July 04, Colombo: A senior Sri Lanka government minister said that because of the problems created by politicians in the country, military personnel in the country paid with their lives.

Minister of Constitutional Affairs D.E.W. Gunasekara said "The ethnic crisis, which they created over a period of time, led to the build up of war and to solve the problem the military personnel had to pay the price."

"The LTTE failed because it acted according to the needs of imperialist nations forgetting its people. The LTTE, which was formed to fight for freedom of Tamil people, changed its ideals. It failed because its approach took a fascist turn," he said.

Sri Lanka in May declared that the LTTE was completely defeated following an intense two- year offensive that killed over 6,000 soldiers and injured nearly 25,000.