Ready to extradite Prabhakaran to India: Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said Colombo would extradite Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, if caught alive, to India - but after first putting him through trial in his country. "Why should I keep him... India has the right... a man who is responsible for killing Rajiv Gandhi (former Indian prime minister in 1991), one of the greatest leaders," he said.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said Colombo would extradite Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, if caught alive, to India - but after first putting him through trial in his country.

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In an interview to CNN IBN channel, Rajapaksa said it was "almost over" for the LTTE chief and he could be caught very soon.

Asked whether Prabhakaran would be extradited to India, Rajapaksa said: "First he will have to go through our trial... And then might send him to India."

"Why should I keep him... India has the right... a man who is responsible for killing Rajiv Gandhi (former Indian prime minister in 1991), one of the greatest leaders," he said.

An LTTE suicide bomber had blown up Gandhi during a poll rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu in May 1991.