LTTE cannot defeat govt - President

The LTTE has no alternative but to stray from the path of violence and enter negotiations as the LTTE will never be able to defeat the government and this had been clearly spelt out to them, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the Asia Society Conference in New York this week.

The President said that the defensive measures taken by government troops was to safeguard the people and the nation from LTTE terrorist attacks. "It was a measure to bring them to the negotiating table", he said.

The organisers had to arrange additional seats to accommodate the participants who turned up to listen to the President unexpectedly. A large number of world leaders, delegates, politicians and professionals were also present.

The President sought the cooperation of the international community towards his government's effort to find a durable solution through an all party framework.

President Rajapaksa said that throughout his political career he had fought for the protection of human rights and stressed that the value of human rights should be the base of any solution. "If human freedom is made a bait, the value of peace is lost", the President said.