Army says Tamil Tiger leader is still at large

A Sri Lankan military commander says the leader of the Tamil Tigers is trapped in the jungle but is still in charge of his depleted army. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka refused a UN demand to send a humanitarian mission to the island's war-torn north.The leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers is trapped in a small strip of jungle in the northeast and intends to make a final stand with his surviving forces, an army commander said Friday.The commander said a rebel spokesman who surrendered to government troops earlier in the week had reported that Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, was still in charge of his cornered and depleted separatist army.The Tamil Tiger spokesman "says that Prabhakaran was living inside and that he will be there until the last moment," Brigadier Shavendra Silva told reporters."But, even at the last minute, he will try to escape," said the commander, who is spearheading the offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).Prabhakaran has not been seen for 18 months, and speculation has been rife that he may have been killed or already fled the island.