By DPA
Colombo : Tamil rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has vowed to carry on with the fight after one of his senior members was killed recently in an air strike by Sri Lankan forces.
Suffering one of the biggest losses at the hands of the Sri Lankan forces in its 25-year armed struggle, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has vowed to keep up the fight.
LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was speaking to mark the death of his political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan, who was killed Friday in an air raid in Kilinochchi, 370 km north of the capital Colombo.
“Despite repeated calls from the international community to find a peaceful solution to the problem, we have not seen any goodwill gesture from the Sinhala nation,” said Prabhakaran, referring to the Sri Lankan government.
“We did not see the Buddhist’ universal love. Sinhala nation did not open its heart and send a peace message. On the contrary, it is sending war-vultures that are dropping giant bombs. It has cruelly killed our peace dove,” he said.
Prabhakaran Friday paid last respects to Thamilselvan and five other senior members, who were killed in the air strike. The funeral of Thamilselvan is due to take place Monday, while the funerals of the other members were held Saturday.
Soon after the incident, rebels introduced strict security measures, including restricting telephone calls, to ensure security of its senior members, who are arriving here for the funeral.
The restrictions came amid strong speculation that information about whereabouts of Thamilselvan had been leaked out by cadres close to him.
LTTE had suffered major setback in 2004, when one of its senior members leading the eastern region broke away from the group and formed his own group and helped the security forces by providing vital information on his rival group.
Government troops during the past year carried out military operations in the eastern region and recaptured the area, with the assistance of the breakaway group, led by V. Muralitharan alias Karuna.
The loss of Thamilselvan is considered a major blow to the LTTE, which is now confined to parts of the northern province.
He was involved in consultations with the Norwegian peace brokers, as well as other visiting diplomats and foreign dignitaries. However, in the recent months the government has prevented foreigners from visiting Kilinochchi for meetings with him.
Fighting in north and eastern parts of Sri Lanka has claimed over 5,400 lives during the past two years and there were no immediate signs of the government and the rebels returning to the negotiating table.
Norway, which was trying to initiate a peace deal to end the country’s two-decade old ethnic conflict, has not made any fresh moves to re-start talks, in view of the fighting between the two sides.