The image of Prabhakaran's corpse released by Srilanka Army
May 21: "Prabhakaran's body was found near Nandikadal lagoon (in the No Fire Zone)," Army Chief Gen Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address just an hour after LTTE raised questions over his death with its new international spokesman S Pathmanathan saying Prabhakaran was alive and safe.
The images of the body aired by the television showed Prabhakaran in full battle fatigues with the bullet hole on the temple with his head resting on a newspaper.
Prabhakaran's face was intact with eyes wide open and the image bore a close resemblance to the stocky moustached rebel leader. The TV also showed his dog tag and a LTTE identity card bearing his number 0-01
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UPA back in power, Rahul Gandhi Factor!
May 16 NEW DELHI: The verdict is Out. The Congress-led UPA is all set to retain power at the Centre putting up an impressive performance in states like Andhra Pradesh and Congress supporters
Tamil Nadu to overwhelm the BJP-led NDA.
The UPA alliance was ahead in 250 constituencies with Congress alone leading in 198 seats. The ruling Front is just short of a little over 20 seats for the magic
figure of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The NDA was leading in 157 seats with BJP ahead in 119 seats.
Manmohan Singh will be the first Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after a full five-year term with the Congress having nominated him as its
candidate for the top post, first time it had done in its history.
The Congress performance was spectacular in Kerala where it routed the Left Front and dealt a severe blow to the Marxists in West Bengal with help from ally Trinamool
Congress.
It also swept Delhi, did exceedingly well in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and more than doubled its tally in UP leading in 20 of the 80 seats there.
The BJP has conceded defeat and said the party had performed below expectation and the mandate of the people was in favour of the Congress-led UPA alliance. "It has
become clear that Congress and the alliance led by it has emerged as the largest coalition...though there was no clear majority," BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley
told reporters here.
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NSA against Varun revoked
Hindu, Atiq Khan
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday revoked the National Security Act (NSA) slapped on BJP’s Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi. This follows a Supreme
Court directive earlier in the day.
Mr. Gandhi was booked under the NSA on March 29 for his alleged inflammatory speeches at an election rally in Pilibhit.
The State Advisory Board, which conducted an in camera hearing on April 28, recommended the revocation.
A Home Department spokesman told reporters here that the State government had opposed the revocation of the NSA by the Advisory Board as it felt that the move to slap
NSA on Mr. Gandhi was correct and it did not agree with the Board’s advice. The government was committed to enforcing the rule of law and strict action would be taken
against offenders irrespective of their status, he added.
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Pakistan 'to eliminate militants'
BBC London:
Pakistan's PM says he has ordered the army to "eliminate militants and terrorists", apparently referring to operations against the Taleban.
Yusuf Raza Gilani made the announcement in an evening TV address to the nation. Fighting has intensified in recent days in the Swat Valley and other parts of the north-west, and thousands of civilians are leaving the area.
Meanwhile US envoy Richard Holbrooke said there had been progress in getting Pakistan and Afghanistan to cooperate.
"I hope the American public sees that we're making progress in the question for real cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, because without that cooperation, success is not achievable," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
Mr Holbrooke was speaking after a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and US senators.
He said another summit would be held between the Afghan and Pakistani leaders and US President Barack Obama after Afghan presidential elections in August. The three leaders met on Wednesday.
Mr Zardari said the international community was coming to the realisation that the problem of militancy in Pakistan and Afghanistan was a worldwide one. Earlier US defence secretary Robert Gates said he was satisfied with Pakistan's anti-Taleban moves.
He said there was "very little chance" of the Taleban achieving the kind of success in Pakistan that they would need to get access to the country's nuclear weapons. At least 10 soldiers have been killed and nine wounded in the fighting in the past 24 hours, the Pakistani military says.
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