SL President asks Tigers to lay down arms

Agencies

Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse called on cornered Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down their arms and unconditionally surrender to security forces in a public address on Saturday.

"I want to tell the Tigers 'lay down arms and surrender to security forces'," the president said at a public rally in the northwestern district of Kurunegala.

He said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had been encircled in a narrow strip of land and had taken thousands of civilians hostage.

"They must let the civilians go and then unconditionally give themselves up," he said.