President offers Prabha to India

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised to deliver LTTE chief Vellapulai Prabhakaran to India if his forces catch him, and if India officially asks for his extradition. The President’s comments came during an interview with the Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on the India’s 24 hour news channel NDTV's Walk the Talk programme yesterday.

“If they (India) ask me I will send him there. Why not? No question. He has killed so many people,” President Rajapaksa said when he was asked if actually Mr. Prabhakaran was caught what would be done to him. “I wonder if India is serious about getting him. He allegedly killed India's much loved leader. I don't think India will pardon him for that,” the President said.

He said though there was no cease-fire agreement and fighting was on, he believed that talks also could be continued. “If the LTTE attacked the forces, they will respond,” he said. President Rajapaksa said that with the experience he had found that the LTTE was not genuine and it was exploiting the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA).

He said that if the LTTE could hand over its weapons to an independent mediator like India or members from the SAARC countries, he was prepared to negotiate.“I trust neighbours, let them handle it if they are ready,” he said. He said he believed if President Premadasa had allowed the IPKF to continue for three more months, they would have been able to achieve something for the country and probably finished the LTTE.