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Heavy fighting as Lanka troops near rebel capital

Pro-LTTE party protests military operation

AFP, Pl I, Colombo
Intense battles gripped Sri Lanka's northern Wanni region as government forces stepped up pressure on the Tamil rebel political capital, the defence ministry said yesterday.
Scores of rebels were killed and many more wounded in Thursday's fighting west of Mankulam, a key town on the road to die rebel political headquarters at Kilinochchi, further north, die ministry said in a statement.
It did not give military casualties, but said the bodies of seven members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were captured by security forces following Thursday's batdes.
Government forces have been fighting for months to take Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (just over 200 miles) north of the capital Colombo. Heavy monsoon rains and Intense rebel resistance had slowed the military onslaught.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the defence minister, asked the Tigers on Thursday to lay down arms and surrender.
"My earnest plea to the terrorist is to lay-down arms and join die democratic process, even at this late stage," die president said while unveiling a war- budget in parliament.
"If not, they would be militarily defeated. We have come to a stage in which we believe that we should and we can eradicate terrorism," he said.
Tens of thousands of people have died on both sides since 1972, when the LTTE launched its campaign to carve out an independent state in the Sinhalese-majority island of 20 million people.
Meanwhile, a pro-LTTE political party in Srl Lunka has protested the ongoing military operations in the north, even as the government hiked defence spending to a record USD 1.6 billion to fund the campaign against the Tigers.
The pro liger Tamil National Alliance (TNA) stayed away from die budget presentation as a mark of protest against the military campaign in the north, as President Mahinda Rajapaksa warned the LTTE to surrender or face defeat.
The TNA, which staged a walk out, has 22 representatives in die 225 member Sri Lankan Parliament.
Besides announcing plans to raise defence spending by seven per cent to a record figure of USD 1.6 billion in 2009, Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the finance minister, also proposed to spend Rs 3000 million (Sri Lankan rupees) to rehabilitate LTTE members joining the democratic stream.
He also announced a one per cent tax on most goods and services to "rebuild communities and infrastructure facilities affected by terrorism," while downgrading the economic growtii of die country reeling under a double-digit inflation.
"My earnest plea to the rebels is to give up arms and join the democratic process, even at this late stage. If not, they will be militarily defeated," said Rajapaksa, who also spoke in Tamil on two occasions, amidst applause.
The hike in defence budget accompanies an estimated budget deficit of over USD 3 billion or 6.5 per cent of the GDP.