President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his address to the nation at the 61st Independence Anniversary celebrations held at the Galle Face Green yesterday, said that he was confident that in a few days Sri Lanka would defeat the terrorist force that many repeatedly kept saying was invincible.

However, he warned, there are other challenges to overcome.

The President invited Sri Lankans of all ethnicities who had left this country because of the war to return to the motherland.

Nowhere else in the world is a place safer than the land of one’s birth. The war dragged on for over 20 years and now is the time for all Sri Lankans to return to the place of their origin," the President said.

President Rajapaksa said the time was opportune to properly grasp and note what history had presented to the country after 61 years of freedom from colonial rule and to restore Sri Lanka’s dignity.

The President said that he was announcing with pride that the national flag had been raised over a motherland that was being united in keeping with the heartfelt wishes and prayers of the people.

"Our nation became a victim of the most powerful terrorist organisation in the world. We came to the verge of the separatist terrorists achieving their goal of dividing the country and establishing a separate state of Tamil Eelam. We were being compelled by some administrators of that time to accept the so-called peace brought about by the division of the country and the victory of the forces of terror.

President Rajapaksa paid a glowing tribute to the Army, Air Force, Navy, Police, the Police Special Task Force and the Civil Defence Corps for carrying out the tasks before them, jointly and with great dedication.

"It was our heroic forces that gave us the opportunity to celebrate the anniversary of independence today after many years in the dark shadow of terrorism," he said.