President congratulates Forces on Pooneryn victory

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on being informed of the Army achievements in Pooneryn while extending his congratulations and best wishes to valiant troops called upon once again LTTE leader Prabhakaran to lay down his arms and immediately return to the negotiating table. Here is the full text of His message.

“I inform the people in this country that our heroic soldiers have been able to liberate the full stretch of the Mannar-Pooneryn Road and the Pooneryn area this morning (15). Now, we can open a land route to the peninsula after many years.

I think, we can say, it was after the second Eelam War.

At this moment, I very clearly call upon Prabhakaran of the LTTE to immediately lay down his arms and come to the negotiating table. It is the greatest service you can do to the people in the Wanni.

We congratulate the War Heroes and express our sincere gratitude to the citizens of Sri Lanka who have given unstinted support for our struggle.”