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Pottu Amman dead but body could not be identified: Gotabhaya

Rajapaksa, the brother of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that top LTTE leaders tried to flee through land or sea, but failed.

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Sri Lanka is "100 per cent" sure that its forces killed LTTE intelligence chief during the last phase of army offensive against the rebels, but admitted that Pottu Amman's body could not be identifed as the troops were busy with search and destroy operation, a top official said.
    
"We found the body of LTTE sea tiger chief Soosai. We have identified the bodies of all the leaders except Pottu Amman. Our soldiers were on a search and destroy operation and in these circumstances, Pottu Amman's body could not be identified," Sri Lanka's powerful defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has said.

"There were so many bodies we could not identify. All the people who were there were killed and I am 100 per cent sure that Pottu Amman was also killed in the confrontation with Army," Rajapaksa told The Sunday Times.

Rajapaksa, the brother of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that top LTTE leaders tried to flee through land or sea, but failed as the military cornered them with their fool-proof plans and killed them.

"There is no big story behind it. Tactically, the military cornered them and all the leaders were killed. Our military plans were superior and that's what happened. There should be no speculation or suspicion," he said.

Rajapaksa said if the LTTE political leaders Puladeevan and Nadesan had wanted to surrender, there were ample opportunities because more than 25,000 LTTE cadres surrendered up to the last day.

"Previously, leaders like Daya Master surrendered. If they wanted to surrender they could have done that," Rajapaksa told the daily.

There are many immediate tasks for the military because security is still a prime concern, Rajapaksa said.

"Though we have destroyed the LTTE and its leadership, we have to ensure the security of the country so that remnants of the LTTE cannot start this kind of thing again," he said adding there were still lots of arms caches in the jungles which has to be found.

"Our military is to play a major role in the de-mining process. The protection of our seas is very important and that is a major task for the navy. They have to develop their maritime surveillance system throughout the country," he said.

Rajapaksa said in the nearly three-year-long offensive, the Sri Lankan army lost nearly 6,000 men, mainly from the army with around 2,500 being permanently disabled.

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