India reacted strongly to Sri Lanka's allegations of the presence of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam camps in the country on Thursday, and 'categorically' denied the existence of such camps in Tamil Nadu. It has also asked Colombo to 'desist from reacting to speculative and uncorroborated reports.'
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror in a report quoting military intelligence said the LTTE chief may have suffered only a minor bruise in his right shoulder.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko had demanded the lifting of the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo V Prabhakaran will find it difficult to survive beyond six months, Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka has warned, vowing to eliminate the 3,000-strong Tiger rebels from their stronghold of Wanni in the embattled north. "The three armed forces are confident of wiping out the LTTE, which is now smarting its wounds due to the present military operations," Fonseka, who survived an assassination attempt by LTTE in April 2006, said.
Anton Balasingham recently had a kidney transplant in Norway and his condition has been further complicated by diabetes.
'Although the nature of the injuries is minor, he had been treated in an underground facility in a secret location in the Wanni by the LTTE's Thileepan Medical Unit, the official emergency care unit of the LTTE,' the Nation newspaper reported quoting sources.
In a letter to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, the LTTE said it was committed to a negotiated settlement to the war, but demanded that progress be made before proceeding.
He asked the India government and the people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind and to approach the ethnic question in a different perspective.
According to an intelligence input, some cadres of the LTTE, who escaped the wrath of the Sri Lankan Army during the all-out operations in the island nation earlier this year, were trying to regroup in India and planning attacks on top political leaders, particularly when they travel in Tamil Nadu.
A senior Sri Lankan defence ministry official said since intelligence reports have 'confirmed' that Prabhakaran sustained injuries on November 26, there could be an attempt by the Tiger leader to go to India for treatment if the medical facilities in Killinocchi or Mullaithivu were not sufficient to treat him.
In a statement, the LTTE said it was "conveying the loss of S P Thamilselvam with profound sadness to the people of Tamil Elam, Tamil diaspora and the global community."
Sri Lankan forces eliminated surrendering Tiger leaders on the orders of the defence secretary who had instructed that 'all Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leaders must be killed,' ex-army chief General Sarath Fonseka has claimed, prompting the government to describe it as a 'great betrayal.'
Facing an onslaught from the international community for alleged war crimes, the Sri Lankan government on Wednesday released a video which they claimed carries "authentic evidence" of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's atrocities during the last phase of the military assault.
Sri Lankan Air Force pounded identified LTTE hideout located in the jungles south of Puthukudiyirippu, Mullaittivu, believed to be frequented by top Tamil Tiger leadership, including supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. According to Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, Air Force spokesperson, the air raids targeted the hideout believed to be frequented by Prabhakaran.
The government has urged the LTTE to break the prolonged deadlock and return to the negotiating table.
On the brink of capturing the entire rebel-held territory, Sri Lankan troops killed at least 150 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadres in the island's embattled north, where a ship carrying biggest-ever food supplies for displaced civilians was ambushed by suspected guerrillas, officials said on Sunday.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam maintains a hostile approach towards the exodus of civilians from the Wanni region, and the casualties caused by it is under-reported, Sri Lankan government told a high-level United Nations delegation on Monday.
MDMK chief Vaiko today charged the UPA Government with helping Sri Lanka by giving arms, which enabled that country's army to capture the "deserted" Killinochi and said the LTTE will win the war ultimately.
On the hunt for the elusive Tiger supremo Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan security forces have stumbled upon a damaged bullet-proof car that could have been used by either Lankan Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief or other senior leaders. The rugged-looking covered pick up wagon, fitted with double steel sheets to escape bullet hits, was found in the thick jungles near Mullaittivu, as Lankan forces scour the area for the LTTE topmen, a senior defence official told PTI.
Two years after the decisive battle in which the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were vanquished, Sri Lankan security forces made their biggest-ever haul recovering 6,250 kg of hidden explosives belonging to the outfit.
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Trudeau's statements, asserting that they contained outrageous claims of genocide relating to past conflicts in the country.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has charged the United Nations with not taking effective measures to protect the life of Tamil civilians fleeing the rebel held areas and denied killing the innocent people.
The elusive LTTE chief made a rare public appearance. It was not mentioned when the photograph was taken. The picture -- published by a website-- also scotched rumours that the LTTE leader was seriously hurt in a recent attack by the Sri Lankan Army.
A leading Tamil Tiger leader Rasiah Ilanthriyan was believed to have been killed as Sri Lankan troops continued their march into the rapidly shrinking areas held by the rebels. The offensive is bringing army troops almost to a face to face confrontation with the Tiger top brass. But, the pace of advance appears to have been slowed down by heavy mining and fear of large scale civilian casualties.
On the verge of annihilation, the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam announced an unilateral ceasefire on Sunday, saying that that the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka's war zone can only be overcome by a truce, but the Lankan government quickly rejected the offer and instead asked the rebels to surrender.
The rebels criticised the government for specifying the extend of the rebels' involvement in the proposed administrative body.
The UNICEF spokesman said the agency had hoped that the gravity of the unprecedented calamity would see a stop to the LTTE's child recruitment.
Sri Lanka is still wary of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's international network and has voiced concern about the possible re-emergence of pro-LTTE sympathisers despite the military defeat of the Tamil rebels, United States State Department's report has said.
"With its maritime supply routes likely to become limited by its loss of land in north-west, unless a new political or military variable enters the equation, the decline of the LTTE is inevitable," it said.
Padmanathan, who allegedly financed the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, is wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Intelligence officials on Wednesday questioned local fishermen to verify reports that their boats had been used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to attack a Sri Lankan Navy vessel.
With his forces encircling the fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tami Eelam in a tiny strip of land in the northern region of the country, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse held out an olive branch to the Tamil Tigers on Monday, asking them to lay down arms after which they will be 'readily accepted and treated humanely'. The President said all facilities would be made available for the LTTE cadres who lay down their arms and surrender.
The TRO's efforts worldwide have reportedly allowed the LTTE to use humanitarian aid, which it collected for the international community after the December 2004 tsunami, to launch new campaigns to strengthen the LTTE's military capacity.
MDMK said when Vaiko landed at the Kuala Lumpur airport in the morning, immigration authorities told him that he had been banned from entering the country since his name figured "in the list of persons dangerous to Malaysia."
P Nadesan, LTTE's police chief, has been appointed the new head of the outfit's political wing to succeed the slain rebel leader S P Thamilselvan, who was honoured by the elusive Tiger supremo V Prabhakaran hours after he was killed in a raid by the Sri Lankan Air Force.
The finances of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam have come down by a whopping 70 per cent due to decline in overseas fund raising activities and curbs on its global financial network, terrorism experts have said.
'We urge you to consider recognising Tamil sovereignty as a constructive approach to end the five decades long, large-scale, and serious rights violations against the Tamil people,' the LTTE political head B Nadesan said in a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday.
Heavy gun battles on Wednesday left at least 17 Tamil Tigers dead, while rebels claimed they killed over two dozen soldiers in Sri Lanka's embattled north.
A suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suicide bomber blew himself up when troops surrounded him in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula, where two Tamil Tiger rebels and a soldier were killed in separate incidents, the army said in Colombo on Monday.
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