BBC says................................?

Denial

The army said it killed Prabhakaran on Monday after over-running the last patch of territory held by the Tamil Tiger rebels (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE).



Sri Lanka press hails victory

It said Prabhakaran, who founded and had led the LTTE since the mid-1970s, was shot dead with two senior deputies as they tried to escape.

However, the pro-Tamil website TamiNet quoted LTTE diplomatic head Selvarajah Pathmanathan as saying Prabhakaran was still alive.

"I wish to inform the global Tamil community distressed witnessing the final events of the war that our beloved leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran is alive and safe," he said.

The claims have not been independently verified because reporters are not allowed into the former conflict zone.

The Tigers had been fighting for a separate state for Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka since the 1970s.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict and thousands displaced.

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels condemned civilian casualties and called for an inquiry into alleged war crimes by both sides.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's office said he was planning to visit Sri Lanka, but did not provide details.

Meanwhile, UN humanitarian aid chief John Holmes said the priority was to evacuate all the civilians caught up in the fighting.

Sources in the UN said significant numbers of civilians were still in the combat zone in the final days of fighting but the Sri Lankan government said all civilians had left.