Sri Lanka says troops have captured rebel capital

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka-Government forces captured the Tamil Tigers' de facto capital in northern Sri Lanka on Friday, dealing a devastating blow to the rebels' quarter-century fight for an independent state, the president said.But in a sign the rebels retained their ability to strike back, a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide attacker on a motorcycle detonated a bomb near the air force headquarters in the heart of Colombo during Friday's afternoon rush hour, killing two airmen, police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara said.The attacker, who was targeting troops as they left work, wounded 30 other people, including nine airmen, he said.The blast pierced the festive mood that had swept across the capital after President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced the fall of Kilinochchi in a nationally televised speech. "Our brave and heroic troops have fully captured Kilinochchi, which was considered the main bastion of the LTTE," he said, referring to the rebels by their formal name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam."For the last time, I call upon the LTTE to lay down their arms and surrender."Across Colombo, people lit firecrackers, danced in the streets and waved Sri Lankan flags.Kilinochchi held great symbolic value as the center of the Tamil Tigers' de facto state and its capture by government forces for the first time in a decade was sure to badly damage the rebels' morale. The rebels used the town as their headquarters and created structures for an independent state, such as police, courts and tax offices.But the rebel-affiliated TamilNet Web site said the Tamil Tigers had moved their headquarters further to the northeast before the town fell. Kilinochchi does not lie along a key crossroads or house major rebel bases or armories, and military analysts said its strategic value was not great.Rebel officials were not immediately available for comment, but they have said in the past that they would fight on even if Kilinochchi fell.The rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland in the north and east for Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization by successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.

By KRISHAN FRANCIS, Associated Press Writer
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As in the days of Noah.....