COLOMBO, MAY 19 (IANS):The Sri Lankan government Tuesday displayed the battered body of Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, shortly after the rebels claimed he was still alive, while President Mahinda Rajapaksa formally announced the end of the dragging ethnic conflict and offered a political settlement acceptable to all communities.
Sri Lankan authorities scotched rumours that the elusive rebel may have escaped by showing his body. It was found near a lagoon in the island’s north where he was apparently holed up when the pursuing military zeroed in on him.
Contrary to previous claims that he was killed while trying to escape in an ambulance, an officer said Tuesday that the army fought “a really hard battle” against the last of the guerrillas, perhaps including Prabhakaran, the legendary leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).


“The final concluding operations were done yesterday (Monday). We had a really hard battle between the hardcore terrorists from early hours to the late afternoon,” defence ministry spokesperson Lakshman Hulugalle told Times Now television.
On Monday, it was stated that the ambulance in which the LTTE chief was said to be fleeing caught fire, apparently burning his face, after being attacked by soldiers determined to kill him. “There are no burn marks,” Hulugalle admitted. Prabhakaran’s body, placed on a stretcher, was in his trademark battle fatigues, the eyes wide open. Soldiers standing around him had placed a handkerchief on the head, seemingly to cover portions that appeared to have been blown away.
Found on his body was a tag bearing number 001, indicating his membership number in the LTTE.


In Colombo, President Rajapaksa, flush with a military victory that had eluded all his predecessors for decades, told parliament: “Today, we have been able to liberate the whole country from LTTE terrorism. We have been able to defeat one of the most heinous terrorist groups in the world.”
Earlier Tuesday, a stunned LTTE, still retaining a lot of support abroad, said it “categorically rejected” government claims that Prabhakaran was dead.
“I wish to inform the global Tamil community distressed witnessing the final events of the war that our beloved leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is alive and safe,” LTTE’s international relations head S Pathmanathan was quoted as saying by a pro-LTTE website, Tamilnet.com, which usually puts out the rebels’ version on the battle with the Sri Lankan armed forces. “He (Prabhakaran) will continue to lead the quest for dignity and freedom for the Tamil people,” he said. The website, however, did not give the details of Prabhakaran’s location