Lankan troops 800 metres from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief

As Sri Lankan forces on Thursday fought their way to just 800 metres from the area where about 10,000-15,000 Tamil civilians are trapped along with the top LTTE leadership, President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared that the war was "nearing end".

Rajapaksa also promised Colombo-based foreign diplomats that once the LTTE were eliminated, his Government proposed to bring democracy to the north island.

"The war with LTTE is rapidly nearing its conclusion and we propose to create space for democracy in the north again," he said. His comments come as almost three divisions of the Lankan Army are closing in on trapped LTTE chief V Prabhakaran and his top aides.

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Judges must return today or I go: Sharif

Pakistan’s fledgling coalition government was plunged into crisis today after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif threatened to pull out unless judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf were not reinstated by tomorrow.

Sharif, who heads the PML(N), the second largest constituent of the coalition, said, “If the judges are not restored we will perhaps be forced to sit in the opposition. We will not try to bring the government down. But, of course, then we have no choice but sit in the opposition.”

The PML(N)’s coalition with Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) “came into being on the basis that democracy would be strengthened and judges restored”, Sharif said.

“And, of course, we would restore the Constitution as it stood before Musharraf overthrew an elected government,” he added.

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