Finally, the LTTE, Tigers, have admitted that their leader Velupillai Prabakharan is dead.
A statement from Selvarasa Pathmanathan, who heads the Tigers’s international relations from his hide out in south-east Asia, Sunday night, said that he died on May 19 in the last phase of Eelam War IV.
The statement was carried on Al Jazeera television channel’s web site.
“We announce today with inexpressible sadness and heavy hearts that our incomparable leader, the supreme commander of the LTTE, attained martyrdom fighting the Sri Lankan Government.”
The BBC also quoted Pathmanathan as confirming the announcement in a telephone interview.
“We announce today with inexpressible sadness and heavy hearts that our incomparable leader, the supreme commander of the LTTE, attained martyrdom fighting the Sri Lankan Government,” the statement said.
It added “His final request was for the struggle to continue until we achieved the freedom for his people.”
The statement said the LTTE would observe a week of mourning to mark Prabakaran’s death.
Last Tuesday, hours before the Sri Lanka military confirmed the death of the LTTE chief, Pathmanathan had said the LTTE leader was still alive.
Tamilnet, the website that usually acts as the rebels’ mouthpiece, did not carry the statement.
