Sitrep

Tigers cannot raise head again despite KP’s overtures

As major changes were taking place in the high command of the defence hierarchy in Sri Lanka to fit into the post war scenario, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which is now operating in exile following their military defeat on Sri Lankan soil, is facing a domestic battle following the appointment of Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP as its leader.

The statement issued by Suresh (Amuthan) and Ram on behalf of the terror outfit states that Selvarasa Pathmanathan, who had been appointed as head of international relations by Prabhakaran, will lead the LTTE.

The well-known propaganda arm of the LTTE, the TamilNet itself sniffs doubts about the credibility of this statement issued

from an unknown location.

The TamilNet warned the Tamil Diaspora about the new development reporting that ‘LTTE watchers said that the new formation has the burden to prove its credibility with the grass roots at home and among the diaspora that aspire not incumbencies, but a strong mass organization to address the national cause.’

‘TamilNet, while reiterating its stand as an independent media, committed to the cause of Eezham Tamil nationalism, requests readers not to take cues from it on the organisational matters of the present.

Political steering of the Eezham Tamil cause is entirely a prerogative of the masses concerned, who have hitherto shown solidarity with a movement that did not surrender either the aim or the struggle.

Obviously, the Tamil Diaspora is disapproving Selvarasa Pathmanathan becoming the leader of the organization as he had not shown his credibility in any of the matters he had engaged on behalf of the LTTE.

However, KP following the total military defeat of the LTTE and the death of its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, had made an attempt to impress the Tamil Diaspora that he was the rightful person to lead the Tamil community after Velupillai Prabhakaran. For this he had laid solid foundation after initiating his own blog in the cyber space to promote himself as the rightful heir to become the leader of the LTTE.

Making use of the ltteir.org to present his past links with the LTTE leader as the best-man at Velupillai Prabhakaran’s marriage with Madhivadanee, KP has tried to say that he had close contacts with the Tiger leader until the last moment. Three of his articles narrating his close links with the LTTE has appeared, but failed to give a detailed account about the decision taken by the LTTE leader during his last few days.

Through these web articles on Pathmanathan, first published on July 08, 2009 and followed by two other articles, Options left during the last phase of war (July 15, 2009) and ‘Why do we need a political and diplomatic path?’ published on July 22, 2009, he had failed to give a correct picture about the LTTE at the last stages of the war and the decisions taken by its leadership.

However, he admits the fact that he had failed in his dealings with the international community after his appointment as the chief international negotiator of the LTTE in January 2009 to strike a deal to get the Sri Lankan Government on a ceasefire agreement which was the prime hope of the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran by appointing him to the post after they lost their stronghold Kilinochchi to the Security Forces.

Even though Selvarasa Pathmanathan claims that he had direct contacts with the LTTE leader till his last moment, he himself admits the fact that his last conversation was with the LTTE Sea Tiger leader Soosai, but not Tiger leader Prabhakaran.

Going through this information it is very clear that it was he who dropped the information to the media on May 18, 2009 midnight when the entire media and the whole of the Security Forces were in ambiguity about the death of the LTTE leader, that the Tiger leader was alive in a safe place.

On May 18 night the TamilNet website carried the following news item following an interview with KP.

‘Stating that the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). V. Pirapaharan is alive and well, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the head of LTTE’s international relations, told TamilNet Monday that it was very unfortunate that many of its senior members and leaders have either given up their lives or have been treacherously killed. Following is the way KP responded to the question posed by the TamilNet website.

TamilNet: The Sri Lankan Government has declared the war won and has claimed that Pirapaharan, the leader of LTTE has been killed.

Has Colombo really won the war?

Pathmanathan: The Sri Lankan government makes unverified claims. I am only able to ascertain that our national leader is alive and well. It is true that many of our senior members and leaders have either given up their lives or been treacherously killed. This is very unfortunate, but it is important to realize that our struggle will continue until the aspirations of our people are realized.

Those were the exact words that tipped off the Sri Lankan Security Forces that the Tiger leader was alive by that time though newspapers and the whole media carried out headline stories telling that the Tiger leader was killed on May 18.

It was after this information appeared in the TamilNet that the Security Forces intensified their search operation in the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon after deploying the 4 Vijabha Infatry Regiment troops under the command of Lt. Colonel Rohith Aluvihare in the early hours of May 19 which finally resulted in the death of Prabhakaran along with the inner ring of Tiger leaders.

Therefore, KP shares the responsible for the death of the Tiger leader and the entire LTTE leadership, as he had failed to keep his word to his leader and finally informing the military indirectly that Tiger leader was alive.

It was KP in an e-mail interview on June 25 who had admitted the fact that Tiger leader’s daughter Duaraka and Madhivadanee were also among the dead and the LTTE Intelligence Wing leader Pottu Amman was killed on May 17. The facts created big puzzles in the security circles.

