Sri Lanka's long war reaches climax, Tigers concede

By C. Bryson Hull and Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The Tamil Tigers conceded defeat in Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war on Sunday, with some staging suicide attacks to try to repel a final assault by troops determined to annihilate them.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had already declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the day before, and the military said the bulk of the fighting was over by the time the rebels said they had been beaten.

Even though there was little doubt about the final outcome of Asia's longest modern war, sporadic battles were still being fought late on Sunday and no one was willing to predict when the last bullet would be fired.

"We are doing the mopping-up operations," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. "Suicide cadres are coming in front of troops in the frontline and exploding themselves."

Rajapaksa was due to make a formal victory announcement in parliament on Tuesday morning, but already flags were flying, people were dancing and lighting off fireworks in celebration.

The last act was playing out in what the military said was less than 1 square km (0.5 sq mile), where the LTTE carried out suicide attacks on Sunday before troops freed the last of 72,000 civilians who have fled over four days.

LTTE founder-leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran's fate remained a mystery, although military sources said a body believed to be his was recovered and its identity was being confirmed.

The LTTE, founded on a culture of suicide before surrender, at the last minute issued a statement from its diplomatic chief saying: "This battle has reached its bitter end."