Tamil nationalist leader claims LTTE Chief Prabhakaran still alive

Prabhakaran was killed by SL Army during the last phase of the civil war in 2009 and his body was identified by the terror outfit’s former leader Karuna Amman

Tamil nationalist leader Pazha Nedumaran on Monday claimed that LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was alive and that he was announcing this with the LTTE chief's consent.

Prabhakaran was killed by Sri Lankan Army during the last phase of the civil war in 2009 and his body was identified by the terror outfit’s former leader Karuna Amman.

Pazha Nedumaran also said his family members are in touch with him.

However, his claims will likely have no believers as the Sri Lankan Army had, in 2009, released pictures of the deceased Prabhakaran after his body was found in the forests of Mullivayakal in northern Sri Lanka on May 19, 2009.

Sri Lankan army had taken care to announce Prabahakaran’s death to ensure claims of him having escaped from Sri Lanka don't emerge. Prabhakaran’s body was identified by none other than this former lieutenant and rebel LTTE leader Karuna Amman who laid the guns and became a minister in the Mahindra Rajapaksa-led presidency.

In a press conference on Monday, Pazha Nedumaran prefixed his declaration as a 'true announcement' and said the international (political) atmosphere and fierce opposition to Rajapaksas by the Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka has created the right conditions for the leader of the Eelam Tamils, Prabhakaran to emerge.

Asserting that the LTTE leader is doing well, Nedumaran said the announcement would end 'planned' suspicions spread about him. Prabhakaran is all set to soon announce a plan for the dawn of the Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, he said.

He appealed to Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Tamils living in all other parts of the world to stand together and extend him their their full support. Till such time the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was powerful, they did not allow any forces inimical to India to find a toehold in the regions held by them in Sri Lanka, he said.

They not only opposed such forces but also have not received any support from such nations opposed to India, he added.

Prabhakaran was killed in 2009 in the war between Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE. 'Eelam' in Tamil denotes the homeland of the Tamil people.

(With agency inputs)