COLOMBO: Intensifying their offensive to push the Tamil Tigers out of their last stretch of land, the Sri Lankan troops today killed at least 47 rebels, including two top commanders and captured a strategic area in Pudukudiyirippu, officials said today.Two top LTTE commanders, Gobith and Amuthab, who headed a special unit named after Prabhakaran's son "Charles Antony," were killed in fierce fighting in which troops wrested the village of Anandapuram, Defence Ministry sources said.The LTTE had been putting up a stiff resistance to prevent the Army from taking over the village which was its last road link for bringing in supplies and logistics.Police commanders attacked a group of Tigers in Sri Lanka's East killing 13 rebels. The battle in the forests near eastern Ampara district was fiercely fought for hours.Sources said that LTTE's explosive expert Paramanantha master was among the dead.Sri Lanka has driven out the Tigers from the eastern province, but officials said that pockets of Tiger resistance still remained.As the war between the government forces and the Tigers appears to be entering the last stages, more civilians trapped in the battle zone are coming over to the government-fixed IDP zones.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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