President Rajapaksa vows fight to finish campaign against Tiger

Colombo, Mar 3 (UNI) Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed a fight to finish campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels and said that there would be no 'pause' in the ongoing military onslaught against the rebels until then.

''Until such time every inch of land is captured and the last terrorist is destroyed, the Government will not cease its liberation operations against the LTTE,'' the state-run Daily News newspaper has quoted President Rajapaksa as saying at a public rally at Ratnapura yesterday.

President Rajapaksa's remarks have come at a time when the advancing government troops and the fighting formations of the Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in intense battles mainly in the Wanni region.

Over 5000 people have been killed since December 2005.

Appraising the people on the current political scenario and the future development programmes of his government, President Rajapaksa has said that his government would not beg on bended knees for international ''aid and subsidies'' under any circumstances.

''We are no longer a poor country thriving on aid and subsidies of the world. Our per capita income has risen to 1,625 dollar now.

We need not put our head down to anybody, but we are prepared to listen to constructive criticism and prudent advice of others,'' President Rajapaksa has said.

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