As the Sri Lanka security forces move in for what they promise to be the closing call on the Tigers, Prabakaran's dream of a Tamil Eelam looks farther than ever before... After losing the precious lives 24,000 of his followers in nearly three decades of war, Prabakaran is still where he was to pursue his dream of a Tamil Eelam."The battle being waged by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to defend Mullathivu in the face of the Sri Lanka security forces' onslaught may well be the last conventional military operation by Tamil insurgent leader Velupillai Prabakaran in the two-year-long "Eelam War IV." Mullathivu is the LTTE's last bastion, what is left from an original domain of nearly nine districts it had ruled for over a decade. The security forces are building up a four to six division-strong force for what they promise to be the closing call on the LTTE."So says, Col R Hariharan, a retired officer of the Intelligence Corps,who served in the Indian Army for nearly three decades .He was a specialist on Bangladesh , Burma , and Sri Lanka with special focus on insurgency and terrorism, in an article in the "Hindu" today(21).He also says:" After the fall of Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass successively during the early part of January, the LTTE lost control of the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road, and with it lost the ability to have an impact on the lives of most of the people of the Northern Province. The LTTE had dominated the road, considered to be the lifeline for Jaffna, a city that had once flourished as a thriving business hub next only to Colombo. After driving out the LTTE from the A9, the security forces were focussing on three aspects - consolidating their hold on the highway by eliminating LTTE defences east of it, opening the axes of offensive to Mullathivu, and getting ready for a final offensive on Mullathivu. ""During the first half of the month, the security forces eliminated the line of LTTE defences along the old Kandy-Jaffna road running parallel to the A9 to its east. With the clearing of the defences aligned from Iranamadu in the south to Vaddakachi and Dharmapuram in the north, the forces marginalised the LTTE's capability to interfere with the A9. So the forces may well keep up the promise to open the road within a month for civilian traffic, thus providing much needed relief to Jaffna's beleaguered citizens. Though the LTTE had stoutly defended its strong points such as Iranamadu and Dharmapuram, its intention was probably only to delay the start of the offensive on Mullathivu. "Col R Hariharan's intelligence operational experience includes service as the Head of Intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka (1987-90). He was awarded the Visisht Sewa Medal (VSM) for his distinguished services in Sri Lanka.