I want Prabhakaran alive: President-Sri Lanka
I want Prabhakaran alive: President
Rules out Federalism, says maximum devolution under a unitary govt.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa says he wants LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran captured alive to face charges of crimes committed by him including the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi who was killed by a suicide bomber during an election rally in India.
In an interview with the India Today, Managing Editor, Raj Chengappa, President Rajapaksa also reiterated he would negotiate with the LTTE only if they laid down arms and warned that if not, the government would have no option but to continue with the military operations.
"For the crimes he (Prabhakaran) has committed, he needs to be tried and I would like to send him to India too for he killed a leader who would have changed the face of not just India but the whole region .Either the LTTE accept a political solution by giving up arms and terrorist activities or we will have to curtail their moves.
“The Government can't kneel down to terrorists. They can't have their cake and eat it too. Ceasefire will give them time again. We don't want them to strengthen themselves and attack us.
We want a final solution," the President said.
While the government and the military had earlier assured the LTTE would be wiped out by the end of this year, President Rajapaksa said it might take a little bit longer.
"We would have cleared them out of the remaining areas long ago but we also had to ensure no civilians were killed. I would say, in a year and a half, we might be able to do it."
The President, who said the defence spending of the country was 3.5 per cent of the GDP, also says he did not want to waste time on solutions that were not practical just to satisfy the international community adding that they might look good on paper but would be burnt in Parliament.
In his interview President Rajapaksa also said as part of measures to resolve the conflict the government had already started taking steps to ensure the implementation of the official language policy by promoting the learning and usage of Tamil in administration.
Asked if he had the support of the opposition to implement his peace proposals including the 13th Amendment, the President questioned how the UNP could oppose it when its own government had passed the 13th Amendment.
"Only the JVP is the problem. But let's not forgot that the JVP has asked for more powers for the provinces and even participated in Provincial Councils," he added.
The President also ruled out Federalism saying historically the word was suspect and was linked with separatism and stressed that maximum devolution under a unitary government was the mandate that he had been given and it was only that which he would implement.
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