Sri Lanka says all civilians out of war zone

By BHARATHA MALLWARACHI, Associated Press Writer

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The last remaining civilians trapped by fighting in northern Sri Lanka poured across the front lines Sunday as Tamil Tiger suicide bombers targeted troops in the final battles of the quarter-century civil war, the military said.

The tattered and nearly defeated rebel group offered to lay down its arms to protect the wounded in the war zone.

"This battle has reached its bitter end," rebel official Selvarasa Pathmanathan said in a statement. "It is our people who are dying now from bombs, shells, illness and hunger. We cannot permit any more harm to befall them. We remain with one last choice — to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns."

There was no immediate government response, but Sri Lankan officials have repeatedly ignored rebel calls for a cease-fire in recent months.

Meanwhile, President Mahinda Rajapaksa scheduled a nationally televised news conference for Tuesday morning at Parliament, where he was expected to tell the nation the war was over.

Troops on Sunday killed at least 70 rebels trying to escape the 0.4-square mile (one-square kilometer) patch of land that government troops have surrounded, the military said. However, the Tamil Tigers' top commanders remained at large. The military said the rebel leadership was likely still in the conflict zone and was planning a mass suicide.

Thousands of Sri Lankans poured into the streets Sunday morning, dancing and setting off celebratory fireworks, after Rajapaksa made an initial declaration of victory in the country's civil war with the separatist rebels.

"We are celebrating a victory against terrorism," said Sujeewa Anthonis, a 32-year-old street hawker.

As the fighting raged on in recent days, concerns mounted for the fate of the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone amid heavy shelling and intense fighting.

But 63,000 civilians fled the area over the past 72 hours, clearing the way for the government to finish off the rebels, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said Sunday. With most journalists and aid workers barred from the war zone, it was not possible to verify the assertion.