By Walter Jayawardhana

A victorious and gleaming Commander in Chief , President Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped on the ground of his motherland, and in one of the most momentous time in its recent history of patriotic fervour, knelt down on the tarmac at Colombo Airport , touched the ground and saluted the land of victory with clasped hands.

It was a heroe’s welcome for him , coming home from Jordan, from where he triumphantly declared that he was going back to a country free of terrorism where it had been common occurrence that Tamil Tiger suicide bombers were exploding themselves in public buses killing and maiming hundreds of civilians.

Professor Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thero said after three decades of war it was indeed a historical occasion for the President to come home.

The Sri Lankan troops were ending what they have been doing all three years, just mopping up operations in sporadic fights , in a one square meter area where bodies of hundreds of LTTE cadres were strewn, no body having time even to bury them immediately. Rumours were rampant that senior Tiger cadres have blown themselves to death.

The final victory of the Sri Lankan troops was certain and all over the country there was festive mood , with women playing Rabana drums on the streets, distributing the festive milk rice to strangers , continuous firing of crackers along the streets and some even dancing on the streets.

A constant worry about the trapped civilians was over . Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara declared during the last 72 hours 50,000 Tamil civilians trapped inside the war zone have escaped and the army provided them with facilities to reach IDP Welfare camps.

Latest battlefield reports said that the remnants of the LlTTE cadres were more interested in destroying evidence and battlefield videos shown on television depicted billows of smoke rising up to the sky.

But still there were reports of the LTTE cadres shooting at civilians escaping.

Among the identified LTTE leaders among the hundreds who died were Muttappan,Pradeepan and Balakumar.

There was also an attempt to break up the frontline at Nandikadal West bank by the Tamil Tigers which was foiled.

The Tamil Tigers finally lost the human shield because so far more than 250,000 people have fled and they were outgunned and outnumbered by the surrounding troops.

But Sri Lankan people are anxiously waiting until their President speaks on Tuesday, probably when the most important news could be heard.