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In a no-holds barred address, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has dared Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Velupillai Prabhakaran to a one-on-one clash with him.
"I will challenge Prabhakaran to clash with me directly if possible without engaging in a killing spree targeting innocent civilians, Parliamentarians and Ministers," Rajapaksa said in an election rally at Oluvil in Eastern Ampara district on Tuesday.
With the Eastern Provincial Council Elections scheduled on May 10, campaigning has reached a feverish pitch, with the Sri Lankan President addressing as many rallies as possible to ensure victory for the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance.
"The government will never backtrack on its journey to liberate innocent civilians from terrorist clutches and restore peace," President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in his address delivered in Sinhala, the state owned newspaper Daily News reported.
Rajapaksa was speaking after inaugurating work on the Oluvil port project in Ampara district which will also witness elections on Saturday.
He said his government had liberated the East from terrorism and promised the people of the North their tryst with freedom. He said steps would be taken to set up a popularly elected Provincial Council in the North.
"When this port is built and the area developed, the people have to continue this process in order to ensure their future welfare," he said.
The President said the people of the East were fully aware of the identity of those responsible for destroying the measure of peace they have achieved.
"The LTTE did not even allow people to engage in their prayers. As many as 160 people were massacred while praying in a mosque. Children in the area could not go to schools or universities," he said.