Sri Lanka's Army Commander Sarath Fonseka has said the government troops, not Tamil Tiger rebels, are the true liberators of Tamil civilians, the island's state radio reported Tuesday morning.

Fonseka told the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation that Monday 's influx of over 38,000 Tamil civilians entrapped in the northern no fire zone (NFZ) to the government controlled areas had proved the point.

The troops captured some of the defense lines built by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the western and northern borders of the NFZ, opening safe routes for the civilians to fled the NFZ less than 20-sq-km at Puttumatalan on Monday.

Large number of civilians are still being trapped in the NFZ, with the concerned international community pleading with both the government and the LTTE to care for the safety of civilians.

The Army chief said the LTTE have time till 12:00 noon local time Tuesday (0630 GMT) to give up arms and surrender.

The Army will rehabilitate them if they do surrender, Fonseka said, adding that the rebels have no escape if they do not surrender.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka's long drawn-out civil war since the mid-1980s when the LTTE began to rebel against the government based on claims that the minority Tamils were being discriminated in this Sinhamese dominated island.