President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that he does not know where LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is hiding, but there would be no let up in the mission to capture him.

Talking to members of the Foreign Correspondents Association(FCA), at Temple Trees recently, he said that the exact location of Prabhakaran’s hideout is not known, but the security forces were surely but slowly closing in on the LTTE’s northern operations command.

"We are determined to capture Prabhakaran and our ground forces are quite capable of executing the mission."

Asked about an allegation by Western Province Peoples Front leader Mano Ganeshan that Basil Rajapaksa and the late Jeyaraj Fernandopulle had asked him (Ganeshan), to establish a link with the LTTE prior to the last Presidential Election, Rajapaksa said. "That is false. You think, we are going to send Mano Ganeshan of all people."

Rajapaksa denied he has any links with the LTTE and went on to claim that he had never met Karuna. "In fact I met Pillaiyan for the first time when he came to Colombo to be sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council."

Political sources said that Prabhakaran and one of his sons Charles Anthony, are still in the Wanni. His wife and two other children had been smuggled out of Sri Lanka recently and are said to be in South Africa.