Sri Lanka says wins civil war, kills rebel leader

Apparently , The Sri Lanka Military has defeated the Tamil Tigers !  Having finally moved in , they have killed Vellupilli Prabhakaran , the leader of the LTTE , now maybe everyone can find out how many civilians have been killed through the whole ordeal !

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan troops won the final battle in one of
the world's most intractable separatist wars, and put the island nation
under government control for the first time since 1983, the military
said.

In the climactic final gun battle, special forces troops killed
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran
as he tried to flee the war zone in an ambulance early on Monday, state
television reported.

LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Soosai, head of the "Sea
Tiger" naval wing, were also believed killed, the report said.
Prabhakaran founded the LTTE on a culture of suicide before surrender,
and had sworn he would never be taken alive.

Army commander Lt-Gen. Sarath Fonseka said troops on Monday morning
had finished the task President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave them three years
ago.

"We have liberated the entire country by completely liberating the
north from the terrorists. We have gained full control of LTTE-held
areas," Fonseka announced on state TV.

The end of combat and Prabhakaran's death sent the currency and
stock markets to one-month and seven-month highs respectively by 0900
GMT. They had already surged at the opening in anticipation of the
war's end.