LOC14:25
11:25 GMT
NEW DELHI, May 23 (KUNA) -- The body of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Ealam) chief V Prabhakaran has been cremated and his ashes thrown into the
Indian ocean, said the countrys army chief General Sarath Fonseka.
The exact timing of the cremation has, however, not been disclosed.
Gen. Fonseka said this in an interview with the Sunday Rivira newspaper.
The interview will be published tomorrow, said a report in Indias English
daily The Times of India.
Fonseka said in the interview that positive identification of Prabhakaran's
body came early on Tuesday following heavy fighting in the northeastern
Mullaittivu district the previous day.
"We cremated the body in the same area and threw the ashes into the Indian
ocean. Even before Prabhakaran was killed, I knew we had won the war, but I
was overjoyed when I had confirmation of his death," the paper quoted him as
saying.
Fonseka said that the entire leadership of the Tigers had been killed.
However, the bodies of Tiger intelligence chief Pottu Amman and
Prabhakaran's wife, Mathiwadini, had not been identified as yet, said the
report. (end)
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KUNA 231425 May 09NNNN