Watch part two
It is one of Asia's longest armed conflicts, and now the Sri Lankan government is convinced the end is near.
On Sunday, Mahinda Rajapakse, Sri Lanka's president, announced the military was on the verge of wiping out the Tamil Tigers.
Earlier this year, the Sri Lankan government launched an offensive against the rebels and claimed to have crushed many of their strongholds.
A narrow strip of land on the north-east coast of the country was declared a safe zone for civilians to escape the fighting.
Is Asia's longest-running civil war really near an end? And what are the human costs of the latest fighting?
This episode of Inside Story can be seen from Tuesday, April 07, 2009 at the following times GMT: Tuesday: 1730; 2230 and Wednesday: 0430; 1030.
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