country."
Rajapaksa announced that Wednesday would be a national holiday, to celebrate the war's end and begin a new phase in the country's history.
It is time for Sri Lanka to build "a new country ... a new nation," he said, calling "the defeat of Tamil terrorism ... a victory for the Tamil people."
"What have they given the Tamil people?" Rajapaksa asked, suggesting that the war had cost them far more than they had gained. With the war over, he said, Sri Lanka would begin to restore government services to Tamil areas.
The United Nations, meanwhile, urged the government to provide more for the 65,000 people who had fled the last fighting in the past few days. It said there were now 265,000 displaced people in the country.
A short time after the presidential address, the military announced that it had recovered the body of Tamil Tiger founder and leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. A local television station aired video it said showed his body.
The "psychopathic leader of the world's most barbaric terrorist outfit ... has been found," confirmed Gen. Sarath Fonseka, commander of the Sri Lankan army, according to the Ministry of Defense Web site. "Troops ... have found the bullet ridden body of the terrorist leader lying on the bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon," the ministry reported.
But earlier in the day, the pro-rebel Web site Tamilnet.com reported that the Tigers' leader was "alive and safe," countering previous military claims.
