COLOMBO - As Colombo celebrated the one month anniversary of its military routing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the former separatist outfit showed the first signs of rising from the ashes as it announced the setting up of a democratic movement to "peacefully" struggle for a separate Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka.
In an e-mailed voice clip, the highest-ranking LTTE member believed to be alive, fugitive Selvarajah Pathmanathan - more commonly known as KP - announced the formation of a committee to create a "provisional transnational government of Tamil Eelam". He said they would continue the struggle for Tamils in Sri Lanka, who account for some 18% of the 20 million
population in the South Asian nation.
"The struggle of the people of Tamil Eelam for their right to self-rule has reached a new stage. It is time now for us to move forward with our political vision towards our freedom, bearing in mind the practical realities in our homeland," Pathmanathan said in a five-minute long voice clip.
He also announced the formation of a working committee headed under the organization's legal advisor, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, to pursue the fresh move and appealed for the support of Tamils around the world to ensure the reality of a Tamil nation in Sri Lanka.
However, the LTTE declaration was met with an outright sneer by the Sri Lankan government, which viewed the move as a mere hallucination and unattainable in reality.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama ruled out any discussion with the remaining LTTE members and also impressed that the rebel outfit's fresh attempts were yet another illegal move to violate the country's unitary status.
Colombo Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa was of the opinion that as far as his government was concerned, the LTTE was not in existence anymore.
Citing reasons for his claim, Yapa said the organization had been defeated by the country's military and its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, and other top rung leaders had all being killed by government troops, bringing the quarter century long ethnic war to a close officially on May 18, 2009.
Analysts termed the LTTE's fresh effort as a last-ditch attempt to safeguard its massive financial outpour, which was likely to dwindle following the death of the organization's key leaders.
The LTTE was financially boosted over the years by the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora to the tune of some US$200 million to $300 million annually, which has helped the organization in its nearly three-decade fight with the government - a network Colombo is trying hard to destroy.
But according to analysts, destroying this network appears to be "impossible", mainly because the links are based in powerful Western nations and Sri Lanka lacks the power to track the in-depth Tiger network.
Colombo, however, continues to focus on garnering international assistance to apprehend the 54-year-old Pathmanathan, the main face behind the LTTE's international operations, including weapons procurement. He is believed to be in hiding in a Southeast Asian nation.
Sri Lankan officials have been pressing Interpol and countries in Southeast Asia to help locate Pathmanathan, a move yet to bear fruit.
Foreign Minister Bogollagama told a news conference that Sri Lanka would institute extradition orders to get him to Sri Lanka and had already prepared necessary documents.
“We have already informed other countries about Pathmanathan so that he could be arrested by the Interpol or the national police forces of the countries where he is believed to be absconding,” the foreign minister said.
However, despite the Sri Lankan government continuing its rhetoric on the victory gained over the Tamil Tiger rebels last month, defense authorities remain on high alert.
Stringent security measures continue to be enforced in the form of checkpoints and other ad hoc security checks around the country, with special emphasis given to Colombo.
The move came amidst reports that suicide cadres were still roaming around Colombo and had been sent to carry out massive bombing attacks in the commercial capital just prior to the death of Tiger leader Prabhakaran.
Local newspapers quoting intelligence officials claimed that at least 26 LTTE cadres had entered Colombo in the weeks before the LTTE was defeated and are still roaming free in the city.
Authorities have meanwhile taken immediate steps to deploy special military and police units around the city in a bid to apprehend these suicide bombers.
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