The armed forces may launch a July 1976 Entebbe style raid to free civilians under LTTE control in the Mullaitivu ‘No Fire’ Zone, Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said.

Asked as to how the government would overcome the humanitarian situation in Mullaitivu, he said that Sri Lanka’s security forces were very capable and it was within their capability to launch an Entebbe style operation to rescue the civilians being held hostage by the LTTE.

Yapa said that humanitarian missions are nothing new to the armed forces, as proved by the 2006 Muttur operation.

While the government claims that less than 50,000 civilians remain in the ‘No Fire’ Zone, some UN agencies have placed the figure at over 100,000.

Asked if LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was still in Sri Lanka, Yapa said that he was believed to be among the civilians in the ‘No Fire’ Zone.

Referring to protests launched by South Indian Opposition politician Vaiko in support of the LTTE, he said that Vaiko was "small fry in South Indian politics. He leads a tiny party and has no sizeable following. The main political forces in that State are the DMK, ADMK and the Congress Party. We need not worry too much about the noises he makes."

Yapa said that South India has made vast strides in various fields including information technology and the automobile industry. "A person like Vaiko would have no serious audience in such an environment."