The so-called Tokyo Co-Chairs have risen from a deep slumber and, apparently still in their pyjamas, fired a statement on the situation here asking the LTTE to disarm and calling for a temporary 'no-fire period' to facilitate the evacuation of the sick and the wounded.

The Co-Chairs' concern for the hapless civilians should be appreciated. But, it is patently clear that they do not know the LTTE for what it really is. Else, they would never have expected it to respect international humanitarian laws. How can an outfit–led by a butcher of the ilk of Hitler and Pol Pot–which specialises in recruiting child soldiers, brainwashing orphans et al into blowing themselves up, bombing civilians centres and committing massacres and other crimes against humanity, be expected to have any respect for humanitarian laws?

The Co-Chairs admit that 'international efforts to persuade the LTTE to allow the civilians’ freedom of movement have failed'. But, in the same breadth, they 'call on the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to declare a temporary no-fire period to allow for evacuation of sick and wounded and provision of aid to civilians'. (Note that they have avoided the term 'ceasefire' and, instead, used 'no-fire period'. They seem to be careful not to evoke our painful memories of the disastrous 2002 ceasefire which stood the LTTE in good stead and almost led to Sri Lanka’s dismemberment.) Have the Co-Chairs forgotten that the government gave the LTTE 48 hours to release civilians the other day but the latter did not reciprocate much to the consternation of even Tamil Nadu politicians?

The LTTE, the Co-Chairs should realise, will never let go of civilians it is using as a human shield. Those people are hostages. And they must be rescued. Prabhakaran, who sacrifices even his most loyal cadres for a macabre cause without any hesitation is capable of killing any number of civilians unflinchingly and blaming it on the military to jolt the international community into intervening to stop the war so that he could escape.

Never will the LTTE lay down arms. Not even the mighty Indian army could achieve the feat of making Prabhakaran disarm. Nothing could be more ludicrous than the Co-Chairs' call for the LTTE to participate in a process to achieve a just and lasting political solution as a political party. It may be recalled that the EU Parliament, on Sept. 08, 2006, ‘condemned 'the intransigence of the LTTE leadership over the years, which has successively rejected so many possible ways forward, including devolution at the provincial level or Provincial Councils; devolution at the regional level or Regional Councils; as well as the concept of a federation with devolution at the national level'.

The 4.5-billion-dollar question is whether the Co-Chairs believe the LTTE can be made to accept a solution other than a separate state. They will find it easier to persuade bin Laden to convert Al Qaeda into a political party and contest elections in Afghanistan! They are only expecting a Tigress to deliver a fawn!

The Co-Chairs should recall that Prabhakaran renewed his order to his cadres, at a press conference he gave after signing the CFA in the Vanni in April 2002, to kill him if he settled for anything less than Eelam. Do they think he wants to be killed by a cadre? He, we believe, will prefer cyanide.

The Co-Chairs say, "There remains probably only a short period of time before the LTTE loses control of all areas in the North." So, on their admission, the ‘invincible LTTE’has finally been crushed! Ironically, it was they who placed a part of Sri Lanka under the LTTE’s control through a CFA and asked the UNF government to negotiate a settlement with Prabhakaran. Their action proved to be disastrous to this country in that the LTTE used the truce to smuggle in large quantities of arms and to acquire new capabilities such as a crude air wing and submarines. Had that truce lasted a few more months, today the LTTE would have been in a position to pose a threat to vital sea routes around Sri Lanka and India with a fleet of submarines at its disposal.

The Co-Chairs want the LTTE to discuss, inter alia, 'acceptance of the Government of Sri Lanka's offer of amnesty'. Is this some kind of bailout package? Prabhakaran, Pottu Amman and other criminals must be given no amnesty as Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told this newspaper recently. They must be tried and hanged, if captured alive, while others are rehabilitated and helped to enter the democratic mainstream.