I would prefer to catch Prabha alive: MR

The President has said that the war is “almost over,” and asked for the international community to assist in disbanding the LTTE support structure
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said Colombo would extradite Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, if caught alive, to India - but after first putting him through trial in his own country.
In an interview with CNN IBN channel, Rajapaksa said it was, ‘almost over’ for the LTTE chief, and he could be caught very soon.
The President also noted that he would prefer Prabakaran to be caught alive, so that he could show the world who he really was.
Asked whether Prabhakaran would be extradited to India, Rajapaksa said: ‘First he will have to go through our trial… And then we might send him to India.’
“Why should I keep him? India has the right- as he is the man who was responsible for killing Rajiv Gandhi (former Indian Prime Minister in 1991), one of the greatest leaders,” he said.
Rajapaksa also denied that instructions to limit the use of heavy weaponry was a cease fire, and insisted that the humanitarian rescue operation would continue.
“No. It is not a ceasefire. We are freeing the people who are kept there as hostages. That is my duty. So the Army is now only helping the civilians. We want to get the civilians out from there. It was at the Security Council where we finally thought that we have to do this, because for the first time we made a statement saying that we are not using heavy weapons and attacks. An area which was called a ‘no-fire zone’ was declared by the army on a day-to-day basis. So we managed to send them (civilians) to the ‘no-fire zone’. And the LTTE also took them there, thinking that they can escape from the sea. But now they realised that they can’t move forward. But still they are using heavy weapons inside. They have heavy weapons inside the ‘no-fire zone’,” he reiterated.

Responding to a question on the capture of the LTTE leader and other LTTE members, and what the government plans to do with them, the President responded saying, “You know I would prefer to catch them alive. We don’t want to kill them. We want to get them alive and tell the world ‘these are the terrorists’, these are the people. They are the people who have deprived the Tamil people of their rights in Sri Lanka. For 30 years they the people) were suffering without development, and little else. They built bunkers for themselves, the people were never given food which the government sent them, and their children had no education. The children of LTTE leaders on the other hand were educated in various universities and colleges abroad. But not these people. They are suffering. They were given cyanide and a gun - a T-56 - in their hands. Prabhakaran’s son and daughter all were given a good life and a university education. So they must know, the people must know who they are. That’s why I want them alive.

The President concluded the interview by requesting the assistance of the international community to dismantle the support structure of the LTTE and aid the rehabilitation of the civilians displaced by the conflict. “This is where the international community comes in. They must help. There are organisations that collect money and buy weapons. I think this is where we would like to see other countries take action. We will not allow anyone else to reorganise the LTTE again or re-organise terrorism again in this country.”

He denied that there was a humanitarian crisis, insisting that “there is no crisis as such but suddenly 200,000 people come to your side fleeing from the LTTE clutches, we have to provide them food and shelter and we have managed to do that. If you go around Sri Lanka you will see in temples, churches, organisations which we have managed to mobilise to provide the people with basics. And some of the countries, of course are helping. When it come to development that is crisis. This is where the international community must come in and help us in the reconstruction of destroyed areas.”