The beginning of the end for Sri Lanka's war

It is surely the beginning of the end. The end of a generation-long brutal civil war in Sri Lanka. And without question the most secret war of our age.

I’ve personally spent nights wandering lost in the Sri Lankan jungles of the northeast only to end up in a Sri Lankan police cell, simply trying to evade the government forces in order to report the war independently.

Mind you the Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE) have not helped themselves by also refusing reporters access to the war zone.

So it is that we end up with what must be one of the largest instances of human shields in modern world history. Tens of thousands of people crammed into the no-fire strip of coconut groves along the north east coast as the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) pound Tiger position all around.

Or at least they used to pound them. In the past few days the Tigers have been pushed out from every where except that no-fire zone. Word is they are digging in there to make their last stand. And when that fails?

Out will come the cyanide capsules each Tiger wears round their neck. One bite on the capsule and it’s all over.

The elusive, almost mythical leader of the Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran is reportedly in that no-fire zone. The Sri Lankan Army claims to have overrun his bunker, found his bullet-proofed car, his photo album, even his birth certificate. But the chances of taking alive the man who has come to personify the Tamils war for independence are surely tiny.

The Sri Lankan Army say they are in no hurry to press home their now overwhelming advantage, mercifully so since this would mean fighting inside what is effectively one large refugee camp. Let us hope they remain patient and some kind of negotiated ceasefire/surrender can be sought with as little bloodshed as possible.

But this violent struggle, kept largely from our TV screens and newspapers, does not have a happy history on that score. No wonder thousands of Tamils have been protesting along Westminster Bridge in central London this morning and for much of the night.

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