Colombo, April 28
Sri Lankan army today mounted fresh pressure on the beleaguered Tamil Tigers breaking through their two defensive fortifications in the no-fire zone killing nine rebels as LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran continued to remain elusive.

The forces continued their sweep breaching these defences erected to protect the remnants of the LTTE top leadership, a day after government spokes-man clarified that there was no ceasefire. The fortifications had been erected and mined by the Tigers to stop trapped people from fleeing and restrict advancement of the army, a military spokesman said today.

Though the pro-LTTE website Tamilnet accused Sri Lankan troops of using heavy artillery and aircraft to bomb their part of the no-fire zone, spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nayannakkara said that troops were only using light arms and the operations were aimed only to rescue the trapped people.

The government had announced yesterday end of the combat operations and it said it would not use heavy artillery, aircraft and aerial weapons so as not to cause civilian casualties.

The bunds were located South and South-West of Valayanmadam, the last inhabited area held by the Tigers as President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that using force to "eradicate terrorism" was the right of any nation.

Rajapaksa said Sri Lankan forces had completed the historic task of "sweeping terrorism away from our midst."

"In the past three-and-a-half years we have responded to this (LTTE) challenge in different ways. We tried to have a dialogue and negotiations. That was rejected. We were then compelled to use force, the force that is the right of the State, force that is the only language that the terrorist seemed to understand," he said at a function here.

The President's comments came as his military spokesman Nayannakkara said that the earth bunds captured by the troops were meant to protect the tiny strip of land still controlled by LTTE.

Lankan forces also foiled a rebel attempt to send an explosive laden truck for a suicide bombing aimed at the army.

The truck exploded short of its target wounding some soldiers. He said the operations were aimed at trying to rescue trapped civilians still being used as human shields by the LTTE.

According to military sources, the remnants of Tamil Tigers, including its top leadership offered stiff resistance before fleeing further South towards Mullivaikkal after the fall of their fortification. Meanwhile, the army nabbed three suspected LTTE cadres at North-western Mannar while they were carrying an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) containing 10 kg of C-4 explosives, meant for some clandestine criminal operations.

After the clashes, troops also conducted search and clear operations in the general areas of Valyanmadam, Kuppilankulam, Thamarakulam, Mulla-yaweli and Tharakudu yesterday.

During searches, the army found two female bodies of Tiger cadres, eleven T-56 weapons, one 60 mm mortar, two I-com sets, 1253 hand grenades and 22 claymore mines among other arms and ammunitions. — PTI 

Washington, April 28
It will take at least six months to come up with an effective vaccine in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak, scientists have warned. Dr Iain Stephenson, Consultant in Infectious Diseases at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Leicester, said that by that time, the first wave of pandemic flu might be over before people are vaccinated.

Stephenson conducted a study to find out if a pre-pandemic vaccine could mitigate the worst effects of pandemic flu. "This study is the first to show an effective pre-pandemic vaccine approach. This means that we could vaccinate people potentially many years before a pandemic, to generate memory cells that are long lasting and can be rapidly boosted by a single dose of vaccine when needed," he said.

"If an influenza pandemic occurs, vaccination will to be the main way to protect the population. The major current threat seems to be from avian influenza H5N1 (bird flu) which has spread rapidly around the world and causes human infections and deaths. —ANI

Islamabad, April 28
Top leaders of the Tableeghi Jamaat, an influential grouping of Muslim religious leaders and scholars, have denounced religious extremism, militancy, terrorism and the enforcement of Shariah law at “gunpoint” in Pakistan.

“Shariah cannot be enforced at gunpoint,” Abdul Wahab, chief of the Tableeghi Jamaat Pakistan, said yesterday at the conclusion of a congregation near here. He said if that had been the case, Allah would have sent fierce angels to protect prophets and enforce their faiths.

Leaders of the Jamaat, who scrupulously avoid speaking on controversial issues, also called for promoting inter-faith harmony, tolerance, human rights, social justice and peace.

Wahab, 90, said Prophet Mohammed never used force and had spread the word of god only by peaceful means. The scholar, who left his job as a sessions judge in pre-partition India and joined the Jamaat, also condemned extremism and militancy in the name of Islam.

Media reports said this was apparently a reference to the growing trend of Talibanisation and enforcement of Shariah in Swat and other areas of the North West Frontier Province. — PTI