SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS

Speaking to the BBC by telephone, Rajapaksa, a brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said the Tigers, defeated recently by the Sri Lankan military, cannot be trusted to give up terrorism.

Earlier, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, senior spokesman for the defeated rebels, told the British network they were prepared to use non-violent means to achieve their goal of winning rights for the Tamil-speaking minority, and would be ready to pursue the democratic process.

"I do not believe the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , the official name of the Tamil Tigers) can enter a democratic process after years of their violent activities", Rajapaksa told the BBC, adding other political parties could represent the Tamils.

Within what now remains of the LTTE, the Press Trust of India reported, a power struggle may be under way, with hardliners still claiming Vellupillai Prabhakaran, their leader who was reported dead by the Sri Lankan government, is still alive and safe.

The network said while Pathmanathan had called for a non-violent struggle, the TamilNet quoting another group led by LTTE's intelligence wing as claiming the leadership will "re-emerge when the right time comes."

The horror of the years-long military campaign against the rebels is evident in the hardships being endured by tens of thousands of civilians displaced by the fighting.

During a weekend visit to the island nation's refugee camps, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the refugee situation was the worst he'd witnessed and called it "most appalling."

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