Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said Sunday that the ultimate goal of the present military action against Tamil Tiger rebels is to do justice for the Tamil minority.

Addressing the island's 59th anniversary of independence, the president said "we are not ready to give into blood thirsty demands of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), but we must undertake the urgent task of establishing democratic governance in the north and east."

Rajapakse, however, stressed that he and his troops have the capability to "respond to the terror in the best language they understand."

He said the government stood unprovoked in the face of stepped- up violence by LTTE rebels but was forced to go into military action to "liberate Tamils from clutches of terror."

The president made the address after his troops gained major military victories in the Eastern Province clinching territory which had remained under rebel control for over a decade.

"I want to do everything possible to re-settle my Tamil brethren in the areas liberated." Rajapakse said.

Rajapakse became president in November 2005 and almost immediately thereafter the LTTE stepped up its military campaign targeting members of the security forces.

The LTTE carried out unsuccessful suicide assassination attempts against the country's Army chief and the top civil administrator in the Defense Ministry, who happens to be Rajapakse 's brother.

The government then went on the offensive against Tigers scoring major victories particularly in the Eastern Province.

Over 67,000 people have been killed in the armed struggle waged by the LTTE on behalf of the Tamil minority since the mid-1980s.

Source: Xinhua