DNAs of Prabhakaran, son matched: Lankan military

Slain Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran's DNA has matched with that of his elder son Charles Anthony, who too was killed in the fighting with security forces in Sri Lanka's north, the military said on Thursday.

"Army medical experts have confirmed that DNA tests on Prabhakaran (54) and his son Charles Anthony (24) have matched," military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said.

His remarks came a day after the 'Bottomline' newspaper reported that Prabhakaran's body was identified by his two former aides with the help of certain scars and birth marks. Federal minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralidaran, alias Karuna Amman, one time close confidante of Prabhakaran, and Daya Master, the former LTTE media spokesman who had surrendered recently, identified the Tiger supremo's body after he was killed on May 18, it said.

"They identified and confirmed that the body recovered was that of Prabhakaran. Certain scars and birth marks had helped them in identification. Thus, the Army was able to squash all rumours regarding Prabhakaran being alive," the newspaper said.

Army chief Gen Sarath Fonseka earlier said that the LTTE supremo's body had been cremated by Sri Lankan security forces in the island's north.

"We cremated the body in the same area (from where it was recovered) and threw the ashes into the (Indian) ocean," Fonseka told the Rivira newspaper in an interview.