COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, May 16, SPA -- Sri Lankan forces took control of the entire island's coastline Saturday, trapping theTamil Tigers in a tiny pocket of territory and cutting offany sea escape for the rebels' top leaders, the militarysaid. President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to defeat the remainingrebel fighters and end the 25-year-old civil war bySaturday night, according to a report of Associated Press. The latest military success gave the government fullcontrol of the coast for the first time in nearly a quartercentury. The rebels, who once ran a de facto state acrossthe north, had controlled a formidable navy and seasmuggling operation. Two army divisions moving along two fronts on the island'snortheastern coast linked up at the coastal village ofVellamullivaikkal early Saturday, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. The rebels, who are fighting for a homeland for minorityTamils, are cornered along with tens of thousands of Tamilcivilians in a 1.2-square mile (3.1-square kilometer) stripbetween a lagoon and the sea.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/664760