KATHMANDU, April 22: Two senior members of the beleaguered separatist rebel leadership of Sri Lanka, who have been holed up in a small stretch of land in the north, surrendered to the Sri Lankan military, Wednesday.
The Sri Lanka Army said in its website that the number of LTTE members having given into the army has reached 3,000. [break]
The army said that media coordinator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velayudam Thayanidhi alias Daya Master and another leader identified as “George” surrendered to the army along with their family members at a place called Puthumathalan.
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“The surrender… of the LTTE Media Spokesman (Daya Master) came about as a rude shock to the outfit and its expatriates who have been pumping hard currency into the LTTE coffers,” said the army website.
The army said George, the translator of late LTTE political head Thamil Chelvam, had been actively assisting the LTTE organization in its documentary work after the death of Chelvam.
“With the surrender of DAYA MASTER and GEORGE today, the total number of self-confessed LTTE cadres who has hitherto surrendered to the Army so far rose to 3,000 by Wednesday afternoon,” said the website. The army also said it gunned down two "leading LTTE leaders" -- Kalandan and Vijayan -- on Tuesday evening.
A deadline for the LTTE to surrender or face a final assault expired at 0630 GMT on Tuesday with no word from the Tigers, reported BBC. The army said Wednesday that 78,000 Tamil civilians have escaped from the last remaining area of territory held by Tamil Tiger rebels in the past three days.
There is no word from LTTE on the army claims.
