This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/6188204.stm

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Tamil statehood 'is only option' Tamil statehood 'is only option'
(about 1 hour later)
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have "no option" but to push for an independent state, their leader has said.Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have "no option" but to push for an independent state, their leader has said.
Prabhakaran said a truce with the military was "defunct" and accused the government of unleashing war on Tamils.Prabhakaran said a truce with the military was "defunct" and accused the government of unleashing war on Tamils.
"It is now crystal clear that the Sinhala leaders will never put forward a just resolution to the Tamil national question," he said in an annual speech. In an annual speech he accused the government of unleashing a two-pronged war - military and economic - against the Tamil population.
Violence has soared in Sri Lanka since late last year, with both sides accused of breaking the 2002 ceasefire.Violence has soared in Sri Lanka since late last year, with both sides accused of breaking the 2002 ceasefire.
'Uncompromising stance' "It is now crystal clear that the Sinhala leaders will never put forward a just resolution to the Tamil national question," Prabhakaran said.
"We are not prepared to place our trust in the impossible and walk the same old path."We are not prepared to place our trust in the impossible and walk the same old path.
"The uncompromising stance of Sinhala chauvinism has left us with no other option but an independent state for the people of Tamil Eelam," Prabhakaran said. href="/1/hi/world/south_asia/6164924.stm" class="">Sri Lanka's year of misery href="/1/hi/world/south_asia/6099514.stm" class="">Sri Lanka talks failure "The uncompromising stance of Sinhala chauvinism has left us with no other option but an independent state for the people of Tamil Eelam."
The BBC Tamil Service's Ethirajan Anbarasan says that the rebel leader appears to have rejected any possible federal solution to the ethnic conflict. The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo says that while the rebel leader does not mention re-starting the war, the subject is there in every sentence.
Our correspondent says that the tone of Prabhakaran's comments suggest that the ongoing conflict will continue and may even escalate. Sri Lanka is already in an undeclared war, and the speech puts it firmly on the path to continued and worsening violence, she adds.
The Tiger leader seems to have lost faith in internationally facilitated or mediated peace process, our correspondent adds, and his speech may well have strengthened hardline Sinhalese majority elements in the south. Speaking on what the Tamil Tigers refer to as Heroes' Day - to commemorate more than 18,700 slain rebel fighters - Prabhakaran said the 2002 ceasefire with Sri Lankan government was "effectively buried".
He accused the government of wanting to decide the fate of the Tamil nation using military power.
"It wants to occupy the Tamil land and then force an unacceptable solution on the Tamils," he said.
Prabhakaran said the freedom struggle had already been postponed twice but would now recommence.
Worsening violence
The BBC Tamil Service's Ethirajan Anbarasan says the rebel leader seems to have lost faith in an internationally mediated peace process, and his speech may well have strengthened hardline Sinhalese majority elements in the south.
Neither side has formally declared a return to hostilitiesIn his annual speech made this time last year, Prabhakaran hinted that he was ready to enter a negotiated peace process, and gave President Mahinda Rajapakse one year to resolve Tamil demands for self-rule in the country's north and east.
But soon after making that speech, the island saw a sharp escalation in open conflict, with more than 3,500 fighters and civilians dying in aerial bombings, assassinations, bomb attacks and daily skirmishes, according to government figures.
There has so far been no government response to Prabhakaran's speech.