Sri Lankan President vows to 'wipe out terrorists'

(November, 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has vowed to "wipe out terrorists" amid fears of a return to all-out war with the Tamil Tiger rebels, a newspaper report said.

"We put pressure on the group to give up its arms and enter the political mainstream. Terrorists must be wiped out from the earth," Mr Rajapakse told Japan's Asahi Shimbun ahead of a visit to Tokyo next month.

But he said he was willing to negotiate with the Tamil Tigers if they returned to talks.
"We are ready to negotiate," he said.

The Asahi said it conducted the interview on November 15 in Colombo, before the latest surge in fighting.

At least 18 people were killed on Wednesday in two bomb attacks blamed on the Tamil Tigers, including one by a female suicide bomber targeting a government minister from the Tamil minority.

On Tuesday, reclusive Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran vowed to strike back at what he branded the "war of genocide" led by the Colombo government and said peace efforts on the island were a waste of time.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for 35 years for a Tamil homeland in the Sinhala-majority island in a conflict that has left tens of thousands of people dead.

Japan has been the biggest donor to Sri Lanka since the launch of the now moribund peace process, raising $A5.13 billion in foreign aid pledges for the island in 2003.

Mr Rajapakse said he would speak to Japanese officials during his December 8-10 visit about assisting areas the government has recaptured from the rebels, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"In the areas that the LTTE once occupied, people's living standards must be raised," Mr Rajapakse said.

He said he would seek further Japanese assistance in infrastructure, education, health and agriculture for the war-torn areas.
(ABC)