Following his declaration, Tiger cadre who had been living closer to Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has identified the body of Duaraka among those who were killed on May 18 in Mullaivaikkal area.

It has been confirmed that the young female Tiger cadres body found among the bodies collected by the 7 Sinha Regiment troops under the command of Lt. Colonel Kithsiri Liyanage was the body of Tiger leader Prabhakaran’s daughter’s body.

According to ground troops, Duaraka was among the first group of cadres who breached the Security Forces defenses and reached closer to the transit camp of the civilians where she was shot dead by the troops during the confrontation in the early hours of May 18. Troops had recovered her personal weapon, a pistol from her body, meaning she was among senior level leaders of the LTTE.

It has been confirmed that Prabhakaran’s wife Madhivadanee was also among the dead and Prabhakaran’s younger son Balachandran has also been killed closer to the location where Prabhakaran was killed.

Therefore, it is now clear that not a single family member of Prabhakaran’s exists among the living except for his parents, now living under detention having crossed into Government controlled areas along with other civilians.

It might be the reason for KP to declare himself as the leader of the LTTE at a time two months have passed since the total defeat of the LTTE.

However, the stories behind the defeat of the LTTE are yet to emerge in the coming weeks as Security Forces and intelligence sleuths are making steady progress in the process of interrogating the IDPs to identify the Tiger cadres still mingling with the civilians living in welfare villages to correctly identify the Tiger leaders who had been killed during fighting and those who are in hiding among the civilians.

It was only this week a Tiger cadre under detention divulged to the Security Forces that Tiger leader Bhanu was almost under arrest of the LTTE at the last stages of the battle as he had escaped from Iranapalai battle leaving more than 800 cadres there which resulted in the death of more than 500 cadres according to KP including more than 500 elite Special Commandoes of the LTTE which had resulted in a drastic drop in well trained cadres to accomplice the terror plan the Tiger leader had in his mind for his survival.

The most important aspect is that many of the Tiger cadres now in detention are revealing more information about the cache of weapons they had concealed in Puthumathalan, Puthukuduyiruppu and Vellamullivaikkal areas during the last stages of the battle.

The recovery of the LTTE second submarine was due to a revelation made by a diver attached to the LTTE Sea Tiger wing. It was following the intelligence unit attached to the 56 Division now under the command of Brigadier Priyantha Napagoda, the former Artillery Brigade Commander, the 19 Sinha Regiment troops attached to the Task Force 8 under the command of Colonel G.V. Ravipriya salvaged this submarine from the sea 500 metres away from the shore.

According to LTTE diver Seelan, the LTTE had submerged the two submersible vehicles whilst they were under air attack, fearing they would be destroyed by Air Force jets. Although the Security Forces were in possession of information that they had two submersible vehicles, it was on June 15 that the troops attached to the Task Force 8 troops, recovered one from the sea closer to the wreckage of the Jordanian ship Farah III.

It was Seelan, the LTTE diver who located the submarine from 30 feet deep sea some 500 metres away from the shore after throwing a fishing net into the location. He had identified the location after the fishing net was entangled with the submarine in the deep sea and taken it to the shore with the help of the troops.

Likewise, more and more armouries and other vital hardware including their heavy calibre weapons buried inside are now being recovered by the troops.

The 573 troops engaged in search and clear operations came across a Tiger cadre in the border of the Puthukuduyiruppu and Visuamadu three days back. The Tiger cadre, who was in hiding for the past two months depending on fruits and barks of trees, gave up his mission and surrendered to the troops.

Identified as Kathirgamar Thambi, a Tiger cadre from the East, he had joined the LTTE in 1984 and worked with Karuna Amman, the then Eastern leader. Following the defection of Karuna Amman from the LTTE, Kathirgamar Thambi had been arrested by the LTTE and taken to Vanni along with his family. He had escaped the LTTE areas towards the jungle on May 15, 2009.

Security Forces are interrogating him further about his mission.

However this is clear indication to say that LTTE ghosts, not in large numbers are still in hiding in the jungles although they have no capability to create problems to the Security Forces.

Therefore, intense search and clear operations are a must on the part of the Security Forces before the resettlement of civilians in the North.

The Security Forces, therefore, have intensified their operations in search of LTTE weapons and armouries to expedite the process of resettling the people as Government has already announced that 3,000 civilians are to be resettled in the villages where de-mining process has been completed by the Army.

Accordingly, 3,000 families in 35 villages in the Vavuniya District are to be resettled on August 7.This will undoubtedly speed up the process of bringing normality to the North as Government has already taken A-9 road for civilian transportation. However, this will happen under greater restriction until the de-mining process is completed in the North.